Little Projects

I always seem to have little projects going on. They can be home projects, art projects, or projects related to my kids. I just finished the huge project of clearing out our attic of my daughter’s clothes from the first several years of her life. I saved most of them in case we had another little girl, but we were blessed with a little boy instead so it is time to let them go! I worked hard to tag everything and get it ready to sell at a great local consignment sale. I’m so glad I did it, but I thought I’d never get finished. The sale was this past weekend and went so well! A portion of the profits benefit two local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) chapters, a ministry very close to my heart! MOPS can be found all over the country and I would encourage all Moms of young kids to get involved in one! For me, MOPS has been such a wonderful time of making friends in the same life stage, sharing the struggles and joys of motherhood, and a sweet time for my children to play and learn with others their age!


As far as other projects on my way too long list….

• catch up on my kids’ scrapbooks

• go through and clean out several closets

• tackle a huge pile of papers that need to be filed or shredded

• create a book of my daughter’s artwork from Kindergarten

• go through a large bookshelf overflowing with books

• set up a “First Grade Information” notebook to hold all of the communication, newsletters, calendars, etc. that come home from school each week

• I could keep going, but maybe I’ll start with these! :)

So, I love being organized, I even enjoy reading about it! A few books I’ve found super helpful are Coach Mom, by Brenna Stull and Simplify Your Life, by Marcia Ramsland. I found many helpful ideas in both of these. Everything from organizing your kitchen and setting up a work center (for maintaining incoming/outgoing mail, scheduling, etc.) to decluttering and storage ideas for all your kids' “stuff”!  If I was only as organized as I have “learned” about being!! :)  Again, a work in progress!!

Another project I recently finished was creating an art center for my kids. We had art supplies scattered all over our home and I wanted to consolidate them to one place so they would be easier to use (and easier to clean up)!  I just used some sterilite plastic drawers and organized like supplies together inside a cabinet under my kitchen island. Here is a peak:

Two drawer units, large and small.

Inside drawer with smaller containers for crayons, colored pencils, markers, and watercolors.

Small plastic shoe boxes to hold play-doh and supplies.

I really like this set up!  My daughter has been using the art supplies even more often than she did before, now that they are all in one spot and easier to access.  Here is one of her most recent, beautiful creations:

Created by Savannah
Mixed media: collage materials, watercolor, and marker

What about you?  Do you have a list of unfinished projects?  I'd also love to hear about your ideas for getting organized or ways you've made your home run a little more smoothly!!

Happy creating,
Jenn

What I've been up to...

Here is a peak at what I've been up to lately. I've been feeling like I'm in a bit of a creative rut. I've had a tough time moving forward with this one; have several ideas, just can't make them come to life the way I'm seeing them in my head. That can get so frustrating!

This background was created using acrylic paint, scrap paper, a page from a book, and stamps on a canvas board.

Here I added the tree using torn pieces of magazine pages. I love the rough look it gives to the tree bark.   Before it is finished, I will go back over it in places with some paint to tie it into the background a bit more.


I'm also feeling like I need to make time to just "play"; get out my art supplies and just see what happens. I've felt drawn back to my roots lately...throughout high school and college my focus was on watercolor and I haven't done anything in that medium in a long time. I'm wanting to get those out again and see what happens! What do you do when you feel you're in a creative rut or you are just having a hard time getting motivated?

Back to School

 

  

It is so hard to believe it is that time of the year; summer is winding down and school is starting up again! I have always loved this time of the year. I enjoy the feeling of new beginnings in the air, the search for new school supplies, finding that perfect 1st day outfit, football games to attend, and the wonderful excitement of a new school year and all the possibilities it brings.

 

Before I had my kids, I taught art in a public school for a few years. I remember the fun I had setting up my room and anticipating seeing my students again after the summer break. (I will admit going back was hard after some much needed time off, but it was fun to start a new year as well!) I always tried to do something special for my students at the beginning of the year. New bulletin boards, welcome signs, table markers, etc. One year I had them make time capsules to be opened up at the end of the year; they so loved that!

 

Now that I'm a mom I want to make going back to school special for my own kids, so I went on a search for fun "back to school" traditions and wanted to share what we have done to celebrate this special time of the year!

• "The 12 Days Before _____ grade" or "The 12 Days of ____ grade": A take off on the 12 days of Christmas. Each night I put a surprise in my daughter's backpack. I've used books about starting school, fun school supplies, cute socks, hair accessories, stickers, etc.
• Our annual back to school shopping trip for school supplies. It is always so fun to pick out the new items needed for school. This year my daughter picked out a fun globe shaped pencil sharpener among other goodies!
• New backpack and lunch box! No surprise, this year we went with a Scooby Doo theme (her favorite!). We found a cute scooby book bag and the mystery machine lunch box!

• First day outfit! I always let my daughter pick out a special outfit for the first day of school (mom approved, of course!) This gets her excited and makes her feel included in all the preparation and decision making!
• Purchase a small gift for her new teacher and include a short note wishing her a great first day!

• I journal my thoughts for my child on their first day, hopes about her year, my feelings, etc.
• Have chocolate chip cookies for a special after school snack and talk about how her first day went.
• Have a school themed dinner with ABC pasta noodles.

