When I get in a rut about the wanting-a-baby situation, one of the best remedies is making something! Usually that means making cookies, but it's better when it's painting or working on a project. One project that kept me busy for a little while was putting together this little "gallery wall" arrangement in Bryn's room. It was really fun making simple paintings and collages, collecting and painting frames, and putting it all together. It's not my grandest achievement in life, but I think it turned out fun. All the art was free or cheap, and the frames were all from goodwill or I already had them. And nothing beats a free/cheap project!
Someone (I can't remeber who. Was it you?) told me a great tip for hanging clusters of frames. You tape a few sheets of wax paper together, then figure out your arrangement on the paper. Then trace the frames onto the wax paper and label which frame goes with each drawn square.
Once you determine where you want it on the wall, you tape it to the wall and start hanging your pictures. When all the pictures are hung you just pull the wax paper downward and it rips through the nails and comes out. It was pretty slick. I don't know why I feel the need to highlight each silly little frame, but here goes...
I drew the butterfly; my younger brother drew the bird a couple years ago; the map is cut out from an old atlas I bought for $3.00; and the lovely watercolor heart was painted by moi.
The happiness quote is from a used book I got for 10 cents; I painted the blue watercolor pattern up top; and the little print on right is a postcard of a Jacqui Larsen painting.
I cut the green and blue flower out of paint chips with a razor; the other flower is a little collage I made; and the orange page corresponds to the "happiness" quote from above. It is Charlie Brown playing hide and seek behind a tree.
The green painting is just a little random watercolor; I made the little collage on the right from catalog pages; and the bird drawing was done by my little brother.
The wood "B" has been about 10 colors now, but it's now reddish; and the bird on the right is another little collage.
I painted the flower watercolor; and the orange postcard is of a Peter Everett painting. (Bad picture of that one).
My friend Emily gave me the I am a Child of God print, which I really love. And there's also the painting of Spanish Fork, which I
mentioned earlier this week.
And that's that. Bryn's once-bare wall is now the other extreme. When you can't paint your white apartment walls, I guess the next best thing is covering them in pictures.
Big Pumpkin is such a cute, cute story. I think this will be the Halloween book we buy this year. Different Halloween characters have to work together to break the big pumpkin off the vine and then they all eat pumpkin pie together. It's a cute, well-written story. Bryn LOVES it.
The Halloween House is a funny spoof on the "Over the Meadow" classic book/song. Do you know that classic? Bryn loves the original, so she loved that this book is read to the same "tune" but with Halloween scenes. The illustrations are great, too. 
Josh made this little rack for all of Bryn's cute little purses and necklaces, but Bryn had other intentions for it. I can't look at this picture without laughing because it is so Brynlee!
We're saving our other Halloween books until we make it to October, but this is my favorite so we got it out early. It's a really cute story and I love the illustrations. Bryn is definitely a fan, as well. We have read it so much this week that I'm sure we'll be sick of it by Halloween.
We took a break from play group for the summer, but I started it again today with the letter A. It was so fun to have the girls together again, even though we missed Maddy and June who graduated to real preschool this year.
We talked a lot about alligators, and read my favorite alligator book "Alligators All Around" (from the same author as "Where the Wild Things Are").
When I get in a rut about the wanting-a-baby situation, one of the best remedies is making something! Usually that means making cookies, but it's better when it's painting or working on a project. One project that kept me busy for a little while was putting together this little "gallery wall" arrangement in Bryn's room. It was really fun making simple paintings and collages, collecting and painting frames, and putting it all together. It's not my grandest achievement in life, but I think it turned out fun. All the art was free or cheap, and the frames were all from goodwill or I already had them. And nothing beats a free/cheap project!
Someone (I can't remeber who. Was it you?) told me a great tip for hanging clusters of frames. You tape a few sheets of wax paper together, then figure out your arrangement on the paper. Then trace the frames onto the wax paper and label which frame goes with each drawn square.
Once you determine where you want it on the wall, you tape it to the wall and start hanging your pictures. When all the pictures are hung you just pull the wax paper downward and it rips through the nails and comes out. It was pretty slick. I don't know why I feel the need to highlight each silly little frame, but here goes...
I drew the butterfly; my younger brother drew the bird a couple years ago; the map is cut out from an old atlas I bought for $3.00; and the lovely watercolor heart was painted by moi.
The happiness quote is from a used book I got for 10 cents; I painted the blue watercolor pattern up top; and the little print on right is a postcard of a Jacqui Larsen painting.
I cut the green and blue flower out of paint chips with a razor; the other flower is a little collage I made; and the orange page corresponds to the "happiness" quote from above. It is Charlie Brown playing hide and seek behind a tree.
The green painting is just a little random watercolor; I made the little collage on the right from catalog pages; and the bird drawing was done by my little brother.
The wood "B" has been about 10 colors now, but it's now reddish; and the bird on the right is another little collage.
I painted the flower watercolor; and the orange postcard is of a Peter Everett painting. (Bad picture of that one).
My friend Emily gave me the I am a Child of God print, which I really love. And there's also the painting of Spanish Fork, which I mentioned earlier this week.
I just did a small (8" x 10") painting of my in-laws rural neighborhood in Spanish Fork, Utah. I love the beautiful, open landscape of their home, and I've been wanting to paint it for a while. This is the view when you're sitting on the porch, looking to the left. 
