♥ good things

♥ whimsical gardens
♥ beautiful photographs
♥ floral arrangements
♥ interior decor
♥ handmade jewelry
♥ embroidery
♥ bird motifs
♥ vintage notions
♥ aqua

(sorry for the pixelated photographs. while my computer is in the shop *sniff* i am withouth photoshop.)

{good advice}

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
♥ Dr. Seuss

{wish}

With my birthday coming up (March 17th *wink*) people have started asking for my "wishlist". Really, I am the easiest person in the world to shop (or make!) for which I think I portray here on my blog. I love birthdays and gift giving and recieving. :) This year I'm all about books. Here is my current book wishlist (in no particular order):

♥ Flea Market Baby: The ABC's of Decorating, Collecting, & Gift Giving
♥ Simply Felt: 20 Easy & Elegant Designs in Wool
♥ Mary Emmerling's Romantic Country: Style That's Straight from the Heart
♥ Making Memory Boxes: 35 Beautiful Projects
♥ Cupcakes
♥ Visual Chronicles - Thank you, Linda!
♥ Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women
♥ Alphabetica: An A-Z Creativity Guide for Collage + Book Artists
♥ Ribbons: Beautiful Ideas for Gifts + Home Decorations
♥ PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
♥ Designing with Texture
♥ Designing with Words
♥ The Art Doll Chronicles
♥ Paper Making Techniques Book
♥ Graphic Frames
♥ Simple Knits with a Twist
♥ The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks, & Albums Made Simply Beautifully
♥ Simple Knits for Cherished Babies
♥ Artful Paper Dolls: New Ways to Play with a Traditional Form
♥ Last Minute Knitted Gifts
♥ Vintage Paper Crafts
♥ Special Knits: 22 Gorgeous Handknits for Babies & Toddlers
♥ Tags Reinvented: New Approaches to Creating Scrapbook Tabs
♥ It's All About Mini Albums
♥ Collage Unleashed
♥ Altered Book Collage
♥ Quilted Memories: Journaling, Scrapbooking, & Creating Keepsakes with Fabric
♥ Spin It: Making Yarn from Scratch
♥ Decorative Journals
♥ Love Your Handwriting
♥ Stamp Artistry
♥ Rubber Stamped Jewelry
♥ Babies Rooms: From Zero to Three
♥ Tiny Patchworks: Make My Life Happy Every Day
♥ The Simple Floral Home
♥ Home Rules
♥ The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor

I ♥ Paper

I've had a headache for about 7 hours now. Ack. Unfortunately, this isn't a rare thing. Anyway, I wanted to post a few photos I took of some of my yummy paper stash a couple of days ago. I, like so many of you, *love* paper- the patterns, the color, the texture! Yum! I have accumulated quite a "collection". I've started putting together shelves of colored scrapbook paper. I'll show you just as soon as I finish! More of my paper images here and here. I've recently been ooohing and aaahing over Andrea's and Camilla's stashes. Andrea even has paper remnants from the 60's and 70's that her Great Aunt saved. How awesome are these and these?

*note* the links should work now...

{beautiful sunday} felt beads

There is something wonderful about using a raw material like dyed wool to create something beautiful like a felt bead. I was first inspired to make these for my art by Martha Stewart Kids magazine a while ago. Then earlier this week, Tania made the brightest, most vibrant stash of beads and I became completely eager to try myself.. I spent Friday night attempting to figure things out, all the while making a mess. This is what I created! I see Anna made some too! Mine aren't as "tight" as everyone else's so I think I need to practice some more but it sure is fun!

I used one of the beads in a current mixed media project (pictured below). Larger photo here.

