Leaves are still turning!

We are breaking weather records with this very warm November.  True,  many leaves have fallen.

 But my Canadian Explorer rose has just unfurled four very red buds!!!  Nice for Remembrance Day!

The calendar flipped over amazingly quickly.  The new year will be upon us in no time and the pages of my story will continue to unfold. 

october's last week.

november's first week

 I lost a bit of ground with an early cold but I am back to flipping the leaves in both planner books.

I did manage to edit the last of my piles of mixed media papers and stickers.  Huge relief to have that ALL done!  I have finally embraced function as more at least as important as form so it isn't exactly pretty but it is user friendly but not too ugly.  ;^)

 The Rooster is happily stirring pots in the kitchen on his day off so I made some progress on getting August finished.  I am starting to get the hang of this.  Plastic photo sleeve for each month.  A coordinated bunch of papers or stickers.  And a plan that involves KIS!
Since these aren't exactly planners I should turn over a few ideas of what exactly to call my stack of memories.  hmm, The Memory Keeper!

Teaching KISS

Lets not get Complicated!!!

Keeping Things simple and smart is a bit of a learning experience.  Hopefully I have the basics figured now.

In the morning we do art.  I want them to begin to like and explore journaling.  So after we sing a few choruses of "If you're happy and you know it   ... (clap, stamp or shout) ...   then your art is gonna show it!" to get the wiggles out, we journal the past week in word or pictures.  30 minutes of do your own thing.  I help with some spelling but proper grammar is not the goal.  ;^)

Next we follow the Art Stories book and I supplement with the Usborne Book of Art Ideas.  (Such great books from this company)  One, messy, learn by doing project that isn't necessarily a 'keeper'. This is the bulk of our time.  And we all, and I mean ALL, come away having learned something. 

After clean up,  I pass out a limited number of tools that relate to the class lesson and we make a journal page.  We are still struggling with focal point.  I tell them their page must tell a story.  I think we are on to something!  :)

  This was our art lesson.   Josh shows his first attempt.  Eliana is showing both hers and mine.  Jolina  did remarkably well with only a little help from me. 

Josh did his exercise;  evaluated the results and asked to do a second which even he could see was done with more finesse!  His are on the left.  Eliana tried a different example and can't resist personalizing whatever she does.  :)

 I had found an old black and white picture of Joshua and Eliana.  :)  Josh's story takes place in a forest!  I am still trying to emphasize pre planning but...

Eliana is about framing pictures in tape or glittery ribbon and flowers. Lots of flowers!   She is my messy girl and has a flower stamp imprint on her left cheek which she has no idea of doing!  Her quote says never ending affection for her brother.  Might be worth remembering.  lol

Jolina's page improved after a bit of instruction on which side of the stamp to press down!   :/

After lunch their mother and I tell them how to 'do' recess.  I remember swings, teeter totters, double dutch skipping but mostly just endlessly walking around the building with my chums!  GO!!!!

An easy afternoon during which I read and they colour a picture I have photocopied and enlarged. 

Three kisses for three, simply, sweet students!!! 

Back again to KISS

So easy to get side tracked!  So easy to forget where I was and what I was doing!

artists with differences

the youngest usually surprises

the keenest is fearless and messy

the oldest careful and precise

Keep it simple students.  KISS.  
I was reminded of this simple principle as we had Art 101.  I gave the grand kiddies a little demo on mixing watercolours and then turned them loose on the colour wheel. I let go the outcome and and the time clock.  I let go and I think we can call the day successful! 

I will continue to let them have an half hour for their planners first as it settles them in. I will try to remember that these are 'their' planners and their 'art'!  Keep it simply stressless!

And speaking of planners...

The unplanner did not work for me so I have dispersed it to the grand kiddies.  There is tons of tutorials and suggestions on the site.  The focus is on prep and I am no front runner.  I am more likely the tag end trying valiantly to cross the finish line.  They have lots of examples and suggestions.  I mostly play catch up.  Although they are helpful and have tons of ideas this particular way is just not practical for my life and style.  The emphasis on the unplanner is art so there are lots of modifications, improvisations and general messing around before one actually plans.  I am not organized enough to do the before stuff in advance of the due date.  lol   I tend to jot down events.  Some before but a lot after.  Then I fill in the blanks with all the ephemera that I collect to help me remember.  lol   

Therefore the Happy Planner has turned out to be the one for me.  I put in important reminders but it functions mostly as a diary.   I also had gotten the smaller size with a Michael's coupon thinking I could adapt it for something like a note book.  But it has the printed calendars for 20016/17 just like my big one.  :/  It makes economic sense to use it for a project planner for my blog and the kids art/literature day.  phew!  I jot down general checks of where I need to be in the year's class plans. I write down blog theme ideas. They both let me pencil in stuff and then fancy it up at a more opportune time.  

