The Art Studio

When P was around two years old I wanted to get her a canvas to paint.  The work of small children is so ....real? I can't think of an all encompassing word to describe it.  I had the luxury of focusing on just P when it was just us two. I loved going to Create Studio and watch her paint. I could study the thoughts behind her process. Then P turned 3, then 4, then I had G.  My focus became divided. They are growing fast. They're now 6 and 2! That was it! I couldn't let another day go by and not capture their art properly.  It was time to Carpe Diem!

Summer arrived. Goal #1: buy a large canvas and let the girls "Jackson Pollock" it.  June came and went. Other goals got done. July came and went. We were crazy sick for three weeks. It's now August and the girls go back to school in two weeks. Carpe Diem! 

Two days ago I finally bought a 36x48" canvas. Yesterday I bought acrylics and supplies at Dick Blick in Pasadena while Dave and I were on a date night. This morning I tarped up part of the garage to protect the walls and create an "art studio" where the girls could freely paint.  The process was pretty spectacular but exhausting.  It was controlled chaos to let a 6 and 2 year old go to town with paint. 

We will definitely have more "studio days" ahead of us. It was a blast. However, I will never forget that the day I "Carpe Diem" was the very same day we lost "O Captain My Captain".  The day will always be marked in my heart. The final product is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. It will remind me to always Carpe Diem with my girls and our dreams. 

The process went like this:

It took me a good chunk of the morning to clean up, clear out and tarp a space in the garage. By the time I was done the girls were hungry so we ate before painting. 

Mixing. I bought primary colors with black and white so they could create even more colors. The mixing began but it took a lot of explaining and me constantly say "Wait! Wait! Not yet!" But color creation is part of the education.

P got the first brush stroke.

G joined in pretty quickly.  My biggest challenge was keeping my mouth shut and letting them do what they thought looked best.  I wanted to art direct BADLY.  On the flip side, allowing them to create but also keep in check that there are limits to what we can paint was a challenge. Or, to be more exact, there's a limit to how much paint a canvas can take. 

It was special watching them be "in it", focused, driven, creative. 

Then P got her Jackson Pollock on!

It got kind of aggressive and fun. We had music playing. Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers were setting the tone at this point. 

The canvas was moved to the floor. Big drips were ON! Without supervision, all of the containers would have been completely used up!  Walking that fine line of freedom with supervision is hard and exhausting.  

The Jackson Pollock technique didn't go too far because P would drip and splatter and G would brush it together.  Then P gave up and joined in the smearing. At this point I'm thinking, this is not going up on our walls. I had to step in finally and art direct...a little.  I took a very wide brush and brushed in one direction over the canvas. P took over from there. She continued brushing top to bottom. Then she took a wooden dowel and pushed all the paint to the middle of the canvas, creating a mound while uncovering some of the colors beneath. Next she ran the brush horizontal through the mound of paint and the project was finished. I did have to say "You're done! Don't touch it anymore!" I knew from the beginning I'd have to use my editorial eye to know when to walk away.  

The painting has great texture.   It's going to go up in our bedroom. I also have plans to glam up our boudoir!  G is now big enough to raise the bed back up off the ground. 

Later, P was staring up at the sky. I asked her what she was looking at as I looked up myself and saw Altocumulus clouds, the kind that have a repetitive pattern across the sky. P said "I"m looking at brush strokes". She is seeing the world in a different way. My project was a success. That's all I ask for; opening up the mind and changing a perspective. 

Birds on a Branch

A good while ago P and I made birds out of egg cartons. We used them to decorate her room in a few different places.  But I really wanted to have them perched on a real tree branch.  Finally, on one of our recent hikes I remembered to look for the perfect branch.  

 Here is the final project of the birds on a branch and hanging in the girls' room. I love how it brings out a 3 dimensional aspect to the wall decal of a tree.  

This is where it resides over the fish tank. We get lots of compliments on our bird branch.  It was  a fun project to make and I loved incorporating a little of the great outdoors in the room!

Time to Party!

With the house freshly painted I felt like throwing a party! Finally we look like civilized folk and I wanted to show it off.  P turned 6 in November. It was the perfect occasion.  

