Amelia Magic

More Tricks to Learn

I haven't made any resolutions for this year.  I feel like I have a pretty clear idea of what the year will bring.  More of the same only better.  Every year for me is building upon the foundation of what I started 6 years ago.  Being a good mom and finding time for the other things in my life.  (the gazillion other things) 

I found a great post on resolutions the other day, from The City Sage-the gal said she wanted 2010 to be the year of "more" and I wholeheartedly agree.  While we all need to simplify and find balance and I do find myself becoming overwhelmed with all of the "stuff" I have to "do", I too want MORE.  

More time to paint.....

 

.....and more coffee....

.....I love coffee.

Learning New Tricks

When I first started loving blogs a few years ago, one of the things I loved most was the amazing photography that I saw.  I wanted to be able to replicate that on my blog and I have to say it was one of the things that really held me back at first. 

It kept me from posting because I knew that my pics were not what I wanted them to be.  I worked at it a lot and kept taking photos and getting advice from those who know their stuff.

I have definitely gotten better and I feel good about that.

But I want to be waaaaaaaay better.

 

So.  I am going to take a class this year.  I am going to learn all of the important photography technical stuff that I can't even remember right now what it's all called--like white balance and shutter speed--ah I remembered a couple.  Because I think I got the fun and free part down, the just play around part.

 

 

What do you think?

Leave me a comment if you know of a really great on-line photo course. 

Where Did It Go???

Summer flew by.  I really don't usually say things like that.  When a parent comments on how quickly the kids are growing up or how the school year just evaporated, I am not there with them.  I am thinking, "really?  It felt like a snail's pace".  BUT.  This summer FLEW by.  Summer was fun.  I think it is because I am really enjoying motherhood, finally.  Does that sound awful?  I have more.  I really don't think I was cut out for the early stages of motherhood.  The baby stages.  The baby hanging off your boob stages.  The every waking minute and I don't even know what you really want NOW stages.  You get the picture.  I love my girls--duh--we have had wonderful moments together from day one.  But now, now we have fun.  We laugh at each other's jokes, we talk about stuff, we have lunch together, we sit at a coffee shop and just sit there and do stuff.  We go shopping together and they pick out their own stuff.  They look at grown-up clothes and say things like, "oh mom, look, this is sooooo cute".  Really. 

My point is summer came and went and I did everything I said in my last post except blog, that didn't happen.  So, I decided to share snippets of the past three months now, randomly, over the next few days.  Here goes.

Summer activity # 1) Lazy moments spent inside with the air conditioner and a set of markers, drawing sea creatures and little girls hiking in the woods:

Hey Piper, give me a smile........

...huh?

Go away mom.......

........okay, fine, one smile....

...now look at my drawing......

....do you like it???

Peeking Out

How cute is she????  Little Miss 6 year old on her summer break sneaking into the picture.  I was trying to get a shot of her friend--the one in the background there--but of course Little Miss Sneaky snuck in.  She is really into the Little Miss t-shirts and books right now so everything around here is Little Miss this and Little Miss that--as in Little Miss Sassy better stop sassing her mom and get her sassafras *ss in gear and clean up her room!!!  Yeah there, like that.  (Really, I don't know where that came from!)

Anyhoo, really looking forward to a fun and frolicky summer, and it is, indeed, just starting to peek out.  June gloom is pretty much over and we are entering phase two where things start to heat up here.  It will get toasty hot.  Which means beach and air conditioned libraries and friends' pools and ice coffee and catching up on blogging--reading all of my favorites, I have missed them, and posting here, a lot.  Today I am turning my head around the corner and saying hello.  You will see more of me soon...........

Stay cool.

Say "Yes I Am"

As in, "yes I am working on artsy stuff" and "yes I am a patient and loving mother who is capable of doing it all" and "yes I am keeping my closets tidy".  Well, okay, maybe not the last one. 

But, have a look at what I made--affirmation cards.............



......you scatter them on your desk or table or dresser or nightstand..............



.............and when you are feeling low or uninspired, you pick one or two.............



...........and read them out loud (or to yourself if you are feeling shy)............

 

.................and you instantly feel better. 

Really, it works.  I was feeling really gross and tired and cranky the other day and I pulled the one that said, "I am a sexy bombshell with endless amounts of passion and energy" (funny, I know) and I laughed and then pulled my shoulders back and went to the bathroom, splashed some cold water on my face, tidied my hair, put on some red lipstick and felt much much better.  It seems so silly talking about it now, but it made all the difference in my day. 

It really was just that simple.

The butterflies are from watercolors I did awhile ago.  The blue butterfly says "change" and the white butterfly says "embrace change" and there is a little pencil detail on the cards and a bit of glitter on the top card. 

