This Moment..."Captain Sollie"

Row, row, row your boat...

A moment from our week to cherish and remember, inspired by Soulemama.

"DinnyLineys"

Last year when Sollie was still a beginning talker he called Dandelions "DinnyLineys".
I love that so much, I still call them that.
We found a huge bloom of Solomon's favorite flower at the park a few days ago. The kids had a blast playing in them. They even decorated the pine trees with them, I figured it was okay, there was plenty to spare. We will have to go back and run through the seeds in a few days.

Illustration Su...Monday

I didn't get on the computer yesterday due to the holiday so it is Illustration Sunmonday today.
We had our first real warm spring day on Saturday and in the early evening I snuck out onto the porch with a bit of wine and sketched in the sun while Solomon took a late nap.
I just love Hollyhocks and I dream of them growing triumphantly in front of my future house someday. I did plant a few seeds this Spring and have an old Hollyhock plant that came up on its own this year. I am sure I will boast about it if it actually grows into a blooming plant. That was the inspiration of the drawing this week,simple enough.
I am hoping to get this painted by next Sunday to show you all. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here is to more sunny days in the future, more sketching in the sun on the porch, and of course, more wine. ;)

Handmade Easter

What could that be hiding in the grass?

Felted Easter baskets of course. I winged them, made from stash wool. Crocus colors, although I haven't seen a crocus since February.

The handles haven't stayed up since they dried, but no worries. Our kitty Lola getting in on the action.

And what do you see peeking out of the baskets?

Well, "Bunny Nuggets", of course. Pattern found on Ravelry, designed by Rebecca Danger.

They are just as cute from behind...

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!

This Moment......mama time

This moment may not look like much , but to me it really is. My paints have been put away for most of the past three years since my second child has been born, almost four years since I graduated art school, and four years since I felt obligated or inspired to paint.
It is so nice to see them out cluttering my work space once again. Good to remember a part of me that is aside from being a mama.
This is truly a moment to cherish and savor and hopefully continue regularly through out my life.
This moment inspired by Soulemama.

Come, walk with us....

Illustration Sunday....."Pure Joy" in color

I somehow found a few minutes in my week to work on my painting. It was a little frustrating only being able to paint in small chunks at a time, but that is part of being a mom. Speaking of Mama artists I also got the documentary, WHo Does She Think SHe is? in the mail and watched it

immediately. It was so worth the wait, truly inspiring and I am sure to watch it over and over again for inspiration as I do Tasha Tudor's Take Joy.
This painting like I said last week was inspired by the birth of my second child. Pure Joy is what I felt for several months I was just so amazingly happy and content.
I was sort of robbed of this joy with my first child. Ben I were young 19 and 20 and not married when we found out we were pregnant the first time. I was terrified, my family was angry and disappointed with me. I felt a bit envious of first time moms who are met with nothing but happiness and joy for their news. Even when I found out I was pregnant with our second after Ben and I had been married for 7 years, I was hesitant to tell my family and didn't tell anyone for several weeks.
I am happy I got to feel mama joy the second time around.

This Moment...

A sweet moment from our week to cherish and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Fooling around in the Gorge...

Today we spent our morning hiking around the waterfalls. What a spirit refresher, it was. It wiped me out though and I had to take a little cat nap with Sollie when we got home.
It was good to get out there before the summer tourists take over. I wish I could have shared more photos but my battery died.

Root Children

(mama made root children)

(Sophie made flower fairy)
I am finally getting into gear and catching up with the Craftalong (info on my side bar).
This was the March project that Sophie and I completed while I was sick during Spring break.
These were so much fun to make but the sewing was little tricky for my 10 year old. I wanted to make one in every color, and I almost did. I am sure they will be present in our home for many springs to come.

Illustration Sunday......"pure joy"

I wanted to share what I have been working on. This is drawn out onto tracing paper so I can transfer the image to a nice watercolor paper and then paint it for next week.
I have been playing around with this idea for a few years but never really work it into a complete illustration. This was inspired by the joy I felt with the birth of my second child.
I am really hoping this painting turns out. If it does I was thinking It would make a sweet card for an expectant mom or any mama really so I would possibly get them printed into cards. We will see, I am getting a little ahead of myself. It is good to be back on track with my Illustration Sundays after a few weeks missed due to illness and Birthdays.
Thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Birthday gifts...........

Even thought it was almost a week ago I wanted to share a few handmade gifts I made for Sophie's Birthday. She has been taking Ice skating lessons and needed a bag to carry her skates to and from practice. I made this skate bag from some of my stash fabric. The inside is lined with the same fabric as the ice skate appliques.




No Ice skating outfit is complete without funky leg warmers. She knew about these and planned the colors blue and white, cause blue and white are ice princess colors( I love that,she is still a little girl although she acts like a teenager). The big pocket in the front of the bag is intended for her new legwarmers.







Can you find Sophie?


Now she is all set.

She just joined the track team at her school too so I am going to have to make another bag for her to keep her track stuff in.

I also knit her up a few cute headbands. I couldn't get her to model for me yet so I just snapped a quick photo of them. I found the pattern free on Ravelry.

This Moment...

A moment from our week to cherish and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

A bit blurry, but so sweet......

Birthday in the Enchanted Forest......

Sophie had a pretty busy weekend celebrating her 10th Birthday. She had an ice skating sleepover with her best friend and then Sophie, Solomon and Grandpa Tony and I went to the Enchanted Forest near Salem. Sophie had talked about wanting to go there for years, we drive past yearly when we make our way down to Eugene for the Oregon Country Fair. She mentioned wanting to go there for her Birthday this year. I was a little hesitant because we don't have a lot of money to spend and also it was kind of a long drive for me to do alone with the kids. Luckily my Dad happened to win tickets to the theme park and decided to join us!! She had a nice sunny DRY day, which was kind of a miracle.
I wanted to share some photos of this place. It was WEIRD man...but in a real great kind of way.
If you are ever near Salem, Oregon with a few hours to kill I recommend it. It is not handicap or wheelchair friendly, however. The park is built on a steep hillside and there are a few tight squeezes. .It was just so Bizarre, I can't really explain but I can show you.I wish I could meet the guy who dreamed this place up.

The entrance to the storybook lane was through the castle. This is where we began our adventure.

The kids were more than a bit hesitant to visit the house from Hansel and Gretel......






Down the Rabbit hole? I think not...I tried to go through, but this tunnel was small and pitch black and twisty and this mama is way to claustrophobic for playing in underground cement tunnels. Sophie and Sollie made it through though. Sophie made Sollie go first, just to make sure.


This was in the pitch black mine of The Seven Dwarfs.


Solomon wasn't so sure about this one. Can you blame him?




Watch your step(especially old guys ;)


This was painted in the crooked house. A little freaky, no?


Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater....


The kids spent a lot of time at the shoe slide.





The Haunted house, it was Sophie's idea. Sophie was looking forward to this on the drive to the park. We made it in the first room and Sophie had enough. Too scary, even for big 10 year olds!

Time for a little innocent fun after that...





The old English Village...

All the figures were robotic, they talked to one another and moved.


Puppets in Pinocchio's playhouse.

Our visit ended with a few peanut butter and Jellies and a free watershow. This was so funny, I wish you could have heard the music...


What a surreal Birthday adventure, a great time was had by all.