greenbeanbaby art

last day of blogging daily...

well all.... it's the last day of blogging every day...and it's a good thing too since there a few posts that were not of real interest... i tried though :) thank you all for reading and for your suggestions too!! over the weekend i have OODLES of art to do, including a swap package to complete and send off... i've also a ton of emailing to do... and then of course, a bit of resting... i feel horrible that i've not gotten around to the emailing bit though...

we had quite the past couple of days... yesterday, my back went out... maybe it was because i've been holding isabella in her car seat... she may only weigh 15lbs but boy, with her all bundled up in that big carseat, the two weigh a few bags worth of potatoes... i've been doing alot of bending over too, grabbing toys on the floor, cleaning up after two kids vs. one, and slumping over from having a belly ache... add that all together and whammo!! your back will hurt...

i went to bed early last night and tried to rest... however, the house was unusually cold.... and colder in the morning... it was painfully chilly and it was due to a broken piece in the furnace... with the help of my mom and dad, and ramel [who had to take a personal day to fix it], the furnace is now in working order... the house was so cold that we all bundled up and stayed in the attic where the electric heat kept us all warm... but going up and down the stairs with baby in hand, has caused my back to be in pain once again... i feel like i'm pregnant, with back labor....

so i am off to work some more in the attic and then rest until tomorrow.. ramel gave me my christmas present early and it's a beauty!!! i'll tell you all what it is over the weekend :)

have a wonderful weekend you all!!! and thank you all for visiting!

eye candy

i am not feeling good so here are some pictures of isabella and her cute bow by andrea's hair flairs... diego is kicking me off the computer, anyhow because he is playing curious george games... i didn't even get to check my email at all today... we'll be snowed in over the weekend so there'll be plenty of time to catch up on that, blogs, and art.... unless diego insists on taking over the computer :)

have a good night!

any ideas???

well, it's time that time of year [for holiday cheer]...time for christmas parties and decorations... but in this day and age, christmas is no longer a holiday to be enjoyed by the politically correct... we must remember to say "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas".... while it's good to respect everyone and their beliefs, i am having a hard time trying to coordinate a holiday party that doesn't have any christmas in it...


you see, at diego's school, the parent committee is trying to set up a winter fest... and guess who is trying to set it up?! i am so lost as to what is christmas and religious and to what is acceptable... snowflakes and snowmen are okay [and it's a good thing we live in wisconsin- if we lived in california, snow themes wouldn't work]... no to christmas trees and santa clauses... are stockings okay? holly leaves? candy canes?? we already know not a single religious item can be displayed in school... sigh... trying to be politically correct [and not by choice] is truly hard...


anyhow, i was wondering if any of you had ideas... we are trying to do little activities in the preschool classrooms... i have thought of cookie decorations but what else can we do that is NOT christmas related but winter/holiday/generic/non-religious/kid friendly??!!! i would love it if you shared any suggestions... they have to be fast and preschool friendly and not too costly either as we are asking all the parents to contribute...

your ideas would be appreciated :) i am new to this non-christmas themed parties and truly new to coming up with ideas that will intrigue toddlers and adults alike...

a darling giveaway

gracie of gracie bella butterfly is hosting a giveway... this is her photo of some of the goodness she made and is willing to give to a blogger... beautiful, eh?! she is a very sweet person who always leaves the nicest comments around... her blog is always positive and cheerful and full of eye candy... giveaways are such a good way to bring more people to your blog and discover new blogs too... don't we all enjoy a good read?! well, be sure to check out gracie's wonderful site!!

this is a short post today... i have photos of isabella in her bow, a cute card, and some WIP to show off but i need to work on art before i get too tired... emailing even has to wait but be assured that i will email all of you [who are waiting so nicely] soon!! have a swell night!!!

meet piper- her art, her words...

meet piper... she is another lovely and talented cut paper artist met via the flickr cut paper group... piper is from Toronto, Canada... she creates such darling cut paper illustrations featuring her infamous red-haired character named edith... her illustrations truly tell a story- and it leaves you wanting to know [and see] edith moreso...

and now, in piper's words:

"I've always loved making art and I had a facination with making "paper people" (that's what my little friend and i called our little creations), as a young child. Fast forward 20 some years...I wrote a children's book (which I'm still writing and editing). One day I made a cut paper + paint illustration of a girl being washed away in the ocean, and it was only afterward that I discovered that she was meant to be the main character, Edith, in my book. That's how I came to rediscover my love of working with paper. That's also when I found out that illustrations can come before the words. Those ones are my favorites.

