pamgarrison

project life • week 14

Project Life week 14, April 1- April 7. Yes, I am very very behind. Not just in posting them here, in actually doing the spreads. Getting this one done felt like a big win for me. I am determined to do a week for each week of the year. Of course, it can be done any way, that's just how I decided to do it.

This spread was hard for me for a few reasons: 1. Too much time had passed since the week happened. 2. My printer died and I had to get a new one and get up to speed on it. 3. There were 2 extra inserts; one, my going away, and one my daughter attending a wedding and 4. I went away- being away from home always puts me behind in everything it seems. For all those reasons, I was having a hard time starting again.

So I forced it. I used embellishments to fill in where I couldn't remember the stories I wanted to document. And I'm totally fine with this week now that it's done. I remember that it really is about the year in whole.

I found that little blue heart (velvet flower petal) above on the floor when I was putting the spread together and although it has nothing to do with April1-7, I liked how it fit so used it. An example of leaning on embellishements to fill in the week.

I used a postcard by artist Dinara Mirtalipova that came in my Uppercase magazine subscription for the date header card.

The left side of spread.

Here's the front side of the first insert and some closeups of the embellishments:

And the back side of this first insert, all about my trip to Meg's Whatever Craft Weekend:

The second insert was a photo of a photo booth pic my daughter took at a wedding on the front:

The back side of this insert has another photo booth photo, a text to me when she was heading out the door to the wedding, and phone photos from the wedding:

And the right side of the weekly spread:

At the end of the week my daughter ran in her first 1/2 marathon.(!!!) How funny are her snapchats to me during the race? Love that she took them and sent them to me.

The three cards above were all hand made. The United States was a print of a google search for "United States map free clip art" which I then stitched my route taken.

So happy that I got this week 14 done, 15 should be easier, because it was less full of activities for the family, and because I'm back on the proverbial horse.

We are currently in the middle of week 21, in case you're counting. :)
 No pressure Pam.

(Riiiight.)

sunday

We spent a nice slow Sunday picking up after the celebrating. It seemed like rain was coming (it's here now), so I figured I should go ahead and cut and enjoy the roses that were in full bloom before the rain took all the petals away. 

If you don't care for pictures of roses, this is going to be a boring post, because I just couldn't stop taking them.

The Abraham Darbys...no words needed. 

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for my boy too, he loved the orange rose support and had a good day too :)

xo

saturday ramblings

Today we're celebrating my son's birthday. I woke up happy just thinking about him. I love how much kids enjoy birthdays. 

When we moved into our house a few years ago, I made some comment about wanting to take these roses out. He stopped in his tracks, "why Mom? I love those roses".  Through his eyes I'm learning to love them too...not quite there yet, but walking by them and knowing he loves them makes me happy. He has taught me to love the color orange, just not orange roses, yet.

I was very happy we had some to cut for his day today. 

Birthdays around here means the banner I made years ago comes out. 

Still have to clear my debris from the entry table though...

Time to clean up last Saturday's cuttings too.

And do some general pickup (always). (I hear they have Kantha's for $30.00 at HomeGoods btw.)

Had fun cutting out his home made b'day card.

And a few other things...hoping to catch up a little on project life tomorrow!

and spend some more time on my friend's painting too...

Here's to a lovely weekend! 

project life • week 13

This was week 13, March 25-March 31 (yikes, a few weeks ago!)

Above is the left page of the spread. (It's a Design D page.)

I used my Silhouette Portrait to cut out the "oh yes!" on the date card. 

{Here are the cute paper pennants.}

It was a full week for us, as my daughter was home for spring break and Easter too. 

I had a lot of photos I wanted to use, so I ended up using two additional inserts. 

I wanted them to be different sizes than each other and smaller than the standard week pages so that it's obvious it's all part of the same week. In the photo above you can see the two spreads, each having a tag on the edge for ease of flipping, and to label it as far as the Easter page goes. 

The first insert (above) was just a series of photos that I had taken of my kids one day. I had planned to go out and get one of them together and just took these in the meantime, but I liked them when I was going through my photos and felt it demonstrated  their relationship well, so I used them all. I put them in this page protector, a first time I've used this kind.

