Creative Every Day Check-In: May 21 – 27
May 21st, 2012, 15 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 5/21/12 - 5/27/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for May is One, which you can read more here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Check-In: May 14 – 20
May 14th, 2012, 15 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 5/14/12 - 5/20/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for May is One, which you can read more here.
Happy Creating!
Annabelle’s One Year Slideshow
May 9th, 2012, 7 Comments
I showed this to family and friends after her party. It's a bit long (17 minutes), but I loved making it (and watching it over and over.) 
Guess Whoooo Turned One?
May 8th, 2012, 26 Comments
My daughter, A! Here's a whole lot of pictures of the party and the decor that helped us celebrate this big milestone. Enjoy!
This party was a labor of love with lots of folks involved. I went with an owl them partly because when I was in labor with A, I kept seeing little owls in my head. I knew that owls represent wisdom in Greece (Andrew's father is Greek) and that Sophia means wisdom. And I just knew that should be her middle name!
I asked my best friend and partner in crafty crime, Judean, to help me out with the party because she is amazingly creative. I sent her a drawing of an idea I had for the invitation and she brought it to life in paper, with moving wings. So awesome! And then our friend Lis at Butterqueencakes.com took the invitation design and created a stunning cake and cupcakes that simply blew me away (and tasted delicious!!)
Judean also created the beautiful owl art above the timeline and the tissue paper one on the front door.
I also created owl lanterns, decorated branches with little owls, hung a "Happy Birthday A" owl banner, and created a clothesline style timeline with pictures of A in the same chair from 2 weeks through 11 months.
I made sweet little owl stuffies as favors for the kiddos. They were my first attempt at stuffies and they were a little wonky, but very cute.
A had a great time and was a real trooper with all the attention. She looked so sweet in her little dress, I could have just eaten her up.
I think she wanted to take pictures too.
She wasn't quite sure what to think of the cake, her first sweet! She's a bit of a picky eater and likes to play with her food, so at first she just made faces as she squished it around in her fingers. Then she tasted it, made quite a face, and dug in for more! Mm, butter cream frosting!
She also had fun playing with the other kiddos and telling one little friend about her favorite toy, Ernie. She actually shouted "Ernie!" so loud at her, which cracked me up.
Here's our happy little family. We made it through our first year together, which was one of the fastest and slowest years of my life. I feel so lucky to be A's mom. She's a beautiful, bright shining light that makes the world a better place! Happy Birthday, A!
Creative Every Day Check-In: May 7 – 13
May 7th, 2012, 19 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 5/7/12 - 5/13/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for May is One, which you can read more here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Check-In: April 30 – May 6
April 30th, 2012, 17 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 4/30/12 - 5/6/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for April is Language which you can read more about here. The (totally optional theme for May is One, which you can read more here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Theme for May: One
April 29th, 2012, 10 Comments
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of May 2012, the theme will be One.
As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2012 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.
I was inspired to choose this theme because my daughter, Annabelle, is turning one year this Wednesday, May 2nd. I can't believe it's been a year! I was thinking we could explore this theme in many ways including monotone, focusing on a single media, a single object, a solo adventure, or the concept of one moment, one year, or one day. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Create art in a monotone theme. You could go black and white or choose one color.
- *Focus on a single object in a piece of art or writing.
- *Use one day, month, or year in your life as inspiration for your work.
- *Take yourself on a solo artist's date.
- *Choose one word to base a poem on.
- *Make a drawing using one kind of mark.
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
You can't hear your thoughts, your voice, without solitude. ~Leo Babauta
Creative Every Day Check-In: April 23 – 29
April 23rd, 2012, 15 Comments
Sorry for the delay today! This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 4/23/12 - 4/29/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for April is Language which you can read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Creative Every Day Check-In: April 16 – 22
April 16th, 2012, 23 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 4/16/12 - 4/22/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for April is Language which you can read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Telling Stories in Art
April 13th, 2012, 22 Comments
Another fun way to explore language in your art is through telling stories. I was on the Subway a few years back, when I had an idea. I was watching the people in passing Subway cars thinking how each person I saw had their own story, how each person had a dialogue running through their heads. And all these simultaneous stories were just whooshing by each other at fast speeds all day long. I wanted to capture that in art and so the Subway Stories series was born.
In the background, I'd collage subway maps and train station times along with bits of phone book pages. Over that I would paint a subway scene. And then in each figure I would write a bit of their story through the dialogue I imagined was running through their heads.
How do you tell stories through your art?
:::
Art above is Green Line, Park Street, and St. Mary's, all named after Boston T stops.
