Do You Yo-Yo?

Lots of new goodies up the sleeve here in the studio.  And this happens to be my son William's favorite!

This little photo shoot was so fun to shoot.    We'd count to three and they'd yo-yo and I'd giggle.   Mostly I was giggling because Graham, the crazy kitten kept attacking our yo-yo's!!  Heck, I'm giggling as I write this remembering the scene.  See her behind Mailey in the attack mode? 

So the yo-yo's work just fine and are a fabulous Christmas gift for your youngsters.  We sure love yo-yoing around our house!

Counting Blessings

This morning I really should be painting or working on jewelry or plastering puffy hearts.  But alas no, I am staring at pictures of these two and counting my many blessings:

Summer can on occasion be a struggle for Moms. Especially those that work from home, like me. To my kids, the work I do is fun and they want to be under foot the entire time. Which I don't mind when I'm doing some projects. They help out for a bit and then get tired and move on. I engage them in activities during the day that they want as well so we all are equally stimulated. Billy wakes me as he leaves which as a general rule gives me about 2 hours before the kiddos stir (they are late sleepers, yeah!).  But other parts of the day when I am about to BURST with creative energy sometimes gets put aside.  sigh....  This morning though as I was flipping through pictures I just couldn't help but think of this quote:

"We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives."  -Dan Zaldra

So count your blessings today, and take time to thank those that make your day complete.  My kiddos, well although they are totally clueless that they do this,  make the biggest difference in my creative life and continue to mold me into the woman I am.

Yes, We Are Now A Petting Zoo

For about two weeks now we've been seeking the perfect Hamster. Yes, I said Hamster. I wanted one, the kids wanted one, Billy did not want one, but hey, it was 3 against 1. Majority rule in this house. Anyhoo, I am thinking at this point we might could apply for a petting zoo licence and make some money off this entourage of ours. Or get kicked out of the neighborhood for animal abundance! We now have one large fur real friends horse named Romeo, 4 sheddy cats, one silly dog, one stinky turtle, and one VERY CUTE dwarf hamster. Yep dwarf hamster. His name is, get this......Etsy. I had nothing to do with that. After buying him we were in the car throwing out names and Mailey was just insistent on Etsy. I said how do you spell that? And she said, you know, like the place you sell your art work....ETSY. Holy cow, I've created a little artsy monster. So his or her (how do you tell the gender??) name is indeed ETSY.

It is the cutest darn thing. And we've touched, held, brushed, introduced it to the four cats and silly dog, and photographed it in only 3 short hours. And it has yet to bite or seem to mind (or died). Wow. It's a good hamster. I love it already. I'm going to go out and buy it a Barbie jeep tomorrow. It's got to have a pink Barbie jeep. Okay, I am off to paint....

Glittery Love

I've been working away in the studio on some prototypes for Christmas. Yes, Christmas. As I reflected on the shows from 2008, I realized that I missed a wonderful opportunity for making a fabulous ornament to sell. And honestly, this is the time to do it if I am going to make something in a large quantity. I have little elf helpers around to help with the glittering process this summer! My studio is just a glistening right now. Happy days.

"Mommy can we make.....?"

So yes, I am one of those Moms. When my children want to make cookies, we make cookies. When they want to swing, we swing. When they want to make art, we make art. Of course I do say no as well on occasion. But honestly, these requests are what build their childhood memories. Memories that I treasure as well. So yesterday Mailey asked if we could make a bunny. Hummmm....The first attempt was without a pattern using vintage chenille. Major disaster and frustration. She was like, "Mommy we can just try again tomorrow." And I was hoping she'd forget. Fat chance. So today, after we had a filling re-filled in her little toothy we hit Wal-mart and picked friendly fabric, a bunny pattern and very important buttons. Of course I had to adapt the pattern. It calls for use of one fabric and simply four cut pieces (easy peasy if I'd followed the pattern). We wanted different fabrics for the ears, arms, legs and body. So I manuvered this request pretty well.

