Sweet Life

(My computer was freaking out, so here is my post from yesterday!)

What's inspiring me: Today at work we had mini cupcakes to celebrate June birthdays and they were so cute and very delicious.  They inspired my ICAD 29, shown below.

from: here, here and here.

What I'm creating:  Here are my past two index cards for Daisy Yellows index card a day summer challenge, 28 and 29.  When I google searched that phrase, "Life is short but sweet for certain" I discovered that the phrase is lyrics from a Dave Matthews song called Two Step.  I have been watching the youtube video over and over again. 

Here is the backside of the cover page of the Nordstroms catologue.  I use a piece of ribbon and a magazine clipping to frame the words "summer unplugged."

While I was at my aunts this weekend I also had time to make a ton of patterned pages to use in my art journals.  I took raised pieces of plastic and did crayon rubbings with watercolor crayons.  Then, I put water over top of them.  Here is a few of the pages I made.

What I'm reading:  I just finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and I absolutely loved it!  She also has a blog where she posts ideas.  Here is the link to her blog where she posts tips about how to be happier.  I have not had time to really explore the blog yet.  Many people would ask her why she was doing the happiness project.  They asked her if she was depressed, when she really just wanted to learn how to be more joyful each day.  My favorite quote is from the end of her book, "The ruby slippers had been on my feet all along."  She realized that she had everything she needed to be happy from the beginning. 

What are you doing today to appreciate all that you have?

Much love.

P.S. Sorry for so many spelling errors in my last post!  I need to try to write them before midnight.  :)

MIA

Life certainly has a way of catching up with us every now and again...  But I have been shopping and making things since the last time I posted.

What I'm buying: This weekend I went shopping crazy.  Friday I went to Forever 21 and got this cute
top for $14.

Saturday I went to a second hand store and got this coral/salmon strapless dress for $10.  In this photo I paried it with a vest that I got on my Sunday shopping spree.

My aunt took me to Ross for the first time and I'm in love!  So many cute clothes for so cheap!  I got the vest (above) with a shirt and rose necklace, all together for $10.  I also got this nautical inspired shirt for $10.  It has buttons on the sleeves.  I am loving nautical themed clothes and jewelry right now.

from: here

What I'm creating: I made a piece that I ended up giving to my aunt, and it is one of my favorite things I have ever made.  It is three separate canvases that I put together to create one.  She loved the gift when I gave it to her on Sunday. :)

Here is the cover of a journal I made.  I am using this journal to record my answers to the prompts from the 30 day journal challenge.  It is almost the end of the month, and I am sad that the prompts will end.  But this will also be good for me to find new ideas and places to pull and put my creativity.  I used watercolor, oil pastel, stickers and clips of paper on the cover.  The quote on the bottom right says, "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius.  It's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." -Marilyn Monroe.  I think this quote relates to creating art and living life; it is better to be crazy and fun than "perfect" and boring.

Here is my page from the challenge in response to prompt 26: "Today...Think of a creative way to document your day and then do it!"

Much love.

Tonada

What is making me laugh: Tonight at dinner my sister was telling us how she watched some movie or show called Prada to Nada.  My mom was so confused though, because she thought it was a new brand or something...called tonada.  Which made us all laugh, so that is the reason behind the post title. :)

What I'm creating: For ICAD 23 I used the prompt "scissors" and cut out a heart.

Here is the latest page from my art journal.  I took pieces from construction plans and made a watercolor heart on it.  The quote says "There are 1,440 minutes in a day.  Take at least 15 for yourself."  This quote is making me think about job opportunities in the future and how I should make sure I enjoy what I am doing for each minute of the day.

What I'm listening to: Yesterday my friend told me about James Vincent McMorrow, and I am loving his music.  My favorite song is We Don't Eat.  So good.

Much love.

Summer Rain

What's inspiring me: Today was another cloudy day...it makes me wonder if the summer sun will ever come?  Although the icky weather makes me want to curl up inside and read and make things. :)

from: here and here

What I'm creating:  Here is my ICAD 22.  This is one of my favorites, I think.  I used a quote from Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.  I just finished it today, and this quote was at the end.  Love it.  I used the prompt "off the page," and this was a real creative step of faith because I always neatly trim the edges of everything.  But this time I wanted to try to be a little messier, and I love the outcome!

Here is the newest page in my art journal.  I used scraps of paper and tissue paper on the right side.  I layered pink, yellow and purple paint on the middle of the page, and I used a "love" stamp that I got from Michaels last year.

