greenbeanbaby art

the life of isabella hill

A flashback of blog posts....

isabella is my internet bebe... for those of who have followed Greenbeanbaby for some time, you know that I've included you all with updates and announcements... so here is a [semi] short recap of isabella's life told online...

it was during diego's 2nd birthday party, we announced to our friends and family hat we were expecting a baby... wow, can you remember when he was this small?!

a few days later, we shared the news to our internet pals...

the first ultrasound did not help us in finding out the gender... i was disappointed as this had happened with diego... this was also our last kid so i was hoping to be one of the MANY moms who get to find out the baby's gender BEFORE birth... in explaining this to my midwife, we were able to get another ultrasound... ramel couldn't go with me that day but I remember finding out and then calling him immediately while waiting for the elevator... and he says "we're having a princess!"... the news of having a girl was blogged here...

and with SO MUCH LOVE around the world, a virtual baby shower was thrown for my isabella... talk about feeling the love and gratefulness! and then she was late...

2 days after posting, isabella was born and i shared the birth story here... i still remember that day so vividly... well, actually, i remember the pain and how the epidural refused to do its part... i rememember having my eyes closed so tightly that by the time i opened them to see isabella, she was blur.... and then she was all mouth and screams! Such a pretty li'l girl...

and since then, she's had 4 birthdays... simple birthdays, nothing fancy but nonetheless wonderful... for her 3rd birthday, we did something different and decided not to have a party... instead, we went to chicago, stayed in a hotel, and enjoyed the surroundings for two days....

and this year, was her spidergirl birthday party... she was also given a weeks worth of outfits each morning... and we went to build-a-bear... we went all out this year because we like change... we also did something similar [a week's worth of events] for diego and we had a blast... it feels good to celebrate others but also be a PART of it, all the while...

isabella is a spunky li'l girl! it may look like i've been favoring her for the past year, showing many photos of her via flickr and facebook... but it's not favoritism... i'm merely balancing the scales... the first few years, i failed to take many pictures of her or do unique things with her due to her age... but now she's old enough and things seem to be more even with her and diego... both kids are [in my opinion] well-loved and blessed beyond measure! it's amazing to see them grow and know that we are a FAMILY!!

spider-girl love part 1

it's been a busy couple of weeks planning and preparing for isabella's birthday... the festivities have already begun... this girl has oodles of toys but has hit a growth spurt in the past couple of months... she's a skinny minnie so her waist is a 3t but the pants are highwaters... granted, she's going to be FOUR! sooooo, she needed clothes and what kid wants JUST clothes for their birthday?! to divvy it up, i bought a ton of cute outfits for her and wrapped them in newspaper... every morning, isabella gets to open up a gift and wear that outfit the same day... she is LOVING it!!!! we began on sunday, april 10th and will go all the way until her actual birthday on the 17th... it's been so much fun and feels good to do something different for her... so far, we are on day four...

on top of that, i'm doing a spider-girl themed birthday party at her pre-school... i'm not a mom that throws HUGE parties for her kids... but this year, it would be nice to share some goodies with her pals at school... i'm making the cupcakes, party bags, and a couple of activities for them to do at the school... it is also considered volunteer work so it's a win win win situation :) isabella has NO idea! but she might get a hint when she opens up friday's birthday outfit and it's a spider-girl dress!!!

 
so it's been about peter parker's daughter and isabella in the greenbean household... don't worry, diego isn't being neglected and he's been a big help... i love them BOTH so much... they make my heart melt... anyhow, this is the first time me and ramel are doing a bit of art for our kids... we are also having a SMALL get together here on the 17th with a couple family members, some streamers, and maybe a homemade ice cream cake.... i'm planning a couple of games too for everyone to win something.. PLUS, the week after is spring break... isabella is going to school [per her reqeust] and it will be me and diego time... wow, this post is a HUGE montage of THOUGHTS! hahaha

now, i just have to think of something unique to do for diego's b-day... but that is a few months away, and after the san diego comic con family trip! PHEW!

etsy goodness underway

since the last time, i've been sick, made two illustrations, went to a tea party, designed 3 rubber stamps, described all etsy goodies, ran out of coffee creamer, and cared for diego while he stayed home from school.... although being sick took over 10 days of that time, i tried to spend my relaxing time, chipping away at my artwork so that this greenbean didn't feel lazy... it feels good to be productive... but i'm trying to take it one day at a time to not overwhelm myself, ya know?!

