My Sketchbook, my Life

{shop open}

fyi:

my etsy shop has been closed for a few months now... but it is open again!  I will be filling it with some new stuff all week!

retro robot art...

My little sis is having her first little boy in a few weeks [so excited to have a new baby in the family!!} and wanted some artwork to go in his nursery.  She is doing a vintage robot theme {so cute} and I couldn't wait to come up with something. 

This is new for me, I tried my hand at digital artwork.  I sketched out the illustration, then cleaned it up with my beloved Micron pens -scanned, and did the coloring in photoshop.  I love that I can change colors, textures with a click of a mouse, but I really love painting still.. I think I will make a set of these to go together, we'll see if I stick with digital, or hand painted...

whatcha think?

 

New D.O.T.S 2010 theme design

For those of you who have requested a 2010 theme that coordinates with the other D.O.T.S. items I have available in my shop... Here you go:

Available Here

(if they are sold out.  just email me, I usually can keep them listed, but sometimes they run out.)

if you give a mouse..... some spackle?

If you have not heard or read the children's books... "If you give a moose a muffin" or "If you give a mouse a cookie"  go give them a read.. really cute.  Unfortunately (or fortunately-depending on how you look at it) My day yesterday could have been next in the series.....

 

Me: Dear hubby, today I am going to patch the holes in the kids bathroom walls....

Sweet kiss goodbye.  Have a good day dear.

Spackle fills holes in wall.

Me: "Well, I am going to have to repaint now" (big holes).  I have never liked this wall color, I should just repaint the bathroom in a nicer color"

Paint samples applied to wall.

Me: "Well if I am going to repaint, I might as well redo the moulding strips.  I have been dying to add "batten and board" look to the walls, so I might as well do the moulding now too.  Then repaint.

Mouldings get ripped off.

Moulding started to be attached to walls.

Me: "While I have the baseboards off..... I really should consider tiling the floor.  I never liked the cheap linoleum we had to put in here when we built.  It was really only a temporary fix until we could afford some tile.  And to tile, you have to take off the baseboards.  I really don't want to take them off again."

Linoleum gets ripped up.

Tile samples cover floor.

Ugh.....

Cabinet does not match tile I like.

Me:  I would love to have a new bathroom vanity... no funds...next best solution-

Repaint bathroom cabinet...

First coat of paint applied.

Hubby comes home.

Mouldings stipped from wall.  Linoleum Floor ripped from floor.  Vanity repainted with first coat of new paint. 

Hubby:  I thought you were just going to fill the holes......

I found out that Jenny Phillips created some 2010 songs, and New Beginnings and other Activities to go along with the Strong and Courageous Theme.  A lot of her things will go along really well with the print I made.  She talks about the shield of faith, and virtue too...

Check out one of her videos you can purchase on her website.  Also if you join her email list, you can go to her free downloads page,  where she has come up with some amazing scripts for New Beginnings/YW in Excellence, and other activities for this year's theme.

New 2010 YW Theme Art

Here it is... it took longer than I thought to get this done.  It has been sitting in my head for months.  But couldn't get it out on canvas until now. 

Now available in my Esty Shop! {click here}

or email me to order...

 

Flying high is the banner of virtue, that the YW General Presidency has been talking about so much lately. A reminder of a call to virtue.

With the "Shield of Faith" and the "Sword of His Spirit" and the rest of the armour of God (as talk about in the scriptures) we can be strong and of good courage.

Printed on a thick silk stock paper.
Beautiful to frame or stand alone.

I have multiply sizes available for thiese print. If the size you need is not listed, email. or convo. me, and I will get you a custom listing.

turning 80...

She has been there since my birth... 

So many of my childhood memories surround her.  And today she turns 80 years old.

I could never do wrong in her eyes.  Right or wrong- that was the way it was.  I have been told that my whole life, and maybe that is part of what has given me such a special love for this women. 

Grandma's house was a place I always wanted to be.

(yes, that is me with the Princess Lea braided buns.!)

 I remember the smell of fresh baked wheat bread.

