For this first page, I started out with Christy Tomlinson’s lesson from Life Book 2014 but then I just totally decided to do my own thing.
I wanted to draw a girl’s face. Something simple with wings and my word for 2015. I wanted a reminder to be brave that week so I just sat and drew her. And gave her some golden wings. I did it all pretty quickly and tried not to overthink it too much.
I loved the end result. Something simple and lovely.
here’s a sideways look to see all the shimmer:
I can never have enough reminders to be brave and to be me.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This photo of the house by the sea makes me happy each time I look at it. To me, the sea is the culmination of all things that I want to feel. It simultaneously makes me feel serene and alive. The sea is also abundant and so very open. I am never happier than when I am by the sea.
Maybe one day, I’ll be lucky enough to have my own little house by the sea.
here’s a closeup of the writing:
here is a side look for the shimmer:
here’s to visiting the sea more often.
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this first page, I used Tam’s lesson from Life Book 2014. She taught us how to make these very simple and beautiful flowers.
These are made using your fingers and without a lot of thought. I love the way they look. They made me really happy to make. So much so that I felt compelled to write “beauty is everywhere” on the bottom after I was done.
Because it really is, isn’t it? It’s everywhere. How incredibly beautiful is each flower. The magnificent trees. All the shades of green in each tree never cease to amaze me. I feel like I am surrounded by so much beauty and yet I take so much of it for granted. I do the same thing with my family, my health, my home. The things that are just here. Things I depend on deeply but don’t realize that they are such huge privileges.
I am so lucky. Beauty is everywhere around me. In nature, in the people I love, in the food I get to taste. In the body that houses my soul.
Everywhere.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s page is one of my favorites. Just because it’s so different for me. Both of these pages were done as an assignment to the Sketchbook Skool’s storytelling klass. The left side was to draw ingredients for a recipe. I was making a lot of omelette’s at the time so that’s what I drew. I don’t like how the omelette itself ended up but I like the ingredients.
The right side is supposed to be directions to make something. I thought for a long time because I couldn’t come up with an idea so I finally went with something simple I do all day long: make tea!
And there we are. Here’s another week.
Fifty-two stamps is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
It was only fair that I tackle abundance next since I did all the other three in previous weeks. This was the perfect picture for it. I love how it looks and it reminds me that there’s plenty to go around. The text says “I open my hands to blessings.” Blessings. There are so many of them. Enough to feed me and everyone around me.
I am so grateful for the abundance in my life.
here is a side look for the shimmer; i wanted to keep this really simple as it’s my goal with this project:
here’s to remembering how my cup overflows.
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this first page, I used Kate Thompson’s lesson from Life Book 2014. She is magnificent with drawing faces. Me, not so much. But I felt like trying anyway.
This whole page is painted gold and is really shiny. I am not sure why I didn’t take a shot of it sideways so you can see. But just imagine it. 🙂
In the spirit of bravery, I wrote down the lyrics of the Alanis song I was listening to at the time. It says: I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone. You live, you learn. You lose, you learn. You cry, you learn. You live, you learn. You scream, you learn.
To learn, you have to live. And if you live, no matter the result, you learn something from the experience. As with my word, I want to be brave this year. I want to bite off more than I can chew. I want to try harder, do more, work harder. I want to learn. I want to push myself. I want to learn about what I am capable of. I want to scream, cry, laugh, live.
I want to feel alive.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s page has some shimmer on the left side. It’s one of those pages I built as I went along so the items don’t really make a cohesive picture together. But I still really like how it looks.
On the left is my sandal. I added some shimmer to it because, in real life, it has some shimmer.
maybe you can see some of it here:
In the middle is the halloween pumpkins that were hanging outside my neighbor’s house when I made this page. And then to the right are my birthday balloons that my friend Holly gave me when I turned forty. I love how colorful they are and how they have patterns too.
And there we are.
Everyday Brave is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s pick is a bed that makes me feel serene when I look at it. I love the light coming in, the white covers, and the plants by the window. All of this makes me feel so serene. I coupled it with a sentence from an old Brave Girl’s class I took. It says “I choose happiness.” That’s what serenity is about for me. Choosing happiness. Choosing calm. Choosing to know all is ok and will always be ok.
here is a side look for the shimmer; not too much shimmer on this one:
here’s to embracing serenity.
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This page was originally supposed to be a Tam assignment for Life Book 2014. Representing ourselves as an animal that represents growth and strength. But I didn’t feel like drawing any animals.
At the time, I was taking several big leaps of courage and I was thinking a lot about being brave so I decided I wanted to draw this girl leaping from one side of a cliff to another. I wanted her to be doing it gracefully, fearlessly, joyfully. Alas, my drawing skills aren’t that advanced. I tried and tried and this was the best I could end up with. I don’t love it but I also don’t hate it.
It says: the courage is in choosing to leap, not in the outcome, so celebrate the leap.
I wanted to remind myself that bravery is not about not being afraid. But it’s also not about the outcome. It’s about trying. Being willing to try. To jump without knowing what’s on the other side. To have faith.
This is a good one for me to remember as I go on my journey of being brave this year.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s layout is so not my favorite. But I wanted to be honest and not skip things. There are a few more upcoming ones I am not crazy about but that’s the thing about learning a new skill: there are more days of failure than there are of success. But you keep pushing anyway and eventually the ratio starts tilting the other way. Or so I hope.
And it takes a lot of practice. A Lot. At least for me.
On the left side, is the Posche we rented for Jake’s birthday back in September. At least this was my attempt of it.
The right side is a house on the way from my house to the school. I kept passing it and one day I just stopped and drew it. I drew this while I was looking out the window of my car and i didn’t plan carefully so I drew it too large. I don’t like how much of the page it covers. Just don’t like the way it looks, period.
And there we are.
Everyday Brave is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s pick is a hand and on the inside of the wrist is a tattoo that says “alive”. I don’t have any tattoos but if I got one, that’s where I would want it to be. I coupled it with some sentences from an old Brave Girl’s class I took. One says “I let myself be a learner” because when I am learning, I feel alive. And the other one says “I cheer myself on” because I want to be my own biggest advocate. I want to root for myself. I want to come fully alive.
here is a side look for the shimmer, you can’t see it very well, but the transparent sequins shine beautifully:
here’s to being able fully alive.
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this first page, I used Alena Hennessy’s lesson from Life Book 2014. Alena’s style is very fluid and intuitive and I wanted to emulate that.
This page also has no text. It’s easier for me to be organized, have a plan, and write my thoughts down. It’s considerably harder for me to just go with the flow. For this page, I painted the whole page first, and then I drew my flowers and painted over everything else so what you’re seeing in the flowers is what was underneath.
This one reminds me that we all have layers. What you see at face value isn’t always all there is. It also reminds me that what’s here now doesn’t have to be the final version of what there will be. Like art, we are always evolving. We are not finished products. And anything can be painted over. We get to choose who we are. If we don’t like what we see, we keep changing till we do.
It also reminds me to be more fluid. To trust my intuition. To trust that beauty emerges no matter what.
here’s a closeup of the left side:
and right side:
Thanks to Alena for teaching me so much.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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