Project Life 365: Week 2

This was the 2nd week of Project Life 365.  The challenges this week, forced me to think about composition, and making deliberate choices.  For each challenge, I would capture a few different photos, edit them, then pick the strongest one.

Day 7 #simplicity
This was the top of a steeple from the Cincinnati skyline.  There is nothing more simple than looking at the cross and putting our faith in Him.

Day 8 #front_door
Vivienne sits at the front door playing with my vintage Minnie Mouse.

Day 9 #in_a_drawer
This challenge forced me to use the new drawer liners I bought weeks ago.  I love the contrast of pattern with the bright colors of the markers.  Trust me, my drawers do no normally look so minimal.  This was one of my deliberate choices to make the composition a bit stronger.

Day 10 #game
A bit of alphabet fun.

Day 11 #signature

This is my Christening cross with my name inscribed in Greek.

Day 12 #mini

Vivi has a Minnie Mouse addiction.  

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The Mirage in My Head

If you are like me, you've been inundated with articles, blogs, and Pinterest posts about how to get organized this year. My favorite is the "Get Organized in 52 Weeks" or something like that.  Really? I can barely keep my laundry put away.  I like to think that I'm organized, but it's this mirage that exists only in my head.   Don't get me wrong, I'm not a slob either, I am just a very lazy Virgo.
I won't pretend to show anyone how to get organized, in fact I'd like some help.  I'm just proud that after a year (long story) I now have my makeup in one spot.

Life Full Circle

Project Life 365- A Personal Challenge

If you follow me on social media, you might have caught me post a photograph a day, with the hash tag #projectlife365.  Project Life 365 is a new interactive photography forum which gives participants a daily prompt, and encourages them to post photographs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  The challenge is geared towards those who would like to grow, learn, and also inspire others.  There are no right or wrong answers, just the process and joy of creating. 

This week's prompts were:

Day 1: Resolution. 

I resolved to learn to how create a sock bun.  I know, kind of dumb, but everyone takes their resolutions so seriously.  I am not going to save the world by being kind, or losing 50 lbs.  This seemed like a funny attainable goal.  Not to mention the fact that I was sick of my husband teasing me about my messy "college" bun.

Day 2: You_Today.

We took a little road trip to visit family in Cincinnati last week.  My cousin so graciously watched the kids while Dustin and I went shopping, or rather I went shopping. I bought these red jeans, because they looked good, and frankly they made me happy.  Not to mention I found this $4.00 shirt at Nordstrom Rack.

Day 3: Optimistic.

I am optimistic these feet will climb to great heights.

Day 4: Graceful.

I captured this image traveling through Indiana.  These beautiful wind turbines just looked so graceful to me.

Day 5: View.

My son was enjoying the view from our bedroom, as he saw glimmers of snowflakes falling.

Day 6: Still_Life.

Our lazy beagle, Bingo, masked as stuffed animal, competing for the best pose.  

                                 

Follow me for weekly Project Life 365 updates.  If you are participating in this challenge, I would love to see your work!

12 Days of Crafting- A Bit of Baking

My aunt promised Simon she would come over and bake cookies with him. We made traditional gingerbread cookies, using Mrs. Field's recipe.  He was sooo excited to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies.  The morning turned into a family affair with four generations baking together.   My grandmother, my mom and aunt, me, and the kids.  What a great memory for all of us!

What special holiday memories have you created this year?

12 Days of Crafting- Masterpiece Christmas Cards

If you are like me, you have piles and piles of your child's artwork.  In our case, we have piles of watercolor paintings on heavy watercolor paper.  An interesting way to honor your child's artwork, it to recycle it onto a Christmas card, or make a brand new masterpiece.  We chose to make tiny heart cut outs, and glue them onto Christmas cards.

I picked a Christmas tree motif, but I think these look great when the kids glue their shapes in an organic way.  There are no mistakes here.  I plan on putting gift cards in these little masterpieces.  Just a small way to make a gift card more personal.  How do you honor your child's artwork? 

12 Days of Crafting- Paper Snowflakes

Nothing is prettier than making your own paper snowflakes and hanging them around the house.  I received this book about 7 years ago, and I used it constantly in my classroom.  Since we had a dusting of snow last night, I thought it was appropriate to pull this book out and make some more snowflakes.  Unfortunately this book is out of print, but there are a couple of used copies on Amazon.

 

*A tip to get your snowflakes to hang nicely, iron them at a low setting.  

12 Days of Crafting- Silhouette Portrait

One of my favorite stores is The Paper Source in Oak Park, IL.  Ever since my art student days, I would buy beautiful printed paper and decorate books, make books, or other crafts.  I saw this adorable project for a silhouette portrait, using decorative paper decoupaged on top of a frame.


I put my own twist on this project, by decoupaging precut oval mat board. Further, I used my handy iPhone to take pictures of the kids, and printed the images out on 8.5"x11" paper.  I cut this image out, and used it as a template to trace their faces onto black card stock.

This project turned out adorable, and would make a great grandparent gift.