Cleaning Day!

Hello!  I hope your weekend is going well so far:)  The husband's parents are in town helping us get our house ready for showing (we have officially listed our house....scary but exciting!)  Anyone could call at any moment to come and see it!  So our house must look amazing!  We spent Friday night playing with Little "I" (she giggles now!) and basically just hanging out and staying warm and dry.  Today is "Cleaning Day" here at our household.  Sounds like a great time right?!

Well I do not have any new art to post...all of my art stuff is pretty much packed up until I go back to work next week.  So sad to take a break from it but we can't have any clutter anywhere!

Well I hope you have a wonderful Saturday.  I will leave you with this lovely song covered by Sondre Lerche.  The husband is currently learning  to play it to Little "I" on his ukulele.  She LOVES to hear him sing and play to her!  I wish I was musical but alas I just am not:)

Wish us luck on the cleaning!

Obstacles

I have posted this quote before...but I just love it so I am posting again:)

My life is significantly changing.  I am hoping for the good.  The husband and I are moving back to our hometown which is VERY exciting and fun but stressful.  I actually teach in our hometown and have an amazing job that I love.   Since the birth of Little "I" we knew that we would have to change our living situation.   With Little "I" around we decided to be back near our family and closer to where I work.  So.....we are putting our house up for sale in this horrible market and I am going to give being a working mom a shot. 


 The point of me telling you all about my crazy life is that as human beings we are a lot stronger than we think we are.  Everyone has obstacles and craziness that they have to work through.  Some of our obstacles are not as big as others but all in all we have things to work through.  I just came across this article (click here to view it) that talks about how we don't give ourselves enough credit when we do something well.  We are quick to compliment others but never ourselves.  It also talks about failures as being feedback.   I thought this quote by Thomas A. Edison was fantastic:  " I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."  

I think this quote is something we can apply to ourselves in everyday situations.  Whether it is art, our jobs, parenting, etc.  I have been kind of a quote junkie lately if you haven't noticed.  I think when we go through stressful situations it is helpful to have some words of advice that kind of guide us and make us feel better:)

Ok...thank you for listening to me be all deep and stuff...I am not usually like this!  

So enough about me!  I hope your week is going well!  What are you up to this evening?  I can't wait to watch the Middle and Modern Family tonight!  Wednesday is a good t.v. night for me:)  

I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!

Authentic Self and Mother/Daughter Bonding

I love this quote by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  It really is reassuring especially when you feel lost creatively.  I also like the idea of an "authentic self," or who your true self is.  I like to think that there is some sort of plan that your "authentic self" knows about and will automatically guide you in the right direction.  It is a nice thought right?!

So anyways...how was your weekend?  My mom came Sunday and we had a fantastic Oscar party!  My husband is a wonderful cook and made us an amazing dinner both Sunday and Monday night.  I am not much of a cook but I love to watch cooking shows.  Is that strange?  My favorite is Jamie Oliver . He is such an amazing chef and most importantly....he has an adorable british accent:)

My mom and I also got to sneak away for some sushi yesterday!  So fun!  I had not had sashimi for almost a year because you are not allowed raw fish when you are pregnant.  We also got to do some fun shopping....yay for mother/ daughter outings!

Well it is sunny outside here in Ohio...makes me feel happy!  I am starting back to work on March 14th so I better start planning what I will be doing with my lovely students!

Have a gorgeous day!

Coffee Talk: Oscar Party

Welcome back to my little kitchen!  I hope you are in the mood for some coffee!  If not I have this amazing ginger peach tea that is to die for!

I also bought us some sweet treats.  Frozen dark chocolate Hershey Kisses!  They melt in your mouth when you drink them with hot coffee or tea!

Yum!

So what are your plans for this weekend?  The husband and I will continue with the enormous process of cleaning and organizing our Cleveland cottage so we can put it up for sale. 

 My lovely mom is coming on Sunday to help out.  We are going to have an Oscar party!

Mom and me!

To be honest I have not seen all of the movies up for nominations.  I loved Inception though!  Black Swan looks cool but a little too freaky for me.  I have heard nothing but wonderful  things about The King's Speech and I have a special place in my heart for Mr. Colin Firth (I loved him as Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones movies!)  The best part about the Oscars for me is the fashion and celebrities!  I can't wait to see what everyone is wearing!  Well I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  

Kite Flying Music

Ivy's Guestroom is one of my all time favorite cds.  It consists of lovely covers of such bands as The Cure and Steely Dan.  This song in particular is a cover of Nick Heyward.  I usually am not a fan of covers but this  cd is amazing and summer-like!  I have had this cd for 8 years now and never tire of it!  The lead singer Dominique Durand has the most airy voice ever...totally reminds me of a warm spring day!   So listen to this song, light a spring scented candle like one of these

baileydoesntbark

BazilEssentials

And think lovely warm thoughts!  Have a fantastic day:)

Sketchbook Sparker: Collecting Quotes and Images that Inspire

Hello!  How are you today?  Have I mentioned lately how OVER snow I am?  We got hit with a large amount of snow Monday night and now they are predicting a possible storm on Friday here in Cleveland.  Arg!  Quick...click here for an instant pick me up that will make you feel warm!

So today we are going to be talking again about sketchbook sparkers.  These sparkers are meant to give you ideas if you are ever in a creative rut.  Today's sparker doesn't involve as much drawing as last week's sparker.  It is meant more of as a brainstorming technique that could lead to more drawing and painting (I like to do both in my sketchbook!)