Click for more beautiful things:

something old, something new,

something borrowed, something blue:

This is my first contribution to Studio Friday. I think this is a fun challenge and really enjoyed this theme, though I can't promise I'll be able to participate on a weekly basis. I'm excited to show off some of my favorite things right now. Sorry for the low quality photograph (bad lighting!).
Something Old: Glass jars- one filled with old oil paints my mom got for free and passed on to me. I love these all arranged in the jar like that. So colorful and old- I love that. The other jar is filled with old sewing notions that belonged to my hubby's grandparents.
Something New: See that pretty altered window? It was created by the fabulous Teresa McFayden and purchased a short while ago. I've been wanting to show you so bad but my studio is still such a mess and it doesn't have a "home" just yet.
Something Borrowed: The retired Stampin' Up! stamp set "Feathered Hope"- borrowed from my Mom some time ago. I seriously LOVE this set so unless you ask for it, Mom, I'll just hold onto it. haha!
Something Blue: I wish this photograph was clearer so you can see all the wonderful notions on this cagelet of mine, by Alicia Paulson. It's so beautiful!! Don't worry, though, I'm sure you'll see more of it in the future. Here is a photo of my second cagelet. :) I love these creations!

{corners of my home} wk. 6

Here is my newly re-decorated guest bathroom. It also happens to be the bathroom I bathe in (vs. shower). I love how girly and pretty it is!

Since this photograph was taken I have purchased a few other odds 'n ends like a pretty votive holder + candle, and a little white soap dish. Well, it actually isn't soap. The soap is in the pink dispenser. That bar is from Lush and it's a moisturizer. Love it! More Corners Here.

{basic supplies}

From time to time I run out of my art-making basics and have to invest in new supplies. While I love all of these items, especially when they're brand new, I don't love handing over a Benjamin for them. I don't know why this is but I always end up handling different tub sizes and contemplating their worth. I doesn't matter how long I stand there doing this, I always bite the bullet and buy the big'un. Why not? I use it. And, this is everything I use, nearly 100% of the time. I have to say this- if you ever buy me paint brushes, buy them on sale! I have a tendency to forget that last washing and wake up the next morning to a hard + ruined paintbrush. Then I usually curse myself for it because it happens way too much. Boo.

What are some of your favorite basics/staples for crafts + art?

{keepin' busy}

As if my ever-growing to-do list wasn't looming, I decided to do a couple "ME" things this weekend (my weekend was Sunday + Monday). Yesterday I completely re-decorated my guest bathroom, which I also happen to bathe in- super girly and pretty. I'll show you for this Thursday's Corners of my Home. My sister, Aimee came over to work on a school assignment and spent the night. After she left this afternoon, I drove myself over to our little downtown for some antique shopping. Here are my finds:

Beautiful Sunday.

I've had this idea in my head for a while now about posting things beautiful at least once a week. I find that I am so incredibly inspired by beautiful things, people, shops, writings, etc. Most of us appreciate beauty and I think it would be fun to see what beauty means to each of us. So, I have started a group called, "Beautiful Sunday." and would like to invite you to join me. On Sundays let's post our beautiful photos, link to beautiful ideas... Let's share with each other and strive to inspire.

Also, should you choose to participate, I have created a button for you to add to your sidebar. You can find it here. xo

ma soeur, mon amie

thinking of you, celine. my heart breaks for your loss. xo

welcome, baby!

we have had quite the eventful couple of days! shortly after writing this post, baby decided to come a little early. :)

meet viktor. born this morning around 9:50 am. 6 lbs. 14 oz. ; 19 in.

what a sweetheart he is!

{corners of my home} wk. 5

If you're viewing this via Internet Explorer- hallelujah! You can finally see the sidebar on the side. I use Mozilla and for the longest time I didn't realize my blog looks like ick on IE.

