Brownies Earn Patches

Paige, Makena and Whitney displaying their new art journals.

Paige and her friends got together this summer to earn a few extra Brownie Try-It patches. At my house we worked on art related projects. The girls are displaying the art journals we made with a yarn art cover and tag inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts book "Taking Flight. " Most of the elements in this project cover the Stitch It Together Patch, but somehow we turned it into art. We used the sewing machine to stitch the patchwork pieces together and we sewed a button onto our painted patchwork tag. We roughly stitched the journal together with yarn and the yarn art cover goes with the Color and Shape Try-It patch. We have a few more projects to add to the inside of our journals to complete the other patches. I had lots of fun making these journals with the girls, I think they did too!

Sample journal I made for myself. Can't wait to add stuff to the inside.

We also made paper plate color wheels.

"Firework" Painting

On the third day of Total Alignment Connie asked us to paint to a song that makes us move and gives us energy. I love the song "Firework" by Katy Perry for it's energy and lyrics. I played it over and over and listened to every word. This painting session was so much fun. For the background I was painting with my hands and globing paint right on the paper, smearing it and spraying it with water and letting it drip...I had a blast. But best of all, I was all alone with no one barking at me (literally or needing my attention) so it felt really good! I have included the lyrics for "Firework" below and I urge you to read them. They harmonize perfectly with what Connie has been talking about in her messages about Total Alignment. Enjoy!

Firework
by Katy Perry

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
drifting through the wind
wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
like a house of cards,
one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Painting "FREE" & "FEARLESS

Exercise #1 from Connie Hozvicka's Free Workshop
"Total Alignment::Opening the Heart Center"

"Don't analyze" she said, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't just paint, especially with kids talking to me and dog barking in the same room. I should have painted right when I got up. I don't think it would have made any difference. I still can't paint FREE or FEARLESS. I painted my heart as instructed and then didn't have a clue what to do. I knew I was suppose to just paint...but what? So I started putting random colors down and watched the way they mixed with the color next to it. I set the timer for 30 minutes and tried to just cover the paper (18 x 24 inches). I'm supposed to paint like a 5 year old and she had mentioned lines, so I painted some squiggly lines. I still had 10 minutes left and the paper was covered, so I started on the next layer. Thought I would paint a black frame around it since I hadn't used black in the background. Then boxes just came to mind, kinda like my heart (where I'm supposed to be painting from) is boxed in. Now the right side looks kind of bare so I thought for a minute, which I'm not supposed to do, about what to add, flowers! Added a few swirly flowers. Even though the painting isn't supposed to have meaning and I'm only to focus on the process, I can't help but interpret the painting to mean "Rosy on the outside, blocked on the inside." Who knew painting from the heart could be so hard. My mind tells me I need a direction and a plan, my heart is blank! Click the button on the right to check out Connie's Blog. Total Alignment started today and will run all week, but the workshop will remain on her blog for future reference. Let me know if you check it out...she is too darn adorable. I'm sure you will love it.

30 Minute Painting Exercise
from Wyanne's "Paint Free" e-course

This painting is from Wyanne's E-course "Paint Free" and this is a 30 minute painting exercise. I was to paint something from my childhood that I loved and I choose candy...I know, weird huh? Well, big surprise...didn't know what to paint. So without a lot of explanation, this is what came out! Not too happy with it, but I'm focusing on the process...right?

Second part of 30 Minute Painting Exercise
"Candy 2"



Yikes...I know! I don't know where this came from or what happened. It looks like a scary Picasso self portrait or something. This is totally not something I would ever paint. The is the second part of the painting above. Needed to paint for another 30 minutes and this is what I ended up with. I laugh every time I look at it! I guess this is happy me after eating candy!

I'm happy I made time to paint lately, even if I'm not so happy with the results. I know all this playing like a 5 year old will help my heart and hands become one...eventually!

The Older I Get...

The Older I Get -- The Better I Cook is my new take on the old one shown below. My Mother-in-Law had the plaque below hanging in her kitchen for as long as I've known her. When she moved, she handed it down to me and I proudly displayed it in my kitchen as as testament to my love for cooking. However, as my style has evolved over the years, the cute country look didn't suit my taste anymore. So, as I say with many things I see in catalogs, I can make that! So I redesigned it, bigger and better. I took what seemed like forever to finish this darn thing and it's changed directions many times. I'm pleased with the final outcome even though I'm not convinced it's finished. But it hangs in my kitchen nonetheless and I can always add to it later.

Paint Free Exercises

I recently purchased Wyanne's e-Book "Paint Free" and I'm working through the projects. The first painting above is an exercise to paint continuously for 30 minutes without stopping to think about what you're painting. It's not what I was hoping to end up with, but I like it.

The next exercise was simple, old fashioned coloring, which I do quite often with my eight year old daughter, but never really gave it much thought as I color. Below is what I learned while I was coloring.

