25 List

I wanted 25 to be more a way of life. I don't want it to be me scrambling to cross big things off my list in the last couple of months. It's all about the simple things. My mantra for the year is to live with less. Less stuff. Less stress. Simplify. Carve out a more peaceful life.

So here it is...and happy birthday to me!

 

1. improve my 5k time
2. Take a drawing class
3. explore a new city
4. go surfing
5. make real hot cocoa
6. drink sangria
7. make salad dressing from scratch
8. Take a staycation
9. Get a design *out there*
10. do something spontaneous
11. do yoga daily for one month
12. read seven deadly sins
13. make a fire
14. declutter studio
15. slip n'slide
16. paint a big canvas
17. make ice cream
18. clean out my closet
19. screenprint something
20. chinup
21. draw a self portrait
22. finish my quilt
23. ride a bike
24. live with less
25. grow something

recap of 24

24 -
Some things were harder than expected. Some things didn't turn out at all how I expected. Many unexpected things happened. I won a contest. I got a puppy. I got a spontaneous haircut. I went to South America. I went to a funeral. I created a lot of patterns. I got a henna tattoo. I got a real tattoo. I climbed a tree.

Not all of the things on the list got done. 100 push ups is too many. I tried really hard to run 5km in 30 minutes, but the best I could do was about 4.25km. The pallets are still sitting on my deck.

1. Shoot a gun
2. Run 5km in 30 minutes
3. Sell something in a store
4. Donate blood
5. Run through a sprinkler
6. Go to Asia
7. Dance
8. Take a Polaroid photo
9. Hike the Chilkoot
10. Camp under the stars
11. Go to Seattle
12. Build a snow fort
13. Go on a road trip
14. Volunteer
15. Jump
16. Sew something to wear
17. Build something with pallets
18. Take a kickboxing class
19. Do 100 push ups
20. Have a photo shoot
21. Swim
22. Be a better travel agent
23. Prepare a four course meal
24. Learn 50 words in Portuguese

 And some of my favorite pictures from the year

Tomorrow I'm posting my list of 25 - and celebrating my birthday on the island of Koh Tao in Thailand!

#6 - Go to Asia

 

I'm off to Thailand to cross #6 - Go to Asia - off my list.

 

I'll be posting on my travel blog while I'm away, and I have a few posts scheduled here while I'm away, including my list of 25!

 



fresh flowers

Photo Inspiration: Gazoo

Gazoo is my little Pomeranian friend. He belongs to one of my best friends. For her birthday I decided to try to make a little Gazoo graphic.

 

 

#4 - Donate Blood

So when I put this on my list I didn't know that you can't even donate blood in the whole territory where I live. The nearest place to donate blood is either a 850 mile drive, or a 2 hour flight to Vancouver.

I had a long layover in Vancouver, so I booked my appointment. I hopped on the skytrain and went downtown. I got my "1st Time Donor" sticker. They tested my iron. They took my blood pressure. And then they took my pulse. And they took it again and again. Finally it was decided for me that I would not be donating blood because my pulse was above the "normal" range. And I was really disappointed.

I'll try again the next time I'm in a large city, but for now I've registered for the stem cell and marrow database. I've sent off my swabs, and I'm crossing this one off my list.

my little gang of dragons

I've always like to draw dragons because there are no expectations. Dragons can be anything you want. There is no right or wrong. I love that about dragons.

faces

All of a sudden, for no real reason, I had an overwhelming need to learn to draw people.

And I needed to start right away. All of the other projects I had on the go seemed less exciting. So I started searching online for online classes with artists I admire.

I love the work and online classes of Jane Davenport and Tamara Laporte. Carla Sonheim has some super fun looking online classes. I love Micki Wilde's style. I adore Kim Henkel's stunning drawings. To get started, I choose Kat can Paint's Lets Draw! Glamorous Faces miniclass. I like it because its a PDF that I can take with me on my upcoming travels to practice, practice, practice.

 

My first faces.

When I am back from my travels in July, I think I will move on to either Fabulous Faces or The Whimsical Face.

Do you have a favorite artist who draws amazing faces? Please share!

birthday list

Even though I'm technically a "grown up", I still make birthday and christmas lists. So this year when my mom asked what was on my birthday list, I was inspired by the Artful lettering class I took with Joanne Sharpe, and decided to make it a prettier than usual birthday list, so I thought I would share it.

Create Retreat

Get the Lead Out - Pam Carriker
This was an evening class, so time was short and in order to learn the techniques, everyone in the class did a collage, with eggs. I think I would have enjoyed this class more if it was a longer class, so I had time to put my own take on it. I am looking forward to trying out some of the techniques at home, so I can make it more 'my style'

Pigments of Your Immagination - Cathy Taylor
This is a fun, playful, class which involves splattering cleaning products on National Geographic magazines. Magically, the product lifts the colors and creates wonderful swirls and patterns. From there you can use more product to remove more ink, and manipulate the colors, to add other paint etc. Beautiful and fun.

Watercolor Fusion - Helen Shafer Garcia
This was a difficult class for me, as I didn't have a full concept of all of the steps, so the paintings I did wern't the best for the techniques that we used. I did love using the soft lead pencil to add lines and details into wet watercolor. I do plan to play with the techniques again very soon, with a better idea of the steps. (I don't even have any photos to share yet, but hopefully once I play a bit more with some of the techniques I will have some to share)

Polyester Plate Printing - Pam Carriker
My favorite class, since any form of printmaking seems to be my passion. This is truly an amazing process using these magical "plates" (which just look like a piece of paper), doodling your designs, and printing. This is defintely one that I will be continuing to play with, and I will share more of the process when I have the supplies. It really is an amazing technique.

(Bottom is my printing plate, and the top images are prints from my plates)

 

Artful Lettering - Joanne Sharpe
By this point, we were tired. But this was a fun, simple class of techniques for different doodling and lettering styles. Very fun, very simple, and a good reminder to practice and play with the simple techniques.

At the end, I was very inspired, but tired. I had five great days with my mom, soaking up some warmth in Southern California. And we even climbed some beautiful trees.

We are already looking forward to whereever our next creative adventure takes us.