Word Wednesday- Domesticity

Home, this morning.

A nice, little, fluffy snow.

My word for today is "domesticity". Defined as:

do·mes·tic·i·ty  (dm-sts-t)

n. pl. do·mes·tic·i·ties

1. The quality or condition of being domestic.

2. Home life or devotion to it.

3. domesticities Household affairs.

 

(by freedictionary.com)

 

 

If I had to have a  personal word, one that describes who I am and what is most important to me,  this would be it. 

One of my favorite books, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, celebrates home and family and gives us permission to believe that domesticity is enough; that you don't have to have more, do it all, etc. Just appreciating, caring for, and making your home a comforting, beautiful, safe place to be is more than enough.

So, I'm off to be domestic- making some homemade, gluten-free, dairy-free pizza. Yay! I'll let you know how that goes :)

Happy Wednesday!  Juli

To purchase Jane Brocket's 'The Gentle Art of Domesticity', click here

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Monday...snow days!

Snow days mean cleaning house for me. This meant parting with the Valentine's Day roses. This was the last one to "survive". For some reason, the ones that start to wilt like this look better to me than the perfect ones. Weird, I know!

Finished! Having a snow day meant finishing one project, which immediately frees my mind to start thinking about the next one. I like that transition.

Another snow day bonus...playing in it with my kiddos! You can see part of  our wonky snow man to the right.

Me (on the left) with my sister. Obviously not on a snow day, but it still captures the essence of  our relationship- little sister wanting to be just like big sister!

And another  finished project. This was intended for Valentine's Day, but didn't quite make it. But now I'm considering ways to tweak it into a bunny for Easter, so it's all good.

Reflecting on our recent snow days is making me merry on this Monday. My preference is to have snow days before Christmas because I can get caught up on so much at home when I'm forced to stay in. But, hey, I'll take them when I can get them! They are always fun no matter when they happen; almost better now than when I was a kid. Although... one thing that is missing from snow day excitement as an adult is listening to the school closings with my sister.  We would always be up early, wrapped up in a blanket, sitting with our feet on top of  the heat register,waiting  anxiously for them to say the name of our school. There was nothing better than when they announced  "Wentzville R-IV"! I have to admit, I'm almost that anxious now when I think I might get an unexpected day off from work. For some reason, I have more energy on those days. It's like there is a sense of urgency-almost a competition with myself to see how much I can accomplish.



Hoping you are merry on this Monday :)   Juli

Out with wellness, in with words

Okay, I thought Wellness Wednesdays would be a good idea, but I changed my mind. Here is part of my thought process on this: 1) It's very hard to think of new topics every week. 2) I don't want to bore people with whatever "tip" that only I think is awesome. and 3) I am obviously not a wellness authority. So, although I think being well physically and emotionally can only be a positive when it comes to creativity, I'll keep most of "my way" to myself (unless there is something that is just too good not to share!) and Wellness Wednesday will now become Word Wednesday. 
Why Word Wednesday? Well, words are big around our house. Mainly because my husband is an avid (and I mean AVID!) reader and a serious lover of words. We are constantly entertained by his creative use of words on a daily basis. Where one person can just very simply make a statement, he embellishes them and tries to fit a new word into an ordinary sentence, just to say that he used it. ( I wish I was clever enough to give you an example of this, but just trust me, it hilarious!) Anyway, he loves unusual words that may be found in short stories, books and poems. I, on the other hand, like simple words that make a big impact when they are put together in a creative way- think song lyrics, inspirational quotes or just a really clever line from a movie.
And even though I'm not a huge fan of words or text in art work, I think if it's done thoughtfully and creatively and not too obviously, it works. In a previous post, I mentioned having some new ideas to play around with in my paintings and fiber pieces. Including text is one of those ideas. I've just begun experimenting with it and I think it could be good. And I'm having a lot of fun with it, which is always a good thing, right?! You can see an example of this in my previous post by clicking here.
And here are a few examples of text-based art work that I've always liked:

Roy Lichtenstein's Drowning Girl, 1963

Robert Rauschenberg's Canyon, 1959

Jasper Johns' Fragment of a Letter, 2010


And finally,  I'll leave you on this Wednesday with the word of the day: FROLIC
 frol·ic  (frlk)

n.

1. Gaiety; merriment: fun and frolic.

2. A gay, carefree time.

3. A playful antic.

intr.v. frol·icked, frol·ick·ing, frol·ics

1. To behave playfully and uninhibitedly; romp.

2. To engage in merrymaking, joking, or teasing.

adj. Archaic

Merry.

(from  www.thefreedictionary.com)

Frolic- it's a good thing!   Juli

Two weeks in a nutshell

Well, I missed my Merry Monday post by about five hours and now I realized that tomorrow will be two weeks since my last post. So.... two weeks in a nutshell, right here. Since it is 5am and it's a work day for me, it's mostly pictures.

Near to final stage of the text painting.

Finally finished this pillow for a friend of mine at work.

Trees in...almost there!

Close up of the pillow.

Family time for Eddie's 25th birthday. I love these people!

Valentine's Day roses :)

Spent some time at the St. Louis Art Museum.

And with our favorite almost two-year old boy. Spinning quarters with Grandpa!

Received a great picture from Sister of our baby boys ( mine on the left, hers on the right!) while they were out shopping.

And...spent some time relaxing on Sunday at our favorite wine bar.

So, there you have it. These are definitely things that are making me merry on this...Tuesday!  Hoping to be back on track with some regular posts  Have a great Tuesday~ Juli

Wellness Wednesday- Staying busy

Having several projects to work on at one time has been providing my mind with some much needed relief lately.  I found this quote and thought it was perfect and so true.
 "Grief is a species of idleness."  ~Samuel Johnson 

Sooo,  painting is what I needed tonight, along with some Colby Red wine! Yum!

 I've seen the positive effect that staying busy has had on my kids over the last year and a half and I'm so grateful that they have their babies, spouses, girlfriends, hobbies and friends to keep them in a positive place. And I'm grateful for what I have to keep me there with them.

I'm hoping that you all have something in your life that helps bring wellness to your heart and mind :)  Juli





 When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.  ~Kahlil Gibran
 

Merry Monday: Cake!

This awesome chocolate cake is making me merry on this Monday.  I found this recipe in the most recent Rural Missourian and it looked so good and sounded so simple that I had to try it.  What made it even better is that I got to pull my vintage cake keeper down from the top, dust-collecting shelf of the kitchen and use it! (After washing, of course!) So here is the recipe:

Double Chocolate Cake

1 18 oz. package chocolate cake mix
1 4 oz. package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. ( I used an angel food cake pan and it worked just fine; just not as fancy!) Beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, sour cream and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips; pour into prepared pan. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool a half hour, then invert onto serving plate.



 Try it if you like dense, dark, very chocolatey cake. The photo shows powdered sugar on top, but,  honestly, that was just for the photo. I'm sure powdered sugar tastes just fine, but chocolate icing (straight from the store shelf!) is the way to go. Sooo good!   I hope it makes you as merry as it made me :)   Juli

Weekend wanderings...

My weekend started by visiting with Peanut. Although he was so tired that he fell asleep under the table while I was there!

I finally got my business cards. I'll make a few changes next time, but these will do for now.

Finished the pillow front for another buckwheat hull and lavender pillow. Yes, this is for you, Michelle ;)

My first attempt at using text as part of the under painting...

...for this painting. We'll see how it turns out. I'm having fun experimenting with it and I'm hoping my "vision" is realized in the final product.

Just a few glimpses of my weekend :)  Have a wonderful week!  Juli