karenika

2017 in Art

One of my goals for 2017 was to make 20 pieces of art each month. I had some ideas of what I wanted to do but I also knew that they would likely change as the year progressed. I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull off making 20 pieces of art each month. But I did! This post will be image heavy as it will show all of them. (Almost all.)

For January I made loving hearts:

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For February, I made some quick sketches:

For March, I captured everyday magic:

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For April, I played with fabric:

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For May, I wrote about what shining means to me:

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For June, I painted rocks:

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For July, I played with paint:

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For August, I made 10-minute art:

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September was my travel journal.

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For October, I made mantras:

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For November, I made art boards:

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And December, of course, was December Daily.

The best part is: I enjoyed every one of these projects a lot!

Not too shabby for a super-busy year. Here’s to hoping for more art in 2018!

December Daily – 20

Day 20 starts with this awesome photo of Nathaniel that i adore!!

And another one of him on the back.

And then it’s David’s card.

and the back

and then I moved the pocket page forward and wrote about our family photos and how we don’t send a holiday card.

love these photos

and finally actual page 20 is about how we went to see Star Wars.

love these photos

Books I Read This Week 2017 – 51

This was a big week for reading. I had a little extra time and I finished several books that I had started a while ago.

I started with Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life which sounded like a good idea and was cute but if anything it was too cute. Trying too hard to be cute.

I read Inherit the Wind for our Lit Club with the middle graders. I had heard of it but never read it. I am glad I did. It’s funny!

Nathaniel was reading Rain Reign for his Lit Club so I read it alongside him to help with his understanding and homework discussions. It is a fantastic book if you have a 3-6th grader.

I had attempted Seven Days of Us unsuccessfully before but decided to tackle it this time and I liked it. It wasn’t pithy or amazing but it was still enjoyable.

I had also attempted How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk before but hadn’t managed to finish it. I finally did. Solid ideas but nothing super-new to me. If only I could actually implement these consistently.

I wasn’t sure if I would like A Uterus Is a Feature, Not a Bug but decided to give it a try and enjoyed it enough to keep going. Worthwhile for me.

The Story of Arthur Truluv is Elizabeth Berg’s new novel and I love her. She did not disappoint. So sweet, this one.

I bought Invincible Summer on Audible months ago and hadn’t read it so I decided to finally read it. I was a sweet tale of 3 friends. It wasn’t the best book I read but it was okay.

Young Jane Young is by Gabrielle Zevin who wrote several books I’ve loved reading. So I’d bought this one on Audible too and finally read it. It was good but not great.

When I was at my YA Book Club earlier this week, my friend Angela recommended Far From the Tree which just won the National Book Award. She said she really liked it and I had just checked it out from the library so I decided to read it next. It was fabulous.

Relatively good week of reading. Two more weeks left in this year. Here’s to more reading!

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Nourish Me – 51

Mind:

I read: A lot of books this week. Finally tackling my audible pile.
I learned: Calculus and Python classes for the kids took up all my empty moments this week. Though I did sign up for a Machine Learning class, we’ll see if I can actually do it.
I watched: No movies this week. Haven’t even turned on the TV in weeks.

Body:

Exercise: I exercised four days this week despite major sciatica pain.
- Monday: Body Pump
- Tuesday: Body Pump Express
- Wednesday: nothing
- Thursday: Yoga
- Friday: Body Pump Express
Food: Food was so so. Still no soda. Too much coffee still and just overall not eating much or well.
Body Care: I’ve done nothing here still. Will use the holiday season to get back on track.

Soul:

I rested: A little better on sleep this week but still pretty deprived.
I connected: Spent some time with my friend Leslie and went to google party with Jake.
I journaled: I journaled a whole bunch more. Making plans for 2018.
I made art: December Daily baby!
Flowers: still filling my life and home with these and still loving it.

Didn’t quit coffee, don’t know if I have it in me. Maybe I should quit chocolate instead?

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

December Daily – 19

Day 19 is about the google holiday party. One of my favorite things about our parties is that there a ton of photo booths.

I added a little Journaling on the back of one of the photos.

And then lots of little embellishments behind each photobooth photo.

