Wordless Wednesday: Future Blackmail

Videos

Lots of Video Tutorials to come!! I already have some in mind...meanwhile, check out what Little Miss has been memorizing...

A Love Hate Relationship With My Art

I've been delving into the world of painting - love it! But, I don't always love what I make...in the past few months I've done some of this...

Obviously - some very amateur, some better than others...but I'm learning, creating, and having fun - so that's the point. My latest piece...

Yes, those are antique water knobs actually screwed onto my canvas. I had this planned out for awhile. Now depending on my mood I either love it or hate it. Sometimes I look at it and think - "that is pretty cool!", and other times I think "what a weirdo!"...

I checked out some art books from the library and about half way through the first one decided I didn't need to read about techniques and how to mix colors and what art is or isn't. Art can be anything...as noted by this horrible french fry sculpture on the campus of my Alma mater...ugh...

It doesn't mean everyone will like it, in fact they won't. As long as I like what I'm doing and I'm expressing myself than I think it's okay - although I don't think giant french fries are ever okay. =)

I learn the most about art and technique from just studying paintings, not books!

Little Miss is getting very artsy with me. It's our mommy/daughter time while Mr Man has a nap...of course her best work always ends up on her arms and then rinsed away down the drain. She is quite the little creative girl! Some of the color mixing she does is awesome. I wish I could replicate it.

It's good down time for us - we can chat, no technology is involved, and get creative. It also has helped Little Miss with her fine motor skills - the brush painting anyways, not so much the body painting. =)

What do you do for a creative outlet?

Wordless Wednesday: Honk If You Want To Live

When I Grow Up

Motley. Something I am trying to accept about myself. Composed of diverse often incongruent elements. That is me. And I know it's a lot of you reading this. 

I am a mom. I am a wife. I am a painter. A musician. A chef. An entrepreneur. The list goes on and on. The things I'm interested in our endless. My hobbies - I don't have just one. This is actually something that drives me crazy! So many things to try and do, so little time - I end up being okay at lots of things, but not excelling at anything. I'm no expert. I just dabble. It is a source of great frustration for me. 

I want to be great at something. Anything - I just can't pick which hobby to focus on. I love them all. So I remain mediocre at a lot of things. Still unsure of what to be when I grow up...at the age of 27...ha!

Please tell me I'm not the only one!? 

I was actually researching this problem online and stumbled across a book...I haven't read it yet, but it definitely is on my Christmas list. I'd love to understand myself better. According to the book - I am a "renaissance soul" - sounds so fancy eh. I love books that put a positive spin on something so ridiculous. 

The full title - "The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One" - yep, sounds about right. I'll let you know how it is after I read it. I hope it helps me figure out how to spend my time. (If you click here you can read the first 30 pages or so of the book...)

Meanwhile - I am a mom. And that is the most important. That is something I should strive to excel at. And since my baby just woke up...I better go excel at changing his diaper. =)

The Feast, Not Thanksgiving

This came in the mail the other day...

So excited! I set a new goal for myself. I want to not only re-read, but diligently study each talk by the next conference...so I'll be reading one talk every Thursday and every Sunday. That way I have a few days to study the topic via scriptures, etc if I so desire. I'll be keeping a notebook handy to jot down thoughts, things I learn, and I plan on highlighting my issue like crazy!

Anyone care to join me? Today's talk will be..."As We Meet Again" by President Monson. I know it's just the opening welcome - but I'm sure there are good meaty things in it, and I plan on finding them.

Let the great feast begin!

Halloween, A Little Late

This year Little Miss decided she would be a detective for Halloween...so I spent a whopping $0.55 and turned this thrift store find...

into this girly detective costume...

I love you sewing machine. Men's shirt - 25 cents, hat - 25 cents, magnify glass - 5 cents.

To complete our family costume ensemble, we stuck Little Man in the money bag outfit his sister wore at that age, and husband and I were the robbers...so the detective was trying to find the stolen money.

Super fun! After seeing all the girls trick-or-treating in princess costumes...Little Miss told me she wants to be a princess next year. Ugh. So predictable. The peer pressure sets in and the creativity goes out the window. Oh well, maybe it'll wane.

Motley & Other Revelations

I know, it's been awhile. It's like I dropped off the face of the Earth. I guess I did in a way. Between having Little Man, a big move, a never-ending thesis...and various other distractions. I think I'm ready to start blogging again.

During my absence I had time to reflect on my life and myself and came to some conclusions. I used to love this blog, my last few entries were forced. It seemed like a chore. I'd taken on advertisers and since they were paying I felt obligated to post, even if I didn't have anything valuable to say. It was a job...not really what I had intended. It was too complicated.

This site is supposed to be an outlet, a break from my crazy life, not a thing that adds to the crazy! So...it's getting a makeover. I will leave up old posts for their valuable content - but from here on out the blog will be slightly different - although still mommy focused. And I will only post when I have time or feel like it - ha! No obligation to post everyday...sweet freedom.

I am changing, my life is changing, so it must change with me if it is going to survive. So instead of "The Mom Blog" it will be dubbed - "Motley Mom" because that is me. I am Motley - composed of diverse often incongruous elements. That is my life. I have far too many interests to just focus on one.

There are too many things I want to learn and try to devote all of my time to just cooking, or just sewing, or just crafting, or just preschool...so this site will be a place for me to post my ideas, my exploration through life, and lots of good mommy stuff. Because when it comes down to it, that is at the core of who I am - a mom.

So, if you're interested in finding out what kind of Motley stuff I've been up to - or am going explore, please stay tuned! And thanks all you lovely readers - for still following my blog although it's been idle...