What are your favorite rainy day activities?  Do you think it is easy or hard to find the beauty in imperfection?

Much love.

Hidden Heart

What I'm creating: For my ICAD 21 I decided to make a bunch of short dashes.  Hidden in the dashes is a pink heart in the middle.

Here is another page from the art journal I am working on.  It is one of my favorites; I went with a princess theme for the page.  It says, "waiting for my happy ever after..."  I used the new blue and white ribbon that I got from Michaels this weekend.  The gold is old wrapping paper from Christmas.

"Only do what your heart tells you." -Princess Diana

Did you ever pretend to be a princess when you were younger?  Do you believe everyone will have a "happy ever after?"

Much love.

One Week Down

What I'm thinking about: It has been over a week since I started this blog, and it is a great deal of work to put together posts.  I admire the bloggers who have been doing this for years and have thousands of followers.  It is time consuming, but also rewarding.  Earlier last week someone commented on one of my posts, and it absolutely made my day.  Knowing that I can bring joy to someone else is priceless.

What I'm reading:  Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.  I started reading the book a few days ago and I am already halfway through!  It was recently made into a movie, which I have not yet seen.  Giffin is a talented writer who has readers cheering for the underdog. 

What I'm creating: I am really proud of my 30-day journal challenge page today.  I made a jeannie bottle on the side since the prompt was, if you could have three wishes right now, what would they be?  I have two serious ones and one that is just for fun.  Except I really do wish I had the Flinstones movie to watch right now.

Today was the memorial service for our family friend's baby who passed away last week.  So appropriately my ICAD 20 is a tear drop and quote from the service.

 
What have you cried about recently?  Remember that tears are not a sign of weakness.  "Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart do not know how to laugh either." -unknown.  A prayer from the service that I liked was:

NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER

   I give you this one thought to keep --

              I am with you still – I do not sleep.

  I am a thousand winds that blow,

              I am the diamond glints on snow,

  I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

              I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,

        I am the swift, uplifting rush

                    of quiet birds in circled flight.

     I am the soft stars that shine at night.

            Do not think of me as gone –

    I am with you still – in each new dawn.

from: here

Much love.

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

What I'm listening to: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall by Coldplay.  I purchased it on itunes a week ago and I already have 19 plays!  Love it.

What I'm creating: One of my friends wanted me to make her something so she could frame it!  The qualifications?  Pink/purple color scheme.  Here is the final product:

Much love.

Mashup

What I'm listening to/What is inspiring me:  Music mashups have been around for a long time, but I just have never heard them before!  A few months ago a friend from school had me listen to this miracles mashup, and I really liked it.  Fast forward to this morning at church...we were talking about mashups.  The pastor explained how hip-hop was originally a mashup of different old music, put together in a new way, to create something new.  The mashup of past and present events in your life creates the song that you present to everyone else. 

What I'm wearing:  I got two of the cutest shirts at Target today.  I am loving tie dye, and both shirts were on sale which made me even happier. :)

from: here and here

They have similar shirt options and ideas at Forever 21.

What I bought:  Today I also went to Michaels to see if there was anything I could not live without.  Not surprisingly, I found a few things. :)  Their website has additional coupons that I did not even think to use.  I spent less than $13 on all of this stuff: love photo holder, soar blue journal, stud stickers, "go against the flow" notecards, three white 5x7 canvases, blue and white ribbon, and five stamps, including a mini set of the alphabet!

What I'm creating:  Here are ICAD 17, 18 and 19.  My favorite is 19; I recylced the prompt "colors of the sunset" by using orange, yellow, peach and red watercolor pencils and sharpie for the circle and "love."  Last summer I took a watercolor class with my aunt and I absolutely love using that medium. 

Here is my 30-day journal challenge entries for the 15th and 17th.  I am loving all of Janel's creative ideas at her blog, Run Withe Scissors.  Some of them are a little more challenging that I still have not done yet, like the scavenger hunt and the page only filled with lines.  Whoops!
   

 

Under my favorite tv shows I put Swamp People.  If you've never seen or heard of it before, here is a clip.  It is a group of people who live in the South who hunt alligators.  My sister and I have been watching it lately.  The people speak English, but they need subtitles because their accents are so strong.  Hilarious.

Lastly, here is my latest page in the art journal I've been working on!  I used the new "H" stamp I purchased from Michaels to create the border on the side of the page.  The word highlighted on the inside of the heart says, "joys." 

What I'm decorating with:  Just like on the page above, I love initials!  This is an idea I created because I have ended up collected a bunch of differnt styles of my initial and I thought it would make a nice collage over my bed.  The three top ones are from Michaels, and the bottom one I've had in my room for a long time and I covered it in tissue paper from a retail store.