 

I can customize the cards to suit your wants/needs/issues.

And, "yes, I am listing these cards in my etsy shop".

A Little Job For Me

I am an illustrator now, doing a book cover.  That's right, a working woman.  It is for a self help book on parenting.  (I will tell you more about that when it is published and the title is all settled and everything.)  This was really fun to work on, I felt very professional--"kids, can't you see that I am WORKING!!??"  Hee, hee.

Here is a quick shot of the "finished" work.  Meaning what I am turning in as a first look and then they will let me know what to change. 



Right now it is soft and sketchy, hopefully I can add a little sparkle and mess it up a bit, we will see.  Either way, I am happy with it (I love the little girl in her dress) and I can't wait to see it in print.  I also have to make some black and white drawings to highlight the affirmations that will be throughout the inside....those should be really fun, I love simple little sketches.

Gosh, look at the time, I REALLY need to get back to WORK!

From The Hands Of Babes

I volunteer twice a week at Piper's school, one day I am a lunch lady (so much fun!) and another day I go into her class and help with art projects.  Usually the teacher has a project ready to go that coincides with whatever they are learning at the moment.  But this week I took in a bunch of watercolor trays and brushes and just let them have at it.  I do this with my kids and their friends all the time so I know how into it they get, but it was so cool to see a crazy bunch of loud, hot, tired and distracted 5 year olds all calm down and sit quietly and share paint trays and talk about how the colors mix up and want "more paper please" and to be so confident in what they are doing.  (I think that's one of the things I love to see most in a child--confidence--they all have it in a very innate way and I think it is sooooooooooo important for grown-ups to tread lightly so we don't squash that confidence that they are born with.) 

Anyway, we had fun, making art.  I brought their work home and mounted it for them on cardstock and strung it up with some yarn and a couple of beads just for fun so they can hang it proudly on their wall at home. 

Here are some pics.......................enjoy.

























Wow.  That's a ton of pictures, I know, but I couldn't resist.

Go ahead, scroll up, have another look. 

Beautiful.

Hello Spring.

Yes, I know it has been spring for awhile now but I feel like I have just woken up from a looooooooong hibernation and I am ready to go.  I have been driving around LA and noticing all kinds of beautiful  blossoms sprouting up, in front yards, parks, even at the side of the highways and especially in our own little courtyard.  Here is a little spring munchkin showing off her "new dress".  It was, at one time, just black & white, but Piper, Audrey and I went to town with the fabric pens and voila'--color explosion.  Now I can't get her to take it off, it stinks.  Really.

Audrey wanted me to show you the butterfly she painted, the one right there...............



.............see it?  Under the stinky armpit.

And to be fair, I will show you Piper's masterpiece (my personal favorite-shhh, don't tell)..........



..................the butterfly with hearts.  So awesome.

We now are searching through or wardrobes for anything black and white to spruce up a bit.  Washed out denim works too. 

Try it, you'll like it.

Slouch Potato

I don't know what that means either, but I made a slouch hat and it's darn cute, on a potato or otherwise.

Have a looksee;



It's made from a really soft, light gray blend, fuzzy, but not at all itchy.......

...with a big slouchy pouf at the back........




...and finished off with a cute ribbon (Piper picked that out)......

 

.....hee hee, she looks cranky about it, but she's not, she was just tired of modeling for me.

I will be listing my hats in the shop starting tomorrow, I will have this one for kids and grown-ups, but not potatoes.

Tres' chic.

The Re-do

I have been trying to DO more of the things I want to blog about and blog less about the fact that I WANT to do these things.  Get it?  Sort of?  For example, I DID finish a little painting that has been on my art table for well over two months, and now I can blog about it.

Here's the story:  I did a painting for the CHIFund a looooooooong time ago and I promised the lady that inspired me to do that said painting a print of the painting.  My mom was so nice to offer to take the painting to her office and mail it off for me, thanks mom.  I told her it is muy importante to por favor-a scan the painting so I can make some prints.  I repeated myself a few times before she left.

My mom forgot to scan the painting before she mailed it, uhhhhhhhh, thanks mom.  (Just kidding.  My mom is so sweet, she offered to go to the auction and buy back the painting!)

No worries, I thought, I will make a new painting for the very sweet lady who said such nice things about me and the original painting that I had done.  I won't even tell her, I will just surprise her.  The only surprise she got was no print, no e-mail, no nothing for three months and now who looks like a flake?  Surprise, surprise.........me. 

But!  Now!  Finally!  It is done and in the mail on the way to her house.  I hope she likes it, I hope she forgives me for being such a flake and taking so long.  I hope this post isn't going to go on forever.

Here's the painting;









See?  Pretty cute.  A lot like the other one I did, but different. 

I really hope she likes it.