Visual Treats: Paper Cut Art

I have been obsessing over handmade paper cuts. I feel really happy when I look at them!  They are so delicate and beautiful. I would love to start a collection of these some day. Here are a few of my favorites.

Artist credit & links from top to bottom:

1)  Jonathan Chapman

2) Lucrezia Bieler

3) Sarah Dennis

4) Sarah Trumbauer

5) Helen Musselwhite

Letting the String Go

I was just going to post a few images of recent art discoveries, but then I realized that they were all related to homes. This makes sense, since we have been exploring the idea of moving. As expected, it has stirred up mixed emotions. I love my home. It's where my husband and I started a life together. It's where I learned to garden. It's where we raised our baby. It's where my parents first met their granddaughter. It's where my friends come to be silly and share meals. It is a familiar and comforting place to return to each day. It is my stability. I know each corner of this house by heart.

Yet, I never thought that we would grow old here.  As much as I enjoy our home, I am not ready to completely settle down here forever. I like discovering new places and it can be very refreshing to start from scratch. 

I guess it is time to slowly start letting go of the string. Here's to embracing new adventures!

 

Artwork from top to bottom:

1) Illustration by artist Sarah Burwash. Her website is worth exploring.

2) Maine Papercut (made by hand!) by Joe Bagley on Etsy 

3) Photograph by Laurent Chehere. I love this series.

Happiness List: Pausing to Appreciate

I have decided to put more effort into making my happy lists. I did it pretty frequently a few years ago and noticed a difference. Lately, I have been looking too closely at the negative parts of my life. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but when we become too focused on what needs to be better, we lose sight of the little details that really shape a life and make us happy. We miss the inspiration and only see the faults. So, here are a few things that make me happy:

1)  My amazing, caring, and patient husband. It is so easy for partnerships to get weighed down by work, logistics, bills, etc. I have to remind myself to pause and appreciate. In fact, I want to focus less on my own stuff and start listening more to others. By listening more, I will also be acknowledging the other person's good qualities. Does that make sense? It's easy to get stuck in our own heads, but more rewarding to actively listen. I will try it this week!

2) As usual, I am looking forward to starting the garden. We got these cute seed packets to start our seedlings. My mom gave us a bunch of daffodil bulbs when we bought our home and I love seeing them come back each year. I put them in a vase on our dining room table and it's sort of like having her nearby. 

3) More time outdoors! Now that the weather is getting warmer, we have been going on a weekly nature hike - even if it is just around the block. (It is really a mini-hike, because toddler legs can't go too far.) I like teaching Isa about nature. On a recent nature hike, she decided that acorn tops are really fairy hats. I love her imagination.

4) I am happy to live near a beautiful lake. Walking on the sand and hearing the waves is so calming. There is also a dog park section of the beach. I  love watching the dogs run around and greet each other. They are so in the moment. A lot can be learned from them. 

Inspiration for a Blue & Rainy Day

Summer sailboats in Maine. Archival print by Jennifer Judd-Mcgee via etsy. 

 The cutest umbrella that I have ever seen. Illustration by Poppy & Red.

Calming and complex. Ballpoint pen drawing on notebook paper by Lori Ellison. 

And...here a few heartwarming stories to read on this super cute blog, Loveumentary, including one of my favorites about artist Marina Abramović reuniting with her lost love. It warms the heart!

Spring Cuties

I start to unravel a bit at the end of a long winter. Although it is technically Spring, the weather is still dismal and cold. Thankfully, the warmer weather is almost upon us. I hope! Until then, here are a few things to keep us in good spirits. If I find myself feeling down again, I will remember to look at these. I can barely stand the cuteness!

Below are photographs from The Animal Print Shop by Sharon Montrose from her Little Darlings series. 

A few more cuties by Julie Persons available for sale at My Modern Shop.

Garden Inspiration

It's time to start some seedlings and think about garden plans. I am an experimental gardener, so I like to keep a photo archive of the hits and misses from each year.  Below are a few things that I liked from last year's garden, including a little play garden for my daughter. I hope to have a good mixture of colorful flowers, vegetables, and an herb garden.  Last year, we had way too many tomatoes, so I will try for more of a balance this year. I also need to plant all peppers out of reach from our dog. He has a thing for jalapenos. 

