autumn leaves by children

After painting upon my collection of autumn leaves, I shared the idea with my colleague and she had her students gather their own leaves for fall decorations in the classroom. She kept it a little bit easier by giving them Sharpies and even crayon to design their own autumn leaf art.

They hung them with fishing wire, dangling down next to the window. It brings a little bit of the outside in, touched with the children's feelings of fall.

in the forest

 

I made some drawings during our road trip (since painting in the car was logistically impractical). Going through rural areas, spotting wildlife and hiking in the forests with my kids must have got me thinking how brave one has to be to go through the dark woods alone.

Later, we drove past a handmade sign someone had posted on a fence in the-middle-of-nowhere New Mexico that said, "KEEP YOUR PETS AND CHILDREN CLOSE! RECENT WOLF ATTACKS." Yeeps! Too scary for me.

for writing home ♡

Tried my hand at making fill-in-the-blank note cards today. I was a bit rushed on this project, but they were well received and seem like they'll be useful, so I'm pretty pleased. ^_^

My colleague's 19 year-old daughter is leaving home tomorrow to begin her independent life in a new city where she'll study music, dance and theater. Her mother was proud but a little distraught that her "baby" was leaving the nest. She held an impromptu going-away party this evening, so I quickly made this card set for a gift.

Naturally they'll call, email, text and communicate with all the modern methods we have today. But the note cards will be a personal item in her own handwriting that I hope will bring happiness to her family's mailbox. (I deliberately neglected to put any space for writing bad news or disappointment on the card. They're *just* for sending good news and cheer!)

The daughter is a very cheerful, bubbly and outgoing girl, so I wrote the prompts on the cards to reflect that. I was also thinking about what her mom might want to know: who her friends are, how she's spending her time, how things are going ... even what she's eating! I added some music and art prompts on the card too, since these subjects are such a big part of her personality.

I gave them to her with a tiny bouquet of colorful paper flowers. Each card fits perfectly in a pretty little envelope upon which I placed a Forever stamp (since I hear rates are rising in April).

My idea is that it will be easy to jot a few updating tidbits on a card, seal it up and send to whomever she wishes. Although they started out as postcards, I'm glad I decided to give them envelopes ~ if she gets inspired to write more, it will be easy to mail everything together.

I wish her good luck in her new adventure!

✿♥♡❀ L♡VE ❀♡♥✿

My sister Tami and her boyfriend Paul recently announced their engagement!  I'm so joyful and excited for them! 

But they're not nearby for me to hug and smother with congratulations {as they're enjoying a romantic Engagement Vacation} ~ so I channeled my enthusiasm into a little sketch of them instead.

Congratulations Tami & Paul!!

 

  ✿♥♡❀ L♡VE ❀♡♥✿

I'll fix it up and color it in Photoshop, but this is the first sketch.  

I'm so happy for their happiness!!

urban sketch ~ {serra park}

This afternoon I took my youngest to a birthday party at Serra Park in Sunnyvale. At first I did what I always do at parties - eat, talk and take bunches of photos!  But later in the afternoon, the kids moved on to play in the water feature and there I was able to settle down on a bench with a Sharpie and a notepad to sketch the scene.

The water play area of the park consists of unusual, diagonal-cut, concrete structures and thick, blue poles of varying heights that shoot out streams of water in different directions.  It isn't extremely attractive, but it is clean and was interesting to draw.  Towards the end, the kids realized I was sketching them and enjoyed finding themselves on the page.

I took the idea of urban sketching from the pros over at Urban Sketchers.  Their site has a huge list of contributing artists who are all very talented.  I'm now thinking that I should always carry a sketchbook with me.  The tiny, spiral-bound sketchpad I used today was convenient and just discreet enough to not attract the attention of my models as I sketched them playing in the water.

I think I'll try it more often.