The feel of that green shag carpet. 

The smell of her as we sat together on the couch to read books. The box of books, she loved to read to us.  Storytime would last as long as we were interested.  The books never ended.  When the box was read through, the hall closet magically brought forth more books. 

The freedom I felt exploring their backyard- and the field that lived beyond them.  It was a place full of discoveries waiting to unfold.  Horses, roosters, chickens, and even for a time, our two found rabbits.  The mangled dangers -but sweet rewards- of the rasberry bushes...the hidden tunnels the grapevine created as they grew against the side cinderblock wall, and the forest of make-believe where we would play house in the dense coverings of the pine trees and shrubs. 

The smell of the sheets in the fairest room of all- the blue room.  In that room held the dresser full of "stuff".  I remember sitting for hours going throught the drawers of primnary activites, picture books, coloring pages, felt stories boards- all collected from years of my grandmother's primary service.

The endless trinkets and the magical top drawer of Grandmas dresser- full of the finest and most beautiful costume jewelry a little girl's eyes could behold.  We were queens, my sister and I, (even sometimes my brother!) as we stood in front of her bedroom mirror, and adorned ourselves with her sacred earrings, necklaces, rings, and brooches. 

She was has been there for all my earthly milestones.  My birth, my blessing.  My baptism. 

Birthdays.  Neighborhood boy crushes...

 
My wedding. 

And now she is here to read stories to my children, and I see how they too, now, can do no wrong in her eyes.

And I love it.

 

Happy Birthday Grandma.

journal entry....3 {joy in the journey}

Another new painting.  I have discovered I love taking the talks -or quotes- that inspire me, and turn them into a picture that I see in my mind.  This one comes from Pres. Monson's talk in the October Conference of 2008.  You can read it here.

 One of my favorites parts is when he says:

 

"Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

-Pres. Monson

 

Somedays I forget. 

Somedays it may even be hard to find. 

But if you think about all that you are blessed with... no matter your circumstances- I am given so much...we all are.  Our Heavenly Father loves each of us, and wants us to be happy.  It seems like lately I have been looking too much at what I don't have, or what is not going the way I think it should, and I don't choose to see all that He has given me, and how much happiness I can have, if I choose to see it, and accept it.

And sometimes to find it- I have to give it away.  I am finding that the more I do for others, and help those that I love, that greater joy that I find.

 

 

God's love...

Just felt like trying something a little different today.  The quote is from President Uchtdorf's talk this past conference.  If you haven't read it yet -check it out here.   It is a must read.  I love it.

The quote reads:

Think of the purest, most all-consuming

love you can imagine

Now multiply that love by and infinite amount--

that is the measure of God's love for you

 

.

journal entry....2 {enjoy now}

I had one of those moments the other day while with Madi.  You know, those moments when life seems to take on a different meaning and you grow a deeper love and appreciation for the teaching moments our Heavenly Father gives us.  Those moments that if not careful, pass by unnoticed.

BUsy, Busy, Busy... I was running errands with Madi.  We were driving to the millionth store and all the while dragging her alongside of me.  Regrettably I admit, wishing I was alone, so I could get things done 10 times faster. From the seat behind me,  Madi was telling a story that she had to proudly made up- it was nothing less than a masterpiece to her.  Her joy, her sweetness not deterred or underminded by my mundane tasks.  I was only half listening to her as I parked, gather my things, and thoughts of rushing, to get in and out of the store in record time, were in my mind.  I glanced in my rearview mirror for a moment, beauty radiated from her, I looked at her and could not turn away from the happiness that shown on her face.  It was a day out with mom- to her she knew nothing else except she had me all to herself, no sister or brother to compete with for my attention.  it was just her and I.  The Spirit whispered so softly to me... "stop...- don't miss these moments.  They will be gone too quickly.  Enjoy her now.  Enjoy her now." 

You know, I just need that reminder every now and then when I get so caught up with "duties" of life.  I am thankful that the Spirit helped me to remember, to remember these moments.  I spent the rest of "our day" running errands, holding her hand, enjoying her sweet company.