Operation Hubby

Well, now the cat's out of the bag, I can tell you my plans for the month of February!

I endeavor to show my beloved Husband just how special he is to me this month. I hope he knows that he is incredible all year long, cuz I don't actually have the energy to do something out of the ordinary every day....but at least for this month, I wanted to try. And so, starting with the 1st, ending with the 28th, and commemorating all the holidays in between, I am giving my hubby something from the heart. Again, he probably would prefer something from the kitchen, but we all gotta go with our strengths, right? (wink, wink)

I made these little cards with sweet sentiments written inside and am hiding them in various places for him to find in the morning before he goes to work. He's started lining them up on top of the piano and I get a little excited to see if a new one has joined it's friends there when I awake in the morning. Should be quite a clan there by the end of the month!

It is taking some creativity and planning to stay on top of 28 projects, but I credit my renewed craftiness (get it...cleverness and artsiness) on The Creative Everyday Challenge. Besides, I couldn't have found a more worthy subject to bestow such happy work on! And, hey, I figured this beats my usual "luf u" mumbled in mid rollover from one side of my pillow to the other while he gets up early for work....and even better than if I mustered the strength to lift my head slightly to make him bend all the way down to receive my morning-breath filled kiss...yah, I'm feeling mighty sneaky, and smiley :) right now!

Home is Where your Door is

It is February now, and this month's challenge theme is Home! How wonderful! It brings together all the things I love most in this world....my family, a place for all my stuff, comfort and warmth, memories and laughs, a place where we can all be ourselves....this is what home represents to me.

My daughter and I just planted up some pots I had on the front porch, abandoned and ugly after the last batch of annuals died off. I've been avoiding them thinking that our hunt for a house would end soon, we'd move, and I could continue gardening again, there.....Well, the house hunting has gone on and on, and so has the dismal setting at the front porch. Seeing nothing but pots filled only with dirt and brown twigs.

So we went to the store, she helped me pick out flowers and herbs...even a cherry tomato plant (one of her favorite things to eat) and got our hands dirty. She was so proud of our hard work!

The best part of this fun gardening project was catching Daddy observing us while we worked. He saw us intently filling and patting and talking about how pretty everything was going to look, and he just stopped and watched, smiling to himself...that is, until our Girl saw him....then it was, "Daddy we're gardening! Come look at this. Wanna help?!"

Now when we enter our place, it looks like this. It's such a joy to see happy little flower faces greeting us where guilt and neglect used to be. The herbs are delightful, too. They are still fresh and small, but as soon as they get full and robust, I'm making a mushroom/herb omelette!

P.S. Operation Hubby started this morning in full swing! Details to come!

Pillow Talk

Romance is in the air....well, if not romance, than the crispness and clarity that follows a rainy day, at least. Indeed, it is a beautiful day to be in love....and with a National Holiday dedicated to it, quickly approaching, that air can be knocked right out of you when the Big Day comes and you've nothing but an embarrassed smile and a foil wrapped chocolate heart you saw at the supermarket checkout line in your hand ( yes, that's been me ).

Let me, then, share with you a little token I made for my True Love a few Februarys passed.

It was 2006, I was 6 months pregnant, home on disability and had blown thru quite a bit of my savings while,"nesting", let's just say :) I was feeling even more incredibly mushy toward my better half on this Valentine's due to my condition....and the thought that no better gift could ever be given than the 2 of us becoming a family. How could I do something different than a simple card, flowers, a home-cooked dinner..... Actually, in looking back, my husband probably would have preferred a home-cooked dinner than the girly little pocket heart I hand-sewed and ribbon embroidered! Though I know he wouldn't have told me otherwise in my fragile state! I was so proud of this little pillow. I created it using all stuff I had around the house already, made it for the sole purpose of declaring love and presented it to him, complete with cheesy poem written on a handmade card!

I've included it here (get those eyes ready to roll!):

My love for you burns bright and true,

Growing stronger day by day.

My heartbeats pound at merely the sound

of your voice calling my name.

My soul sings out that I have found

my one and only Mate.

Forever in time, I'll be yours, you'll be mine,

Our bond will ever remain.

I told you it was cheesy....but I think it's okay to be a bit on the overdone side for Valentine's. And, although he can't store his keys in the pocket or use it as an oven mitt when he bbq's....it sure looks pretty hanging near my ( I mean my child's) art nook, I adore that it serves as a reminder of an exciting time in my life filled with such anticipation, such connection....to my Sweetheart, to my body and that little person growing inside me.

I've recently thought of another use for this sweet pillow pocket. I think it would make a wonderful Tooth Fairy pillow where our daughter could put her tooth before bed instead of under her pillow. Thinking of the small "gifts" she'll receive from the T. Fairy has me giddy already!

