Painting with Q-Tips

My sweet son Jimmy and I had some craft time this afternoon while baby was still napping- painting with q-tips. We made all sorts of color mixes, patterns and designs. He loved "making rainbows" and singing the rainbow song.

Jimmy's paintings

My paintings. I held three q-tips together (all dipped in different paint colors) and made a sweeping motion- top left painting, made dots with the end of the q-tip - top right painting. I held the q-tip and "flicked" the top to splatter paint- bottom left painting and then drew organic curly shapes- bottom right painting.

Thinking I could scan these in and put them into a mini album or use as a cover?

Random Catch Up Post

Happy Monday! And Happy Memorial Day to those in the U.S. A random catch up post today. Lots going on around here. My hubby finished up the super crazy semester (yay!). My sweet youngest son seems to be through the colic, pretty much 3 months to the day and it was like day and night-he's much happier and more smiley now. Thankful :)

Still planning and documenting in my Idea Journal. Am loving the pictures some of you have uploaded on flickr. If you would like to share a picture of yours, please go here.

My sweet blog-land friend Katie of Gadanke sent me this super cute {The Little Things} - Listing Thankful Thoughts Journal. Thank you Katie!! :) It is absolutely adorable and I am working on filling it up. It is great to write down all that I am thankful for, and to be prompted to remember/realize things I am thankful for that I hadn't even thought about. More on that later.

I found this recipe for Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread on pinterest and am a fan. A huge fan. And so is my hubby. And so is my Jimmy. Like, it might be a problem - this bread is that good. I ran out of eggs and couldn't make any more yesterday (although you can probably count on me getting more eggs at the grocery today... and making another loaf... or two or three).

Have been planning and rummaging around in my blog - working on labels for posts at the moment. Part of one of my 2011 Goals for my blog and shop.

So about those seeds we planted. Yeeaaaah. Not so much. We ended up buying tomato plants from a local nursery, as well as a jalapeno plant, green bell pepper plants, and herbs - basil, parsley and chives. We (my hubby) made one huge planter box and we filled it with potting soil (no weeds or red clay dirt to contend with). The plants are thriving. I am proud to say that we have 3 super cute tomatoes growing so far. I cannot even describe the pure joy of watching these grow!
And the herbs. They are out of control. I'm having to cut and pinch them back almost daily. Love being able to step out on the back porch and pick out fresh herbs to use for meals.
As far as running goes. Running today. Took a brief (but too long) break after having a massive neck problem from sleeping on it wrong ;) Was way out of commission for almost a week. Could.not.function. Still having trouble with it (3 weeks later?!) but am thankful that I can move.

Working on a few tutorials (I know, it's been way too long), and will be sharing those soon. I will be sharing some more from my idea journal tomorrow. Have a fabulous day!

Idea Journal :: My Inspiration

Last week I shared my Idea Journal that I just started keeping. This journal, kind of like a sketchbook (I don't really sketch a whole lot, so not a sketchbook for me), is specifically set aside for, well, ideas and inspiration. For me, this can come in the form of magazine clippings, other clippings or found special things, notes, jots and lists, or parts of other projects that are inspiring me to make other things.

I wasn't quite sure how I would have the journal set up (and am still pondering some things). Whether I would have tabs for different sections, or just fill up a page at a time, etc. Not a huge deal, but worth some thought to me :) My inspiration for the layout of the journal finally (including a hand-drawn calendar!) came from "this chicken" blog. I love, love, love how she set up her journal! So I emailed her and asked if I could share her pictures- all pictures below are from her journal. Thanks Rebecca :) Visit her blog for some insightful tips on setting up your own journal, including how to add a page marker - like below.

I love the idea of the calendar - a fun way to divide up and keep track of what is inspiring me each month - also helpful for a quick glance of events and happenings.

The grid thing is so fabulous. As a graphic designer, I love grids. Nice and square grids. Sometimes I have trouble (when designing) getting past everything in a layout being nice and lined up on a grid, but that's a whole other story.

Do you have an Idea Journal? If so, I'd love to see pictures! Go here to upload them onto The Creative Place's flickr account. I might be pulling some of the images now and then to share here on the blog :)

If not, why not make one!? All you need is a blank journal, or you can take a pile of blank paper and have it bound at your local office supply store or print shop. It doesn't have to be fancy-schmancy. It's yours. There's no right or wrong way to make it. It's yours. It's for whatever you want to put in it. It's yours.

Friday Wrap Up: Idea Journal

Happy Friday! I finally purchased an "idea book" (a regular sketchbook) and am having a lot of fun filling it up. I will be sharing a super fun blog early next week about my inspiration for this layout.

I must admit that I love having my pinterest pinboards to catalog ideas and inspiration, but there is nothing like a journal that you can hold in your hand that you can cut and paste ideas and inspiration - magazine pictures, bits and pieces, etc.!

Do you have an idea journal? I'd love to see pictures! Go here to upload pictures onto The Creative Place flickr account.

+And on a side note, I started the Couch-to-5k on Wednesday (remember this post earlier this week?). Week 1 Day 1 finished. Week 1 Day 2 to happen today during naptime. :) It truly felt like an accomplishment. I wanted to lay down and take a nap when I got home, but I finished the workout. Looking forward to (and still kind of scared of) the workout today. I hear that getting started is the hardest part. It definitely is.