Here is this week's contribution to {Corners of My Home}. My house desperately needs a good hour of pre-cleaning and my studio is still disheveled. I'm sick today (my day off, figures) and the house cleaners were supposed to come. Alex called and rescheduled for Saturday but I still woke up to a woman in my living room. Ha! In my groggy nightmarish appearance I told her he'd called and rescheduled. She just about ran from the house. lol. Anyway, here's a pretty corner of my house. I think it's my 'happy corner'. Close-up found here. :)

fairytale

This photograph reminds me of a fairytale. I am not exactly sure why but my first thought is Alice in Wonderland. Nonetheless, I really like it. :) Her first pigtails. I'm sorry that I'm always having to tell you I'm a nanny like it's the first time but I always have new readers and don't mean to confuse them on their visit. What I haven't told you is that this wee one's Mommy is having a baby. Next Thursday. So many feelings and nerves- I've never had this type of relationship with someone having a baby that would effect my life in the way it will. I didn't start working for them until Carmen was 3 months old. In a way it sort of feels like I'm having a baby next week- which I know sounds odd- but I spend so much time with them. I'm feeling a bit anxious- not knowing what to expect- how he'll be, how Carmen will react, what my responsibilities will be, will I love him like I love Carmen? The last point is where I really differ from the parents. As parents I'm sure they already love the baby- already have a connection. I don't have that. He's going to be new to me and it's a honestly a little frightening. Wow, next week! Eeee!

yum!

Truth be told, I've cooked our dinner approximately 4 times in the three and a half years we've been together. Needless to say, it's a big deal when I actually plan to do this -which was what I set out to do yesterday. I even made a special trip to the grocery store to pick up our favorites: fresh salmon, green beans, and potatoes. I had intended to cook it all myself but what ended up happening was so much better. Alex and I cooked dinner together! I've discovered that, although I don't necessarily enjoy cooking alone, I love cooking with other people, especially my husband. It's actually fun! We didn't have any wine but we had a really great champagne. So we opened the bottle and drank yummy champagne as we cooked. Oh, and we ate dessert at this time too (before dinner!)- raspberry yogurt with coolwhip- yum! Alex bought me a beautiful (& fun!) pair of earrings and a dangly beaded bracelet. :) We had a "no computer" rule last night and enjoyed vegging in front of the tube, watching a couple favorites we'd dvr'd. It was really a great evening. Hope you all had a great time too! xo

xo

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

Yay!

A very exciting post, this is! Whoa! 57 responses - our largest contest yet! People sometimes ask me why I have these contests and give away so much free stuff. You have no idea the enjoyment I have in offering this little bit of fun in the day! This exercise of listing what you love was my favorite, by far. I *loved* reading everyone's responses. How can that not make you smile? And without further ado:

By now, most of you know Heather and I are co-publishing a new mixed media art zine called Portals! Our premiere issue is due to release March 15th and it's looking awesome, if I do say so myself!

Our premiere issue features:

· Feature on artist Lelainia Lloyd.

· Inspirational gallery of reader artwork.

· Q/A with some of our favorite artists.

· Tutorial by Kelly Angard.

· Product challenge with Kara Klein.

· Using the computer in your artwork by Mike Jennings.

· FREE collage sheet, tips, shopping, reviews and more...

All in FULL COLOR!

Guess what? I'm so excited to tell you that we now have a website set up! Please click on the image below (or button on my sidebar) to find out how to submit artwork and preorder your copy or subscription now! :)

♥ valentine giveaway ♥

It's time for another contest, friends! All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me about TWO things you love! They can't be people and you can't put the same answer as anyone else. Be specific! You have until 11:59 10:50 pm PST, Sunday, Feb. 12th. Happy weekend! ♥ xo, Joleen

Corners of My Home- Week 4

This is currently my favorite corner in my house. While Alex was away last week I thought I would surprise him by finishing some of our home projects. The living room was seriously lacking any focus so I purchased and arranged items to give it a more polished look. I really LOVE this new section of Target (where most of these items were bought)! I think everything is starting to come together nicely.

More Corners Here.

