August 31, 2010
A piece of heART
My very youngest is in the process of phase-in to all day kindergarten. Over these first two weeks, she’s slowly working her way up to being at school for an entire 8:00am to 3:00pm day. I’m working up to that too. It’s strangely quiet here. She knew I’d miss her, so she made me this Perler bead heart. She gave specific instructions to “kiss it when you miss me.” sigh. She is so much older and wiser than her five years.
Speaking of which, we are huge fans of perler bead crafting around here. All three of my kids (and many of their friends) enjoy it, with the added bonus that it’s a pretty fabulous hand-eye coordinating activity too. If you’re not familiar, Perler beading is where you design a pattern on pegboards (like you see above) placing…
..plastic Perler beads on the pegs. Then, a responsible adult covers with ironing paper, irons and the beads magically melt together. Finally you take the creation off the mold, iron the other side and there you have it…a piece of art. Kisses optional.
August 26, 2010
Six Sneakers and one sweet notebook.
All three at the same school. It seems surreal. My youngest in kindergarten?! When did that happen? Back when they were babies, I remember staring blankly through a fog of total exhaustion hearing people say, ‘Enjoy it…they grow up so fast.’ At the time, all I wanted to know was how many more pounds/how many more weeks before this child sleeps six hours in a row?! Now look. I need a bullhorn to wake them up some most mornings. I blinked and here they are. So the start of every school year marks a bittersweet celebration. Of course you need cake and ice cream for that.
A back-to-school cake has become our tradition. This year, I decided to create a notebook cake. In the past, I’ve done a pencil, a chalkboard, a minivan carpool (super ambitious year) and an apple. There is no better way in our opinion than to rehash first days over cake and ice cream.
This notebook is spiral bound. Quickly I might add. This is one very busy notebook factory. Speaking of which, I need to get back to my homework that includes filling out a couple hundred forms that I’m pretty sure multiplied last night while we were sleeping. Here’s to another school year.
August 23, 2010
How I Spent My Summer Vacation: A Pictorial
In the Bahamas loving the color combinations.
On a girls weekend in Columbus with Chicago and serious shopping.
Appreciating food that looks and tastes like summer.
Sorting one billion legos by color (I’m not even kidding.)
Painting winterish snowpeople when the temps went into the 90s.
In and out of pools watching my three strengthen their swimming skills.
Traveling to Hogwarts at Universal Studios (seriously amazing….this needs its own post.)
At the beach enjoying the sand and the waves.
Working on my new website with Christine and Anna. It’s finally up! (Thanks ladies!)
So there in a nutshell, are some of the highlights of my summer. School starts this week. I never planned on such a long hiatus from blogging, but summer got in the way. (I’m blaming summer.) I’m back now…really…and hopefully, all posts will not take quite as long as this one, once I learn how things work over here at WordPress. Let me know what you think of the new look. Thanks again Christine! I’m totally loving it.
June 27, 2010
Signing off
This month could go on record as the most neglected blogging month thus far, but I’d like to think I had good reason. Besides juggling a very steady workload at Daley design, I’ve been getting to know my new licensing agent and publisher.
As of Friday, it’s all official. I’ve placed years of work in very capable hands and have joined what feels like an extended family over at Penny Lane. I’m so excited to go forward with this partnership. It’s a new beginning that I can’t wait to have unfold.
Since my studio door has been closed more than open, I’ll be taking a few days off to spend with a very patient and supportive immediate family. Have a great week and I’ll be back here sometime after the 4th.
June 16, 2010
Happiness is…
The short list including really good ice cream on an equally delicious sugar cone; night rains so there’s no need to remember to water flowers during perfectly sunny days; perfectly sunny days; finishing projects that seemed endless; eating dinner outside; planning vacations; anniversaries; hanging out with old friends; time at the pool with a pile of unread magazines; painting ice cream cones; finding cute shoes in a size 11 (that’s not a typo); smores; listening to 5-year-old sandbox banter; sleeping in; being loved; being missed when you go away; having a job that doesn’t feel like a “job”; movie nights with buttered popcorn; coffee in the morning; keeping up with the laundry; blue skies; being trusted with preteen secrets; long days and ice cream. It’s worth mentioning twice.“Happiness is…” is available as a print in my etsy shop. Hope you’re having sunny days too.