I found Wyanne through You Tube while watching some art instruction videos and watched several of hers as well. I fell in love with her style of loose painting or "PAINTING FREE" as she would call it. When I saw she was coming out with an e-Book, I jumped on it immediately with a pre-order. I'm still struggling to find my own style and I know part of that is I'm not painting enough. This summer I'm having trouble finding time to paint, but working through this book has motivated me to MAKE THE TIME ... I deserve it!

A Recommended Read - The Alchemist

photo from Stillwater Free Library

Just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I thoroughly enjoyed this book not only for its simplicity but also for its inspiring story. This book is a must read for anyone on a journey of their own to discover their path in life, to realize a dream or to better understand who they are as a person. It's filled with wisdom about discovering the treasures within ourselves and about listening and following our hearts. It encourages us "to realize one's Personal Legend" and that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" if you can read the signs and open your heart to it. So many quotable and thought provoking passages...such as "Because I don't live in either my past or my future, I'm interested in only the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man." And "That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too." Definitely a book that will stay on my bookshelf forever.

A Busy Few Days...Are They Over Yet?

Starting with the more exciting event of the few days, taping of the Extra Show at The Grove in Los Angeles. Taping was going on just as we entered the mall and the girls were invited to be part of the audience. Paige is in the hot pink (not a great photo of her, but it's all I had with Mario Lopez) with Samantha next to her and Karly and Kayla behind them. Unfortunately they didn't make it onto the show last night due to their side-stage position. It was, however, extremely interesting to watch the taping process. Then it was off to the main destination, The American Girl store, below, where we had fun shopping and discovering new hair styles (for some of us and their dolls). 

And finally ending the day with a Swim Team beach evening at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. Dang...to much go, go, go for me. And then yesterday....it was off to the Farmers Market at the Great Park in Irvine for produce shopping and carousel rides with Grandma Vera.

And ending that day with a BBQ and fire at the lagoon. The kids had a great time and now I need to rest. Oh yeah...it's off to Wild Rivers today to ride the tubes then to swim practice and then Cooking Club. Yikes!

New Hearts + Blogging Excuses

OMG!...it's been so long since I posted anything on my blog and it's been driving me absolutely mad. I don't like to write a post without a photo, and I haven't been very good about photographing the things I've been doing or working on. The end of the school year and the beginning of summer has kept me busier than ever! I was painting like mad in May and June, but never really finished anything or got around to photographing my work. I've been playing catch-up on life and trying to get things done that have been staring me down for months...filing, good housecleaning, cleaning out kids rooms and bookshelves, clutter busting and such. I would like to bring this blog up to speed and I'll start with these heart photos. The heart above is from the sidewalk in front of my house...I can't believe I've lived here five years and never really noticed it. The heart below is a water spot on the patio from our impromptu Memorial Day gathering after a fun game of Frisbee golf. Paige noticed this one...she is an awesome heart finder, always searching and point them out for me. And finally, the heart rock below that Scott found while at Cub Scout Day Camp as a Youth Volunteer at the Orange County Outdoor Education Center. I always know when he comes home and says, "Mom, I have something for you!" that it's some kind of heart. I'm never disappointed!

Relaxed Holiday Spirit

A Heart or a "B"...I choose Heart.



Lots of beautiful eggs!



A basket of wonderful treats!

I like my new relaxed holiday self. In the past I would have made the kids get dressed and properly groomed before they could hunt for eggs because it involved taking pictures, and they must look presentable in the pictures...they hate that. They want to get right to the hunt. My new philosophy is PHOOEY! Who cares...Martha Steward may cringe, but we're all happier for it. So above is three happy kids and a stress free Easter morning. I like that!

Hearts for Today

A flower petal from the geraniums above fell on top of this little rabbit. Cara Vejsicky found this one for me.

KFC popcorn chicken. Kids found this one.

On the school playhground, Paige found this heart...gum or tar? Don't know.

And finally, Maggie graciously left this one for us. Of course the kids discovered this one! It's wonderful that everyone know I like to photograph hearts. Not many escape notice around here!

My Favorite Number

Am I the only person who doesn't have a favorite number? Why don't I? Have I thought it wasn't important enough? Has a certain number never presented itself to me to be considered worthy? Or have I just not been paying attention? When someone asks me what my favorite number is, I want to have an answer!


So I gave it some thought and couldn't figure out how to decide. No number stands out for me...or carries special meaning. I thought about choosing based on their shape and visual appeal. With that in mind, number 5 appeals to me in a stylish way and 2 is beautiful and fun to write. My left brain thought I should research the meaning of numbers, called numerology, to see which number suits my personality best.


I narrowed my choices down to the numbers 3 and 4. 3 = creativity + expressing myself + new adventure and 4 = stability + home + back to my roots. Both of these numbers describe me well, but I must pick ONE. I went to another website and entered my name and birthday and received this:

Your Life Path Number is 3
Your Life Path Number represents the path you should take through life and the talents and skills you have to make your journey a rewarding one. Your Life Path will allow you to be creative and comfortable with yourself. You will approach life with a bottomless well of optimism. Your imagination will inspire you to create, and in time you will come to inspire others.