Seventeen kids and their parents came.  I've found something very interesting about the kid's parties we throw. Almost always both parents come. I really like that. I've also found that everyone stays longer than normal. I also really like that. The Latin side of me loves this and so I plan the food accordingly.  We had Italian Wedding Soup, Black Beans and rice bowls with cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cilantro. We also had sandwiches, lots of cheese and dips and beer and wine. I feel it is often more important to care for the parents than the kids. If parents are happy, kids are happy. I did make mac and cheese. All but the sandwich platter was homemade. The party was from 2-4pm. The last person left at 7pm. No one left hungry! 

Peanut and I have a great time planning these things. We thought about what kind of theme and activities to do.  The big guest list…and I mean big for the size of our house, curtailed some of the activities we wanted.  A petting zoo required too much space. After much thought we decided on a garden party theme with a photo booth and boats for activities.  I also decided to build our own photo booth. I had a vision and calling someone in would have cost us too much money.  This is how the party turned out on such a beautiful November day! Couldn't have asked for anything more!

Dave is taking a time out before the party to have lunch in one of our many little seating areas throughout the backyard. There's the table we got off Craig's list. Loving it!

I got many ideas off of Pinterest. I'm not a good originator of ideas but I can mimick and even improve on many original creations. Here we used golf tees to stake balloons into the backyard.  

The vision of Peanut dancing through her maze of balloons will remain my mind for a long time. 

The backyard and fencing look pretty fantastic after all the staining and painting. That is until Penny, one of our dogs, decided to go to town on the fence. $1500 in fence stain work down the drain in 30minutes. We had to replace that entire section of the fence. A topic for a future post. I did manage to repot, plant and spruce most of our plants in the backyard.  Loving our new succulents. This is a great time of the year for them. 

It looked like everyone was having a great time and the weather was so ideal!

One of our food spreads. In the background a talented friend is creating a great work of art on the chalk wall. I love how artistic most of our friends are. 

The tent continues to be a big hit with the kids. However, the Santa Anna winds have taken a toll on it. It's time to build something bigger and more permanent. 

We had a" build your own boat" station and then the kids set them afloat in the pool. This was an activity that incorporated and captivated both kids and parents!  I ordered two packages of these and it was perfect!

Dave is capturing a funny moment in the photo booth! 

Then it was time for cake. I made P's cake. It's a creation of love that I can't wait to do every year.  Chocolate cake with an amazing butter cream frosting. 

The cake followed the garden theme with fairies and all.  I created the banner as well. In the background are the green utensils wrapped up in an orange napkins with green pipe cleaners to make them look like carrots. Doing all this is like breathing life back into me. 

 To keep with the garden theme we had the cake on a "tree pedestal". Again, another Pinterest idea. 

 

The four of us on a very special day. Surrounded by great friends, celebrating the life of one of my own and getting to be creative! This is all a life I dreamt about. Feeling very blessed to now be living it!

Pillows

Within the first month of Dave and I dating we decided to go to India together.  Actually, it wasn't just the two of us. The trip was in the works when we met. My mom and I had already decided we wanted to go and when I went on my first date with Dave he sort of invited himself along.  A week later we were at the airport buying tickets for the three of us. How nuts is that?  You start a relationship and right off the bat you go to a foreign country, not just with the person, but with their mother!!! I think we're nuts now but I thought it was pretty normal at the time. 

Anyway, on our trip we bought a lot of textiles.  They have such fabulous colors and fabrics in India.  I stored most of these things and had forgotten all about them.  Last week while searching for old curtains from my old apartment, I came across my box of Indian fabrics.  I found these pillow cases that I loved at the time and love even more now!  

The girls build forts and bunkers. Part of the process includes gathering every single pillow in the house.  It's all fantastic except for when they use the pillow I sleep on.  I don't really love my sleepy pillow getting sat on...and sometimes farted on.  So, my latest goal has been to get the kids more play pillows. Finding the pillow cases from India was serendipitous!