These are just a few ideas for getting my kids excited about going back to school and making this time special for our family! Do you do anything fun and creative to celebrate back to school?

 

The Vertu Art Experience

The Vertu art exhibit was such a wonderful, amazing experience!  Just taking the leap and seeing what would happen if I submitted my work was a big step for me.  To be blessed with having two of my pieces accepted to the show was more than I could have hoped for!  I'm so glad I gathered up the courage to do it!  I've felt God gently nudging me and can't deny the doors He is opening!  I'm truly grateful to have been given this opportunity!

Here are the two paintings that were in the show:

"Cherish"
Mixed Media by Jennifer Snellings

"Rest"
Mixed Media by Jennifer Snellings

So, the day of the reception was a whirlwind.  We were having some work done on our home and everything was a wreck.  My entire family joined me that evening at the gallery.  I decided to bring my kids so they could experience the show with me; a decision that proved to have it challenges, but overall went well.  I'm so glad my daughter especially was able to see my work in a gallery show (my son is still to young to know what was going on).  She is very artistic and I want to expose her to all that I can!  And my amazingly supportive husband of course wouldn't have missed it!!!  We finally got ourselves dressed and ready to go.  Then on the way there the skies opened with a huge thunderstorm.  At least we needed the rain!! :)

When we arrived at the Artist's Showplace Gallery, it was already full of people.  I couldn't believe how well the show was attended, especially with the yucky weather!  I had several dear friends come to support me which meant the world to me!  It was a wonderfully festive atmosphere with an amazing saxophonist, wine, and great company! 

We browsed the show and of course found my artwork!! 

The night was a huge success and an unbelievable experience!  I'm so thankful to have been a part of it all and will definitely remember it always!  :) 

No Time Like the Present

It is amazing how time flies.  Here we are having already soared through June and are now flying through July!  I feel so overwhelmed at times trying to balance (there is my "One Word" again which you can read about here and here!) life...family, home, ministry, relationships, art, creativity, etc...  There is so much I want to do...how do I fit it all in??  So often I find myself putting my dreams on the back burner.  I don't have time in between chasing the kids, preparing meals, doing laundry, spending quality time with loved ones, grocery shopping, bill paying, and on and on and on (sound familiar) to start taking steps to pursue my dreams.  I've thought "I'm pregnant now and feel so yucky, have no energy, so I'll do it when I feel better" or "Not now, I have a newborn to take care of, so I'll do it when he is sleeping better", or "We may be moving, I better wait until after the move"!  I can think of every excuse in the world not to move forward.  One of my favorite artists, Kelly Rae Roberts, recently posted this on her blog:

"things are still a little wild and unbalanced over here but i'm trying to let it all go, embrace the chaos, and move along with an open heart. i was reminded on my birthday (i turned 35 on on father's day!) that we're so often living in the future (i'll do xyz when our house is done being renovated, when we have a baby, when the e-course is over, when when when). but really i want to be in the very center of where i'm at right now. because where i'm at right now is in the middle of my life's living dreams. it's so remarkable. i don't want to miss anything." ~ from Kelly Rae Roberts

I so needed to hear this!  I love the idea of "being in the very center of where I am right now", not allowing time to slip away, but grabbing hold of it and making the most of it!  And realizing that "where I'm at right now is in the middle of my life's living dreams"!  I too don't want to miss anything!  I want to dream and explore and take chances and fall and pick myself back up and see what doors God will open for me!  I want to not only live in the now with my family and cherish life passing so quickly with my kids, but also dream big creatively and go for it!  I want to stop making excuses and start planning, creating, and acting on those dreams and the steps needed to fulfill them!  I want to open that Etsy shop I've been talking about (and putting off for months now)!  I want to make my art a priority (still a struggle) and see where God will take me as I explore this gift He has given me. 

I'm so excited to see what the future holds, but I want to live into the now, pursue my dreams and take those steps to make my dreams come true!  There is no time like the present!  Will you join me on this journey?!

Vertu: An Art Exhibit

I'm super excited to share that two of my mixed media paintings were selected to be in a juried gallery show.  This is my first juried show!  I took the leap of faith and decided to go for it; the worst that could happen would be that they said "no thanks".  I'm so honored that my pieces were chosen and my work will be shown along side such amazing local artists!  The Artists' Reception is July 9th and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share!!  If you are in the Dallas area, my work will be up throughout the month of July at the Artists' Showplace.

More Gut Art

Here is another journal page from my Gut Art Book.  It was inspired by the artist Terri Hallman using Mystele's pulled art technique.  She is a bit different for me, but I loved creating her! The words at the side are a journaling list of all the things I love and that inspired me about Terri's work.  That is the cool thing about the Gut Art Class; it pushed me to look deeply at what draws me to other artists, artwork, imagery, etc.  I want to keep pushing myself to notice these things and then explore them more in my own artwork.

This little gal was inspired by my daughter.  Just a quick, blonde blue eyed girly. 

Here are some more background pages in my book just waiting to be explored further:

Super fun working in my Gut Art Book.  I'm looking forward to spending some more time with it!  By the way, Mystele is currently taking registrations for her 3rd Gut Art Class.  I highly recommend it!! :)