journaling, art show, warm weather...

i am having a blast journaling almost daily along with others in the e-course Nostalgic Musings.

i've taken other online journaling and other art courses, but for some reason, i am really inspired by this group and by our teacher, Hope, and her simple yet very elegant style of journaling. Her prompts are also very inspiring and thought-provoking. i think i just respond well to a structured kind of environment when it comes to creating a daily creative habit.

here are some collaged book covers (insides) that will become the covers for a ringed journal.

i am completely loving my japanese masking tape and paper tape! adds such a quick and lovely layer to each page and creates wonderful borders.

last friday was maya's art show at school. she selected her favorite piece from all the lessons they've done throughout the year. she dressed up for the event. so cute!

they had some tables set up for the kids to create more works of art! here she is making some leaf rubbings.

this week has been a lot warmer than it has been in a while. last week it was raining and now we've got sun again! loving this manic spring weather! :)

here we are hanging out on the front lawn. sureya's fascinated by a bowl of sidewalk chalk. mostly, she likes to chew on them (eww!) but sometimes she will make little markings on the ground or on rocks. she loves to watch her sister draw on the front walk way:

i think maya was inspired by our trip to Arizona where we saw artists drawing amazing pictures on the ground with pastels.

sureya and cesar love to frolic together in the grass. cesar is such a good kitty. he is getting older, and technically, he's not really "our" cat. he is a neighborhood cat who has adopted us. he comes and goes as he pleases. he is a cat of many names to everyone on our street!

last week, the rain soaked (but didn't wash away!) maya's chalk drawings and some raccoons left evidence of their midnight visits!

sureya's feet are about the same size! so cute. the foot prints went from our porch , down the walkway and ended at the sidewalk. i forget sometimes living downtown how close we are to nature. just down the street from us is coyote creek. we get visits from raccoons and possums and we live in the middle of downtown san jose! it makes me want to live in the woods. but in a sense, we're half way there!