What I've been up to lately

I've been scrapbooking, of course.  I'm currently working on 2012 in my family album.  I'm also trying to complete The Boy's high school years.  He and I sorted through a mountain of memorabilia during my crop last weekend, which was a lot of fun.  There were lots of smiles and "You saved THAT?" from him.  I also discovered that I'd saved approximately 52 of his graduation announcements.  I'll probably only need 2-3, so I'll keep that in mind when the Gluten Free Girl graduates next spring.  Her album will be the next on my list, and I'll hopefully be organizing and working on it by fall.

We've done some camping as a family, with a trip to Mt. Rushmore and Devil's Tower ("*gasp* It's BEAUTIFUL," said Thumper).

And I've been crafting too.  Playing with paint and paper and the like.  I've got a lot of patriotic decorations for summer, but not much else.  I've been remedying that.  I stopped into Wood Creations and found some absolutely adorable projects and ideas.  I chose two projects and here's how they turned out.

I'm SO excited to have these!  The pinwheels were a kit and then I added my own paint and paper from my rather large stash.  The squares were based on a display in the store.  The employee was very friendly and helpful, making sure I had everything I'd need to complete the projects.  I can't wait to play some more!  

And, I painted.  Yep.  I made a painting.  The outline came from an image online, but then I did the rest.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Don't you?

And now I have some fun, unique summer decor!

Another quick "craft"

This is one that I normally wouldn't call a "craft," but it did require a little creative thinking and it certainly brightens my day, so here it is.....

I have a bay window in the front of my house, and it's very tall.  I wanted a floral arrangement that would fill the space, and I found these flowers at Asian City.  I just love the purple and yellow together!  I had a square vase in mind, but it was about twice the price, so the cylinder will do nicely.  Fill with floral marbles and viola!  Happy me!

Back to Crafting and Creative Pursuits

It's been awhile, which is not to say that I'm not actually creating.  It's just that, so much of my creating is so, well, ordinary.  And then there's the day-to-day 'creating' which doesn't really feed my spirit.  You know, creating a grocery list, creating clean laundry, creating dinner (only to have at least one person reject it.  Every. Single. Night.  *sigh*).

So I challenged myself to do a Craft a Day in May.

And promptly fell a week behind.

Perfectionism says I should just give up, or work like crazy to "catch up."

But another voice says I should honor the spirit of the challenge and keep going.  That same voice reminds me to celebrate the small things I create each day, instead of boxing myself in to some narrowly defined idea of what "creating" looks like.

So, in that spirit, I give you a my latest creation:

This is a triptych I'm framing for the Maternal Units for Mother's Day.  I created it using StoryBook Creator Plus, and I'm printing it at Costco on a 12 x 18 print.  I bought the frame I'm using at Walmart for $5, and I essentially copied the set we bought from LifeTouch when we had our portraits done.  Total cost is about $8 each, and it took about 30-45 minutes to create it, including measuring the frame opening and color-correcting the photos to remove some of the redness in the kids' faces.  I love these pictures and I think it will make a great gift!