 Look at these amazing prints!  I vividly remember buying these cases or shams. We weren't in a shop. In fact, at this point on our trip we were still flying solo without a guide. We ended up in a sort of abandoned factory or something and a man on a rooftop had mountains of fabric remnants.  Almost all the pillow cases had an imperfection.  But even the good ones had a vintage allure to them. I think I bought the three for a dollar a piece!  

I also vividly remember thinking that the shams would be perfect in my future daughter's room.  So, when Gemma got onto P's bed and started reading to her doll I almost cried. There was my vision come true.  It's all a bit surreal.  

The House is My Canvas

This is how we roll on a Tuesday afternoon. We had 40's French music playing. Annika was hot and decided to only wear her bloomers while she drew on the fire place.  I'm on the couch laughing and cheering Annika on as she does the funniest dance! These are the days I'll be most proud of when I look back at the time I spent with my girls.  


I mentioned before that we had a problem with the fireplace.  I don't want to have it plastered and painted with a baby in the house.  There would be too much toxic stuff in the air and I don't want to go through the hassle of having to explain to people why this is important to me.  I always get the "you'll be fine, the baby will be fine" and then I tell them my concerns and they have no idea what I'm talking about because they've never read and understood the ingredients in a can of paint. 


So, until we go forward with a renovation I decided we should have fun with this space.  I got big fat Sharpies and we've been drawing on the wall. I know it's nuts. The best is watching people react to it when they walk in the house.  Most don't get it.  Oh well.  We're enjoying this freedom. I mean who gets to write on the house walls for Pete's sake?!?!

Hop Scotch

A few weeks ago I was happily pinning on Pinterest when I came across this rug:

It's from a company called Scandinavian Design Center and you can find it here.  For some reason the idea of being able to play hop scotch inside seems like a lot of fun.  I don't know why.  I'm a big fan of being in the great outdoors. Maybe because it's been so hot here lately.

 Anyway, I immediately thought our bedroom hallway would be a great place for hop scotch but the rug was too wide.  The solution came to me!  I could use Flor tiles to make the board!  It wasn't a big stretch. Our entrance hallway has them.  

The bedroom hallway has been bugging me.  We've had Ikea circles down for three years and now they're dirty.  The circles were always getting caught on riding toys or strollers and never staying in place.  I was thinking about what to put here and the hop scotch board seemed perfect.   

The numbers are made out of white felt.  I debated spray painting them but in the end the option to remove the numbers seemed better. I found a font I liked and I printed out 0-9 as large as possible on an 8.5x11" sheet of paper.  Then I cut the numbers out and used them as molds to trace on the white felt. I traced them flipped over backwards so I didn't need to worry about the marker being visible when I put them down right side up. 


On an educational note, I like the idea of P grabbing the numbers in her hands and playing with them. She can count and knows the values of each number but she can't point them out in a book or elevator.  I think this "hands on" approach wrapped up in a game may help her identify each one.    

This is the before and after of the hallway. It has the perfect atmosphere for a game with all of P's artwork on the walls at the end.  I like all the colors on the floor and I love that we are living this phase of kids to the fullest. When else can you have a hop scotch board in your home?  

Wall Art

Dave love Disney. I love order. P is learning to put things back where they belong but needs a lot of reminders.  This just might be the most useful and creative print for our house.  I found it on Pinterest. It's by a young girl in the Philippines. Disney needs to hire her.

Pool Side Bed

I'm sure this is not what comes to mind when thinking of a pool side bed.  Something a little sexier maybe?  But you know what can come from "lounging" with the right person on a pool side bed right?...nine months later a little being like the one above and then you've come full circle!

Speaking of sexy, poolside and little.... I got this lounger for Annika a few months back.   I saw it in a boutique shop on Abbot Kinney. I think it's pretty stylish. It was also rather inexpensive...which would explain why it also sells at Walmart.  But stylish things can be found in various places right? Ok, I must admit, had I seen it at Walmart first I may not have bought it.  My first impression was in a stylish store and I was sold.  It must look good in our house to because I've been asked about it quite a few times.    

Ever Changing Space

Every summer I rework this area of our patio. It is the corner with the most amount of shade throughout the day.  It's also right outside the sliding glass door to the house so it's easy to "end up" here.    


