July's gonna be busy - Kid room research/ideas

Hello readers,

My little boy's second birthday is this month (my how time flies), and my plan is to redo his room. Right now as it is, it used to be my grandmother's office. It has good carpet but the wallpaper is circa 1980 or 90 something, and is totally not meant to breed imagination. So, with some overtime money I've been earning, I'm hoping to buy/make some fun stuff.

I mulled around a couple ideas and thought outer space would be something he could keep for a few years, or until he's old enough to do something that's his idea.

Here are some random things I found surfing the net that might inspire you to use the web for more unique stuff. Enjoy!

I saw this cute homemade space room and it totally inspired me: 





I dig the one dark blue wall and one yellow wall - My son's room is a little small to go that crazy, so I think I'll do one wall a shade of dark blue, and the rest an eggshell or yellow-toned white.

I saw these decals on amazon.com, they are part of the Olive Kid's Out of This World collection. TOTALLY cute for the dark blue wall:

Then I saw that they have curtains. I think I could make my own, but these are really cute too:





I want to go to the fabric store anyway, so I might get a like theme, and get enough to make big floor pillows for next to his book case too.

Went to Ikea and got this stuff:

 

Lots of blue going on, so I gotta squeeze some primary color accents in. I really love crafting, and saw these adorable signs on Etsy.com that I'm considering buying or using as inspiration:

Also, since I am artistically inclined, The below really cute positive affirmation paintings are adorable, but in the wrong theme. I thought I'd use them as inspiration, and paint spaceships, aliens, planets or something instead of the animals. I found 'em on art.com:

This payday I can finally start putting stuff together and making my purchases. I'll post pics of my projects, and the room painting process. I love my little guy - he deserves to have a fun space where he can sleep and play. I hope he'll like it!



More to come!!!

Jen

Projects Galore

So having bought my grandparent's home in January, my husband and I have spent the last 4 months trying to make it our own. That has included ripping down the wallpaper in multiple rooms, textured walls, painting, cleaning, and trying to spread out a 2 bedroom apartment's worth of furniture into 3 bedrooms, 2 living rooms and a den.

Needless to day I needed decor hard-core.

We're by no means rich, so I haven't been able to afford Ethan Allen to come in just yet. But a cool idea that my momma and a few blogs I read do, is take ideas from the expensive places and make it yourself. Amanda from craftsbyamanda.com, had this totally cute idea of French Fruit Wall Art taken from a high-end store. To get my creative juices flowing and to fill some wall space, I followed her tutorial and came up with this:

 It was a really fun project. As I add more decor, I will definitely keep these somewhere in the kitchen.


I've also been trying out the sewing machine my mom gave me. I am a TOTAL novice, but here's what I did:

The next thing I really want to do is tackle window treatments for the entryway. Any suggestions?


Jen

a window to my soul

I don't know about you, but there is nothing like a song that really speaks to you. A song that expresses who you are and what you're feeling at that exact moment. It's as if you can close your eyes and know there's at least one person out there that feels and thinks, and might even be a little bit like how you really are. I love that feeling.

This is my creativity tonight - listening to music really loud with really good  inexpensive headphones.

Here's what I'm feeling tonight: thankful, spiritual, optimistic, contemplative, crazy, in love


What are you feeling?

Poetry and Pictures

I've had long weekends the last two weeks. I've done all sorts of things like: cooking, cleaning, went to lunch with mom and an old friend, shopping with some of the in-laws, textured my kitchen walls, hung out with my sisters, and spent time with Tom and my happy baby boy. Made me really appreciate our time together. In all that, I couldn't stop thinking about my responsibility to myself, and my agreements made at the first of the year to spend more time being artistic. 

I think I mentioned a little in my last post, the book The Artistic Mother by Shona Cole. In it, I am supposed to follow a 12 week program that will put my family (mostly my baby) into my art, and create meaningful pieces that I can decorate my new home with. By now, I should have been a lot further in my journey. But I am sadly still on week one. But no more procrastinating! I am setting the record straight!

She gives you weekly deadlines in easy projects that you can do if you make the time. I am making a personal commitment to every other night spending at least an hour on this. So by next Sunday, I will share with you my fun of week one.To start, there are 3 things in my action plan: Project, Poetry, and Photography. For Project, I have to make backgrounds for future art. For Poetry, I have to read a poem every day (Posting them on here might help). For Photography, I have to list Dill's activities and plan action shots. 