 Still- so easy to get side tracked!

The Next Thing First is to get them up to date.   Because I have quite a few to do I will have to do that but with a KISS in mind.

One of these days!

We were blessed with a rainbow after a rather devastating storm.  We appreciated the rainbow but then round two came!  Not such a blessing.  One of these days we'll be dry and actually want rain but we sure don't need more moisture as a rule.  Soon as the lake leaves the lawn we'll deal with the branches and fallen trees.  :{

I appreciate the motivation of dead lines but one of these days I am seriously gonna be in trouble. Though I do think I'll be ready for my company this time but...
 
I need to schedule a mid week break in the future.  I definitely feel a little less motivated as the week moves along.

The new sewing room is just lovely.  My goal is simple, serene and uncluttered.  Then I started putting stuff in it. :/ The fabric stacks avalanched!  There will be some serious editing because I am determined to be true to my motto- KISS.  All sewing related, except books, will be in the sewing room.  Novel idea!

That means two bookshelves, one from the wet room, will hold all my fabric.  That meant messing up the art room and that is where the fabric slid!

Then I had to empty the old sewing room so I could strip wall paper, patch and paint.   More stuff to find places for.  The new sewing room closet is full.  There are 5 drawers I hadn't emptied because I knew I could paint the drawers later.  Later has arrived!  eek!

One room, 5 drawers, 2 bookcases and one little table and that is ALL! Well, the wooden platform base for the mattress will get a quick roll.   I had hoped to be painting today but as I said, I ran out of steam.  I might add that the humid ex was out of sight, hence that mega storm. What is really helping me make up for lost time is that this is the easiest wall paper I have ever had to strip. Seriously a miracle!!!   Makes me want to do more wall paper!  eek.  Not any day soon, I hope!  I'll be ready for the Rooster to do some serious patching tonight.  This room has had serious wall shelves and pictures put up all over.  sheesh!   One of these days, the Rooster is gonna take my tools away!  lol

I think I can make it ready for company.  I may close the Art Room door or else just say I've been creating.  I have two more days and I won't be skipping church 'cause I'm gonna need all the help I can get.  Oops, I've promised Elaina she can help so my 11th hour worker will arrive Saturday.  ;^)

My biggest regret is that this isn't the one day/time I had all my ducks in a row.  I leaped in with a deadline but I never allowed time for the small stuff.  drat!   I had hoped to put everything back after editing.  I envisioned a slow and peaceful placing of necessary supplies in prepared and designated spots.  :-{   So it'll look good for company and probably for a blog post but behind that door and cobbled into drawers is a tangled web of good intentions.  one day...

Next post will be blog ready/company pretty.  Then the one after that will be me finishing up all those good intentions that got stuffed into the cupboards and nooks and crannies.  The second group of travelers that are scheduled for next month aren't really company.  My kids will have no problem checking out my good intentions.  And this might just be the day I surprise them! 

Stirring music

It was a musical field trip on Monday as we joined throngs of kids for some musical movements at the concert hall.  Stirring performances from the junior and then the intermediate orchestras.  The senior youth orchestra was scheduled for the evening.

That meant a bit more updating on the smash books which are really chronicling the school year.
I do enjoy prepping these for the kids.  These  have more of my handiwork as I layout and glue in the pages, keeping in mind we need to end up on the last page at the end of year celebration.  I do leave sticker room and some blank pages for them.

Because I want them to journal on their own,  I gave Joshua a planner for himself which morphed into a fancy binder .   What can I say; it was the perfect cover for him!   Well, now the sisters need planners.  :O   But there were no more 3 ring binders like their brother's anywhere.  Not online but  I did look high and low. 

It finally dawned on me that keeping up their three journals doesn't leave a lot of incentive for my own which had just happened to come  with TWO three ring binders.  So what is a grand Gramelle to do???  lol

I spent another whole day and a half dividing up my 'stuff' and organizing everything.  What fun!  The Rooster had to drag me off to bed where I lay for a bit shuffling stickers in my mind instead of sheep.  awk!  Reality check.  They are gonna do these.  Not me! So today I focused.  Josh likes charts, details and the travel theme.   I even found some vintage plan pages! 

 Eliana is NO planner and wants to show case her art.   So she will have one calendar page for each month and LOTS of white mixed media paper. The binders for the unplanner project aren't quite as wide but they work.  The covers are heavy  craft coloured cardboard for personalizing.  I have two stencils to differentiate between the girls.  They can 'art' them up themselves now.