{The D journal card is a downladable from here. }

This is the back of that insert. I made it all about my daughter's week home. 

Again, I love this project, becuase it inspires me to take some pictures I normally wouldn't, like the one of my daughter and dad. We went over to my Dad's one day and because of PL, I made sure to take  picture,of the two of them. Without the project motivating me to document her week, I know I wouldn't have, I would have assumed that there would always be time for more pics.

I wanted to use this banner that was part of the Studio Calico PL kit. I had to cut it so it wouldn't go over too much of the photo and don't mind at all that it's split between two pockets, to me it works fine. 

I had so many pics just from Easter, I decided to do an insert for just that.  I used a Design F page protector and just cut the last row off. That way it was layered, showing under the first insert, but still smaller than the weekly spread pages.

The You're a Good Egg card is a free downloadable from here.

{My Dad has always sung that song to my kids, so I was happy to include that snippet on their photo. }

The back side of this insert is more from Easter at home. More PL kit goods, more Paisley Press downloadables. 

And the last page of the week's spread, just miscellaneous ongoings from the week up to Easter Sunday. 

My printer was acting up, that's why you see the line above, almost half way down the photo. I used it as reason to add on a bird from an old bird book and some of the PL kit stuff above the line, as if it was a plan. 

Sadly, my printer completely died afterwards. After many attempts to fix it, I gave up and ordered this printer which I am anxiously waiting for. I did a bunch of review reading etc. before choosing this one, I'll let you know if I agree with the positive reviews. As soon as I get it, I'll be printing non stop, as I've got weeks 14,15 & 16 to catch up on! 

project life • week 8

 

Project Life week 8, February 18-24

See that picture bottom left? That's the biggest reason I'm doing this project, to have our lives documented for my kids. Only 8 weeks in, and he's looking at it! Love.

I've really appreciated technology even more since taking this on, because it makes it so easy to get photos and texts from my daughter capturing her life at college, and it makes me realize how easy it is for us to stay in contact vs. what it would be like without the benefit of today's inventions.

But I won't even pretend that having a reason to play with fun papers and flair ( like the Studio Calico items above)  aren't another reason I am enjoying this project so.

I wrote on the photo Sunday Morning with an app called Over that I like a lot.

This week was pretty standard. I used a cut up piece from my Paper Source calendar for the week date card. And since I was cutting into it, I used the month and glued it onto the Scrapbook dividers to break up the months in my album.Of course, I'll have to wait until after each month is over and I've torn the used calendar sheet off the wall to put them in the album, but that doesn't really matter.

Other than that, it was business as usual. Still happy to be doing it, and onto week 9!

project life • week 7

 

Week 7, February 11-17

This was my favorite week so far. Probably because of all the fun Valentine's Day themed fodder, as well as lots of photos to choose from when I sat down to print.

I'm such a sucker for packaging, it's nice to have somewhere to put it when I come across it. The "sending you my love" postcard was sent to me in the mail, but it's a Rifle Paper Co product (love everything they make!).  The plastic heart frame around my husband and me, as well as the "Be Mine" under my son was from a Target sticker package, the Spread The Love card was included in an etsy order I placed with them. The clear, colored hearts was cut from a Target bag I received with something. Most everything else is either handmade or from Studio Calico Project Life kit.

Almost 2 months down...that's crazy! So happy I decided to do this project and document our year. Onto week 8 I go...

project life • week 6

 

Project life week 6, february 4-10

When I finally got around to finishing week 6, it was fun. Lots of pictures to be found on my phone and on the computer from my camera. Love how this project is helping me to see my life a little differently, from a new perspective, and the committment to documenting it causes me get those photos printed. It reminds me of the very early days of blogging, where everything in my life was seen with a new pair of eyes. Instagram does that for me too, and now this project...It's good for me to look with a fresh mindset. I'm grateful for the projects that encourage me to do so!

first day of the new year

Here's to 2013!!!

I did a little doodling in the car as we were heading to the beach. I am very excited for 2013. I feel like most everyone is, which makes it all the more fun.