so the etsy goodies will be available soon however there isn't a specific date just yet... thanks to two buddies, they have helped me to relaunch the shop filling it with inventory that has been sitting around the studio.... there will be giant embellishements in the shop- what are giant embellishments you ask? they are the cut paper dolls cut out but NOT glued down onto a background... i'm leaving it for the buyer to add the background :) there will also be magnets, illustrations, smaller embellishments, notecards, and a few wall hangings... there's roughly 60 items!!!!

as with previous etsy shop openings, most of the characters are named after people i know... some names are taken from the shows that i've been watching- dean, mr. brown, hilda, pierce.... can you figure out which shows i've been enjoying?! and many of the characters that are named after friends, the descriptions are ficticious... it was a wonderful twist to making etsy descriptions a bit less monotonous....

when the rubber stamps are released, i'll be sure to post a link! if you are itching for an update sooner than these blog posts, then feel free to check out my twitter or my facebook page...

lastly, here is a picture of isabella, the princess... she is an utter girly girl! the other day she told ramel that she wanted to be a superhero... spidergirl, in fact... so you can imagine the goodness i'm cooking up for her 4th birthday!!! but aside from her superhero love, she ADORES wearing a frou frou dress! i saw this dress at target MONTHS ago and wanted to get it for her... but i waited... then last weekend, she BEGGED for it!!!! we even got her some gold sparkly shoes to match and she was so happy...  she's a vocal girl- she's quick to say what she doesn't like but she's also quick to say how much she loves me- she melts my heart! she's asked to change her name to ellia so she can be just like me- EEK!!!

so just a quick recap of the greenbean family: diego wants to change his name to peter parker when he gets older... and he wants me to change my name to aunt mae....and he wants me to live with him so i can keep the house clean...  isabella wants to change her name to ellia... she wants to be JUST like me including height and shoe size... i got quite the pair of kids, eh?!

july updates...

 
with summer in full bloom, it makes it hard to sit in the hot living room and type away on a hot laptop drinking hot coffee.... so today, the fan is on full blast, the laptop is on a lap desk, and the coffee is iced... problem solved and the caffeine hits my bloodstream after 10pm... can you tell?!

 
there's been many freelancing jobs lately... i've been working in a new style and format... infographs: illustrated information for insurance blogs and such... fascinating work filled with new challenges, new concepts, and not my usual freelance request... i'm enjoying it and cannot wait to see the final projects posted.... i'll be sure to put links on my twitter and facebook page when they do! [these lil characters are for an infograph- FUN, eh?!]

 
more rubber stamps are available through stamping bella... there are 29 greenbeanbaby designs [along with oodles of other fantastic stamps by wonderful artists]... it's a joy to be working in the scrapbooking industry too! i've got so many ideas and not enough time but when some ideas DO come into full fruition, it boosts an artist's confidence and motivation...

 
since my last [non-illustration friday] post, i turned 29 years old and got a quarter sleeve tattoo... you can see another shot here... it was my golden birthday and there was a need for change... big change... and i like it :) now, to decide if i'll remain blonde and get those roots bleached or go another route!

 
the kids and i have been going on various field trips.. zoo, parks, wading pools, discovery world, lakefront- etc... next week we are heading to the jelly belly factory and perhaps madison... i'm making sure to enjoy our weekdays together since both children will be in school when september comes... yes, isabella will be in full-day preschool and diego will be in 1st grade... i haven't been home alone steadily since 2004!!!! it's going to be an experience for sure... my kids are such hams- full of character and energy... mixed feelings about fall but at the same time, i'll be freelancing more so i'll get to enjoy family weekends instead of being in my studio... :)

 
happy july everyone!!!

stamps and isabella....

 
today there are two NEW greenbeanbaby designs over at stamping bella... plus there is a new artist named mo manning who designs some VERY cute stamps!!! as a welcome to her and all of the new releases, there is a special for ONLINE ORDERS [no minimum].... 15% off your purchase!!!!!! use the code welcomemo at your checkout :)

 
also, isabella's birthday is coming up! she is going to be THREE this saturday!!! can you believe it?? i remember announcing the pregnancy here on the blog... and announcing that she decided to wait past her duedate... and then there were posts on her birth, her milestones, birthdays, and NOW she is THREE!!!!!! i'll do a memory post soon with some nostalgic isabella photos next week... there will also be some photos about what [and where] we'll be this weekend... exciting!