Besides the obvious reasons to love paper, I LOVE the feel of the scissors cutting through it, and I love seeing the shape surprises left over from the cutouts. I love the dimension in working with different patterned and textured papers and I love how long it takes and how much delicate care it takes to create an entire scene. There is so much emotion and sentiment that goes into every creation, and i feel it too when looking at others work."

be sure to check out piper's blog and her flickr page...  and no doubt, someday we will be reading her story to our child... it's lovely to see the variety of ways artists use paper in their arts... it's always an inspiration to meet wonderful people like piper who have such a passion for their work... it's what we all need :)

isabella and her strong legs...

isabella stood up all by herself today... twice!!! the first time was when we were at church... i was wrestling with diego to get to isabella before she crawled down the aisle but before i could get her [and before she went into crawling position] she stood up... it caught me off guard and if i wasn't so worried about her falling into the chair, i might have jumped up with joy [hehe]...

and then later today, i was trying to take photos of her... while fidgeting with the camera, she crawled by me and then stood up again!!!! and whadda know, she didn't do it again when the camera was working... but the gal is standing and this means she'll be walking in no time... i am seriously contemplating on if a christmas tree will be put up in the house this year... i just imagine turning away for a split moment and isabella pulling the tree down and using one of my ornaments for a teething ring....

she's been crawling a bit funny lately too... first, she will be sitting up and then she'll throw herself forward into a crawling position [which, she has done this on the bed and i've caught her by the leg] but her crawling position is this: one leg is crawling normal and other is in near standing position... it's hard to explain but it's quite the sight to watch... she sure is usin' those chunky thighs of hers to get around...  you think she will get a tooth before she walks???  if not, she will be the shortest, toothless li'l baby girl crawling around...

ps. don'tcha love her collar all turned up?! the photos are a bit funky but maybe santa will bring me a new camera :)

goodies, art, and more art...

isabella ran out of hairbows, or at least ones that fit her head... ms. andrea of andrea's hair flairs made a BEAUTIFUL bow for isabella.... oh, the girl looks soooo cute in it and i will try to take photos of her tomorrow when she wears it... andrea makes such elegant and comfy bows- i can't wait to purchase some more for my baby girl...


she also sent some extra goodies for the family too... diego received a cars sketchbook, which he immediately grabbed.... [i grabbed it back so i could get a photo of it- hehe]... andrea made a darling pen with a bow on top along with christmas colored bows for crafting... as payment, she is receiving holiday themed tags for her and her business...


yes, you are seeing this right... it's a green dinosaur... with the help of  his teacher, diego made a very big green dinosaur painting... isn't it just beautiful?! i mean, i know the teacher helped but a mother cannot help but feel so proud of her child and his skills... i should let him paint more at home, eh?! i need to loosen up on the messy mediums...


lastly, here is janae's illustration all framed; it was shown in pieces earlier... it is to match to the jamir illustration... this is for a lady i met online over 3yrs ago in a pregnancy forum... we both had a boy in august and then we both had a girl in april.... well, her family is in town and hopefully, we will all meet! i am sooooo excited!!

well, it's time for me to go back to the attic and work on some art... i think... you know how that goes- hehe... happy weekend!!!!!

sketches in the raw....

it's often rare to see the illustrations inside greenbeanbaby's sketchbook... maybe that is because it's been years since i used a sketchbook... most times i will scribble away on computer paper then draw it over and over until it's perfect... and all the raw sketches are tossed away, as they are too messy... defeats the idea of sketching, eh?!
 

