The RUSH...

HOLA!

How is it that it's almost Christmas?

Okay...so we have plenty of holiday cheer...

cookies...

eggnog...

candies...

decorations...

BUT...I haven't gone shopping yet. I KNOW...I've been trying to catch up with everything around here and still no shopping. I did try for like....40 minutes yesterday=0) It's just so hard when things are flying off the shelves. OH BOY.

Anyways, *fingers crossed* that I get it done by tomorrow. The little ones will be home after that and that's a WHOLE other conversation=0) LOL.

I have finished up all the gifts for our wonderful teachers. THAT'S GOOD. Yay!

I do know a lot of people who are already done with everything and are just sippin' and waitin'

THAT'S ME NEXT YEAR;oP

I just wanted to wish you all HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Hope it's stress;o) FREE and just full of JOY.

XOXO,

Carol

My other job....

X-Make sure my list stays safe.

Me-I put it right here with TONs of tape.

X-I honestly don't think I'll get number 1-5, but I had to put it on my list.

Me-Really...you think #11 may be under the tree?

X-Well yeah... and the ninja mask.

Me-Hmmm....It will be interesting to see. I'm sure it can't be wrapped. Well...it would be tough.

X-Mama...it's an electric guitar...double necked.

Me- exactly....

X-What?

Me-Oh nothing...HOPE YOU GET IT=0P

Break out the egg nog

HOLA.

Has the egg nog entered the building yet?

It has over here...especially PUMPKIN egg nog.

Don't blame me if you gain an extra 5 pounds=0P It's just SO good and it's pretty much my responsibility to keep you informed. Hahahaaa.

I've been preparing my SHOP

I've made some really cute charms and sterling silver earrings. 

They are all hand painted watercolor illustrations made with lots of love.

They come gift wrapped in a super cute box.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season with MANY friends and family.

XOXO,

Carol

My other job...

X-I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get rotten potatoes in my stocking.

Me-Why? And why rotten potatoes?

X-Isn't that what Santa leaves when you've been bad.

Me-I thought it was coal...and why would you be getting coal?

X-That's just my personal opinion. I think I'm getting coal.

Me-So where did the rotten potatoes come from?

X-I think Tio said that.

Me-That's pretty funny.

X-YOU WANT ME TO GET ROTTEN POTATOES?

Me-No.

X-YOU JUST SAID SO.

Me-No, I just think the whole rotten potatoes instead of coal is FUNNY.

X-THAT'S IT. My own mother thinks I'm getting rotten potatoes and coal in my stocking. I'm doomed.

Quiet

HOLA.

I've started a new painting.

Who doesn't love the sea?

I think I may be starting a new wave of paintings.

The sea...sea...sea...

Hope you get a quiet moment to yourself=0)

XOXO,

Carol

My other job...

X-I can't believe we have eight more months of school.

Me-Yep.

X-Do you know what I have to look forward to this school year?

Me-All the new stuff you're going to learn?

X-NOPE.

Me-I give up.

X-THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.

En plein air

HOLA.

It's been too long=0/

Hope you have been well. I had the opportunity to do something different...YES different. Painting en plein air. What does that mean? It means I bought oil paints and painted outside. HA. It was pretty amazing. I never thought I could paint standing up, but it's very nice. How did this all happen?

Well...I was talking with a wonderful watercolor artist Cate Parr. I just LOVE her work. She mentioned an amazing artist named Eric Merrell. He was going to be having a three day workshop in Los Angeles and she told me I HAD TO GO. If she says I have to go...I HAVE TO GO. So, I packed up my stuff and she was kind enough to let me borrow her artist box and umbrella for the three days. YES...THREE DAYS. Just me and my art supplies=0) Lets just say it was AMAZING. I really enjoyed this master class and I met some really nice artists too. Here are a few photos of my trip.

Eric's studio.

Cobb Estate.

Watching him paint is inspiring.

I found a beautiful spot for day two. I was here for EIGHT hours.

