On Focus

Focus....it is a hard thing for me to do.

I seriously think sometimes that I might have adult ADD. I go from project to project. Starting things left and right. It's the finishing that causes me issues. I'd like to blame it on the kiddos, but even when they are asleep and I'm on my little lonesome, I skip about chasing butterflies until I find myself completely lost in the daisy field. (Figuratively, of course.)

I can't be the only one this happens to, right?

Recently, I've been inspired by a Melody Ross post about taking a 90 day FB break and a email blast from Visionary Mom in which she had me answer the question: "What isn't working for you?" As I pondered the these thoughts while watching children in the pool, I came up with a few deep thoughts about my blog. Which, lately, has been hemorrhaging energy like crazy-pants. Poor thing, it's been limping along without direction for a few months now. It needs a new vision, but that vision hasn't manifested itself to me yet.

And I need time to figure it all out.

I also need time to figure out how I want to run my new small business: Creative Ruminations. I started it about a month ago and all I have right now is a logo.

Cute, huh? But, a business needs more than just a logo to work. It needs direction and ummm...focus.

I also just signed on to teach classes at My Creative Classroom in the fall which I'm majorly excited about. Like so excited that I can't wait. I'm developing this whole new concept in scrapbooking/mixed-media that I'm just itching to introduce to the world, but I need time to flush out the details. To refine it. (Hop over to MCC and sign up for their newsletter so you don't miss any of the amazing classes coming up in the fall. They have a really awesome faculty that I'm thrilled to be joining!) I need to focus.

Oh, and there is that brave thing that I did last week that I'm waiting to hear the results of and if it works out, I'm going to need a plethora of time and...well...focus...to pull it off. I'd love to share more, but I'm still too nervous about it.

Because of all these reasons, I've made a big-girl decision. I'm going to take a summer break from blogging. Yep, that's right. I'm going to take the next 3 months off. I'll still be updating my FB account and my YouTube channel so if you haven't befriended me or subscribed, now would be a great time. I'll still be working on my art and I've got plans to produce more video tutorials, but I won't be posting anything here until September 2011. However, I'm sure that I'll be popping in to renovate so you may see changes in the design or organization.

I'm hoping that this will allow me quiet time to define the direction of Creative Ruminations, develop my classes and actually focus for a change. Plus, it certainly couldn't hurt to catch up on months...months, I tell you, of unanswered comments. How did I get so behind? Oh yeah, I had my 6th baby and I'm the mother of Quinn, 2-year-old-extraordinaire.

Anyway, I hope that you have an absolutely lovely summer break and I'll see you again in the fall.

XOxOoXxoO (extra points if you know the reference...I'll give you a teeny-tiny hint...Nacho)

Bethany

Great Find: Free Sewing Patterns

While checking up on my favorite blogs (which unfortunately doesn't happen as often as I'd like) I stumbled across Free Pattern Month going on at the Grosgrain blog. If you sew, you are going to go absolutely crazy here. I can't wait to get started on this skirt pattern for my girls.

and this pattern for my boys. Don't you LOVE those stripey pants on the right? Good heavens!

There are actually so many patterns that I want to try that I'm just itching from head to toe with excitement.

I hope that you have a great long weekend!

xoxo
Bethany

Meet LeeAnn

Sweet LeeAnn loves to dance. She's been a ballerina since she turned three. She tries so hard to do each position perfectly. So hard that sometimes her mouth gets all screwy and her eyes glaze over in concentration.

She's been told by other more classically trained ballerinas that she didn't have the typical ballerina's body. The she would never be good enough. That she should quit.

LeeAnn doesn't let their ignorant words stop her.

She just keeps on dancing.

Simply because it makes her so very very happy.

LeeAnn has danced her way into my heart and my etsy shop.

A Bit of Baby Advice

I would never ever claim to be an expert on babies. Yes, I have some experience, but I make so many mistakes that I could never pretend to know more than the next person. That being said, I do have two small tips that I believe are worth sharing with the world. Who knows, maybe these little nuggets of (what I deem to be) wisdom will help another baby momma struggling to answer two of life's important questions.

A picture of me taken in 1976

1. How the heck do you clip a baby's fingernails without catching their little skin?
2. How the heck do you get a baby to sleep through the night?

It took me 6 babies to finally figure out how to clip fingernails without clipping tender skin too. (I'm a very slow learner, people.) When little Zo (now 7) was born, I tried to clip her amazingly long nails and ended up clipping her skin too. Made me feel absolutely terrible. I'll never forget that experience. Luckily, she has long since forgiven me. However, it made me very queasy about trying again. This lead to many scratched faces until I tried something new with baby #6. (Lucky boy!)