Have you ever heard a cool quote or seen one in a book or magazine?  The kind of quote that really makes you think or just makes a lot of sense?!  What about cool images that you are unexplainably attracted to while flipping through a magazine?  Why not start collecting them in your sketchbook!

Here is a little peek into two of my sketchbook pages that incorporate quotes and images.   I actually didn't even do much drawing on these sketchbook pages.  Instead I let the images and words do the talking.

This quote is something I heard Carrie Bradshaw say on a Sex in the City episode.  I can't remember for the life of me which episode or even which season she says this!  I thought it was so true about growing and changing as a person.

Here it is in my sketchbook  (top right.)

.

On the left is this quote I found in a magazine:

Sadly I always seem to buy the cheapest!

On these pages I also assembled pictures that inspired me and included my own little drawings and slabs of color with paint.

Here is another example:

A beautiful quote I found in a magazine

Here is how I incorporated it into my sketchbook page:

I also included some images that I liked along with a song lyric that was stuck in my head at the time.  

So if you are ever stuck for an idea for a sketchbook, incorporate a quote or image that inspires you!  It is a great way to get the creative juices flowing!

Tres Chic Nursery Finds for Girls

Hello there!  Today I would like to show you some very cool items I have found on etsy that would look excellent in any little girl's nursery.

 Being a new mom I have become quite interested in adorable girl things.  So here are some of my favorite finds on etsy this week.  I don't know about you but right now in my life it seems that all of my friends are either pregnant or have children.  These would make great gifts for new moms or they would be awesome gifts for your own children!  Happy looking!  

Sweet wall decals

surfaceinspired

These burp cloths

chloejanehandmade

This beautiful quilt 

laurosario

This adorable print

corid

This cork board...so sweet!

shabbyvintagemom

These cool butterflies

khamm75

And of course...I must shamelessly promote my own artwork...

michellebrunner

Have a lovely Tuesday!

Crazy Cool Art Technique: White Acrylic and Watercolor

I hope your weekend was filled with relaxation and fun!  My weekend involved getting our home organized for the big upcoming sale and playing with Little I.  She is smiling and cooing like crazy which makes her so much fun!  I definitely took a million pictures of her doing the same thing over and over.  I am a little camera happy I think:)

Anyways....back to business!  I wanted to show you a cool mixed media technique that you might enjoy trying.  For those of you new to mixed media, it is basically when you use more than one type of art media.  Today we will be using watercolors and white acrylic paint.

First gather your supplies:

1.  Various watercolor media such as watercolor paints, watercolor colored pencils and watercolor crayons.

2.  Find a picture to draw from or draw from your imagination!

3.  White paper...does not have to be watercolor paper!

4.  Paint brushes

5.  White Acrylic paint

6.  Pencil

Once you have gathered all of your supplies you should draw out your basic shapes of your artwork with a pencil on your white paper.  Next begin to apply white acrylic paint to your sketch.  Try not to paint over your pencil lines or else you won't be able to see your drawing!

Here is my huge container of white acrylic...notice all of the colors mixed inside?!  Guess I am not so great about cleaning off my brush:)

Try these techniques using white acrylic:

1.  Swirls of thick white paint

2.  Scratch into the white paint to create textures ( I just used the tip of a mechanical pencil.)

Once your acrylic paint is dry you can start to add watercolor paint!

Just paint right on top of your dried white acrylic and be amazed at how the textures you created with the acrylic paint really pop out once color is added!

For finishing touches I like to add watercolor crayons or colored pencils.

And voila:

Coffee Talk: My Cleveland Cottage

Hello!  Happy Friday:)  Hope you have had a lovely week.  I just wanted to invite you to have a cup of coffee with me in my kitchen.

Here, I made you a latte!

I only wish that I had some sweet treats to share!  I can't seem to keep any in the house longer than a couple of days!  Anything with chocolate is a huge weakness for me!

So tell me about your weekend plans.  The husband and I are trying to get our house ready to sell so we have some major organizing ahead of us.  I am such a pack rat and keep anything with even a trace of being sentimental.  Hopefully I can part with some of my belongings in order to contribute to the organization process!

I really am going to  miss our Cleveland cottage.  It is such a cute little place that fits the husband, little "I" and myself perfectly.  We have lived here for almost 5 years and probably will not find anything like it again.  

On the plus side we are moving back to our hometown where our family lives.  So excited!  Family is so important!

Well I hope you have a LOVELY weekend relaxing and enjoying your time off.  

Happy Music

Good morning!  At least it is morning as I write this.  Right now I am drinking my second cup of coffee.  It is delicious.  Coffee is my absolute favorite!  It is so warm, wakes me up and tastes excellent with chocolate!  Too bad I have already finished off all of my dark chocolate supply or else I might be having chocolate for breakfast (again!)

Today it is going to be 62 degrees here in Ohio!  I am soooo excited!  I am planning on running outside as soon as the husband gets up and can watch little "I.". One song that I constantly play on my ipod as I run that puts me in the best of moods is "What I Wouldn't Do" by  A Fine Frenzy.   It is just the happiest song ever!  Give it a listen and see how your mood lifts!  What songs make you happy whenever you hear them?

Well I hope you have a fantastic day!  I am off to get the husband up!