In order to really appreciate the garden, I like to browse through our before and after photos. It was a lot of work to make our backyard functional! This is the before photo taken in 2008:

Here are some more of the after photos:

And, here are a few artworks to inspire our garden plans (from top to bottom, clockwise):
1) Spring Print by Renee Garner on Little Paper Planes

2) Freshly Picked print by Hillary Bird on Little Paper Planes

3) Farmers Market letterpress card set by Pioneer Press on Etsy

4) "All the Colors of the Dark" hand-cut collage by Alexis Anne MacKenzie

                    

Visual Treats: Inspired by Nature

A bit of inspiration on this cold, snowy day...

1) Homegrown Garden card set by Rifle Paper Co.
2) I want to start journaling again. Here is a cute one made by Susie Ghahreman
3) Vintage canning jars, photo credit: 2BoredBunnies Vintage 
4) Emerald Feathers, watercolor by RiverLuna on Etsy
5) New York state bird print from one of my favorite Etsy shops, dutch door 

Project for a Snowy Day

Hello! I am returning from my brief hiatus. It was nice to focus on offline things for awhile. I got a few projects done, watched a lot of movies, and caught up with friends. However, I missed posting on here. I enjoy keeping track of my thoughts, life events, and projects in a somewhat chronological order. I smile at the photos taken over the past few years. I sometimes even cringe when I read old posts, but then I just giggle at myself. It's all part of the process.

I will be posting some of the projects that we have worked on, along with some new project ideas. I want to remember them for future use. Here is one example that was really fun and easy (depending on how easy you consider making things with toddlers). We made hand-stamped tea towels as gifts for the holidays. It's functional toddler art! But, this project is for all ages. I plan on making some adult versions when I have time.

I got this idea from Pinterest, of course. The original tutorial can be found here at Centsational Girl. You will need the following supplies:

Tea towels  (we found a bunch of plain cloth napkins at a thrift store)
Fabric paint (make sure it is non-toxic if using with a toddler)
Iron
Sponge roller
Cutting board and tinfoil 
Cotton sheet or pillowcase
Stamps (from Joann or Yellow Owl Workshop or you can make your own!)

Source: Yellow Owl Workshop

We wrapped a cutting board with tinfoil to make a quick and easy palette for the fabric paints (see first photo above). We then rolled the paints out with the sponge roller to make sure that the paint would evenly cover the stamp surface when we dipped it in the paint. After stamping out the design, let the paint dry for 24 hours. Once it is dry, put a cotton sheet or pillowcase between the towel and iron to protect the paint. Iron to set the paint. After setting the paint, these will be machine washable! You can fold two or three neatly and then tie a ribbon around them to make it into a gift set.

Happy Fall

As you can tell, I have not been keeping up with this blog. Several months ago, I realized how much time I was spending online. I was working online, googling stuff, reading blogs, posting on blogs, checking Facebook, drooling over Pinterest images, keeping up with various social groups and so forth. A good chunk of my time was being spent online instead of connecting face to face with friends, learning new skills or just simply taking my daughter on a nice walk. Or, for example, it is beautiful outside today and I just spent over an hour online while I could have been working in the garden or making pumpkin soup. (That's OK! Another goal of mine is to not be so hard on myself.) So, I decided to make a vow to live more in the present and not be online every minute. I miss this blog and sometimes I feel guilty for neglecting it. I liked having a place to keep track of things. Perhaps, I will return to it in the winter when the days feel longer and it is way too cold to explore outside. Until then, I am often (if not constantly) posting on instagram, so you can find me there. I keep track of happy things there too and love seeing what friends are up to. It just takes me much less time to post there.

Enjoy the Fall!

You Saw, I Saw

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies and apparently, Belle shares this interest. Well, she is only two, so I think she is just attracted to electronic devices that are usually off limits. Lately, whenever I take a photo, she says, "My turn." So, instead of saying no, I let her take a photo. It's cute to see her look through the viewfinder and find her shot. Here is what we have so far. My photo is on the left and hers is on the right. These were taken on a recent walk to the park. I am going to attempt to keep track of the photos here.

Happy List: May 2012

It's time to focus on the tiny details and simple pleasures again.

1) Fresh herbs on the porch

2) A small garden for Belle

3) Arts & crafts time

4) Garden in a jar

5) Making wishes

6) The scent of lilacs

7) Colors of the garden

8) Sunlight through the trees

9) Spring blues and greens

Simple & Sweet: Stillness

Welcoming thoughts of stillness. Something to definitely embrace today.