Photos of the Week

My son started first grade last week, leaving me with more time to myself than I know what to do with.  I took a short hike in the hills and it was gorgeous!

I'm sure many mothers out there could be a little jealous of my situation, having so much time to myself.  That's what mother's never seem to get enough of right?  Well for me it's bittersweet.  I love having time to exercise, to think, to work on my talents and even get a nap.  That part is awesome! But all the while I'm missing my little boy and wondering how it could be that he is growing up and spends so much time away from me.  I'm fighting this feeling of loneliness and kind of feeling lost. Do I get a job?  Do I really amp up my own business now?  I was supposed to be raising small children at home for the next 10+ years.  That was the plan.  I didn't plan for the possibility that that might not happen.

I know in time I'll find my groove and it'll be ok.  For now I'm trying to rehabilitate myself.  I've been able to swim without getting major back/neck pain for the first time in about 5 years!  I can't tell you how incredible that feels!  You don't realize how limited your life was until you start to get it back.

A Look at my Sketchbook

 I went out sketching this morning, just for a few minutes.

The sun was shining this beautiful light down on the hills and even though the hills are desert-y and usually brown, they were beautifully golden in this light.  The sun shone through the sunflowers just right and I felt incredibly lucky to be up there enjoying them :)

Photos of the Week

Photos from our spur-of-the-moment camping trip:

A camping trip with just my little family of three was on my summer bucket list and it kept getting pushed back due to my not getting enough sleep, stress, work, blah-blah-blah.  So even though I came down with a nasty head cold on Friday, I still packed up the car with my husband and son and headed out to the beautiful Utah mountains.  Camping with a cold is not ideal and kinda hard, but hey, I got my camping trip in before school started. Success!  

How to Paint Watermelons with Potato Stamps

August is here and so are the tastiest watermelons!  

Want to paint some?  Just grab a potato and some paint.  I used my favorite paint- watercolors, but this would work with acrylics too.

Materials:

watercolor or acrylic paint

jar of water

paintbrush

potato

watercolor paper

Step 1:  Cut your potato in half width wise, the in half length wise.  The end of the potato should be a semi-circle.  You can also cut that piece in half to create a triangle shape on the end.  

Step 2:  Spread pink paint over the cut end with your brush and quickly press down to your paper. Hold for a couple of seconds and remove.  You now have the flesh part of your watermelon slice painted!

Step 3:  Paint around with bottom edge of the pink semi-circles or triangles with green paint to create the rind.  You can vary the shades of green to make it interesting :)

Then, when that paint is dry, lightly paint in some seeds with little black dots.  This part is optional.  I think I like them with and without the seeds.  So you choose!