We went to one of our favorite beaches, Crystal Cove, and it was a beautiful day.

Loved that the Heron wasn't the least bit perturbed by humans. Good perspective for New Years Day, I suppose he was focusing on the year ahead, haha.

Anyway, I hope you had a lovely start to the year.

Here we go!!!!

 

 

a little bit of the newport harbor boat parade

fireworks on the last night of the parade

A favorite holiday tradition for us is to attend the Newport Harbor Boat Parade show.

I thought I'd share a few (less than focused at times) shots and a little video for those that haven't seen it and want to, or those that have, and are nostalgic for it (as I discovered when posting some photos on my instagram feed).

After the parade, we always walk around the island, taking in all the decorations. Just like the boats, the houses (and docks) go from simple to beyond "over the top"

why yes, Virginia, that IS a train on a track that goes in and out of the house!

And of course, no trip to Balboa is complete without this stop:

 

december...

Hello blogland, hope you are enjoying December!

Reporting in on more december goings on around here...

When we were driving up to see my daughter for her birthday, the boys allowed me about 10 minutes to run into Art From Scrap (they are so no fun, those boys!)...and I scored these vintage ornaments. I was especially excited about the mercury glass pickle, because we love that tradition in our house. - Well, we sort of don't do it right, it's more "hide and find the pickle" over and over again vs. "the first one to spot it gets a present and the fun is over" version of the tradition. Now if only the tree were ready...

We did get to the tree lot, but this is seriously a perfect representation of the cooperation I get when asking my three knuckleheads to pose for a picture. I did however, get my kids to give me a shot amongst the trees, and although I really wanted to send out a holiday card of the four of us after reading Meg's post, both time, and my belief that we'd get one, were running out...so I went with just the two of them. ("Why?", you ask Meg, I'll tell you why, because it just might not get done otherwise!!! :) - note to self for 2013, must get in a few pictures with my family, not just take them.)

We did get a tree, and here it sits, waiting for lights to be strung and ornaments to be hung.

...Hopefully today, after my son gets home from school we'll get the lights on, and then ornaments tonight as a family. Hopefully, the key word when it comes to time and my plans for it around here.

Let's see...what else have I been up to?

I snuck in a little playing on my tablet,  trying to grow my PhotoShop skills (not hard to grow when you've got so much to learn!), by doodling on some photos like the one above. That was fun. I want to do it more, more, more. I do like drawing on the tablet.

I've also been working on our December Daily book:

Day 4:

Day 5:

(I do really like these pens for writing on photographs-like the glossy one on the left)

For me, that saying is absolutely true, especially one that smells like fresh gingerbread!

I just baked some gingerbread, as a matter of fact. Off to eat gingerbread and retrieve my boy from the bus stop, crossing fingers there is not much homework today; we've got fun December things to do!

 

december daily, days 2 & 3

Before I get to days 2 and 3, I wanted to show some additions to what I've previously shown. I did end up going back and making another "hello december" arrow, this one is more legible in person, although, not super clear here.

I couldn't resist gluing this scrap of magazine paper from a Hallmark ad down on my inside cover.

I also added a clear overlay to day 1 spread and this little ribbon with the date stamped on it:

The ribbon is actually in between plastic, kept in place by a little gold brad on the outside, since it was moving around. Before I had put the ribbon there, you could see through to the next spread where I had stamped Dec 02 2012 and it was annoying me, :).

Day 2 spread- my favorite parts of these pages are the arrows that were scavenged from packaging, the red arrows in a row, from a new faucet we installed, and the brown one above the shell was one of those "pull to open here" arrows on shipping boxes.

Because the day was full of things I wanted us to remember, I used 2 spreads. Here's the second:

The left side is a full size pocket protector- I wanted to do one where the photos were cut up, but figuring out how to do that since the back would be affected by the same perameters was getting me confused and getting in the way of me actually documenting it, so I let that go.

The right side page is one of the pieces that came with this. Love that it had the 2 cut out and I attached some paper security tape behind it.

I sewed on a photo I took of my lap when driving home- and added a playing card from an old game of Rook (I think it was Rook).

