Snippets, 9.28.14

Snippets of this weekend and last :)

1. Little Man and my dad

2. Baby G. playing with Eddie's "hair"

3. Little Man and his Sister

4. Slow progress

5. Baby G.'s tiny foot

6. Baby G. sound asleep

7. and our Peanut

Lately...9.27.14

Lately... (inspired by a post on this blog: A Simple Life Afloat)

Eating-fresh bruschetta with gluten free toast

Yum! Bruschetta... one of my favorites. Tomatoes courtesy of M.T. :)

Adventuring- not nearly enough
Drinking- red zinfandel, rooibos tea
Reading- tutorials on mandala and mendhi designs
Watching- Bill Maher, 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyer's Club
Listening to- Amos Lee (listen here)
Thinking about- closing my Etsy shop and selling via Ebay
Disliking- re-writing curriculum (again!)
Appreciating- my parents, my co-workers
Laughing at- Eddie's stories (for 25 years and counting!)

Eddie- with another captive audience :)

Loving- oh, my gosh...my kids and grandkids

A day spent with my kids = a perfect day.

And...
Anticipating- watching our Little Man play some golf
Learning- to be less anxious (finally!)
Making- more apple crisp, onesies, pillows

And, tomorrow,  I get to spend the day with this little guy...

Our little Baby G.

How lucky am I?  Have a great weekend!  Juli

Lately...9.14.14

Lately, I've been ...

Drawing with Peanut- here, he drew a picture of "Dad" (bottom), Mommy (top) and the letter "A" to the left :)

Breaking out Little Man's old toys...

and puzzles..

and reading Mommy's 

and Little Man's old books.

and concentrating so hard on our painting :)

I've also been enjoying our family dinner nights.

This night was perfect for chili :)

It's a tight fit in our little place, but no one seems to mind.

And when the house is empty, I've been plugging right along on my Blumenhof goods...

brushing up on my knitting in preparation to start on my sweater.

and realizing that I've made a lot of embroidery patterns over the last couple of years. Oh, my!

And, yesterday, I tried my hand at a creative little portrait. (And realizing that the little(?) smile lines, aka wrinkles, on the sides of my mouth actually stay there even when I'm not smiling. Dang!) But, I cut Eddie out of this picture, so it doesn't count! I'll try again another time.

All was not lost, though. I thought it was very cool how the landscape was reflected in the granite.

And, of course, the view is as beautiful as ever. But, it seemed especially pretty yesterday.

Have a great week!   Juli

Blogging with a purpose. 9.6.14

Before this post actually begins, I want to encourage anyone out there who has a blog, to take the time to do this. I started this post on August 31st and am just now finishing on September 6th! It really made me think- about where the blog has been and where it is headed and about where my Olive and Ash "shop" has been and where it's headed. I've always felt the need for it all to be more cohesive and coming up with a purpose statement has really brought a lot of disconnected ideas together (in my head, anyway!) and helped me eliminate what isn't important. I hope it helps!

 Inspired by this post, I have been trying to come up with a purpose statement for this little blog space. It started out as a space to coincide with my daily (or, rather, weekly) paintings a couple of summers ago. But, over time, it has become a way to show readers what inspires me and what motivates me to try to grow my little Olive and Ash Studio (still in it's infancy, it seems, after more than two years!), which now includes some craft along with the art. Life definitely gets in the way of making and creating, so out of  this need to wrap my head around the "life stuff", this space has also become a sort of personal journal. (And, I have to say, it has been very therapeutic for me.)
From these ideas I have come to the conclusion that this space serves two purposes. One is for you, the reader. I think everyone has the ability to help another person, even if it's just by sharing their story. So my story- whether it's about making, grieving, moving, being inspired or uninspired, motivated or unmotivated, etc., will, hopefully,  help someone else out there who stumbles upon this space.  I know, from experience, that people feel less "lost" or "alone" if they know someone else out there has had the same thought, experience, etc. The second is for me and the people in my life. If this space is nothing else, it serves as a document of my thoughts, ideas and experiences. Because, as Meryl Streep says in The Bridges of Madison County "As one gets older, ones fears subside. What becomes more and more important is to be known. Known for all that you were during this brief stay." (Love that movie, by the way!)

So....with all that being said, here is my purpose statement for the blog:

Olive and Ash will be a vehicle to help others by giving me the space to discuss what inspires me and motivates me to create and make. It will be a way to help others see that anything and everything, however big or small, can be a source of inspiration and motivation. And it will be a place to showcase pieces that I create- pieces that have the craftsmanship and significance to become a treasured possession or family heirloom.

And here is my purpose statement for myself:

Olive and Ash will be a place to document my thoughts and ideas. Writing these things down helps me to "mentally organize", which, in turn, helps me be more productive. Sharing these thoughts and ideas may help others who are reading and helps me by keeping me accountable to act on them.  Acting on them will help me realize the lofty goals I have for Olive and Ash- as a reliable source of retirement income and an artistic outlet, so that, one day, the things that I have made and left behind will be my way of "being known". 
 
Have a great evening!  Juli