June 9, 2010
Crochet creations
Somewhere in between design projects, website redesign (yes, it finally is coming soon!), end-of-school madness and pursuing several art opportunities, I found time to do a little shopping. Imagine that. My friend Robin has a completely gorgeous etsy shop called Well of Creations. She crochets one-of-a-kind pieces including totes, yoga mat bags, wrist cuffs, headbands and the most charming business card/coin holders like the one you see above (that’s mine, but I bet Robin would make you one like it if you asked nice ; ) Many of her items feature personal touches like that hand painted flower patch.
Check out Robin’s shop and tell me she doesn’t have an eye for rich and unique color combinations. I’m ready to purchase a yoga mat and carry it to my pretend yoga class, just so I can buy this bag for it. 
We’re especially loving the flower headbands. They tie in the back so one size really does fit all.
Finding a headband that stays put and fits plus “is comfy/doesn’t itch/bother my head/looks stylish and cool” is truly a challenge so these were pretty exciting finds.
Robin is also sponsoring a fundraiser. All proceeds from her wrist cuffs go to educating impoverished girls in India. She’s been featured on the msnbc news feed here.
Just in case you needed another excuse to shop.
May 29, 2010
Picking time well spent
These days I’m really busy. Busy with more work and projects and ventures than I’ve had for awhile. And that’s saying a lot. I could easily let myself drown if I’m not careful. But today I woke up and stubbornly decided that work or no work, I was not going to miss strawberry season. So the girls and I took off for the pick-it-yourself field right after they rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
I’m thinking it’s important every once-in-awhile to get the behind-the-scenes tour…
and keep in touch with where food really comes from…the beginnings, the inbetweens and the delicious endings.
Nora stayed close while Cara wandered the field in search of the very best berries (but we won’t go into my sweet picker perfectionist : ) While I was busy filling our strawberry bin, Nora took my camera to snap a few of her own strawberry photos. Here’s what I saw her carefully arranging and photographing when I turned around…
Tell me that girl isn’t really funny. Her 5-year-old creativity amazes me. seriously.
We managed to pick nearly 15 lbs of berries in under an hour. Strawberry shortcake is on the menu tonight and tomorrow and maybe the next night.
Back at the strawberry weigh-and-pay, we met some fuzzy duckling friends that amused us and yes I’ll admit to having a sudden urge to paint ducks.
Today’s morning was certainly more memorable and inspiring than where I’m sitting now. I’m reminding myself that I need to make time for random outings. Because who wants to read a post about the lady behind her computer all day anyway? Enough said.
May 20, 2010
Learning to drive in NYC
Don’t take that title literally. I would eat worms before I ever personally drove through the heart of New York City. I’m talking about learning to drive with an art license. Surtex has been forever on my radar as the place to go to figure out the business and put my big foot in the door. While I didn’t feel ready to exhibit/invest in a $4000 booth, I did think that it was time to see the show and take in the entire conference program to better educate myself. So I made the plunge and spent the past three days learning everything I could. Art licensing was a hazy, intimidating subject to me only months ago. Now that world is suddenly becoming clear. I made several excellent contacts and I can say with some certainty that my career is ready to take some exciting turns (not without hard work, but I’m feeling ready.)
While I was mainly focused on Surtex, I did have a sliver of time to catch some New York sights. Sights mainly geared to places where I could pick up surprises for my well-behaving…ahem…kids back at home with their Dad.
This impostor had to suffice for the real thing. I’m sure I’ll be back some day to properly see New York. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted on what develops. I do believe that the first step to pursuing anything you might want to do is learning everything possible about it. Education brings comfort. Maybe not enough to ride in a NYC taxi without several seat belts strapped around yourself, but enough to hail the next ride with confidence.
May 15, 2010
The right equipment for Illustration Friday
To be honest, when the Illustration Friday prompt came this morning I wasn’t exactly running for my brushes filled with inspired bliss. “Equipment” brought images of tractors, backhoes and other heavy machinery…technical, mechanical kind of stuff that didn’t speak to me. However, I was determined to participate. So I looked “equipment” up in the dictionary rather than settle for my preconceived, stifling notions. Definition #2 felt more comfortable: 2, that which equips; supplies; gear. After finding a way to relate, I illustrated my type of equipment as seen above.
That’s what I love about Illustration Friday. A common word is able to produce a wide range of inspiration and images.And yes, if you’re wondering, I do think heavy construction equipment would be happier with more color and of course glitter. Just my thoughts.
May 9, 2010
What I really wanted for Mother’s Day (cough)…
This carefully chosen gift made me laugh out loud. All I had asked for today was a little peace and quiet…but I’ll take humor too. And whom do you suppose will be making pancakes this week?!Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms and may the force be with you.