 Jolina, I suspect just wants story pages and pictures.  I found a pad of nursery rhyme papers from her aunt's stash!  She is all about dollies and animals but really likes drawing and colouring.  I have a colouring book I can photocopy come to think about it!   'scuse me while I add that to the pile. ;^) 

 Now today I need to march to the beat of their music! 

They are coming tomorrow and are bringing their stuff.  We shall upgrade and I'll send them each home with a package of papers and stickers and stuff.  I'm deciding about holding back the coming months and just giving them out as each month begins.   Might be less overwhelming and I can oogle what they have done. 

What did I get out of this?  A great cymbal  smash!   I hardly stopped for breaks.  So much fun.  Now how can I translate this happy sorting,  planning,  and making into my own art/collage works?

hmmm:

There is no waiting for stuff to dry, possible because I am working on three.  Series work?

 There is the challenge of unity and variety as I pull from the materials at hand.  Challenge baskets?

There is a purpose, a flow.   Story telling?

All I know is I'm mojoing right along.  A few coughs but they are last gasps.  I slipped out to do the chickens in my light sweater.  :)  The sun is Shining!   April showers are forecast but...

I do believe it is pretty much brass band marches that I'm a hearing and marching with.  Three cheers for SPRING!

Bing. Bang.  BOOM!!!

April- No Fooling!

  Here we go again with the white stuff.  I'm not sure how March came in but whether it was a lamb or a lion it still hasn't decided what the ending will be.  The joke seems to be on us! :)  But then maybe a nice clean slate is a good idea! 

In reviewing my failed attempts for my first ambitious quarter, I am taking my KISS motto back to basics.  Fabric is my first luv and collage is a close second.  Stitch it all together with words and maybe I might have a story to tell.  And here I go again, no fooling!   8^)

an Epiphany

It is a long walk from my first attempts at decorating.  My mum let me pick the paint colour for my bedroom.  I chose based on the furniture, drapes and bedding available to me.  And it seems that I have been making choices on what is on hand ever since.  That is why I collect stuff.  :O

As the journey continued I was influenced by magazines with the latest trends and DIY projects.  I tended to keep the stuff I liked but I'd try to interpret it in new ways. i.e. The Stash

With a lot behind me and unfortunately stored in the basement,  I am more aware of words like downsize, simplify, etc.,  I am having a closer look at what I have and slowly I have been letting stuff go. Its a start, a beginning.

And then I bought a book.  I've been following Emily Henderson's blog the last few months and I like her attitude.  I bought her book and I can't resist a quiz which is a big part of her beginning chapters.   It says I'm a minimalist.  what???  I have way too much stuff to be a minimalist.  But when I study the categories on each side and then the alternatives-  voila!    I AM!!!

What the heck!!!

A conundrum.  A dichotomy.  An oxymoron.   a puzzle...

I may be slow but I can eventually catch on.  I have lots of likes and I collect what I like.  Then I surround myself with what I like.  But the term global thinking, big picture is not something I easily grasp.   It takes a while but an AHA! moment happened -  In keeping the stuff I like I have sabotaged what makes me happy.  I'm a prairie gal.  I need space.  Empty space.   vbsigh

SO:   The Rooster is not a saver and better at reducing clutter than me.  He has had us working on 30 years of farm stuff outside.  We have begun inside.  He evaluates the designated spot and says 40% needs to go and whoosh;  it is gone.  I seem to have to do it 10% by painful 10% but it gets there.  :}

I'm not sure if it looks that much different because we are not capital H hoarders but by golly, the house  feels so much better.

I started blogging this month about beginnings and as I pursue my luv for home decorating I want to begin at the entrance.  The above picture was taken during our warm spell at the beginning of December.   The veranda was not attached well to main house and we have managed to get it to stop shifting but it needs some work. 

Remnants of my folk art days.  :{    But definitely not in keeping with  my new motto, kiss

The entrance to a home is the first impression, the introduction, the welcome to visitors of who lives in the home

I want it pretty.  The Rooster wants it functional and he tends to view it as a mud room, tool shed, extra pantry for cooling his food related hobby,  ETC.  :(  The compromise is I get rid of clutter and he will figure out a built in cupboard that will become  'another' summer project.  But that's on his list not mine.  :)

 I bought some small, clear lights for around the yellow door.  Then I got another strip for the bottom of the front window.  At night it gives a wonderful ambiance to the front room.  The messy clutter in the veranda has stuff I like but it sure doesn't make me happy.   The simple, warm glow in the biggest window in the house makes me sigh with happiness every time I look up or out! :)

I'm not redoing the veranda when it is 30 below.  But I'm looking forward to carrying this new beginning throughout our home as we continue to  'get it right'  and Keep It Simple!