New Flickr Page

Well, I've finally broken down and decided to start a Flickr page. Seems like all the cool kids are doing it! It just is nice that people can comment on individual photos, which is more difficult to do on Picturetrail. I'm not sure if I'll close down my Picturetrail site or keep both open, but I'll start adding new photos to both for the meantime. I've put up all my photos of my kids' baby books to start with (a few of Riley's are missing at this point, but I'll add them soon), and if I get real motivated, I'll go back and add in some other older artwork, but if nothing else, I'll add all my new stuff in the future.

Be patient with me though. I'm a Flickr newbie, so I'm not real sure the ins and outs of it, and how it all works yet. Hopefully through some fiddling around, I'll figure it out. Anyway, take a look and make some comments if you so desire, so that I feel like my hours of downloading photos were worth it!!

A Love of Art

Recently, Riley has begun developing an interest in "doing art". I have a set of the Crayola Color Wonder markers (that only write on special paper) and a whole pile of those foam stickers that are so popular (if you've got kids, you know what I'm talking about, if not, take a look next time you're at a craft store- they've probably got a whole aisle devoted to them!). Anyway, his version of doing art is to scribble with the markers, then put about 20 of those foam stickers on the page and call it done. Really, about every "piece" he does looks about the same, but I love them anyway!

I just can't tell you how excited I am to instill a love of art in my children. I just think it will be so wonderful to grow up in a house with an open-minded attitude toward, and a love for, art. In my own childhood home, I was certainly encouraged to be creative, but I wouldn't consider our family to be terribly "into" art. We didn't have a variety of artwork hanging on the walls, a space devoted to making art, or an open-minded attitude as to what art is. I just hope that being in a home with these things will nurture my childrens' artistic souls even more.

I'm terribly worried that my kids will rebel and not want anything to do with art, since their uncool mom likes it. But hopefully, by not pushing too much, I can avoid that. I guess only time will tell...

So anyway, here is a spread about the beginning of that journey for Riley:

A Couple Cute Projects

I've been working on a couple different projects. First was painting a wooden rocking horse that Riley got for Christmas. Although four months late, I guess he should be lucky that it got painted in time for next Christmas! It came out pretty cute. I sanded it down and applied an antiquing glaze to give it a vintage, time-worn look, but my hope is that Riley and Noah will play with it enough to give it an authentic "well-loved" patina themselves.

Then, I also made a couple pillows that are almost too cute for words! The fronts of these are from T-shirts that don't really fit, but I love the colors and images. So how easy to make them into pillows! I used some old quilt squares that Linda sent me some time ago, and put some pom-pom trim between, and voila! The cutest pillows you've ever seen! And I may also mention that I was able to complete each one during one of Riley's naps- even better! Now to go pilfering through my closet for some more old T-shirts...

It may be a while before this is done, but I've gotten the urge to do a larger piece in the same style as the kids' baby books. The books are small-under 8"x10"-and I've got a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of masonite to work on. I'll let you know how it goes- it's been a while since I've done anything larger, so I'm interested to see how it will turn out!

Two Posts in One Day?

That's right! Another post just to let you know that you can now preorder my book on Amazon! I just discovered this myself, and I'm so excited! It's finally becoming real that I'm going to have a book out there soon!

Ticklish Noah & a Big Boy Room for Riley

Here's a spread in Noah's Book about him recently beginning to laugh. What a fun sound to tickle your baby and be rewarded with a full laugh! I had a really difficult time with this page, but now that it's finished, I really love it! By the way, if you ever want to see larger photos of my artwork, I think they're bigger on my website.

And, as promised, here is Riley's new "Big Boy" room, close to complete. I'm not crazy about having all the furniture lined up along the walls like this, but while he's still so little, it's much safer for his bed to be against the wall, etc. I'm a little more fond of the pastel colors of Noah's room, but I figured that all of Riley's brightly colored toys would blend a little nicer with these colors. Anyway, here's the tour. As you walk in the door, this is the view:

And continuing to the right...:

And back around towards the door (note the bedspread which I spoke of in a recent post):

Here's a close-up of the chair's seat cushion which my mom and I made for the chair out of comfy chenille. The bear is one I made back when I was in high school!

On either side of the window are framed pages from a vintage cloth children's book:

A close-up of the shelves. The "thank you" is because these are some of his very first words- he says it every time we give him something- so polite!

Another wall's shelves:

And a third wall's shelf. Hanging from the shelf are a couple more vintage cloth books:

Sorry the photos are a bit dark. That room just doesn't get much light, and I couldn't seem to get decent photos! Unfortunately, Riley still isn't sleeping in here yet. We're having a bit of trouble transitioning him to the toddler bed. I hope he'll get used to it soon though, because we'd like to get Noah into the crib and out of the pack-n-play...