with a big project in the works, and absolutely no computer paper left in the house, ramel was kind enough to give me a sketchbook... a green one, at that! he ripped out all his old work and the other night, the two of us drew as the kids slept... it felt good to work on art with him again without having a kid asking, "can you draw me superman? no, batman! i want spongebob!" diego is such a sweetie pie, but parents sure need their time to draw something other than comic book characters....


and so without shyness, i share with you sketches from the book... the above are all for the same project and each of her dresses are to be wild and funky and fun... i still have two more to sketch out, as well as work on her poses... her facial expressions can use a bit of variety too... i am itching to get them cut out in paper though... today, my mom watched the kiddos and ramel and i went to starbucks


oh wait!!! should i quote myself??? "parents sure need their time to draw something other than comic book characters...." and whadda know, even when diego is nowhere around, i ended up drawing wolverine of the xmen! hehehe... these sketches are for another project in the works [hmmm, i have about a good 3 major projects right now, including a few side swaps...] so this sketch is entitled "xmen playing xbox while getting x-rayed" for the letter "x"


and here we have the letter "k"... this one is entitled "don't drink the kryponite flavored koolaid, kent".... as you can see, they are in the kid-world... clark kent isn't fully sure of his identity and thus his infamous glasses, and his superman cape and pj's.... and there is little lana lang... you can never tell what that girl is feeling about clark on a certain day... so in this illustration, she is oblivious to the fact that she is serving clark kryponite flavored koolaid... in another episode, she can blame it on her evil alter ego... i might throw a little lex luthor too but we'll see...

and here we have ramel's sketch of the letter "d" still in the works... today he sketched this at starbucks and well, the guy hasn't lost his touch... for not working on art, ramel still has the skill, don't you think?? his specialty is animals, they are always friendly looking too, regardless of their carnivorous appetites....

have a wonderful weekend and hopefully there will be cut paper art to show you all within the next couple of days :)

happy thanksgiving

hope everyone had a wonderful day!!! was it filled with food and sweetness?? hopefully it was not filled with family drama of someone complaining over the the too sweet pumpkin pie or the dry turkey... hopefully no family members brought up unfond childhood memories, or pointed out unnecessary flaws... a mother-in-law wasn't giving you her two cents and exclaiming how you should drink diet soda so you can lose a couple pounds, right? noooo, i hope the families you visited expressed their heartfelt delight of you and growing family's tree... i hope everyone enjoyed the food that was made with love and dedication... i hope that those who drink too much, and talk too much afterwards, refrained from doing both... i wish that everyone's family gave each other honest and meaningful hugs as each went home at the end of the night... i hope that this thanksgiving was a peaceful one to you all

mine sure was :) i learned from my mother to avoid adding unnecessary stress to the holidays... she taught me to appreciate family and not feel bad if we wanted to stay home and enjoy the family... she taught me that every thanksgiving doesnt NEED a turkey or potato pie [we had turkey sandwiches and pecan pie].... my mom and dad raised us to really count our blessings and embrace peace... and i hope that ramel and i can pass these values to diego and isabella.... it was truly a wonderful thanksgiving :D may yours reflect the same!

note: illustration is from "adventures of jack" by frances brundage ©1989

holiday swaps, anyone?!

as much as i had to write the dark side of swapping to inform people of the laziness in swaps lately, i still love swapping!! but i would like to share with you some of my favorite hostesses of swaps.... amy of life in the lyons den is hosting a christmas ornament swap... the deadline to sign up is Friday, November 23rd. Your ornaments has to be mailed by Friday, December 7th. you can read up on this swap  at her blog... i've only participated in one of amy's swap, but we are doing a collaborative book project, which is still in the works...  amy is extremely organized and talented who's swaps always are to drool for!

storme of gingillos is hosting a handmade holiday swap... last year was such a blast!! it was through this round that i met floresita and she made me the cutest goods... since this is a handmade swap, the cost shouldn't be too high and it allows you to put your talents to use... and someone else can enjoy your work :)

well, its the night before thanksgiving and the house is a mess... a snow advisory is going into effect and while i am in the mood to work on art, i am in even a bigger mood to play halo... hehe...

until tomorrow, have a swell night!