It gets reworked because every year we have different needs.  The first summer Annika was 6 months old.  She was crawling so I laid down a giant padded matt.  That was it! Two years ago when she was 2 it looked like this.  All her arts, crafts and toys fit in this area.  I made it fun with Chinese parasols and hanging her art work: painted Starbucks cups turned into wind chimes. 


This year the space has the same whimsey with the parasols but it's more of a sitting area for adults and kids.  We've been eating many dinners out here.  Annika's stuff is scattered throughout the entire back yard.  It's not a couple of things anymore.  It's wake boards, soccer balls, basketballs, wagons, easels, sand tables, gardening gear, tents etc.   It's really her back yard and we get a little corner sitting area.  


Next year Gemma will be a little over a year and Annika five. Our requirements will change again and so will the space.  

Little Bundles of Chaos

Babies are considered little bundles of joy but I really wish people were honest and admitted that they're also little bundles of chaos. I mean look at our house right now!  The only calm part of this picture is the sleeping baby.  I'm going a little nutty. I don't like this much mess but if given the choice between sleep and organizing....right now I'll take sleep!


A huge part of the chaos is actually P's.  But I can't get on her case about putting every single thing away when she's doing me the greatest favor of entertaining herself while I nurse baby G.  There's parts of the day when I literally can't put the baby down and she's nursing for 2-3 straight hours.  P makes forts, houses, art projects, sews, etc and of course leaves a giant mess.  How can I get upset with her or put her creations away when she has done me the greatest favor ever?


For for now we'll be voted the messiest house in the city and as long as my two girls are ok then all else doesn't matter.  
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Push Gift

I've had an eventful month. I gave birth to our second daughter on March 18th.  She was five days late and for various reasons we decided it was best to do a c-section. I'm slowly but surely making my way back from surgery.  Dave went back to work this week after taking three weeks off. I'm so grateful he was able to do that because I needed him the week before, the week of and for a week after. 

Our house is currently in a state of constant chaos but Dave gave me an awesome push gift that gives me one little space of absolute relaxed bliss.  He got me the St. Tropez hanging chair from Mason Bertet.  It's the perfect outdoor "rocker" and will come in handy as the summer months approach.  It will be the perfect place to rock one daughter while watching the other swim.  Perfect multi-tasking. 

Life Changes. House Changes

 

It wasn't too long ago that we made some changes to the living room. About a month ago I did more rearranging. I'm due to deliver our second child in two weeks. I get very specific of how I want the house with the coming of a baby.  There are midnight feedings, changing areas, napping areas, play areas to think about. My comfort and P's entertainment doing all these things is essential.  

When P was born we had the couches arranged as they were meant to be, a sectional.  As time went on I didn't like how the couch felt in our living room so I separated the pieces. Dave and I have discussed getting a new couch for a long time but this one is perfect for making it through little kids with Sharpies and vomit.  I don't want to stress over new couches just yet.  

One thing I fondly remember of having the couch as a sectional when P was born was that I practically spent the first three months of her life on it.  I know I won't have that same luxury with a four year old AND a new born but I really wanted the cozy feeling back.  By accident the couch came together as you see it and it felt and looked right.  Somehow, with the addition of the shelves the whole thing works in this arrangement. 

 

 

 Before, we had the opening of the sectional facing the wall with the bookcase. To get out of the seating area you had to walk all the way around the couch to get to the kitchen or dining table. This time, with the opening towards the dining table it makes the whole space flow much better. It's more inviting and you can sit and chat on the couch with the people sitting at the dining table.  

Other items making a come back are the stroller, the birthing ball and the swing which was moved into another room today.  The Bugaboo has a permanent parking spot by the hallway. I'm guessing it will be parked there for the next three years.  To be honest the house feels cluttered. But unlike before I know this stage will pass. The needs of the kids evolves as will the look of the house. 

One look I will always love is P going through our books. I'm so glad we added this book case.  I'm amazed how much she is enjoying our art and photo books.  I never would have thought of buying her an "adult" book but obviously it's just as entertaining for her as it is for us.