Your Life Destiny Number is 3
Your Destiny Number sheds light on those things you must accomplish in your life to be fulfilled. Your destiny is to create, and inspire others to create. You were meant to express yourself, to share the joys of creation with others, imbibe those fortunate enough to know you with the powers of creation and the joys of unbridled enthusiasm.

It was easy to make my decision after reading this. So 3 (three) it is!! I have been blessed with three wonderful children and know that if I pay attention I will discover many more three's in my life with special meaning. Now I'm off to discover my favorite color...why don't I have one of those either (does black count?)

A Little Maggie TLC

Yesterday the kids and I spent a fun day, all 13 hours of it, at Disneyland. So needless to say, I felt sorry for Maggie being home for such a long time all by herself. Today I wanted to make-up for my absence by giving her some TLC. She got to play in the hose which is one of her favorite things. Little did she know she was also going to get soaped up afterwards with special shampoo to help her allergies and soak in the backyard for 30 minutes (she wasn't too crazy about staying outside by herself for a while). Rinsing was playtime once again. Later it was off to the park to play ball...cuz it's all about The Ball!!!!

Sping Break Fun

Had a fun day at California Adventure and Disneyland with the kids to celebrate Spring Break. Despite the long lines, we successfully got on most of the major rides and enjoyed the World of Color show...a spectacular finale to great day. With only a handful of whines, minimal complaints and virtually no sibling fights, we had a fantastic day. When your seventeen year old tell you he had a great day, then you know all is well!

My Adventure Race Adventure

This last weekend Traci, Gigi and I completed the Renegade Dirty Adventure Race (a triathlon of sorts). What sounded like a fun idea six months ago, turned into a black cloud hanging over my head weeks before the race. Nervous about not knowing what to expect and knowing I'd have to push myself harder than I like to be pushed, I just wanted to back-out completely. But being the dependable person that I am, I couldn't let my friends down. So we arrived at Bonelli Park at 6:45 am in the not-so-comfortable temperature of 39 degrees and got ready to start. Our first leg of the race was the 3-mile trail run. Using our map, we had to find a handful of checkpoints, punch our passport and set off for the next leg of the race. I felt like I was on The Amazing Race TV Show.

This is one of the optional checkpoints we located off the main trail.

We completed the first leg in 1 hour 15 minutes sharing last place with another team who were also there just to have fun. Our next challenge was the 1/2-mile boat paddle pulling one member in an inner tube. After what seemed like forever, we carried our flotation devices through the beach obstacle course and finished at the rock climbing wall. Legs tired from running on hills, arms tired from paddling, now we get to use what little energy we have left to scale the wall. With that said and done it's off on the 8-mile all uphill, mountain bike ride from hell!



The beach obstacle course was one of the fun challenges along the course...teamwork was key. 



In the transition area getting ready for our ride, an event worker felt the need to remind us that we were entered in a race...we laughed and told him were not IN IT TO WIN IT, JUST HAVE FUN!

The riding leg of the race had some mental challenges mixed in with the uphill torture...a nice diversion from our pain. Rolling dice, putting together a puzzle blindfolded, and filling a holey tube with water to retrieve the ball put our mind to use instead of our muscles. We only stopped once to contemplate our sanity wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Then, with God's grace and no catastrophes...we made it to the finish line as they were starting to clean up the event. We only got 5 points deducted for finishing an hour after the recommended finish time and best of all...we were not LAST...we came in second to last. But the most hilarious thing of all??? Take a look at the photo below.

Here we are holding our First Place Plaque. That's right...we placed first in 3 Member Woman's Teams. I probably don't have to tell you that we were the ONLY 3 Woman Team!  We'll laugh about this for a long time

Encouraging Words Inspire

The power of an encouraging word and heartfelt support is simply amazing. Yesterday I emerged from my cocoon  that I call home and touched based with a few souls I've been meaning to contact. When they brought up my art and fed me a kind word or two it made my heart sing. Those simple words made me eager to get back in the studio, to keep pushing forward even when I feel like giving up. Thank You!

With life stretching me in many directions, it's been challenging to accomplish much on my art journey lately. The mixed media piece above "Hellebores in the Field"  24 x 30 inches is one I recently finished. For my first attempt at a collage background and oil paint flowers, it's not too bad. It does, however, remind me of what I call Price Club Art which are the large oil reproduction painting you could once buy at Price Club. Oh well, it looks good in my bathroom.

The two pieces below are from Tim Gagnon's video course on Misty Trees. In one of my recent posts I mentioned taking this course to learn his mist painting technique so I could finish a painting I had started. The first Misty Trees painting I started on acrylic paper and found it was hard to blend the paint. So then I started the 12 x 12 inch canvas below. It was easier to work on the canvas, but I continued to work on both pieces for practice. When I look at them now I can't really see a difference. The misty trees in the background were a bit challenging and Tim made it look so stinkin' easy. Ignore my floating tree in the bottom photo. This was just the first weeks lesson...I think I have 3 or 4 more to go. Check back