And day 3 spread:

A full page photo sewn in a page protector with a Martha Stewart label sticker on top, stamped with an old set of stamps I have:

I don't know if the company is still selling them, but here's their info on the box:

On the right side of the page, I used one of the same pages from the same as the 2 above, and it had a 3 cut out already:

I didn't back it with anything, because I liked the page 4 stuff that was showing through.

The only thing besides pen and washi tape on this page are the button from here, a gold doily from here.

Onto days 4,5,6 and soon 7, time is flying, at least I'll remember how we spent it now ;).

love!

Meet my Dad (Duke, right), and his pal Wayne (left). They've been friends forever and have worked together over the years making various products, both having had business with machine shops etc. Anyway, not too long ago, I sent my Dad a photo of an arrow light that I saw at the flea market that was $500.00 (!!!) and asked if he could make one for me. And look what they came up with! Love, love, love the arrow lights they've made out of beautiful metal. They also made a star and some alphabet letters for me. How awesome are they?!?! So awesome!




For the moment, one of the prototypes is living on my kitchen counter. It was a huge hit at Thanksgiving with all that came through the house. I was so happy for my Dad that everyone showed such honest enthusiasm at the sight of them. 

Look at the little star:

They're making 2 larger sized stars, as well as some arrows that are slightly larger and with a different shape. A couple other shapes in the work right now too. They've got a bigger project in the way right now, but as soon as that's out of the way, they'll be on these full time. They may even open up a little etsy shop! Of course, I"ll let you know. But, in the meantime, they're manufacturing a few for me to bring to the Handmade Holiday Boutique to sell!!! Can't wait to see them all together, the lights are so pretty against the metal, and can't wait to see who they go home with! 

december daily, and so it begins

I'm having fun with December Daily, but wishing I had a little more time to play and experiment. I am feeling behind already. We went on a little overnight trip on the 1st, so I didn't get to begin the storytelling/documenting/ until returning home on the 2nd, and really, because of a busy day yesterday, last night (the 3rd). So here it is the 4th and I'm just now posting day 1. I'm trying to figure out how I want to approach this as I go along. I know so many that participate in December Daily also do Project Life, so they don't document all that happens, just capture moments of the season daily. I'm not sure what approach I'm going to take yet, it's an experiment for me for sure, having never "scrapbooked" (for lack of a better term), before.

Last night I lined the inside of my book with washi tape. So fun to do and I love the result. Need to take a little sandpaper to the edges, but other than that, it's good to go.

I also worked on a working title page of sorts. I'll probably add another page on top of this eventually, but for now, I've got something in there to get me started. I just used one of Ali Edward's stamps with hot pink zing powder onto a handmade paper. It didn't work out that well, I think because of the porous, uneven paper,  but no big deal.

I practiced writing a sort of title, using ink (I do love that vert olive color!) and a dip pen, before writing directly on the page...

But as you can see, I had trouble with the paper (too porous) and didn't really get such a lovely result. This is a good example of how each stage of my creating informs the next, because I then went searching for something to obscure the writing, deciding on a velum paper included in Kelly Purkey's kit, and taped it on.

I like the result of it. Although, looking at this photo, I really think I am going to re do that "hello december" arrow so that it's easier to read. :)

Onto December 1...

December 1st happens to be my daughter's birthday, so my husband, son and I headed up to love on her. It's a long, mostly beautiful drive, and I took lots of photos along the way, as well as once we got to her, her room mates, with us, etc. but in the end, the iphone photo I took of her making a wish on her birthday gelato summed up the day the best I felt. I added the Bokeh hearts using the Picfx app.

Next I did a rough cut and paste of some of the hearts in PhotoShop to obscure the people in the background and printed it to fit in a full sized pocket protector that came with my book.  I put some glitter alphabet stickers on top of the pocket protector vs. on top of the photo. I went back and forth on whether to print the photo on card stock and not use a page protector at all...may still change my mind on that. Here's the spread of December 1, the notes written about the day done on the backside of the title page. There is more "flair" than I would typically want to use, but I made a writing mistake that was too distracting, so added a second, and then for balance added the third at the bottom.