Love all of these.

2017 Stories – 51 – Seventh Grade Culmination

David’s school has culminations that happen at the end of each major unit. The 7th grade culmination this year was about the World’s Fair where each of this kids studied a commodity and then wrote an Activism related paper on it, found its Chemical compound and features, wrote a creative story around it and made a piece of art.

David’s commodity was gold. On culmination night, they also had to sit on an expert panel on their commodity and answer questions about it.

The 8th graders did country studies so I had to capture this one on Turkey.

It’s always special to be a part of these evenings and see all of his work come together so wonderfully.

Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

December Daily – 18

Today’s story is about brunch that my YA book club hosted.

I love this book club because it’s all writers. They all write YA Fiction or other fiction and I get to be there an hear all their stories.

so so lucky!

December Daily – 17

Day 17 is about the Tech Challenge and David and his friends working.

This is one of my favorites because I’ve had this story in the book for four years now and I love being able to see how it changes.

Little bits of embellishments. Not much.

Living Intentionally 2017 – 51

Weekly Intention: Hello to what will hopefully be my first week of holiday vacation. My intention this week is to make some plans for 2018, to read a bunch, to really really relax with my family. That’s it.

Things I want to get Done: Here’s the list for his week.

Work: matching
Personal: see if I can exercise a bit?
Personal: do December Daily
Personal: do advent of light
Personal: make 2018 plans iteration 3 + journal
Personal: Continue with the new scrapping/storytelling system.
Family: take photos!
Family: Math with D and Python with N
Family: Make a plan for the next two weeks.

This month’s intention is: Shine Slowly: And here it is. The end of one more year. You made it through. Tough times, joyful times. Celebrations and trials. Changes and all. You did it. Time to slow down. Time to make space for the next year. Growth comes after downtime for you. Take this time to store some energy so you can hit the ground running in 2018.

Ways to Shine this week:

One: Bold: prepping for 2018 but honestly resting would be bold this year.
Two: Open: open to the possibility of going somewhere.
Three: Heal/Nourish: some serious self-care this week.

I am looking forward to: resting. nothing. reading.

This week’s challenges: not getting antsy and bored.

Top Goals:

Work: matching. and not working 🙂
Personal: sleep+exercise+food+journaling. december daily.
Family: loving my kids and husband

I will focus on my core desires (bold, mindful, nourish, love) by: really focusing on my family wholly.

This week, I will say yes to: self-care.

This week, I will say no to: ennui.

I am worried that: we will waste these two weeks. i really really don’t want to.

This week, I want to remember: that it’s a major luxury to get this time off and i really want to make the most of it.

Weekly Reflection 2017 – 50

How I shone this week: This week I shone at work by helping planning come together for all of my organization and closing many of the loops that needed to be closed. I am officially out starting this week hopefully. I also supported my kids by doing work with them and going to David’s culmination. I showed up for my friend Leslie. It was a good week.

Things I wanted to get Done:

Work: planning done! (for now). emails done, posters done. matching still underway.
Personal: exercised four times, did conway, didn’t quit coffee, ate so so. did december daily and most of advent of light. scrapped.
Family: did math, python and calc. Took photos. did shopping round three. went to D’s culmination and Google party. made no plans though.

I celebrate: a good, solid week.

I am grateful for: a fun holiday party.

I nourished myself by: not super much this week.

Reflecting on my worries: exercised but didn’t eat great. planning is mostly done. i will hopefully have the two weeks off. tried not to disappoint anyone.

I let go of: anything being perfect. perfection is a myth.

Core Desire Check-in (bold, mindful, nourish, love):

bold: bold with moving planning forward this week.
mindful: mindful that the next two weeks can be really hard if we let it be.
nourish: i need to do some strong push here.
love: i love the holiday season, slowing down!

What made me laugh this week: lovely laughter at holiday party with Jake.

What I tolerated this week: a lot of chaos around planning and two interviews.

My mood this week was: driven.
I forgive myself for: feeling exhausted. i need rest.
What I love right now: that i am finally finally taking some time off!

Here’s to a great week 51. We’re so close to the end of 2017.