happy halloween!

hope you have a fun and safe halloween! :)  

i {heart} october...let me count the ways...

1. simple art projects with the kids

 2. visit to the homeschool community garden (yes! tomatoes still growing in california in mid-october!)

3. leaf rubbings!

4. autumn in san jose = spring in san jose

5. celebrating birthdays with spooky cupcakes!

6. field trip to monterey bay aquarium (shh! sleeping sea lion on the rocks there!)

7. soaking up what's left of the sun (enjoying a cherry soda float! yum!)

happy fall, everyone! hope you are enjoying this cozy, spooky, fun season.

random fall pages

here are a few pages from my little daily september journal/scrapbook.  there were a few days/memories that i didn't have photos for, but i still wanted to include in the journal. so i made a cute, scrappy title with some random alphabet stickers and wrote in all the details i could remember about the photo-less days/events.

close-up of a page.  i used some cardstock cut-outs from crate paper's random line (love it!!)

no journal of mine is complete without some hand lettering and doodling.

a little close-up of my somewhat neglected xtra large moleskine cahier...i got a little wrapped up in my 4x6 size mini book/daily album that i kind of forgot about my other journal. ;)

more page close-ups...

the above page is still in the works...needs some coloring-in of the writing, but i like how it's coming together.

and you've gotta try taking super close-up photos of your journals/artwork and then printing them as labels on sticker paper or as photos and then re-using them in your artwork/journals.  so much fun.  each page is full of new artwork just waiting to be exposed! :)

getting ready for halloween!

1. halloween banner swap with my art group: check!

the challenge was to use "non traditional" color combinations.  so, in other words: no black/orange.

so i tried different combinations: black/white/purple/red/green

i think they turned out pretty good! (or bad, i mean, it is halloween afterall!)

2. visit to a pumpkin patch: check!

the girls were lucky to be invited to a birthday party that just so happened to have been held at the cutest of cute pumpkin patches.  there was a giant pumpkin to climb inside (hence, orange-tinted photos!)

and lots of opportunities for cute photo-ops (none, of course, that came out of the cute hay-bale maze, train ride or petting zoo!  but that's ok.  we had fun and that's what matters most!)

3. time for some october journaling: check!!  not in traditional fall colors, but that's ok by me.  what are you doing to prepare for fall/autumn/halloween?

just your average fall day...

well, october has totally caught me by surprise!  and fall has suddenly arrived.  we were still having park playdates in the hot sun the last week of september and now...brrr!!  rain and clouds and socks and sitting by the heater and snuggling up with a blanket and each other to keep warm.  i live for summer. love it.  but i do appreciate the cold, cloudy, rainy, cozy season of fall.  

a journaling-pages-in-progress shot.  it is so meditative to sit and chat with friends while randomly taping things down in my journal. 

i guess we'll be saying goodbye to journaling in the sun on a blanket in the grass.  but we'll still keep being creative. even if by candle light! i am just finishing up my september daily journal/scrap/photo/book.  i'll post photos soon.  now i'm off to start one for october!  it is my new artistic interest.  you know, no matter how boring or routine you think your life is, once you start to keep a daily journal with a few photos and memories, suddenly your life seems so FULL and AMAZING.  i know that's how i feel right now.  i think that's what keeps me blogging, too.  just to capture these seemingly insignificant moments only to turn them into something more.  something so beautiful.

and yes, this is a photo of snails painting.  (fyi: no snails were harmed in the making of this painting! we used food coloring and gentle loving care)  this was part of my daughter's current science investigation.  oh, just your average day in the homeschool classroom!

so that's what i've been up to lately.  loving, living and dreaming.  i hope you are well.

photo effects & chalk art

just a little update...i've been having fun this past week participating in ella publishing's boot camp.  it was a week long event that consisted of different exercises in journaling, design, photo tricks, etc.  i learned a lot and this is just an example of how to add a different look (vintage, urban, etc) to your photos.  i love learning new tricks, especially in photoshop.  i'm shooting with the camera on my phone and it takes OK photos, but i always have to end up editing them.  i like this look and it's super easy to do (ok, as long as you know a little bit about photoshop.  but with all those tutorials out there, it won't take long to learn a few tricks yourself!)

over the weekend we went to a sidewalk chalk art festival in our neighborhood.  my stepdaughter participated along with some of her friends from art class.  they made a very cool mural with trees and fairies (photo came out too dark!).  i brought my daughter and her friends to see her big sister in action and they were inspired to draw as well.  above is just a little bit of what they did.  it was a fun day in the sun, watching artists of all ages expressing themselves.  

been working a little bit on my september daily journal. more photos soon.  fall has snuck up on me again!  the days are getting shorter which means i gotta get my photos done earlier than usual.  where does the time go?  so long summer. see you next year! 

what i've been up to...

so, september is now more than halfway over...but i decided to start a little september daily journal just for fun!  i was inspired by elise joy and her amazingly-beautiful-yet-simple journals.  (she has a ton of super cute--and affordable--classes, too!  you ought to check them out!)  my september journal is a basic 4x6 ring-bound mini book with a cardboard cover and various paper pages.  i used my favorite scrapbook paper and printed up some 4x6 photos, too.  the great thing about the ring-bound journal is you can take pages out, re-arrange and just punch holes in almost anything to add to your book!

so what else have i been up to?  took a fun class at paper source the other night.  i really needed a mom's night out and this class just seemed like the perfect little getaway!  we decorated blank calendar pages with stamps, stickers, glitter and punched out paper shapes. so simple but so pretty.  we only finished half the calendar in class so i was at risk of not completing this project once i got home! (you know how it is--projects tend to pile up fast!) but i finished up the last few pages tonite and i like how they turned out.  you could do this on regular cardstock.  just type up the months/days in a word document (or use a stamp set) and print on white card stock.  then stamp/glue/embellish as you wish.