And there you have my day one of December Daily! Like I said, I'm figuring this out as I go along, but the point is it's fun, and the most important part is that for once, I will have created something for my family that tells the story of our family at this moment in time. I've been good at making treasures for them throughout the years, such as quilts or stockings etc. etc. but NOT good at pictures and words, and it's something that I do feel a lot of guilt, (or regret) about, so it feels good to be doing something now.

You can see Ali's page one here and links to a whole bunch more on the bottom of her post.

 

thanksgiving recap

Hope those of you that live in the States had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! We had a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Here are some of the few photos I captured (thank goodness for my phone, I swear, I hardly pick up my big camera anymore).

The best part of Thanksgiving every year is having our family in town and a house full of guests. There's nothing like cousin time on special holidays! 

My daughter was totally into cooking this year, even more than last, and she basically took over all the planning and head chef duties. The day before, she corralled the kids and made those cute acorns you see all over pinterest:

I can't tell you how pleased I am that she is finally uses pinterest. After all my attempts at explaining why she would like it fell on deaf ears, her college dorm mates convinced her. (Of course, right?) She also pre-scooped the ice cream for the pie thanks to pinterest. :

She didn't seem to mind bossing me around too much:

And truthfully, I didn't mind it either, I love making pies (we made one pumpkin and 2 apple), and frankly, she did such an awesome job it was easy to give up control! 

My neices went through an entire pad of art paper, making various signs and things like leaves and acorns to decorate the house (like in the first photo- you can see they loved my paper crimper too). 

I can't tell you how much I love art made by kids! Love it! And look at those cute arrows, makes an arrow obsessed Aunt proud. Look at the faces and directional arms...and that squirrel! 

As I mentioned when I posted this on my instagram, they were clearly fixated on the "asind seeting" ...{their mom explained to me that although they are twins, they are in separate classrooms and one has a teacher that is very focused on spelling correctly, the other does not, so one asks her mom for correct spelling...of course, I find the incorrect spelling so charming.}

Not too long before serving dinner, I popped in the dining room to do something and saw one of my nieces, ready and waiting at her place. How cute is that?!?

I was so glad she let me take her photo, and it didn't take long for her sister to find her:

It does make me sad that my brothers live in Nor Cal and my family and my Dad live in So Cal. When I look at these pictures, I miss being able to participate in each others' lives on a regular basis. I'd love to babysit (which would most likely mean them chasing my son around the house for much of the time, just like cousins do!)

Thanks to my daughter, we enjoyed a lovely feast, and our friend Gillian, who is English, informed us that the correct way to open party crackers is with the help of a friend, not all by yourself, like we'd been doing. In case you are the type to have holiday party crackers, now you know the proper English way too.  

I'm happy to report that thanks to the signage, everyone was able to not only find their way to the dining room, but also to their correct seating! There were a couple very pleased 7 year olds. I will save my "Ant Pam" placecard forever. 

After dinner there was the general lolling about, dish washing, pie baking, and apparently some ipad-ing too.

And just like every year, some dear friends stop by and we do even more lolling about, eating, visiting and always big group game playing. We seriously need Catch Phrase to come out with a new edition of replacement discs, we've been through the same words year after year. Luckily, we adults are forgetful, and the kids grow so much from year to year that they relate to the words differently each time, so, so far, so good. 

The firepit is a favorite place to gather and hang out. I've still got to get the rocks to cover the ring (we all can't agree- some what glass marbles, some want sand and natural stone, I'll let you guess who wants what). But finished or not, everyone loves the fire pit- it's mesmerizing, and comfy, and perfect for s'more making and general stretching out the evening and the fun times. The new furniture around it and my sparkly shoes from TJMaxx were both big hits as well. Although, in all honesty, even though the shoes were flat, they did hurt my feet by the end of the night...a case of you get what you pay for maybe? 

 

And then it was time to love on Papa and say goodnight. 

