Life As We Know It

366 photos: day 114- 120

 

Hello there!

It's Monday! And it's sunny!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved doing the school run this morning without getting soaked through to the skin.

I was still shying away from the big camera last week, the phone is just so darn convenient for this sort of thing, but am hoping to use it more this week.

 

Monday: Have you ever loved a background so much you were afraid to carry on in case you wrecked it? This was one of those. I had to take a deep breath, then mess it up a bit on purpose so I wouldn't get too precious about it (a little tip I learned from Junelle). It worked. I'll show the finished page later in the week.

 

Tuesday: 7.15. In the morning. We're heading out the door for Aoife's first Irish dancing class with the before school club. She'd been pestering me about it for ages (and ballet), and I'm glad to say she loved it.

 

Wednesday: Warming up on the sofa for a while after getting soaked through in yet another heavy rain shower. Kirby took the opportunity to catch up on the latest news in tv-land.

 

Thursday: I found this, and dozens more, on the point and shoot. The toys set up "just so" between each and every shot. At one point poor Winnie the Pooh even had the sheep on top of his head! You gotta love that girl! She loves the camera as much as her mummy.

 

Friday: Alan was out on the lash with some of the lads, so I went to bed early and curled up with a good book. I needed that.

 

Saturday: Another blurry shot of the kids, but I love watching them play and seeing how much fun they have together.

 

Sunday: Sunday dinner. It was casserole weather last week. For sure.

 

And that's the end of week 17 in pictures.

 

ATC swaps

 

I love blogging!

I really do.

Not only do I have this space online to record and celebrate the lovely things that make up our days, but I have gotten to know some truly amazing and creative people too.

 

As you may remember, I took part in a background technique swap a while back, which led me to try out ATCs for the first time. That was so much fun! And I was so touched when Janet, Jenny and Jen (seriously, what's with all the Js?!) all agreed to trade with me.

They all kindly asked if I wanted to see what they had available to trade, but I told them to surprise me.

And boy was I surprised! I received some gorgeous stuff from these super-talented, highly inspiring, and oh so generous ladies.

First to arrive were these beauties from Janet:

 

 

Then this amazing lot from Jenny:

 

(I gasped when I saw how much stuff she'd sent me!)

 

Then these wonders from Jen:

 

 

Jen also sent me the fabulous book of background techniques that I took part in:

 

I love having a visual record of so many techniques right at my finger tips. And so many new blogs to explore among the participants. Fun!

 

366 photos: day 107- 113

 

Hello! Happy Monday!

 

Monday: On a particularly playful morning, Aoife asked for a picture of the three of us together. I, of course, jumped at the chance. With only minutes to spare before we had to leave for school we cuddled up on the sofa and snapped away.

 

Tuesday: Yay! The transfer worked! For once! My persistance paid off!

 

Wednesday: Do you see it? Do you see the heart? I love hearts and look out for them everywhere. When I can, I snap a picture. My hope is to create a photo book when I have enough.

 

Thursday: My poor deprived child complained about getting 3 cooked meals a day. She wanted sandwiches. So we had a packed lunch dinner.

 

Friday: When Kirby got this elephant for his birthday, Alan and I thought it was just another noisy battery operated toy. We were wrong! This rocking elephant has magical powers. He can calm a fidgety baby in seconds and turn a frown upside down. We love him!

 

Saturday: Muddy fun up at the rugby club (and this is the clean version!)

 

Sunday: I finally got to spend some time in the attic to sort and put away the clothes the kids have outgrown lately, and bring down some new ones. Now we just need to decide what comes next...

 

And that's the end of week 16!

This week looks to be as rainy as the last, so no doubt there will be plenty of reading, pottering, and indoor fun ahead.

 

journal pages

 

Hello,

How's it going?

Any news?

I seem to be eating, breathing, sleeping art journaling right now. I have so many fun pages on the go, so many ideas for new ones, and so many ideas for other stuff related to art journaling, that my head is spinning.

These are the pages I have managed to finish in the last couple of weeks:

 

To God with love: This was my interpretation of an exercise in the art of wild abandonment class on sketching your feelings. To make the page, I used acrylics, inks, stamps, stencils, scrap paper, paper towels, pens and rub ons.

 

She walked with spring in her steps: This is another one for the wild art class. This time the objective was to make a page on what we bring with us on our journey this spring. This page was made using water soluble crayons, acrylics, inks, stamps, stencils, scrap papers, pens and rub ons.

 

Sharing the love: This one was made after I saw Aoife's collage of scraps (top left). I love that we share this love of creating and quite happily sit and paint or collage together at the breakfast bar whenever we have the chance. I could also learn from her free and easy style. No over-thinking, just doing. I tried to emulate that in my own 2 minute collage down the bottom. The background is acrylics with acrylics and inks stamped and stencilled into it, with a whole lot of rub ons to finish it off.

 

A house built on love: Excuse the colour. It's completely off and I can't get it right no matter what I do. Anyway...This page was made on a collage of book pages, etc, using water soluble crayons, acrylics, inks, pens, rub ons, stamps, stencils, scrap paper, embroidery floss, buttons, and tissue tissue paper.

I chose not to share the journaling on this one, which I did all over the top half, as it's kind of personal. You will see it in place when I've finished the journal, because I hope to do a video journal flip.

Have a great weekends friends. See you Monday!

 

366 photos: day 100- 106.

 

Hello again my dears,

So here's the second installment of 366 photos this week. These are from last week, which was mostly spent at home again since we were still sick (in other words; expect loads of pictures of the kids!).