Other initial home inspiration:

from: here and here and here

Sorry for not posting in the past few days.  I have been busy and very tired but I will try to keep posting daily next week. :)  What joys have you experienced today?  What is the soundtrack of your life and how are you presenting it to the world? 

Much love.

Fail

What's inspiring me:  I have been looking on weheartit.com this evening while I am watching tv and I found this photo.  And it made me feel guilty for not making any collages today, but I have been writing down quotes in a journal so maybe that counts? :)


from: here

What little things have you created today?

Much love.

Nuggets of Joy

What I'm thinking about: Today I went to Starbucks and I was talking to a few friends when the phrase "nuggets of joy" came out of my mouth.  I do not know where it even came from, but I love it.  So often people in society focus on the negative in life, but I think we need to work on embracing the little moments of happiness found everywhere. 

What I'm creating:  Here is my ICAD 15.  Today at work we were sorting through construction plans and we were getting rid of a ton of them.  During my lunch I ended up cutting out bits and pieces of plans that I am going to use in my journals and collages.  Here is a piece of the parking lot from a plan that I put on my index card.

Here's another few pages from the Nordstrom catologue: (I need a name for this journal.  Any ideas?)

The quote on the page says: "And anything that sparkles may just be considered brilliant." 

What I'm wearing:  I love sequins and anything sparkley, so the quote from the page above is perfect!  Here are some of my sequined shoes  that are fun and help dress up an outfit. 

red dorthy flats: walmart  pink flats: forever21  gold flats: charlotte russe  pink sperrys and silver TOMS: nordstrom

What nuggets of joy have you experienced today?

Much love.

Temporary Home

What I'm listening to: Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood because today I found out a family friend's baby just died. :( The friend just had twins, and one of them stopped breathing a few days ago.  It is crazy that something like this would happen to their brand new family.  My mom told me this quote after she shared the news:  Enjoy the little things in life, for someday you may realize they were the big things.  Makes me really appreciate every second because you literally never know the turns life can take.

On a happier note....

What I'm creating:  Here is the 30-day journal challenge prompt for day 14: “What is your favorite quote?  Mine changes a lot because different things inspire me during the different seasons in my life.  Quotes are powerful reminders of the wisdom we can gather and share with others.”

It was so incredibly hard to simply pick one quote for this page, but here it is.  Not my most creative page, but I like the simplicity of how it turned out.

Here is another two pages in the Nordstrom art journal.  I love the stamp I used on the right page.  It says "[Enjoy] today" and I got it from Michael for $1 and the brown background is from a paper bag.  

Here is my ICAD 14.  I  used the prompt "freedom."  I've always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride; floating around above the chaos of the world...  Every Wednesday there are new inspiration ideas posted so I am excited to see them tomorrow!

What's inspiring me: We heart it is a website that has so so so many photos and I could literally just sit there for hours looking at them all.

from: here and here.  
So what helps you get escape the stormy weather of life?  How did you enjoy today?

Much love.

Lazy Monday

Well today consists of a whole lot of nothing.  I slept in, and I can't work out because I hurt my foot.  The thing I have to look forward to?  Bachlorette tonight!  Anyone else excited for the new episode?

What I'm creating:  Here is a new journal I'm working on!  I'm using the June 2011 Nordstroms catologue as my base and adding to it as I go.  The paper is pretty stiff and it has really pretty pictures to use/cover up! 

Here is the front cover:

Here is the back cover:

Here is a page about my life-long dreams.  It includes: serving in Africa, getting married, teaching, sailing the world...

The quote on the bottom page says: "Look at it this way.  How often do you get the chance to put everything on pause?"  I love this quote because summer gives us the opportunitiy to stop and relax and reflect. 

Here is my ICAD #13.  I used the prompt "blues" when I made this one.

What I'm listening to: Parachute's new album The Way It Was.  They came and performed at my school before summer started and they are so good. 

What I'm reading: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.  "Without pain, we don't change, do we?" (p. 104)  There will always be challenges and obstacles that we need to overcome in our lives.  Those tough times are the ones where we get the chance to change the course of our lives. 

What I'm wearing:

Last night me and a few friends went out for dessert and I wore this pearl ring.  It was my grandmas and she actually made it!  I found this website that shows how to make a similar pearl cluster ring. 

What makes your heart blue?  What do you like to do on a lazy Monday?  Do you have any old jewelry or clothes that you make modern?

Much love.