On the last day he was helping me set up my sketch just right. He really is a great teacher. I'm always just so excited to start a new painting and this really taught me to SLOW DOWN.

If you are interested in taking one of his workshops or buying some of his art... you can check him out

www.ericmerrell.com

On another note...

I made a new locket for my shop

Dia de los Muertos locket.

The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.

Hope you have a wonderful week.

Carol

My other job....

X-Mama please don't go.

Me-Come on...I'm super excited about this class. It's always a good idea to keep learning.

X-You already paint great.

Me-Thank you, but I want to learn more. I really love it.

X-THREE DAYS is too much.

Me-It's a wonderful opportunity for me. This artist is really AMAZING. 

X-You are already AMAZING. Seriously mama...stay here with me.

Me-It will be a great time for you and J to spend THREE days ALONE with dad. It's going to be FUN.

X-I still think you should stay.

Me-I know...I know...but I'm gonna go and I WILL BE BACK. I'll have some new cool paintings to show you when I get back.

X-Fine. I sure hope they are good.

Sensei

One who teaches based on wisdom from age and experience.

I had a great time working on this watercolor. Using mostly gray and blue...for dramatic effect=0) 

Our PERCEPTIONS create

our BELIEFS...

Our BELIEFS formulate

our ATTITUDE...

Our ATTITUDE determines

 our BEHAVIOR...

Our BEHAVIOR describes

our ACTIONS...

Our ACTIONS result

in REACTIONS...

The REACTIONS of our ACTIONS

construct the PERCEPTIONS of our REALITY...

Have a wonderful day,

Carol

My other job...

X-We have to find that jalapeno outfit for you.

Me-Lets just worry about finding yours and it's no big deal if I don't dress up.

X-I really want you to be a jalapeno.

Me-Hahahahahaa. Seriously, I'll find something.

X-I guess we could look online.

Me-Exactly.

X-BUT WHAT IF WE DON'T.

Me-It's no biggie.

X-UGH...you should be worried about this. Halloween is only 40 days away.

Powder your nose

HOLA!

Are you all ready for Fall?

I know right...how did this happen?

Summer is almost a wonderful memory and now we are getting ready to cool down.

I just finished my new compacts and they are available in my shop.

This year I kept seeing gorgeous sunflowers EVERYWHERE.

They are so beautiful and larger than life. Every time I see one it's like a ray of sun. They remind me to look at the bright side...always. I can't help but smile and buy more to give away to friends.

So, I thought these compacts would make great gifts. They are like little rays of light in your handbag. Hahahaa! I carefully placed each watercolor painting into each compact and sealed them with a glass like finish. Hope you like them as much as I do!

HOPE YOU HAVE A SUNNY DAY,

Carol

My other job....

X-Is the Spirit Store open yet.

Me-Hmmm...looks like they are still setting up, but almost.

X-Are you going to be too scared to go in again?

Me-Look...those scary evil babies were too much for me last time. EWWW.

X-How about if you just close your eyes and I'll tell you as soon as we pass them and then we can look around at all the other stuff.

Me-I know that you will take me right to those scary babies and laugh so hard when I freak out.

X-I promise mama. Trust me.

Me-Hmmmm...I'll think about it.

X-They're fake mama.

Me-They're still gross and evil.

X-UGHhhhh...I can tell that dad is going to have to take me.

Me-We'll see.

X-YOU CAN DO IT MAMA.

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

Thinking of all the wonderful people in my life today.

So grateful.

My other job....

X-Why did you take so long at tea yesterday?

Me-It's so much fun meeting my girlfriends for some tea and laughs.

X-You already do that with me.

Me-True...but you see your friends every day at school. Don't you love hanging around with them and cracking up about funny stuff?

X-You got me again.

Me-It's good for me=0)

X-Okay, but can you just go like...once a year or something like that?

He loves me...he loves me not.

HAPPY FRIDAY.

This week I received roses from my husband. 

OH.... HOW I LOVE FLOWERS.