Jeu de Paume

I was reading posts from my favorite blogs when I found this website (via Tania) a few days ago. Be still my heart! Forget the fact that so many of my acquired craft books AREN'T in English. Why is it that these books seem to have the most beautiful ideas and design?? Several of these books have been added to my birthday book wishlist (yes, I've started making my list to make your shopping easy. Ha!) ;) xo

♥ Answers

Q. Michelle asked me, "What made you decide to be a nanny?"
A. When I started looking for a job as a nanny, I honestly didn't know that it could be a career. My most recent job before this was as a manager for a popular Children's Apparel Store (starts with a "G" but does NOT end with "P"), where I worked at for two and a half years. I had taken some Early Education courses, had work experience as an arts + crafts "specialist" (ha!) in childcare, and had been babysitting since age 10. I was on the internet looking around when I saw an advertisement for a nanny. The lightbulb went off and I thought this was something I could do well & felt I had a lot to offer.

Q. Kim K. asked me, "If I could grant you one wish what would that wish be?"
A. Make me one of your pretty pillows! ;)

Q. "Red Colander" asked me, "Did you always have such a beautiful handwriting, or did you 'make it up'?"
A. For the most part, I've always had pretty good handwriting. Although, I've recently looked through some of my old journals and it's almost always changing!

Q. Sarah asked me, "Tell me about your first kiss: Who was it? Where did it happen? How old were you?"
A. So weird because the first thing I thought about wasn't anywhere close to my first kiss. Interesting. Anyway, his name was Brian and he was the first of a few people I met (in person) via the internet (including my husband!). It happened right outside my house when he was dropping me back off and I honestly don't remember it at all. Weird. I was 15 and he was 17 or 18 (can't remember).

Q. Sandrine asked me, "What is your favourite meal?"
A. Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, + Asparagus. Cheesecake for dessert. (Mmmmm, Cheesecake Factory).

Q. Kim Mc asked me, "Where is your ultimate 'dream' vacation destination?"
A. At this point, Italy or Spain. AND, I may be going to Italy next year! :)

Q. Laura asked me, "What is one of your favorite stamps? What does it look like and who made it?"
A. "Collage Numbers" (set of 12) by Stampin' Up! is among my current favorites.

Q. Aimee asked me, "What do you love most about yourself?"
A. My ability to empathize with People, which you actually put a word to for me a few years ago.

Q. Lisa asked me, "What is the one thing you did as a kid that you always dreaded your mom finding out about?"
A. I think that this honestly was probably the worst thing. I guess it's not THAT bad. Hmm, something else. Ha! At the time (and I think I was about 7): Remember when Aimee got in SO much trouble because you found the little Christmas bows she stole from the grocery store in her jacket pocket? You made her take them to the store where she had to apologize. Well. I stole them too!! By some miracle there weren't any in my jacket pockets when you looked (I have NO idea why!) and Aimee (bless you) didn't tell on me! Hee..

Q. Heather asked me, "If you had $1 million, what would you do?"
A. Buy a house; invest; + I can't lie- probably some clothes/ accessories / purses.

Q. Kim C. asked me, "What do you see yourself doing in 25 years?"
A. In 25 years I will be just short of 48 years old. My kid(s) will most likely be just ending high school/ starting college if I have them in 5 or so years. I can see myself creating and/or teaching everyday in a huge home studio. Possibly own a beautiful shop. Even though I LOVE California and I don't like thinking about moving (a great possibility this next year), I always see myself somewhere else when I think of the future. I have very specific visions whenever I think of myself in the future.

Q. Linda asked me, "What is your favorite word?"
A. Discombobulated. :)

truth ♥

Ask me ONE question and I will answer ALL in tomorrow's post! ;)

idea from Celine

the color of DREAMS

I sorted all of the pages for the {vintage valentine} chunky book this afternoon. They will be dropped off at the binders tomorrow after work. We have one set of pages that are MIA and were sent with more than enough time to get here on time. It is for this reason that I am holding off until tomorrow. I hope they come tomorrow!! I feel so bad knowing how much work it takes to create a set of pages. If they come tomorrow I will add them to the sets and then drop 'em all off. We only had two flakes that I haven't heard from so that's pretty "good" with this amount of players.

