Friday Favorites

Fridays are usually bittersweet for me. It means the end of the workweek (yay!) and it also means I have to say goodbye to two my amazing children as they go to their dad's for the weekend ( awww man!) . It means  I finally get precious alone time spent and alot of that time winds up being used to take care of mudane weekend tasks/chores that still need taking care of ( awww man!) .
In light of this I try to keep focused on the postive and so I'm proposing a Friday Favorites weekly post, to keep everyone's spirits up as the weekend approaches and hopefully challenge YOU to pick out your top five ( or heck, even ten) favortie things!

#1 - funky cellphone camera options

Take a look at this simple beautiful yellow gerber daisy. I played with my phone camera's options and settled on the "negative" option for this one. I thought it looked kinda funky.  Here's the "normal" (aka "boring" shot)

BUT I love love love the actual color of this flower. I wish my cellphone had a better camera to capture the intensely rich yellow, it's one of my most favorite colors!


#2 - frozen blended lattes
a yummy and much needed pick-me-up during the summer to help pull me out of the mid-afternoon slump ;)

(all you awesome girls at JoJo's cafe totally rock!)

#3 - the beach

I joke that I've become a "local" in the destination resort town that I live in because the summer is half over and I've barely been the beach at all, and not even once for a swim! haha

#4 - this fun card!

The adorable card was made by my beautiful, creative mentor and friend Barb - who is one of my most favoritist people on the whole planet! Make sure you head on over to her blog  to see how she made it, and for all you digital scrapbookers out there, she has lots of freebies as well as amazing elements you can buy! 

#5 - These guys ;)  These two are my ALL TIME FAVORITE ever! xoxo.  I consider myself the luckiest, most blessed Mama on the planet to be blessed with the privilege of growing these two sweet boys into strong, compassionate men!

Ok! well I hope this inspired you keep your thoughts on all the wonderful blessings in your life as you head into the weekend.
  I'm headed into the city to rescue some friends from an hour-long channel float, and then make them feed me,  haha!

Some days I Feel Like This . . .

It is only Wednesday?!?!   Oh yowsers....  hahaha
Well at least week is half over. So many odds and ends to keep up with, my poor journal is bursting with "to do" lists, my studio isn't even half finished, but here's a peek at my painting station

  . . .my laptop has been on almost 24/7  to edit photos and it seems it's now protesting (arggh!) and my forgotten laundry is waiting to be rescued from the dryer, ( If you're wondering why I don't just hang it to dry, it's because I'd probably just forget it out there and then it'd just blow away in one of our many recent windstorms, haha)
My sons always know where I am by the trail of lists and post it notes I leave behind me - Not kidding! haha

My list of ambitions for tonight after work ( and after taekwondo) is to finish editing my latest photos,  and print some photos for my studio, organize my existing supplies (and make a shopping list of supplies I need to replenish) figure out where I want my shelves to go and hopefully start a new acrylic project  (I have a blank canvas screaming neglect that I can't ignore anymore). And somewhere in there my laundry WILL get rescued!  I can't guarantee I won't fall asleep while I'm folding it though!
Before my kids go to bed I think we had plans to watch "Up!"  so I'm looking forward to it since I've heard great reviews about it. ( I haven't seen it yet so no spoilers please!)
How much you wanna bet my new painting might feature a balloon or two before I'm finished? hee hee ;)
What kinds of things keep you going during the week?  What kinds of things do you do for yourself to keep your sanity during long or busy weeks?
Animated balloons and post it notes everywhere,
-J

Busy week = BIG UPDATE!

Get ready for a major overhaul - the photo below of my tools doesn't even begin to cover the extent of the "building" that this blog  (not to mention my whole career) is going to undergo! 

I'm amazed at how FAST the time has gone by -  I can barely keep up with all the new stuff going on these days.(in a good way)  The good news is I have LOTS to share with you all in the next few weeks!  I've been steadily moving in a new direction over the past few years, and I'm so excited to share all the new changes this direction is taking me, I could almost  burst!
 I'm beginning a new business adventure again, ( to read about my last one, click here ) this time for my own online art store!  My love of photography has led me in a new direction, one that is way less client-centered and more art-inspired. I WILL still be doing photography, but my store will be more than just photo prints, I am also going to be selling my own paintings ( I do acrylic, and oil ) as well as my other handmade unique items, made not only by me by also my featured artist friends who are wonderfully talented.  I hope each of these will add a bit of happiness and inspiration to the lives of those who receive them! A tiny seed for this was planted in my heart a couple years ago, and since then that seed has grown in a dream that had rooted itself so deeply in my heart that it is now a part of me, and I am so excited to see it grow and slowly become a reality!   I will share more details over the following days and weeks as I can. Lots of fine-tuning to be done and many business details to be worked out, (I'm well-aware of the crazy time-consuming hours of hard work from when I started my first business with my friend Kendall)  but now that it's FINALLY happening I couldn't be more excited  - I'm ready to move forward!

I haven't had this much inspiration pumping creativity through my veins in YEARS!  I carry around THIS with me everywhere these days:

so that I can be sure not to lose any of the dozens of ideas floating around in my head at any given time, haha. It's already filling up with pages of ideas, notes, sketches, quotes and random inspirations that I don't want to let slip by. Oh, and my new favorite addiction these days is chai frappuccino's  - I'm going through them as quickly as I'm going through my art journal! haha

I spent last month cleaning out my mudroom to make way for my in-home art studio, so that I could have everything in one place, and I can make a big creative mess to my heart's content and not have to worry about cleaning it up when someone comes over, I can just close the door! haha ;)
Still have alot to do ( painting the walls, decorating, put up shelving, hanging canvas etc) but it's a start:

I already have a few things made and ready to hang, I'm super excited to post photos of them soon!
Once I get the online store ready, and I'm ready to list, I'll be sure to post photos of the finished studio and all the art projects as I finish them, including some fun DIY posts of stuff I've made to customize my studio! (custom fabric chandelier, anyone?)

In other news, I fell in love this week . ..  with these camera bags from epiphanie bags!

Saving up to get one, so I can haul my poor camera around with me EVERYWHERE while keeping it from gettting battered ( it still hasn't entirely forgiven me for dragging it around Mexico, haha)
you can see more here

I'll leave you with some random shots of pretties for your eyeballs to enjoy ;)  Remember to always look for the rainbow after each storm . . .

And stop to smell the flowers!

Hope your day is full of beauty and inspiration!

I'm off to go kick some butt in my taekowndo class ( www.outlasttkd.com)  and then home to continue customizing my new studio!  -J

Look Ma, No hands!

My first REAL climbing experience ( real= no indoor climbing wall with mats below, haha) came this weekend. Here I am in my friends' harness, perched precariously on the side of the bluff, giving the thumbs up sign,  haha.

 

 I was surprised by how easily I became fascinated by the challenge of  it. It's all about pushing yourself beyond your mental limitations and proving to yourself just how much you can accomplish. On a personal level, I don't think there is anything more rewarding. Challenging myself is what I'm all about!

One of my friends took these couple photos of me climbing, while the other belayed me from the ground.  I can honestly say that as far as Trust Building Moments go, there's no greater exercise in trust than having to lean back over a 36-meter cliff and trust your friend to lower you safely to the ground. Seriously, as far as seeing trust in action, this is a HUM-DINGER! hahaha!

I wished I had a longer zoom lens with me, it would have made for some incredible shots. unfortunately not though. 

So that wraps up our weekend climbing adventure.

I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy from fresh air at some point over your weekend. If not, make yourself a promise that you'll get out next weekend, and keep your promise. Your health with thank you for it!

Thumbs up from way up there,

-J