The next day was more of the same, sans the big meal, without all the guests. More relaxing, more games, more eating and drinking, visiting and dishes, and walks to the park to play basketball and run (especially after cousins).  No shopping, no working, no homework: a true "stay-cation" as they say, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

Nov 12, 2012- Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all those that serve or have served our country, and the loved ones of those in our military for their sacrifices as well, especially the spouses and children. I thought I'd share a photo of my brother, CAPT C.R. Dugan, call sign Max (remember that movie? 'Max Dugan Returns' ? That's where the name came from I hear), a Navy fighter pilot. He was in the military long before he had his girls, my nieces Molly and Caitlin, but serving must have become more meaningful for him as a father, especially when seeing them celebrate our country. They are so cute, aren't they? May they always have the freedoms and rights that those that this day honors serve/served to provide. Something else to be thankfull for in November.

happy mother's day!

 

I hope you are having a lovely weekend! Mine started out great with a surprise visit from college daughter. She had told me she wouldn't be coming home this weekend, as she had surprised her brother with a visit last weekend for his birthday. Made sense to me. I had just been sort of complaining about it to a friend last Thursday night, and not 2 hours later she walked in the door. She really did surprise me, which is not easy to do, moms are always the ones that know everything that's going on! I literally teared up as I went out with her to thank her friend that had given her a ride home. Such a great gift.

On Saturday we were trying to put her hair in one of those sock roll buns (it eventually worked quite nicely- youtube it if interested) and I was taken by how cute her nail color was so made her let me take a photo:

It's so fun to have her sweet, feminine energy around the house. Sadly, she had to head back mid morning today, but it was worth it. She and her brother made the card on one of my journal pages this morning (top photo of post). And I found this "card" from my son, who was a little bit cranky about going to be last night:

And as my instagram this morning stated, my daughter's boyfriend often brings her flowers when she is home, but today, he brought some to me. Smart boy ;)

Enjoy what remains of the weekend! See you here this week. xo

scenes from saturday

chore-ing

noticing

exercising (and feeling the pain)

indulging

challenging

returning

enjoying

viewing

being

reading

working

thank you-ing

reflecting

cleaning

playing

It was a lovely Saturday, for those of us that live at home, and away at college. I'm glad to have stopped to notice thanks to Ali's  Week In The Life. Hope yours was lovely too!

 

 

 

 

 

where i've been lately part 2

Last post I was prepping for teaching at French General, which included a trip to Joann's for some supplies. I couldn't resist all the goodies above, including the pincushion, even though none of it was needed for class.

It's an illness, this intense love of fabric and all sorts of craft supplies. I just see so many things that I want to create with when I look at them.

Here I am in the middle of two of my favoite girls, Charlotte and Kaari before the whirlwind began. French General is truly an amazing environment to be in, if you haven't gone for a shopping trip or class, I highly recommend it, it never disappoints.

And here I am with friends Judi and Gina. Judi treated Gina to class for her birthday, how sweet is that? Gina posted some of her super cute hearts from class on her blog too. Go see!
And after this picture, I was swooped up in the class fun and as usual, completely forgot to take another photo. If anyone in class has any online to share, post a link in the comments so we can see it through your eyes. The students were sweet and kind and fun and I always appreciate spending time with others that love to make, so thanks for coming out to play!

Charlotte came to stay with me afterwards, as she was also in town for CHA, where her new fabric line for Blend Fabrics was on display. Look at the lovely hostess gift she left for me. LOVE it! I have my very own stash of her fabric. Can't wait to dig in and create with it!

Want to see some close ups?

I thought so...

Each time I think I've decided on a favorite, then I see another. Too many to play favorites! If you want some too, I think you'll have to ask your local fabric store at this point. I'm sure someone online will eventually have them too. When you see a fabric line when it is first out, it's hard to be patient and wait until the orders are all filled! But these teasers should let you know what to be on the lookout for.

{Ed: you can go here to find out where to buy}

And lately, while all the other prep has been going on, I've been helping my Dad get ready to move again. This time for a long time I hope, in a really nice over 55 community. Moving is exhausing, at every age! Knowing we had the move around the corner, I was out looking for a few things he needs and headed to HomeGoods for a look see. I found two cute lamps for him:

And while I was checking out, look what else I saw:

It's right up front in the area where you check out. So if any of you are looking for the giftwrap I did with Paypaya Art, check your local HomeGoods or TJMax!

