Things that make me think or simply smile

Today we paint

Lots of paint and lots of happiness from the three of us as we painted birdhouses this afternoon. Sometimes it's really fun to get messy. What fun are crafts if we can't let loose a little, right? Ok, so we weren't all wild and crazy with the paint, but we still had some good fun. I was a little surprised how quickly the kids painted. Then again, they do know that I have other crafty activities planned for this week and were ready to move on to the next project. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but one craft a day, we have to savor the moment.

Savor the moment, indeed.

The artist of being alive

"The most invisible creators I know of are
those artists whose medium is life itself.
The ones who express the inexpressible-
without brush, hammer, clay, or guitar.
They neither paint nor sculpt-
their medium is their being.
Whatever their presence touches
has increased life. They see and don't have to draw.
They are the artist of being alive."

-J. Stone

A quote that stirs my soul, giving me permission to just "be".  Allow the striving to quiet, sit in the truth of who I am and what I love. So often I find myself feeling that I need define a greater sense of living artfully (in a creative, artsy kind of way). Truth be told, that's just not me. I prefer to have many experiences, embracing what the moment is asking for. Through writing, photography, pasting in my discovery journal, reading, exploring nature, baking, or simply just sitting quietly.

The artist of being alive. yes.

Weekending

This weekend was full of:
celebrating
playing
cooking
enjoying
knitting (yes, I'm still working on the same scarf!)
more playing
carving

Wishing you a Happy Halloween!

 

She is Rich with Wonder

"She gets goosebumps from tiny, perfect things.
Seeing the stars. Fruit trees in bloom. The
scent of dinner from a neighbor's house, a
phone call at the right time, a bar of exotic
chocolate. She keeps a list in her wallet of the
gorgeous parts of the everyday: maple leaves,
new perfume, slow-cooked tomato sauce. She adds
to it all the time. She is rich with wonder."
-Unknown

I'm walking around with my heart wide open. This is really no big surprise,  Autumn always does this to me. This time it feels different, a certain peace surrounds me. I'm living more in the moment than ever and it feels so right. I feel like I'm slowly coming home to the person I have always wanted to be. Paying attention to what moves me, what makes my heart skip a beat, makes me smile, makes me whole. I'm shedding the ideas of who I thought I should be and embracing with my heart and soul that person deep down in my heart I would like to be. I'm welcoming change, eager to see what gifts it brings into my life.  

I've decided to live in wonder of this beautiful life.

Won't you join me?

So Close

I'm so close to finishing this, my first true attempt at knitting a scarf.  Poor thing, it's a little crooked in some places (still working on the tension of the yarn as I knit), a tiny hole in another place. Yet, I'm doing it and most importantly I'm really enjoying it. The yarn is so soft, I love the feel of it in my hands. I'm excited to be close to finishing it and have every plan to make this my priority today. See...I have my eye on another scarf to start that will be slightly more challenging. I'm thinking a lovely golden yellow in honor of my most favorite season we are presently in.

But..before I can sit and knit, we have a leaf peeping greenbelt walk to take, hot cocoa to sip, library visit to make and milk to pick up! All in a day my friends.

Wishing you much happiness on this gorgeous and oh so inspiring Autumn morning.

 

 

Project Life

I haven't talked much about this year and Project Life. Well....let me tell you, I love it.

Sad to say I've been terrible at keeping a scrapbook for each of the kids. I think I might have pages up to Zach turning 4 months completed and then I just sort of stopped (not sort of...I literally stopped).  To be honest with you, scrapbooking overwhelms me just a little.

That is, until I discovered this amazing way of documenting our lives called Project Life.
I'm smitten. I'm hooked. I wish I would of been doing this for the past 17 years of my life (since we've been married).  It hasn't actually existed that long, but you get the idea.

The kids love looking at it and reminiscing about the moments I've captured in pictures. They remember so much. This documenting of our everyday is more fun than I would have ever imagined. Each time I look through the pages, I can't help but think about the life we are creating as a family and also how quickly it goes. The little details of our life are being recorded. The small details that matter most in creating a life uniquely our own.

There have been months that I've fallen behind with this project but always find the time to catch up. I always have the pictures even if there is a month or two without much journaling. That's ok, I'm allowing flexibility and feel that the pictures are the most important part. I take pictures daily. I find immense satisfaction in having photos of our day no matter how uneventful it may seem at the time. 


I've learned a few tricks that has helped me be more consistent with the journaling. I have a stack of pre-stamped cards on my desk in the kitchen readily accessible for the day. When something happens or is said that I want to journal, it's right there. At night I will make a few more notes about our day and then put it in the pile to be placed in the album. I usually upload my pictures to be printed on Saturday and then spend time Sunday putting the week prior together in the album. This system has worked well for me. The beauty of Project Life is you can make it your own. There's no right or wrong way to do it. I choose to keep it fairly simple.

I'm very excited to place my order for 2012 Project Life. I've chosen Clementine as my design for next year and will be keeping the same album pages (Photo pocket pages-design A) as my main pages. In addition, I have ordered these pocket pages that I plan to put at the end of each month for extra photos I'd like to include for that month. I'm also considering purchasing a black album instead of using the more decorative one.  More research is needed before I make this decision. I want to find an album that will hold the entire year without splitting it up.

Have I convinced you yet? I sure hope so! You will be so happy you embarked on Project Life.

Wishing you a lovely Autumn filled weekend!