What I do now is instead of positioning the clippers parallel to the baby's nail, I position the clippers perpendicular to the nail. I make one vertical clip in the center of each nail. Then, I peel away both sides of the nail with my fingers. This prevents me from catching any skin and makes the whole procedure much less scary for me and less painful for baby.

Sleeping through the night....every newborn parent's dream. Yes, I think that it is possible before the child is 6 months old. In fact, I developed a theory that I tested on two of my babies with wonderful results. Keep in mind, however, that my babies are freakishly large (the smallest was 7 lbs 8 oz) and quite healthy. I don't have any doctor's orders telling me to feed my child ever 2 hours and I've never dealt with a preemie.

My theory is that a baby needs a certain number of calories in a day. The baby's body internally regulates this need. Meaning, once a baby reaches its proscribed calories for the day, he no longer feels the desire to eat. So what I do is I try to feed the baby as much as possible during the day. I don't let him nap for longer than 2-3 hours without waking him to eat. Anytime he fusses, I feed him. During the day, I'm an on-demand nurser. Sometimes, when the baby is very new, I'm feeding hourly. (Somewhat exhausting, but worth it when I get a good night's sleep!) When nighttime rolls around, I feed him one last time, then I let him sleep as long as he desires. Using this method, Q slept through the night at 3 months and Wy slept through the night at 2 months. (From 7 PM to 6 AM is my definition of "sleeping through the night.") They could be anomalies, but two in a row gives me some confidence in my theory.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that I'm not an expert, but I thought that perhaps some sleepy scared-to-clip mother might get something out of this post.

If these tips do help, it would mean a lot of me if you let me know. (Plus, it would give my set-calorie-theory more credibility.)

Happy Clipping and Snoozing!

xoxo
Bethany

A Bit of Chat

I feel like doing a chatty sort of post today just to catch you up on all the little things that I've been doing lately. It has been quite a bit of time since I just chatted.

This morning, I went to Wyatt's 6 month appointment. (Can you believe my baby is already 6 months old? Where did the time go?) The verdict? He is quite healthy and insanely tall for his age. Like inches off the top of the chart which makes his tall momma proud. Quinn didn't fare so well. He was diagnosed with an earache. Poor guy.

Now back to Wyatt...he has joined the thumb-sucking team in the family (making it a total of 3 children. I too sucked my thumb, although I've long since quit that habit for other, more fun habits like eating chocolate and biting my nails when I'm nervous. Yeah, I know...) I find it fascinating that my three suckers all suck their thumbs differently. Wy has a side suck thing going on.

Probably later when he matures, this side-action will allow him to freely pick his nose while sucking. Accomplishing two things at once. WTG potential future multi-tasker! I can only hope...giggle...

Anyway, after his visit, I rewarded myself for keeping both him and his very rambunctious brother, Quinny,  (along with 4 other busy bodies) alive for 6 months straight by visiting the art store. (After all, a mother must celebrate every little victory, right?) It had been quite a while since I stepped foot into a real art supply store and it was like walking straight into heaven. I found so many wonderful things that all I wanted to do was toodle about, reading labels, touching paintbrushes and fingering paint tubes. Then Quinn (safely tied up in the stroller) grabbed a glass jar of ink and swung it about. Luckily, I have reflexes like a semi-lame cat and I snatched it from his little hands before disaster struck. After that, I kinda sped up my walk though heaven while Wyatt, safely in a pack on my back pulled on my hair and Elyssa chatted about various subjects at random. Let me tell you people, heaven ain't peaceful.

Anyway, that was pretty much my morning. This afternoon we are off to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few supplies for the sewing projects that I've undertaken. I'm currently sewing a dress for Zoey's upcoming baptism and confirmation, and two skirts and a tunic for moi using the following Amy Butler patterns. I won't be able to wear the tunic until Wy is done nursing in about 6 months, but that is about the time frame I've given myself so it all works out pretty well.

I set up a large table behind my couch for my sewing. Yes, I've exploded out of my studio. You'd think that three tables in my studio would be enough, but it isn't. The sewing table in the family room allows me to indulge in a bit of t.v. while I sew which I find to be a lovely way to pass the evening hours. I love watching a little something while I sew. My favorites are British movies like Jane Austen films. There is something about their accents that make me feel so homey and a bit exotic. Plus, these are movies that are just not appreciated by the general population of the household. Cam once summed up Pride and Prejudice in these words: "all they do is walk and talk." Yes, they are so not appreciated.