 

Monday: Alan putting up the curtain pole in Aoife's new room.

 

Tuesday: A wonderful sight to wake up to, even though neither of them are supposed to co-sleep with us anymore!

 

Wednesday: Baking savoury cheese muffins for the kids as a treat.

 

Thursday: Guess who was painting?!?!

 

Friday: Friday night craziness.

 

Saturday: Looking through the scrap bowl for quick art ideas.

 

Sunday: The kids watching Sunday morning telly.

 

And that was last week in pictures. See you in a day or two for loads of art journal fun and other stuff.

366 photos: day 93- 99

 

Hey there lovelies,

Hope you had a lovely Easter.

We're slowly clawing our way back to health over here. Aoife has gone back to school today after the Easter break, and I have to say I'm looking forward to getting back into some semblance of a routine.

I have decided to break up the photos from the last fortnight into two posts. I'll show week 14 today, and week 15 tomorrow. I also have loads of art journal pages to show you this week. And I want to talk about some stuff that's on my mind. One good thing about being home sick for most of two weeks... I have had plenty of time to think (and read).

Anyway, let's see what happened the week before last:

 

Monday: Sorting all of Aoife's jigsaws before bringing them up to her new room.

 

Tuesday: Thick as thieves. I love the looks on their faces. Something tells me they were up to no good.

 

Wednesday: Trying out a new, quick and easy low-carb bread recipe. Yummy! I'm hoping to experiment with it a bit this week, because I can see a couple of other uses for it too.

Thursday: It happened! I forgot to take a picture! Aoife and I baked hot cross buns. I had Kirby glued to my hip all day, crying his little heart out, and I wasn't feeling too clever myself, but had promised Aoife we'd make some.

 

Friday: Good Friday... apparently. It went by in a febrile daze. At some point I apologised to the others for not having had the time, or energy, to decorate for Easter. Aoife said "no problem", disappeared around the corner, messed about in her craft drawers for a minute, and came back with this Easter egg scribble that she taped to the wall. That was the extent of our Easter decorations this year. And it was precious.

 

Saturday: She was so good with him. She always is, but I was so impressed with how patient and caring she was with him while he was ill.

 

Sunday: Easter egg hunt in the back garden. Her first at home. She was so happy every time she found an egg, she held it up to show me.

And that was week 14. Back tomorrow with week 15.

 

 

A sick house

 

Aoife is recovering from a cold. Kirby and I have flu-like colds. Kirby has a middle ear infection. I've had virtually no sleep since Thursday.

I am shattered.

So I hope you'll understand the lack of posts at the end of last week, and why I've decided to take this week off to look after the kiddos, recover and refresh.

Hope your Easter was better! See you soon!

 

366 photos: day 86-92

 

Late posting again! The push to get Aoife's room ready for her to move in by the end of the weekend was on. And we did it...just. Phew! Now I just have to make her some art and we're sorted.

On that note:

 

Monday: First coat on and I'm hyperventilating! It is so bright!

 

Tuesday: Rubbish photo, but lovely memory. Kirby wakes Aoife up for school every morning. If she takes to long to get up, he throws the school uniform at her!

 

Wednesday: I was thinking a lot about my late dad last week, so I made a Greek salad (his fave) in his honour.

 

Thursday: Trying out a low-carb pancake recipe using cream cheese, eggs and cinnamon. Yummy!

 

Friday: It's a shame this picture was taken on the phone because I absolutely love it. Aoife showing off her summer uniform.

 

Saturday: Alan putting together the Expedit for Aoife's room. So close now we can taste it!

 

Sunday: Palm Sunday.

 

And that's the end of week 13! Full bedroom reveal coming soon.

 

366 photos: day 79-85

 

Here's week 12 for you in all its everyday glory.

 

Monday: That boy's antics crack me up on a daily basis. Right now he has a thing about putting his daddy's shoes in the laundry basket and on the dryer!

 

Tuesday: Wonderful Cherry blossoms we see every day on our way to school. So nice! Spring has definitely sprung!

 

Wednesday: When I tell Kirby it's time to pick up Aoife from school he gives me the biggest smile, then crawls out to the porch as fast as his little legs can go, sits down on the step, and tries to put on his shoes (even though I rarely make him wear them).

 

Thursday: This flower magnet Aoife made in school during science week makes me smile every single time I go in the kitchen. It is so bright and cheerful. I love it!

 

Friday: Non-uniform/ silly sock day at school in aid of CAFOD. Aoife looked suitably silly in her Halloween tights.

 

Saturday: Honey I blew up the kid!

 

Sunday: A trip to IKEA to buy some new pieces of furniture for Aoife's room. Obviously, a meatball dinner was on the agenda too :)

 

Isn't it weird how things work out. One of the reasons I started this challenge was because I wanted to get better at my big camera, yet as the year goes on, more and more of my 366 pictures are taken on my phone!

 

Summer Lovin' {art journal}

 

Summer Lovin'

 

Hello my lovelies,

First off; I haven't forgotten about the 366 photos, they're coming tomorrow. In the meantime I thought I'd show you this page I made a few days ago.

We booked our summer holiday last week and I was so excited I had to journal it straight away. With family in Sweden and Ireland to go see, we rarely get time away on our own, so this is a big deal.

The page was made using water-soluble crayons, acrylics, stamps and stencils, book pages, scrapbook paper, paper towels (beach huts, apron and petticoat), photos of Alan and the kids, rub ons and pen.

Such a fun page to make!

Back tomorrow! Ta ta!