Rush Rush Relax

It was all rush rush , but when the day arrived I had a lovely afternoon sitting in the sun and chatting with some other wonderful artists at the BabyCheeks Cute and Small art show.

The owners Deana and Delores had set up the show just outside the doors of their beautiful store in South Surrey. I found the turnout to be small so sales were pretty slow -which was a bit of a bummer, but now I have some inventory for my Etsy site which I am in the process of starting up.

I was lucky to have the help from my 'seamstress' mother in law Gayle, and friends and family who happily took Oskar on outings when Stefan was napping. And Clete definitely picked up the slack. Thank You.

It makes me realize how much time I wasted before I had children.

I hope the sun is shining

Next Saturday this is where I will be. So if you happen to be cruising around South Surrey stop by and say hello. I am looking forward to spending the day with some other wonderful local artists doing work for kids. It is great opportunity to sell what I love doing, but also talk to and learn from others who have the same passion.

I have been busy drawing, painting, printing and sewing. I am really exciting about all the new printed pillows and canvasses and all the other art pieces I have been creating.

While he worked, I walked

And bought a few things along the way.

Fabric from the Purl Bee. A couple of goodies from one of my favorite artists Rob Ryan. And banks for the kids from the MOMA gift shop.

Last week I tagged along with my husband to NYC. Four evenings away from the kids! He worked the whole time but it felt like a vacation to me. We were able to spend some wonderful time together here and there like spur of the moment cocktails at 10:30pm and lying in bed reading the paper and having a coffee in the middle of the day, but I also truly enjoyed the time to myself. It was our first time away from the kids together- and we survived. And they survived and had a wonderful time with Nana and Papa. We will have to do it again soon when Clete can relax and enjoy himself.

Ahhhh.... it is nice to be back.

It is nice to be back into the groove of things again. Between looking after little O + S, doing renovations, and painting murals, I have found it difficult to do things that should be simple like fold laundry (actually putting the clothes away is a whole other story) and more importantly check emails and do new postings.

I have got to hand it to you full time working moms- how do you do it!

So the next couple of posts will make up for the many weeks missed.

My most recent job. Painting a mural for some wonderful clients.

Some of the preliminary sketches

And some of the completed room.

Aloha and Mahalo.

It was been a week since we arrived back from a wonderful 10 days in Maui. I had never been and always dreamed about going. Now as I look out the window and the sleet coming down, I dream about going back.

It wasn't clear blue skies and turquoise oceans everyday, but I think more important then all the fine details, our family of four needed that 10 days all together.

Our mornings were spent mostly at Makena big beach. Our lunches and home. Our afternoons either at the beach across the road exploring, or having a shaved ice/ice cream at some new location determined by Oskar.

My favorite things on our trip- besides spending time with my three boys: sleeping with the sliding door open and the warm breeze, road side stands selling local pineapple, mangoes, avocados, papaya's and Oskar's favorite-fresh coconut, watching surfers at Honolua Bay,

and chasing the waves under an evening sun. Oh yea-and a little town I wish we had more time to explore-Pa'ia. Maybe next year.

xoxo

It has been a week full of valentines related crafts and activities.

We have been on a tight budget this month, but it is amazing (and actually kind of embarrassing) how much stuff we have around the house. With a little creativity and a little inspiration we raided the cupboards to make lots of treasures and treats for dear friends and family.

New stamps inspired by Geninne

Making cookies with friends

Attempting to make chocolate suckers

And a wonderful breakfast at home with the three loves of my life.

My Superheros

I have always tried to steer Oskar away from characters like Spiderman and Batman, but he seem to be drawn to them. He gets excited seeing the Batman symbol graffitied on a sign on our way to preschool, and he can find all the 'Fantastic Four' books at the library within a matter of minutes.

And now thanks to new friends at preschool he has discovered the Ninja Turtles- or when he first told me about them- 'The Inja Turtles". I remember my younger brother playing with them but he was 8- not 3.5 years old ( i didn't even know they were still around)! He now asks questions about them- wants to know their names, want to see pictures and video of them. I have always given him answers to all his questions, and tried to encourage everything he is interested in, but I just don't understand this!

We were lent a book Killing Monsters by Gerard Jones which talks about the positive aspects of fantasy and make-believe violence, and why children need to have these superheroes to identify with. I haven't read too far into the book, but I already disagree with a few of its arguments. I have always felt these characters encouraged violence and made it more acceptable, but his book argues the opposite. We will see-maybe it will prove me wrong.

With a leap, skip and a jump

We survived the holidays! And aside from a devastating flu that we all managed to catch, 2009 is treating us well!

I don't know if it was the all the snow or the cold, and now this past week of fog, but we have been spending a lot of time inside, baking, crafting and doing a lot of reading. We were spoiled at Christmas and it is nice to have the time to enjoy and play with all the gifts we received. Among the many wonderful gifts I opened, these new books are inspiring me.

one of many books to learn new stitches -Woolly Embroidery

amazing illustrations by Olle Eksell