I suppose that is all for now. I hope you have a lovely weekend! Ours will be spent working on a science fair project on tornadoes. We'll be making a real-live tornado in a few pop bottles. It should be very fun. Too bad explosions and live animals were deemed illegal by the school judges. Now, a little explosion would have made life quite exciting. Don't you think?

xoxo
Bethany

Inspiration Thursday: Take A Break

A few weeks ago, I undertook a few projects that really challenged me creatively. I decided to incorporate colors that I normally don't use, combine mediums that I normally don't combine and I found myself feeling very frustrated at the end of my studio session. So frustrated that I put everything down and didn't touch an artistic thing for an entire week. After my week of rest, I came back to those projects rejuvenated and relaxed with fresh eyes. I realized that my stuff wasn't so bad after all. In fact, it was salvageable.

Sometimes breaks are all you need to recharge the creative juices. I highly suggest them.

One project is still in the incomplete stage, but the second one is finished. It is called Believe in the Dream. It is a reminder to always follow your dreams and believe in yourself.

The girl is modeled after my own Zoey with her brown hair and eyes.

The stars are dimensional with the gesso technique that I taught in my live UStream class.

I just listed this piece in my etsy store if you are interested. It is my very first listing and I'm pretty excited!

xoxo
Bethany

Inspiration Tuesday: Scramble Through

You may (or may not) have noticed that I haven't posted much artwork lately. For that I apologize. I would love to share my recent creations with you. However, lately I've been creating for a very specific purpose. It is a grand scheme that may (or may not) pan out into anything, but I've got to give it a go.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready to share what I'm doing. The idea is still so fragile: its wings are still weak and wet. Once it grows stronger, I'll shout it from the rooftops and you will certainly be among the first to hear its echos.

This idea is something that I've mulled about for quite some time. At first, I was too nervous to act upon it, but I decided that anxiety for possible failure was no way to live a life: too nervous to pursue a dream. Silly me. I've got absolutely nothing to lose. Nothing.

"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can." --Robert Cushing

I'm jumping in, baby.

Inspiration Thursday: On Boulders and Muscari

Nature has a way of combining colors, doesn't she? I'm taken aback by the vivid violet on these little muscari that I discovered growing near a bolder in Pueblo, Colorado.

Combined with the neutral of the rock and the vivid green, it makes for a lovely color scheme. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it...giggle)

Inspiration Tuesday: Swimsuits

I'm not normally into swimsuits. In fact, I find shopping for them an incredibly painful experience and try to avoid it at all costs. However, when I came across Shabby Apple, I learned how beautiful a swimsuit can be and now I really really want a new one. My fave is this sweet one in teal called Isola.

Or this one with the bottom ruffle. How cute is that?

Actually, I could see myself in most of those pretties. Don't you love the sash?

And the tie?

Lovely.

Road Trip to Pueblo, Colorado

Last weekend, we took a short road trip to Pueblo, Colorado to see my exhibit at Buell Children's Museum. It was so worth the 24 hours in the car with 6 small people.

First of all, Buell Children's Museum is amazing. The curators have done a fabulous job making it inspirational, child-centered, and organized. I can't emphasize enough how impressed I was. Every one of my children had a fabulous time creating and exploring. We spent over 4 hours there without even realizing it. A sign of a great place, I'd say.

Second, the adult gallery attached to the Children's museum is filled with gorgeous artwork and the sweetest docents you've ever encountered. Usually, when I walk into a room with 6 small children, I get rolled eyes, frowns and someone following us around to make sure that my children behave properly. (Of course, I know this is their job and I don't blame them. However, I work tirelessly on discipline and on teaching my children how to act properly so when I get automatic frowns, it is a little disheartening.) I am so appreciative of people who give me the benefit of the doubt!

Third, the town of Pueblo is amazing itself. The residents are obviously putting a lot of time and energy into making it beautiful with a new riverwalk, stunning architecture and artwork scattered throughout. Quite impressive. The older 4 kids and I took a walking adventure in the late afternoon and had a blast. (Of course, the candy/magic shoppe added to the general enthusiasm of the group.)

Fourth, the people in Pueblo from Buell to the town were so nice! Even the children noticed and commented on how kind every was to us. I felt right at home there. Great place.

Because I know that you are dying to see my exhibit in person (giggle) I created this short video for you. The music just seemed to fit the energy of the group perfectly. I hope that you like it.

On a personal note, I can't tell you how amazing it was for me to see my artwork displayed in a museum. It was pretty surreal. Five years ago, I never ever in a million bajillion years would have even thought it possible. This experience has taught me that you just never know. You can't possibly put a cap on your own (or anyone else's) potential. You are capable of greatness. Everyone is. I have proof.