My little blue bird monitored the progress. Mailey decided she needed a "break" and took off to snap every odd corner of the house with my camera. Seriously, I may have to share the unique angle at which she photographed our home at some point.

Here's the end result after 3 hours that seemed to fly by. I had to say no to a game of horse with William only about 100 times. I am sure that will be tomorrow's activity. Anyhoo, super cute bunny I think, and Mailey is in love. His name is "Snuggie".

Close-up of the funny details. Since she's not at risk for swallowing we added button eyes, nose, whiskers and a funny tail. I know you are asking yourself, will Jenni be making more of these to sell? That answer is simply and most definately, "no." But thanks for asking. Have a creative night!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

They say we look alike, Mailey and I. I don't mind so much because I think she's quite a pretty little thing. And lately she's getting more and more like me in more ways than just looks.....She's becoming quite the little artist! I've been working on a new collage series for the kiddo book. This afternoon Mailey asked if she could make something. And about 45 minutes later, with a floor full of cut paper scraps, she'd made this fabulous composition and had my Golden gel medium in hand ready to attach it to the wood. I quickly volunteered to help put it all together. She wants me to sell it in my next art show, but I don't think I can part with it! Maybe I'll make some framed tiles of it. I told her whatever money she made, 1/2 had to go into a savings account we've started for her and her little hobby- horseback riding and horse shows.

So here's one of the 4 I have started. It's been a very exciting process adding the paper with the paintings. This is #3 of course. So far I have 1 Mommy bird, 2 red cardinals, 3 silly blue birds, and 4 fancy feathered pink ladies. I've 6 left to go in the series....maybe I should hire Mailey to be my apprentice to help me finish!

Chalkboard Messages

I guess about 6 years ago my neighbor gave me this awesome chalkboard. She said it had been given to her when her children were small and since they no longer used it, thought I might want it for my children. I had it at the house, then in the studio and now it's back in the house on the wall behind the front door. It cracks me up the things that appear on it. Like below, a little Mailey portrait. I love the blue eyes and super lengthy eyelashes. And of course large bows on the shoes.Sweet message below... although I have a feeling right this second they are erasing it and putting up a new message with less enthusiasm for me. It's day 2 of winter break and they are already bored and fussing with one another. urghhhhh...
My favorite I've found yet was this one. "School is boring". I was such a daydreamer, that my days were not boring in school because they were full of excitement in my head!

I hope to get something creative done this week. It may be just a week of being Mommy though. That's not too bad, I kind of like my job. Off to play horse with William. I kick his cute hiney every time at this old fashioned game. He doesn't think Mommy is very athletic. What he doesn't know is that I played basketball from about age 5-16. Game on boy!

This Week at Art Camp- Birdies!

One of my favorite little things to paint are birds, of course you already know that I am sure. So this week's camp was super fun for me! We painted on canvas Mommy and baby paintings. The children were asked to place in the nest the same number of babies in their families. They were so cute adding Daddy, Grandma, and Brother's and Sisters. Each bird had a name and a story so quickly! Oh the little imaginations!
One of my favorite silly birds is a Toucan. Those beaks look like they'd make their little bodies fall over! The kids drew and painted these fellas awesome!
We also made a little nest a birdie from air dry clay. Adding the feathers was a fun touch and made them even more lovable!

Mattie Swinging

I tend to work on several paintings at once in different styles, mediums and subjects. I don't know how not to really. I get anxious, so while one is drying I start another one, and so the cycle continues. I am working on some sweet images to hopefully one day incorporate into a children's book. You will see Mattie doing all sorts of fun things over the next few months as I develop her character. It was recommended to me by a wonderful mentor that I should get my audience to fall in love with her, let the character develop and then write the book. So this is my plan. Here she is doing one of my children's favorite things....swinging! Of course there is no Mommy bird behind her. My very observant little Mailey noticed that right away. You see, my two still want me to push them, and since they are now 6 and 8, it does seem a bit silly, but I love it. It is another memory they will have of us together. I may still be pushing them at age 21 at this rate though! Have a lovely weekend!