I'm working on a couple other cute projects right now. I'll post photos when I'm done!

Riley and His Funny Feet

Just a quick post to show a couple cute photos of Riley's feet. Yesterday, we had a downpour, and while it was still raining slightly, Riley snuck his way outside. I saw him out the window about the same time I saw one of his shoes sitting on the couch. By the time I got to him, he had a pretty sopping wet sock, needless to say!

And then today, we had a garage sale (made $700!). While we were cleaning up afterwards, I noticed his little foot.

Do you think he's worth it?

Teehee! Just as I was finishing this post, he pulled this little cutie-pie move. He must have known what I was writing about!

Toy Cars

First of all, let me say thank you to those of you who reassured me that I'm not losing my own unique style when I use storebought scrapbook items. Like I said, you sort of lose perspective when you are looking at your own stuff so much...

I did a piece for Riley today. I'm starting out the week very productively, I must say! Two pieces of art and it's only Tuesday! This one's about his newfound fondness for toy cars and trucks. Having only wanted daughters, I honestly never would have thought I'd find it so cute to see a little boy play with cars and trucks! But, as he does again and again, Riley has changed my mind about all things "little boy". He's paving the way for his little brother quite well!

I'm still putting some finishing touches in his new room, but I'll post photos soon!

Another Spread in Noah's Book

Here's a spread in Noah's book about how, although he looks like his brother at times, he is still uniquely "Noah". I'm happy with how it came out. The colors look prettier in real life, but my camera just does not seem to be able to capture them, even though I've tried taking photos in three different lighting situations...

As I said, I do like this spread, but it brought up some design questions for me. I used mass-produced chipboard "flourishes" from the scrapbook department on this piece, and although I love the way they look, I worry that they take away from my own style, since scrapbookers everywhere are using them. I kind of hate using items that are so readily available for fear that my work won't be unique. Is my work starting to look too common? I don't know- it's hard to be objective when you've looked at your own work for so long. I just so much want my work to be my own and not to look like everyone else's.

Anyway, those are just my insecurites for the day. I'm sure that Noah doesn't care if my work looks like anyone else's, as long as it's expressing my feelings for him...

Noah's Nursery

Oh, how I love the colors I chose for Noah's room! I think they're coming out a bit darker here than in real life though. The "orange" is a yummy, yummy sherbert color- reminds me of a creamsicle every time I go in. And the blue-green is a nice, soft pale seafoam color. If you've ever looked at my website and seen photos of Riley's nursery in our old house, you'll recognize all the furniture, but in a new setting obviously! Anyway, here is the view from the doorway, and I'll walk you around counter-clockwise...:

Just a little closer view of the same:

And a detail shot of the dresser and shelf. You can see the little lamp from a few posts ago, and I love this vintage flashcard that says "wee". Also a display of the pixie sticks I made last year and other miscellaneous eye candy!

Here's the changing table wall with some more shelves. I would still like to repaint the changing table, as the pinkish/salmon color doesn't really quite work and perhaps make a new slipcover for the glider, but I haven't gotten to those things yet:

And a detail shot of the shelves. The teddy bears are actually my own collection, but for the time being, they'll reside in here. And in both boys' rooms, I keep a display easel to display their baby journals while I'm not working in them:

Here's just a close-up shot of the wall above the changing table with these lambs you may recognize:

The door wall really just has the door and a closet, but this is on the bit of wall between the two, a little shelf with hooks to hang the swaddling wrap he spends so much time in:

It will be so sad when the boys are old enough to want to "decorate" their rooms themselves! No more cute displays of Momma's things, but utilitarian storage for cars and trucks, etc. Oh well, at least I can have my fun for a couple more years!

There are still some last details I'm working on for Riley's room. When they're done, I'll show you that as well...

Happy Belated Easter!

Nothing beats baby feet with cute little bunny booties, does it?

Anyway, just a quick post to show you what I made the boys for Easter. I bought the Wee Wonderful's Big-Footed Bunny pattern and made them each a bunny. It is such a cute pattern, although a little tricky, I must admit. I am not terribly happy with the faces- I just couldn't come up with a cute face for some reason- but the adorable bodies and clothes make up for that I think. So here they each are with their new friends. Riley seems a bit more pleased than Noah does, doesn't he?

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Next post I'll show you Noah's room fully decorated- it looks so cute!

And Another...

Riley was kind enough to take a three-hour nap today, so I was able to do another piece in Noah's book. I love the color combination! And funny enough, it's the same combination in which we've decorated his bedroom- not quite as bright, but shades of blue and orange. The spread is about his recent first smiles and coos- he's slowly developing a personality! And while I was working on the piece, I caught him smiling on camera as well- so cute!