So, February, I'm waiting for you, dare I say, even ready for you to arrive! I've got a few more tokens of affection up my sleeve, and I'm anxious to give them......though, I should probably consider cooking a meal for my husband one of these days!

Creative Space

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

I found a website http://www.creativeeveryday.com/ that offers the challenge of finding ways to be more creative everyday. It is a very casual, supportive site run by an artist and I liked the idea of there being themes for every month to help inspire new thoughts and direction to lead you on a journey, whether that be being more mindful of your everyday actions or starting a grand masterpiece....everyone will get something different out of the experience. I instantly wanted to be a part of this challenge, since I do work better on a deadline. However, The thought of a daily, even weekly challenge, seemed a little overzealous....I am a procrastinator, afterall. So, I figured the baby step for me, would be to take the challenge theme (this month is BODY) and use it as a starting point for some new art or craft project to be completed within a month's time. I think that sounds reasonable, perfectly doable, with a little more effort made to carving time out for working on these challenges....plus, at the end of a year, I'll have a great habit and 12 new works to be proud of. I've come to this challenge a little late, as I just signed up for it yesterday, but I'm thinking this wed's photo shoot with Killian may help kill 2 birds with one stone. If I can take a really beautiful photo that meets the criteria of the challenge (the website is very liberal with any rules for participating, I just have some self-imposed guidelines I've set for myself) then I can submit the photo to the challenge and still use it as a painting reference later. I also re-organized my (I mean my kid's) little art desk to help make being creative a little easier....I hope.

You see, my husband and I live in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, and up until 3 years ago, it was perfectly spacious. We used the 2nd bedroom as a computer/art room, where I could keep my supplies out and ready, as well as, unfinished projects. Then I got pregnant. I nested, painted, cleaned, made lists upon lists of things for my patient husband to complete, I decorated, shopped...even sewed curtains and pillows (imagine that)! Those are the curtains below! Everything was redone except that 2nd room. In fact, that finally (and reluctantly) became our daughter's room when she turned 2! So, then the computer was moved into our bedroom and my art (and by now, we're adding a store's worth of scrapbooking material) stuff was to be out in the dining area. Unfortunately, I had to pare down what could be out there and what needed to be boxed up since the area is quite small, but, I still had a place I could call my little nook. Tablecloths are a necessity to cover up the boxes, totes and shelving units filled with more stuff! As my daughter started to take an interest in arts and crafts, she wanted to have a place of her own, where she could have her things available to her when she was in the mood for creating. I set up a desk in her room....she never used it. I would then move my things out of the way, let her use MY nook, then clean her stuff up and put my things out again....this proved to be a waste of time. She likes to have her paints and brushes at her disposal, her markers at hand, clean paper waiting for some color. I can't blame her, it's so nice to sink into the chair and let the imagination flow out of you. Heck, she paints at least once a day, I figure she earned the transfer of ownership of the nook. Now, I move her stuff out of the way when I create (usually when she's at school or sleeping) and put it all back when I'm through. These are just a few of the paintings she did today. Call me unsentimental, but I throw out about 10 to 15 paintings of hers every week. The good ones get rotated onto her walls in her room....the really exceptional ones, I keep. Oh well, someday I will have a nook all to myself and as I sit down with my cup of tea and am listening to my ecclectic music selections, ready to put brush to paper, I'll be missing that little voice asking, "Mommy, can I paint, too?"

Wow, I guess it's official!

I've been toying around with the idea of starting a blog lately...even created and deleted this 1 once already. Heck, who am I to think I have anything to say? But, then, who are any of us? Just everyday people...living everyday lives... I've decided this blog will serve to be an online journal of sorts.... a place to share my art, my musings, my thoughts even though they may be cranky, beautiful, honest, flawed, etc. Just a place to let things that reside within me to unfold and be recognized. My life has been in need of a little sprucing. Y'know, a little change that gets you out of your old ruts and into something a bit different...even a tad uncomfortable. A chance to become re-energized, perhaps? While this may not be what my dreamlife had in mind...envision a luxurious spa getaway somewhere surrounded by trees, delious food I didn't have to prepare myself, pairs of skilled, warm hands poised for pampering & a stack of magazines as high as my chin...my reallife wins when it comes to funding said dreamlife. So, I guess this blog is my little staycation...where the only massage therapist in the place is me! Bring on the footrubs and tv dinners! Though it will be a little difficult to type at the same time :)

On a more exciting note, I have another photo shoot set up for Wed with my good friend's daughter. She loves to play dress-up and pose for me. I used her pic as a reference for my painting "The Whispering Tree". She is really fun to direct so I think we should get some great shots! Maybe I'll ask her to take some pics of me for a change....hmmmm, those probably wouldn't inspire me to paint....but maybe to exercise!