A List of Good Stuff

I thought it would be fun to share with you some things I'm loving right now:

The visually stunning 3191 Miles Apart. Love the new website.

Seriously, how cute is this wall map garland. I've been trying to figure out the perfect place in our home to hang it because I really want to buy it!

Solitude and Ritual. I'm a huge believer in taking time every single day for myself to slow down and just be. Always happy to see others doing the same. Love the image, it's just so cozy.

My dream is to fill my closet with Boden apparel. I have some big plans for a new wardrobe this Fall and can't wait to buy some essential pieces from their catalog.

This recipe for easy bread is on my list to make. I still love making bread and excited to try this recipe. It looks delicious!

Um, yeah.... this no bake chocolate cake recipe is absolutely on my list to make! Scrumptious!

The SMASH journal. They sold out faster than I could order one. Thank goodness, they are back in stock. I've placed my order and am so excited to start this creative journey. Watch the video on the website, all in the name of fun!

And that, my friends, is some good stuff!

 

 

Thoughts on Creativity

"When creativity becomes one more thing we to, like the laundry, then it takes far less time to do it.  Much of our desire for creative time has to do with our trying to coax ourselves into being in the right mood to create.  We want to "feel like it", and when we don't, or don't quickly, we think the solution is more time.  Actually, the solution is less attention to the vagaries of mood.  In short: creativity needs to become daily, doable, and nonnegotiable, something as quotidian as breathing.

"When we make a special occasion of our art, we rob ourselves of the time we actually have.  When we make a ceremony out of the right paper, the right noise level, the right pen and precise circumstances, we are actually creating many false conditions that make our art not more possible but more impossible. "I can't think when it's noisy" or "when the kids are home".  We may not like thinking under those conditions, but we can think under them and we owe it to ourselves to learn that we can.  By making our creativity nonnegotiable, we do it a little everyday no matter what our mood and no matter what our judgement of the work.  What we are after is the gut-level knowledge that our creativity is both doable and portable.  We can work no matter how "adverse" the conditions.  The less precious we are about how and when we do our work, the more precious it can be to us."

-Julia Cameron
fr: The Sound of Paper

Love. Love. Love.  I love this passage from the ever insightful and wise Julia Cameron.  Such truth.  It makes you stop to think, doesn't it?  It certainly stopped me in my tracks. The realization that I need to make "my work" part of my daily life, permission to make it so.  You can take 5 minutes out of your day, you can spend the entire day being creative. The most important thing is that you make it happen. 

Creativity was one of those words that use to intimidate me, make me want to run the other direction. I had convinced myself creativity was only valid in your life if you could sing, dance, draw, write well, etc. I had created such a narrow view of creativity. I'm not sure when it happened but something shifted and I realized that creativity can be anything that brings richness and passion to my life. Even if you choose not to share it with the world, it still matters because it's yours. Seeing creativity as "your work" opens it up to be anything you wish it to be. Take a moment to think about what "your work" is and then decide right here and now that you will make it a part of your daily life. It's what makes your life uniquely yours. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend full of creative moments. Even if that means sitting outside with a tall glass of iced tea just taking in the lovely weather. It can be anything.

 

 

 

And She Knits.....

 
 
Even I am surprised by my new found love, knitting. I'm smitten and can't get enough.
It all began with reading of one of my favorite blogs Soulemama and being completely inspired by her amazing talent as a knitter. If you have a chance, check out her thoughts on knitting and take a peek at all the wonderful knitting she has done. Inspiring!

 
 
A few months ago I came across a pattern for this blanket and just knew I had to start knitting right away! I have to make this blanket, yes I do!  But first, I must practice. Lots. We recently took a weekend trip (no kids) which gave me the opportunity to knit on the road. Nice. Just what I needed to give me the confidence to keep trying even if at first I was a little intimidated.

 
Every time I sit down to read one of my favorite magazines I'm in awe of the stories and beautiful images of the bloggers out there who have picked up knitting and share that love with others. This too has been a great source of inspiration for me.

Right now, I'm working (very slowly) on a basic garter stitch scarf.  Even though mistakes are made and I am a beginner with many years of practice ahead of me, it's the process of learning something new that I'm most excited about.  Knitting has taken me out of my comfort zone. Even just a year ago, I never thought knitting was something I would be interested in (let alone have the patience) to learn.  Then something shifted and I started paying attention to how I felt when I came across a blog post, book or knit piece that captured my interest. I'm thankful for listening to the yearning of my soul and for the deep satisfaction of trying something new and loving it!

Once the kids are tucked into bed at night, I look forward to the quiet time with needles in hand knitting my evening away. There's a peacefulness to the "clicking" of the needles, a rhythm of knitting that I am finding to be so calming. Even the times when I discover a knot or tangle that I will spend more time than necessary (Lars tells me to "just cut it off") fixing, I still find it enjoyable and a good lesson in patience. I look forward to sharing my "not so perfect" creations with you.

Thank you for visiting and for being patient readers as I took the past 3 weeks off. Sometimes a break is good and I'm happy to be back!

Happy June and Happy Friday to you!

 

Let's Paint!

 
Nurturing the kids creativity is an important part of our everyday. I enjoy sitting down  and creating with the kids and listening to the conversations. It's always entertaining, the individual stories or me being reminded of the wish list for an "upcoming" birthday or hearing them talk about what they are painting. 

Being together and sharing these moments that will remain in our hearts forever. Life well lived.