In my excitement to get started, i made a little head-start. Here's a poem I just read, and really hits home. My Grandma Belva's favorite author is Rudyard Kipling. In all his writing, I really wanted to find one that had personal meaning to me, so that when I thought of it, I thought of her. and I finally found one. Maybe I can use this in upcoming stuff:

If

Rudyard Kipling

written in 1910 for his 12 year-old son John

---

If you can keep your head when all about you
     Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
     But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
     Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating
     And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
     If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
     And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
     Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
     And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools,

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
     And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
     And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
     To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And hold on when there is nothing in you
     Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with cowards and keep your virtue,
     Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
     If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
     With sixty seconds worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
     And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

I hope that he will want these virtues in his life. Hopefully I can show them to him. But a start is to have this up somewhere in the house to read. I'm saving this for later. 

Until then, 

Jen

A Trip to the Library and Unexpected Awesomeness

Lacking inspiration on current projects (and the funds), I wanted to keep my creative juices flowing by visiting a place that I haven't been to in a long time - The Library. Why buy a craft book that looks fun at the bookstore, only to get home and realize that it's totally lame? So after work one day I piled the family in the car, and before I knew it I was in inspiration heaven. There's literally half an aisle dedicated to crafting in one form or another. I'm drawn to paper-craft and mixed media altered art. I found a few that are interesting:

1. Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Crafty with Your Friends All Year Long 
    By:  Maura Madden

So far I really like the concept of this book. It gives you an excuse once a month to get together with your girlfriends and hangout with a purpose. It has easy stuff to do, and the projects don't look expensive either.


2. The Big-Ass Book of Crafts 
     By: Mark Montano

This book is neat because it has a lot of home decor projects that kind of feel like that punk Black Chandelier vibe. I dig it. 

I probably would have delved further into dreamland, but I could hear my redhead screaming from the opposite side of the room. But hey, at least it's something new to read. 

A couple days later, I talk to some of my co-workers about my trip and one of them gives me a book called The Artistic Mother, by Shona Cole. 

 

This book looks really neat, mostly because I'm a mom and any excuse to use my child in my inspiration excites me. In it, there is a 12 week course of activities and projects designed to incorporate art and creativity into your life. EXACTLY what I'm looking for. To continue my goal of being artsy this year, this is the perfect thing to get me focused. In addition to crafting, there are goals of photography and poetry (something I've never really done). 

Should be fun. Let's give it a whirl, and see where it takes us. 

This coming week I am supposed to complete original backgrounds for art projects that come in the future, take action photos of my baby, and read a poem a day. 

I'll leave you with a sort of poem that is turning into my paradigm:

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.  ~ e.e. cummings, 1955


Jen

Blending of the Two

Ok, so after messing with typepad.com, I've come to the conclusion that unless you pay (which I'm not ready to yet), you don't get any kind of modification. BORING. This blog is supposed to be about creativity and expression. How can I do that if I cant even change the font? 

So moving forward, I'm back to good old blogger. And I am still trying to keep true to my New Year's resolution of finding more time for me to create. Now that I have a place all my own for the purpose, I keep itching to shut the door and get away. 

Don't get me wrong, I love being a wife and a momma. But having a hobby again is calling my name. I'll post updates of my recent project soon. I've been so busy tearing down wallpaper in my kitchen and living room, my weekends haven't been allowing for much personal time. 

Until next time -

Jen

i LOVE my family.

So it's totally cool. My in-laws went on vacation to GA to visit my brother in law Mike before he's voluntary shipped to Iraq (idk when, but this year). My mom and sister in law Amy were so awesome to take care of baby for that time. My other in-laws Nate and Shaunasee gave us their old big screen.I dont even care that it takes up even more space in our cramped quarters. My grandma cooks the most awesome dinners, and I have never felt closer (in a non-sibling way) to my sisters. It's cool to be surrounded by people you love when life stresses you out.

Movin' on up

With the passing of my grandpa Ray, Tom and I decided to move in with my grandma to keep her company while paying off our debt. Not many people get this opportunity - to both spend a lot of time with those you love, and devote a large chunk of your income toward debt resolution. It has been pretty emotional on my part. I didn't know if we were making the right choice (the space is limited), and I didn't know if we could co-habitate with her successfully. We are in week 2, and all seems to be going well. Dilly is happy and healthy and full of energy. We finally got him sleeping through the night, thank God. We are so exhausted lately. I am so happy to be a momma, and happy to be learning my g-mas cooking secrets ;).

New year, new outlook?

With such a busy and stressful 2009, I have been: both the most happy and the most sad, in the most pain, the most scared, the most depressed, the most excited, the most loved, and the most blessed I have ever been in my entire life.