 

so happy thursday and see you all next week with news, art goodness, greenbean updates!

ps. be sure to check out my husband's new blog, GIANTGREENBEAN! it's all about his art!!!

happy easter

may you have a wonderful sunday!

from the entire greenbean family

a beautiful day

for the past couple of days, the weather has been perfect... with ramel at work, and diego in school, isabella and i took some lengthy walks to target... 4 miles in two days, in fact... we must note that she took her "baby" with as well... that poor baby was once pink and now it's a shabby washed out but much loved baby... wherever isabella goes, the baby is sure to be with... 

for such long walks, we both are fueled with "coffee"... a nonfat vanilla latte for me and a steamer for her... two happy ladies enjoying our time together while it lasts... after all, my little isabella will be THREE in a couple of weeks!!! can you believe it? time flies when you are cute!

i could use another coffee now but i'm off to work on rubber stamp designs and a couple of sketches... HAPPY APRIL FIRST!!!

new york, new york

i'll be leaving to new york city on wednesday... in less than 2 days!!! that's right! my friend bought me a plane ticket for my birthday and hers!! SUCH a treat!!!!! i've been wanting to go for ages and i'm grateful that she's created a way for such an adventure... and thanks to my mom, i have a new camera so you all can see pictures!!!! i'm all too excited!


now, ramel will be home alone with the kids for 5 days... but all kid clothes will be picked out for him... 2 outfits per day, per kid... and isabella's hair will be in enough braids for him not to worry about brushing through the nest of curls... he has free tickets to museums and the zoo [thanks to the summer reading club at the library] on top of that, isabella is potty trained so very few diapers to worry about!! yes, this girl is quite advanced in this area...

so this is quite brief because  as i type, i must get the house adn my bags ready for this wonderful adventure!!!

so to sum it up:
1. i'm going to new york city
2. diego can climb walls
3. isabella is potty trained
4. i got my nose pierced
5. still have 25 illustrations to complete
6. my mom gave me a camera

have a wonderful week!!! i sure will :)

the loveliest pair

you cannot deny these two kids make the loveliest pair of siblings... i'd say they have a near average relationship with each other.... a bit of "she's copying me," "she's throwing stuff" and "she's too loud" can be heard the second i sit down to respond to emails... isabella cannot be so vocal with her opinions of diego but she has learned the "no! no! no! i can do it!" from him... that seems about average for this 4.5 and 2yr old pair....

but their love and excitement to be with each other is not... although one may be too forceful in handing a toy to the other, leaving a minor war wound on the face, they help each other so much... assisting one onto my bed to teach them how to do back flips off the headboard... sharing their snacks when one ate too fast and finished theirs... the open armed greetings coupled with a loud shriek of excitement when one walks through the door [or even wakes up!!!!!].... yes, their sounds of love, joy, and sometimes annoyance, fills these walls from 6:30am to 10pm now.... no more school for diego... no good weather to get them out of the house... and no desire to go to bed at 8pm.... and boy, they are all smiles and giggles once the sun goes down!!!!!

we are gonna have quite the summer :)

ps. thank you all for the comments!!! you have me geeked to get the rubber stamps created faster :) i'll get another post going soon about the shop goodness!!

sunday- a little graduation

and by little, i mean, the littlest graduates you've ever seen... yes, that is diego in the middle holding the [self-proclaimed] honorary graduate, isabella.... there were five kids total, with diego being the only boy... he was elected the valedictorian and gave his speech with pride.... but not before, the entire headstart sang "he's got the whole world in his hands" and "this lil light of MINE"... it was cute because, well, the songs had some flavor thanks to the diversity of the program.... and they all had rhythm :)... diego was doing some sorta jiggy in the middle of it all, hammin' it up... it was honestly, the cutest event you coulda been to....

my friend from new york [which will be another blog on its own] was our freelance photographer, capturing all of diego's awesomeness... she even taped his speech! he did a such a perfect job!!! it was a wonderful moment, as any parent can tell you... sure it's only k4...but it makes a parent realize what the future holds for their kid- more graduations, more proud moments, more events proving of their success and accomplishments.... we all want our children to succeed and to see them begin at such a young age fills a parent with joy...

we are proud of our diego...