I had a moment and then there was a SONG.

Flowers+Song=inspiration for me.

Let me know if you think I captured the moment=0)

Click here to listen.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Carol

My other job...

J-Why did you get married with Dad?

Me-OHHHH....well, he's very funny and handsome. I really enjoyed spending time with him.

J-You fell in love?

Me-YES.

J-I don't ever want to get married...it's so gross.

Me-Hahahahaaaa...why?

J-ALL THAT KISSING...EWWWWW.

HOLA...it's me

HOLA.

I hope you all had a fun weekend.

On Friday I thought it would be fun to start a new watercolor of myself.

YES...ME.

I had A LOT of fun putting the red parts in my hair=0)

YES...I'm a color lover if you haven't noticed yet.

Hahahahaa.

I'm just about done, but I'm still thinking about adding a background color.

I may just leave it white...or not;oP

I have been reading a great book from the library.

Keys to Painting Faces & Figures

by Rachel Rubin Wolf

It's really helpful and I just love books that have a lot of pictures.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Have a great week,

Carol

My other job...

X-I don't want to go to the beach.

Me-Why not?

X-I just want to do something alone with you.

Me-Okay, but I can't do anything that will hurt my neck even more.

X-I know...so I'm thinking we could play chess.

Me-Sounds good.

X-Can we go to Barnes & Noble too?

Me-Sure.

X-How about getting some frozen yogurt too.

Me-Maybe.

X-WHAT?

Me-Did you have a jelly donut this morning or did you have a jelly donut this morning.

X-UGH...you got me.

The Hills Are ALIVE

HOLA.

I'm finally back=0)

Do I have SOOO much to tell you.

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful summer(if it's summer time for you=0P)

We had a great time and now the little ones are BOTH in school.

SAY WHA'????

Yes, I'm free...a little bit...LOL.

So, we had such a wonderful break together. We traveled and swam a ton and if you follow me on instagram you know we went on a Disney cruise through Alaska.

OMG...OMG....OMG...

We had 23 family members together for seven days.

IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN.

The kids had a blast and so did the adults. There was just so much to do and see and we had a FANTASTIC time. Check out my instagram account if you want to check it out.

I now have a little bad news=0(

I finally realized I'm not Hercules. I was rearranging my creative space and hurt my neck.

OY.

I'm slowly getting better, so hopefully I'll be able to start painting more.

I'll do what I can for now=0)

I've finished a painting of Alaska. I could swear we saw a mermaid.

IT WAS SO MAGICAL THERE.

Have a great week,

Carol

My other job....

X-I can't believe we are leaving our home on the boat.

Me-This was such a great trip...right?

X-We need to come back again next year.

Me-I don't know...we will see. Don't you wanna go to France?

X-Oh yeah, but this is WAY better.

Me-It was pretty fun, BUT the CROISSANTS.

X-OK, we both need to think about it.

5 minutes later......

X-Lets just stay on the boat for the next cruise and do it all over again.

Me-Sorry, you start school on Thursday.

X-UGH....could we really just stay on?

Me-NOPE.

X-This is so depressing.

Smell the roses

Don't forget to smell the roses...

This summer is flying and I can't believe how quickly June left.

Seems like everyday we have been running around swimming the days away.

I'm not complaining...just shocked by it all. LOL.

Pretty soon BOTH...yes BOTH kids will be in school.

GULP. 

I'll be able to do my art FULL TIME.

YES, so contact me because I'm ready for all the work to just start flying in.

LOL.

Right now I'm starting to design my new compacts. I have been working on some new sketches. Nothing is really flowing right now, but I did like one=0)

Hope you have a wonderful week and don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

xoxo,

Carol

My other job...

X-Mama, I can't believe we only have 20 days of summer vacation left.

Me-I know it. I'm pretty shocked.

X-We have to plan the rest out. Tio is coming to visit soon and then our big trip.

Me-So EXCITING. 

X-This is the best summer EVER. LIKE EVER. Are you listening?