So many big things have happened: I had my first baby, I found out I actually like green peppers, I had heart surgery, I had my gall bladder out, I have seen the inside of my body in so many ways (MRI, ultrasound, TCD Doppler, Tiny bubbles shot in my veins to illuminate the blood vessels in my brain), my wonderful grandfather passing away, deciding to move to my grandmas, starting a new job in the area I actually went to school for (and regardless of what I say I like it), loving my husband in a way I didn't know was possible.

With all the good and bad, I am thankful we made it to 2010. Here's to a quieter year full of quality time spent to those we love, and the knowledge to know how good we truly have it.

his sweet self

My little one is so happy. I must be doing something right, cause his little face is always smiling :) I used to not want kids, but now that we've got him i couldnt imagine life any other way.

Whoa.

If you thought your house is messy, watch that Hoarders show on A&E. I looked around my apartment and instantly got to work. I couldn't get over the dead cat that had dried to the lady's living room floor. *shudder* Who says TV rots your brain haha.

Ack.

It's a bitter taste sometimes, life.

Reminds me a little of Ophelia floating down the river. Heartbroken and  slightly unbalanced, singing herself to that deep sleep. Maybe not to that extreme, but you know how when you lie in a bathtub and you put your head in far enough to cover your ears; The white noise you hear? I feel all muffled like that. My eyes closed and all closed off to the world, enveloped in a vessel of warmth and calm. One of these days I'll pull the plug and emerge from the bathroom with a towel around my head and a q-tip in my ear ready to take on the world again. But for now, I'll stare at the textured ceiling making shapes, and listen to the muffled sounds. 

My heart still aches.

Que Sera Sera... Whatever Will Be Will Be.

Ray Bowers Wright 1921 ~ 2009 Coalville ~ Taylorsville Our most beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Ray Bowers Wright, age 87, passed away peacefully at home on November 18, 2009. Born December 22, 1921, to Mary Ellen Staples Wright and Lawrence E. B. Wright in Coalville, Utah. Married Belva Johnston on May 7, 1942, in the Salt Lake Temple. Ray loved sports and played whenever or wherever he could. Attended North Summit High School and served as student body president. He also loved riding his horse in the countryside or mountains. He served his country in the army at the end of World War II and was stationed in the Philippines as sports director at a rest camp for GI's. He owned his own truck line for 14 years, and drove truck until his retirement in 1986. He was a member of the Teamsters and served as President of the Retiree's Organization for several years. Ray was a member of the LDS Church, and served in many callings. He loved people and was a friend to everyone. He will be sorely missed. He was preceded in death by: his parents; brothers, Emery and Keith; and one son, Robert J. Wright. Survivors: his wife of 67 years, Belva; children, Teresa (Marvin) Pace, Farrell (Lori) Wright and Stuart (Tracy) Wright; 16 grand-children, 13 great-grandchildren, and one brother, Joseph Lee. Services will be held November 23 at the Taylorsville 27th Ward Chapel, 2976 West 4270 South, at 11:30 a.m. A viewing will be held at Redwood Memorial Mortuary & Cemetery, 6500 South Redwood Road, Sunday evening, November 22, from 6-8 p.m. and Monday, at 10:00 a.m. prior to the service. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

My sweet grandpa, I love you.

You can't possibly know how much I'm going to miss you. Even though your still with us right now, you're not, really. I am so grateful for the influence you had on me. Taking me to church every Sunday of my childhood was some of the best memories my life. Coming home to the smell of cooking roast after walking home with you.Teaching me how to ride my bike, then later how to drive a car. You would always cut the meat at every meal, and sit at the same spot at the table. You always whistled and sang me little songs. You would always keep me stocked up in veggies during the summer from your huge garden. No matter how down I was, or how hard things got at home, your place was always a constant safe haven that I could feel normal at. Thank you.

Things are changing now, I know that. But I'll always love you.

Halloween

So Halloween was fun this year. We dressed Dillon as a pumpkin (totally fitting). We went to see my grandparents. I'm so grateful for them, they taught me so many life lessons. It is sad to see them grow so old and fade away slowly. They have had such a full life, and are such good people. I know that whatever is after, if such a thing exists, will welcome them with open arms. If anyone deserves it, it's them. 
After my grandparents we went to my in-laws to say hi. My mother-in-law Lyn babysits Dill during the week, and she's cute with him. I think she's more paranoid about his health and overall happiness than I am. But I am grateful for her help.
Then it was off to my families house. My mom made tarantula taco salad (very yummy homemade shells and pico de gaillo), this delicious lime drink mmmmm, and awesome apple cake. Good times with family. I hope yours went as good as mine did. woo!!