and last, but not least, i received a lovely package of wonderful australian ephemera, paper bits and a magnificent hand-made journal (with a fun assortment of lined and hand-printed paper!) from sue.  we were partners in lawendula's paper swap this summer and it was just so much fun, i had to share it with you.  these swaps are so much fun.  you get the chance to be matched up with people from all over the world.  how cool it that? 

hope you like the new photo format!  i'm playing around with using blog templates for a more modern look.  there are some super cool blog templates and other goodies available out there by some talented and generous designers.  all of the above templates are courtesy of pugly pixel.  she has a ton of free goodies and lovlies to pretty up your blog.  

hope you are having a nice september!  

september has come so soon

well, this is the time of year that i desperately cling to any last bit of summer!  luckily for me, i live in northern california which pretty much has awesome weather all year round.  so it isn't TOO hard.  i can still enjoy sunshine and warm weather and wear summer dresses and flip-flops well into october!

got some much needed time in my journal today.  just started a new one, too (amid a pile of so many others! ha!  art journalers, you understand, right?)

here's a few closeups.  i love zooming into a page and discovering a whole new work of art!

i'm having way too much fun with my collection of deco tape.  this is very different from washi tape.  the deco tape is plastic and bright and comes in all kinds of weird patterns!  my favorite are the transparent kinds.  so fun for layering.  oh, and anything with cute, weird hello-kitty style or kawaii animals.

i love the changing seasons, don't get me wrong.  i can't wait for halloween and christmas and all.  but what i lament most about the end of summer is the end of looooong sunny days.  days that don't end until 8 or 9pm.  i love soaking up the last bits of sunshine.  the only good thing about the sun setting earlier each day is that in the fall, you get the most wonderful, dreamy, orange marmalade-y evenings as the sun melts into the sky.

here, maya combines shadows with a friend to form a strange, two-headed, four-armed mythical creature!

sorry, this post is so RANDOM!!  here is a shot of my work table today.  set it up outdoors in the backyard and played with all this fun stuff while maya played with a friend and sureya napped.  there's a little peek at my new journal.  it's a LARGE moleskine cahier type journal with a green floral print (came in a pack of two at barnes and noble--the other is orange, same print)  i decorated the cover with all my favorite deco tapes!!

journaling essentials are as follows:

1. WASHI TAPE!  

rolls and rolls!  different colors and patterns are a must.  i've organized them by colors: warm and cool.  (i found the pencil holders at target for about $3 each!)

#2. ALPHABET STICKERS!

all different fonts, colors and sizes.  these are all from different scrapbooking lines.  my favorites are echo park, october afternoon, and websters pages.  you can find these at michaels, target, and your local scrapbooking store (not to mention a plethora of online stores!)

#3. 6x6 SCRAPBOOK PAPER PADS!

these are my favorite kinds of paper to work with these days (besides vintage papers!)  they are so colorful, portable and not to mention a cheaper alternative to buying the full 12x12 collection kits.  my faves are basic grey, echo park, my mind's eye, just to name a few!

#4. SCISSORS, ADHESIVE AND GLUE STICK!

these are my favorites. small and portable.  the scissors are kid-sized, blunt-tip fiskars.  they are super portable, comfy, and are AIRPORT FRIENDLY!  you can take them on the plane with you. (please always check with your airline ahead of time, just in case these regulations change).  this is my favorite adhesive, too.  cheap refills (best deals are at walmart so far).  and this is my favorite glue stick.  others work just fine, but this one smells like almonds! yum!

#5. and last, but not least... SAKURA MOONLIGHT GELL PENS, WHITE SIGNO UNIBALL AND PILOT PERMABALL

absolutely my favorites.  they all pretty much write over everything (except the gel pens don't write on plastic or glossy surfaces too well, or on washi tape)  the bright colors are great for coloring in lettering, making doodles, and writing on dark surfaces.  the white signo is great for writing over the darkest surfaces and for outlining.  and the permaball, well, it just rocks!  it's smooth and writes over ANY surface and doesn't clog up.  i have yet to meet its equal!

hope you are living up these last few summer-ish days before fall really sets in.  what are your TOP FIVE must-haves when you journal or create art on the go?  i'd love to hear them in the comments! GO!

words to live by

here are a few more pages from the album i've been working on.  i really forget how much i like making these little scrapbook pages!

i love mixing colorful washi tape, boarders stickers, alphabet stickers (mix matched colors & fonts!) and using my moonlight gel pens to add little designs to the background.  and of course, i must have the pilot permaball to outline and journal and add little bits of texture and dimension to some of the elements on the page.

here is the cover of the album.  it is made of 5.75" x 5.75" envelopes from papersource (love LOVE that store!!)  i bought a super awesome kit on etsy once that taught me how to make the envelope album and now i'm hooked.  love it.

look at all these yummy colors!  and since it's made of envelopes, you can also use the pages to tuck in little bits of ephemera, notes, photos, secret journaling, etc.  i think these would make awesome journals, too.

i love the faux stitching on the border stickers on these two pages.  the stickers are from sassafrass lass.  makes me want to experiment with stitching (in the style of amy tangerine!)

some more examples of adding details with the gel pens.  i'm loving these banner stickers by sassafrass, too.  love adding them to the sides for a unique twist.

and i had to include a photo of my dear 81-year-young grama in my album!  i love her smile and her laugh.  she is the inspiration for the name of my blog, too.  love you, grama!  and i printed all the photos from my camera using the pogo printer.  fun!