Ok, back to the moving for me!

caught a glimpse of Christmas

           

Just a glimpse, as it flew by as fast as it came. Full of guests and sweets treats, gifts and good times. It has been a good year, and we're enjoying every last day of it. Until the New Year...

in the works

              
Thanks so much for all the love, support and understanding. I savor each and every comment, and gain perspective from them too. I thought it only fair to show you some happy photos of the transition as well as the painful ones from the last post. Above, we were just heading out from home. I said it was the "Prius as clown car" moving method. They look happy here, but started complaining a bit a few hours in of leg cramps haha.

Here is a happy shot of my babies (no matter how old they get, I can call them that, no?)  in her dorm room, pre lunch and ensuing departure.          (She bought her bedding online from Target )

Here I am with my girl as well. Just wanted to show you that the day wasn't all heartache and tears. We are very excited for her, and she is so happy. She worked very hard her whole life to get this opportunity, and we couldn't be more proud and excited (and a wee bit jealous, truth be told) for her and her college experience. {See the poster in the top left corner? It's the one I was working on here. - more on that in a minute} All reports from college are happy happy. She even sent me a first day of school photo as this was the first time in her life I wasn't there to document the moment. (sniffle) We are all adjusting to the change around here. So lucky to live in this age of technology, Skyping makes it easier.

Before she left, I made a plan to recommit to my art making, and to making a business of it, and to getting organized as a focus and direction to grow in when we got home from the move. I had to postpone the immediate jump into it because a couple more pressing extended family issues came up that took all my attention, but now that those have settled, I am excited to really focus on some dreams I've had for years. And the first one came as a result of requests. That's where the snippet of the poster in the above shot comes in. I made the poster and someone pinned it, and from the blog and pinterest, I've gotten so many requests for prints. I am grateful for the interest, and am diligently working on making that happen. I am super excited about it, and have so much enthusiasm that ideas keep popping into my head for many different designs. I have been spending many hours lost in the creating. Want some peeks?

This one makes me think of Kelly Rae and her sweet baby True. {Love that name, love the word, love the meaning.} I've had tons of learning to do in this making prints out of these. Tons. Still learning, still researching. Still trying to find the best, smartest way to end up with the highest quality product. My friend Tammy has been quite generous with her knowledge, this forum on etsy, and I also have found Kelly Rae's info in this particular book very helpful. This post of Kelly Rae's is how I feel right now. Over the years I've learned lots of things, one of which is how much I do not know :). At times I am overwhlemed and find it daunting, but I have promised myself that now is the time to tend to those needs. For me. And hopefully for you, so that finally, I'll have something to offer for those that are interested. Everyone else figures it out and gets it done, there is no reason I can't too, I tell myself. During a phone conversation about art/business with Jenny this week, she said she was recently told by her accountant when she asked if she was the worst client as far as cluelessness, "oh no! there are way worse out there than you" hahahahahha. That cracked me up! That's a new motto for me; when feeling like I know nothing with a capital N, I will remember that I am never as bad as the worst! I'm still laughing at that concept of cheerleading even as I type it! I may suck, but someone sucks worse than me, hahahahhahahaha. Not exactly what I'm going for!

So far, I've taken a few things to a printers to see what the result woud be, both look and cost, and am still waiting on that. But all the research I've done and all the sellers on etsy alone seem to indicate that buying a printer like this one here, is the way to go. Which then means figuring out the scanning; have profesionally done at a printer? photograph? buy a large scanner (super super expensive)?, photoshop? etc. And then there's the buying of all the different papers to see which I like best. They do sell sample packs, but I wish there were somewhere I could go, in person, to feel and see the papers. I hate spending money on researching, seems wasteful.

Next up, how to package. To mat, or no mat, protective bags, mailing tubes or envelopes, sizes to offer, etc. etc. And all my heart yearns to do is go draw and color, so I sneak that in here and there. My reward for sticking to the work.
            

So that's where I've been, and where I'm going right now. Thanks for checking in. xo