Me-Yes.

X-EVERRRRRR.

Bring the fun

Tomorrow is the 4th of July here in the states. 

Always a fun day to enjoy street fairs and I love all the spirit around town.

Flags EVERYWHERE...corn on the cob EVERYWHERE.

Fireworks are my favorite, so hopefully I won't be too sleepy by 9:00p.m.

LOL.

Any super fun plans going on for you? 

Hope you all enjoy your day celebrating=0)

NOW-Sunday enjoy 30% off my shop! Coupon code BOOMPOW

My other job...

X-I can't wait to see the fireworks with dad again.

Me-I was thinking we could all go together this year. J is old enough to enjoy now.

X-Oh no....I don't think so. She won't like all the noise.

Me-We could at least try and see how it goes.

X-That's okay. Me and dad are fine going alone.

Me-I get the feeling you don't want us to go.

X-I just know it will be too loud.

Me-You were the same age the first time we took you.

X-Mama...everyone knows that boys just understand things WAY before girls.

Me-Say WHAT?

X-SERIOUSLY.

JOY

As you know, I just returned from vacation. We were up in Northern California for a wonderful week visiting family and friends. I was lucky enough to meet up with several great friends. All of them I truly love and feel SO lucky to be a part of their lifes. I’ve known them all for over twenty five plus years. WOW….when I put it that way=0) I saw them each on different days, so that I could have the FULL dose of each one. LOL. As I enjoyed my time with them I kept thinking about different parts of my life that I’ve enjoyed with them. From the drama, parties, basketball games, cheerleading camp and proms. Who could forget the one shoulder bridesmaid dresses and THE COCKTAILS. So much time has passed…yet I still feel 21;oP The wonderful thing is we still crack each other up. It seriously doesn’t matter what we are talking about or if we’re crying…we are laughing. Laughter is the best medicine…RIGHT? Yes, there are moments where we all have had our ugly cry faces on, but we can ALWAYS count on each other.  So, when I did see them each we mostly laughed. Yes, we all should have been comedians. We always get the laugh and there are never ANY crickets in the room. I wish we could have been this way in  grade school, junior high and high school. Yes, I’ve known them all a very long time. LOL. Boy could they tell you stories about me. And boy could I tell you stories about them, BUT they are in the vault…sorry. Meeting with them made me think about what makes someone SO beautiful? Really…what?  Their face…body…hair?  When I spent time with each of them, they were just so beautiful to me. What was it exactly? Their smiles…laughter…joy. THAT’S IT. I’ve finally cracked the code. It makes me only want to paint about laughter all day. Who would not want to? Seeing other peoples joy makes me happy. Adding color and lots of it makes me feel like I’m showing all the happiness…the power of the glow=0)  So, the last couple of days I’ve been splashing around in watercolor. Trying to get it just right. Trying to show all the beauty that laughter brings to the people you share it with. Who wants to be around a grump? Sometimes…it happens and I’m just so blessed to have the greatest friends to lift me up. Hope my painting shows all the joy that laughter makes me feel.

Hope you have a great weekend,

Carol

My other job....

X-Do you think they have banana cream pie in heaven?

Me-Of course they do!

X-Do you think Mema is okay.

Me-Yes, I'm sure she is doing just fine.

X-I'm just wondering if she found her husband. Heaven must be a BIG place.

Me-He must of been there as soon as she arrived. 

X-Who else?

Me-Hopefully everyone she loved that got there before her.

X-I think the first thing I'll do is eat the endless supply of banana cream pie!

Back to reality

HOLA SWEET CHEEKS.

I have returned to the real world=0)

We were in northern California for a whole week visiting friends and family.

Okay...let me just tell you...we had a great time.

First thing I did was to visit my favorite bakery and get a BIG OL' burnt almond cake.

YUM. If you are EVER in San Jose...YOU MUST. They even sell it by the slice, if you want a nibble.

I got to catch up in person with some of my closest girlfriends and you know how good that is for the soul. LOVE all the laughs and sisterhood.