I needed to get my hands messy tonight and so created the above art journal page. :) I wanted to play with color and texture and feel I have achieved that in this piece. I used acrylic paint and water soluble oil pastels for the background colors. These are my most favorite shades of color (along with aqua). It's just so vibrant and instantly made me think "the color of dreams". For texture I applied paper, with beautiful silver thread, that I painted to match the background. The wing is a transparency attached with a brad, allowing it to move up and down. That's Alex's favorite part. Hee :)

{portals zine}

Alex's flight from FL to TX was late causing him to miss his connecting flight here (CA) but he just called me to say he's landed and will be home in a half hour. Yay! Heather is AFK (computer talk for "away from keyboard") this weekend visiting a friend. I worked today but got to watch the kiddo from my own home, which I always find easier. I'm able to do more of my own thing when she's napping.

I've been working on the zine today. The new banner is the altered photo of myself I created for my bio. It's from August 2004 but I really like it. Hmm, wonder if I should do that to my hair again..? After seeing Teesha Moore's latest issue of Art & Life I thought it would be fun for us to handwrite our bios. So, today I wrote mine. I tried to work on the cover but I just wasn't feeling inspired so I had to put it away for now. We still have so much to do and it's due to release next month! Eep.

How can you help? We're still in need of "Portals" themed artwork!! If you've created something or want to create something to submit, please have it to us by Feb. 15th.

Corners of My Home- Week 3

{my corner of the closet}

Here is my contribution to Corners of My Home. I had a diffiicult time choosing what to show you this week. Not because my house isn't clean (because it is! (yay!)) but because it's BORING. I look at everyone else's homes- they've accumulated special things over the years which makes their corners fun + unique. We haven't even finished painting yet (this weekend, really!) much less put things up on the wall. Alex took the doors off of our closet this last weekend- I don't know why but we always prefer it this way. Most people like to hide all their clothing but we find this much more easy to locate items. Plus, I kind of like all the color it adds to the room. My side anyway! ;)

just a quick note for now

Thanks for all the hugs and kind words yesterday. I wrote that post at almost 1:00 in the morning before I went to bed. The previous night had not been a good one. I woke up yesterday and decided to have a good day- and I did. So, thank you. Alex left this morning at 4:30 am (ack, poor guy). He left me a GREAT parting gift- house cleaners! hehe. Their first visit is today (yay!) and they'll come bi-weekly. I just wanted to say that my "funk" wasn't because Alex was leaving (but that was sort of the icing on the cake) and I do enjoy some time alone. Today is my only full day, anyway, as I work most of tomorrow and he'll be home Saturday afternoon. Maybe I'll actually work on cleaning/organizing the studio more! Woo..

{digital scrapbooking}

I don't know why I waited this long to try digital scrapbooking! Oh my goodness. It's fun, super easy, + CHEAP. You would not believe all the cool FREE stuff there is out there. Sure, there is a lot of "too digital" stuff but if you have the patience (+ time!) to sift through, you'll find some real treasures. I started by buying my first digital kit by Rhonna Farrer on 2Peas. This girl is AMAZING! She just came out with a new kit- PEApod. You can find all kinds of great digi kits here, including a bunch of monthly freebies. Another great site for freebies is Scrapbook-Bytes (ha!). You have to register to get 'em, but it's free too. Yay. The layout above is of Alex- my favorite photo of him as a wee one (2 years old or just around). :) The layout below is my 13 year old sister, Sarah, who is so cute + "cool" here I could just hug her to death. Ha!

So, I know everything looks + seems fine, (and for the most part it is) but I've been in a bit of a funk for more than a few days now. I can't really get into it (*think*, Dooce) but I'm just feeling, well, all sorts of not-so-great things. My husband is going on a business trip for a couple of days at the end of the week + it's weird because he hasn't gone anywhere without me since we got married almost two years ago. I am feeling a little anxious about being here alone and the stress of the aforementioned (well, I guess not really "mentioned"..lol) has me singing the blues. Bleh.