We also did A LOT of swimming and we went up to San Francisco for a day. It was totally freezing, but the aquarium and lunch was fantastic.

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”
― Mark Twain

 I did get a chance to sketch a little on the plane and I thought I'd give you a little peek. 

I'm starting to think up my new designs for my compact mirrors. Is there anything special you'd like to see? Let me know=0) 

 She's coming in for a landing;oP

Have a SUNNY day,

Carol

My other job....

X-This is the worst idea ever and I will NOT have ANY fun.

3 HOURS LATER

X-So I guess you guys were right ONCE AGAIN.

Me-Next time, just be open to try new things.

X-That may be the time you are SO wrong.

Wedding...OH lala

Good morning sweet cheeks. Today I thought it would be fun to talk about sketching and watercolor supplies. I was looking at some wedding dresses 2013 style and got VERY inspired. I always like to start out on sketching paper…just to get an idea of how big I really want it to be. Once I draw the flowers, then I can start working on the hands and beautiful dress. I really love a lot of flowers and I found a cool photo that had an enormous bouquet. Once you are sure about the size, then you can go ahead and start sketching on watercolor paper. I used Canson Montval Watercolor paper 140lb. You can find it in a block and it has a flap on the front, so you can put it away easily. I like to use a mechanical pencil, so it’s always super sharp, BUT I make sure to not press down hard. I want the paper to stay nice and smooth. The pencil I use is a KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH 0,5. I’ve only started using this for the last six months, but I really like it. I also use FABER-CASTELL 2B pencil whenever I don’t mind sharpening it often=0)  So, once I sketch everything out I’m pretty much ready to add the watercolors. I’m using l’Aquarell on this painting, but if you are just starting out a Winsor & Newton Compact Set is great. Now the main thing to remember is to start light…it’s safer. I like to take it slow and not add too much too soon. I also enjoy adding several different types of the same color. For example, in this painting I used both greens in my set and even mixed them together to get another shade. I don’t know if you can tell by just looking at it, but I feel pretty scientific mixing it all up. Painting is for fun after all…right? Keep in mind that whatever is wet is going to stay wet for a while, so don’t try to make any fine details until the end. You can always start working on another area and eventually go back and see if it’s dry enough. I like to wait. Some use hair dryers to speed along the process. Once you are sure you are ready to add the final details make sure it’s dry. I do all my finishing touches when I’m 100% sure that it will NOT spread. Then I go back and do all the shading with a light gray wash. Start light and see how you like it. Keep a dry paper towel near by in case you need to dab the paper and remove some of the watercolor. NOW YOU WANT TO GO PAINT RIGHT? You have a lot to work on=0) Hope this was helpful and I’d love to see anything you are working on.

Cherry on TOP

Did you all have a great Father's Day?

Sorry I'm late on this one. We got a little carried away planning everything with the little ones.

We started with french toast...that was SO good. I think especially good because we got carried away with the powdered sugar=0P HEY...it's only once a year...right?!

LOL.

We decided at the same time to start a Scrabble(word game) challenge.

Boys vs. Girls

This ended up being the funniest game we have ever played ALL together.

THE GIRLS WON.

Maybe that's why I loved it so much;oP

We went to the pool for a couple hours and then had a very nice dinner at home with family.

We had a great time being EXTRA nice to the dads in our life.

AND we made them a super awesome ice cream sundae with a cherry on TOP.

Hope you all have a wonderful day,

Carol

My other job...

Me-Are you going to canon ball off the diving board?

X-I just wanna hang in the hot tub.

Me-Okay, lets get in.

X-I can't do it.

Me-You just said you wanted to.

X-That little baby girl is in there...ALONE.

Me-We can still go in.

X-We'd be breaking the safety rules and I can't be a part of that.

Me-Come on.

X-I can't believe you aren't following the rules and you're a mother.

Me-I'm not her mother. I'm your mother and we can go in.

X-I CAN'T DO IT.