Illustration Friday: Contained

Sweethearts - 8 x 10

"Their hearts contained an enormous amount of love for each other."

I haven't participated in Illustration Friday since October but have been meaning to join in the challenges more regularly as a New Year goal. This weeks topic is 'contained' and I knew just what to do.

I've been wanting to do another love-inspired sock monkey illustration, with Valentine's Day just around the corner - so here it is. My colored pencil illustration over acrylic-painted vintage sheet music.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Marisa and the Magical Socks

The other night, my feet were cold, so I went to my closet in search of warm socks. As I was rummaging for a matching pair, I pulled out and admired my most favorite pair of socks in the whole world: my fabulous Potluck socks which I had bought from the MacKenzie-Childs store in New York City.

For some reason, I've been saving these socks for a special occasion. What kind of special occasion requires fancy little harlequin socks, is still unknown to me, but I held onto the socks, still packaged together and unworn, just the same.

And as I did every time I went sock searching, I finished admiring my fancy socks and put them away, pulling out a boring white pair of sweat socks instead.

But then I thought, "What the heck am I waiting for? I bought these socks TEN years ago and they have been in my sock drawer just waiting to be worn ever since."

That was when I did the unthinkable - pulled apart the wrapping and put on my socks - my fabulous, fantastical, magical MacKenzie-Childs socks - for no special reason at all.

My feet have never been so cute.

I don't know why I saved them for so long. Was the wait even worth it? Probably not.

But I climbed onto my bed and just sat there for about 3 minutes, smiling at my adorable feet and my fancy socks, and I can tell you this: on a regular old weekday night, with the kids tucked up in bed and Will watching TV in the living room, it did feel pretty special to wear fabulous socks for no reason at all.

xoxo,

Bedtime Stories and Sweet Dreams

Gracie - 8 months old

"Goodnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light
and the red balloon..."

My favorite part about bedtime is the stories. I love bedtime stories. Gracie and Annelie do too. Is there a single kid out there in the world who doesn't like a bedtime story? Doubtful.

Annelie's favorite book is Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown, which is one of the most beloved bedtime stories of all times. Every night, I read Goodnight Moon no less than two times, then proceed to say goodnight to everything in Annelie's room, while she echoes me.

"Goodnight books."
"A niiii booo."

Goodnight window."
"A niiii win-no."

"Goodnight pictures."
"A niiii chich-chers."

"Goodnight door, books, babies, and music (currently an Ella Fitzgerald CD, that lulls her to sleep)."

"A niiiiiii."

My mom read to me and my big brother Dan, until we were in high school. Even though both my brother and I loved reading on our own, we still piled onto the couch while my mom read us a chapter or two from an adventure story. We especially loved when she read us the Prydain Chronicles, which is the 5 book adventure series by Lloyd Alexander, based on Welsh mythology. You better believe I'll be reading these books to my half-Welsh daughters when they are older.

Bedtime stories just make bedtime better, don't you think? Even now, at the age of 27, I can't go to bed without reading myself a bedtime story - or a chapter or two from a book, at least.

I hope that the memories my girls will have of us cuddling up together in bed, reading a book before they drift off to dreamland, will be wonderful memories, just like the ones I have of my own bedtime story-time.

Here are a few nighttime-loving items from some favorite Etsy artists of mine:

This Babymoon Love print by Flutter Brush, the art of Kris Aro McLeod (you can find her published book HUSH-A-BYE COUNTING on Amazon.com), is simply adorable! You can find her shop at www.FlutterBrush.etsy.com

KJ, the artist behind the awesome shop, The Dreamy Giraffe, invites all little girls to Dream Big, with this adorable print - also sold as a little redhead and a little blonde. You can find this print at www.thedreamygiraffe.etsy.com

I just love this Good Night print from Manuela DeSimone Illustration. That little clown, basking in the moonlight, on the window sill is soooo stinking cute! You can find this print at www.desicloe.etsy.com

And for the nighttime loving big girls... this adorable pair of Sweet Night Earrings, by Oh Mandie at www.ohmandie.etsy.com.

(and psssssst... if you stop by Amanda's blog {Click here}, you can enter yourself to win a pair in her New Year giveaway!)

Sweet dreams and enjoy!

xoxo,

Inventory Reduction - Half Price Sale!

About six months ago, I changed my print paper from a lovely, sturdy matte, to an even heavier glossy paper. The color of the old matte prints were just as vibrant and bold as my prints are now, and look exactly like my glossy prints as only the surface texture is different. I only switched to gloss because I tend to like shiny prints -- though inside a frame, behind glass, there really isn't much of a difference.

The conclusion to my story... I have been holding onto a large pile of matte paper prints that I just have not known what to do with! I asked around the Etsy forums for print de-stash advice and was given the wonderful suggestions to donate some to schools and libraries, as well as offer them in my shop at a reduced price. So I am!

For a very limited time - because once they are sold, they will not be offered again - select matte paper prints will be offered at HALF the price. You can see some of the prints I have in shop, in the images above. Most of them are 8 x 10 prints, but there are also a few 11 x 14 prints available as well. To see them all {CLICK HERE}

I'll be listing them throughout the day, so be sure to visit Elegant Snobbery. Enjoy the lovely half-price while you can!

xoxo,

Gracie Learns the Alphabet

Gracie has decided she wants to learn the alphabet. I don't mean the song - with the exception of her off-key singing of 'H-I-K-Bay-L-M-N-O-P,' she knows the song well. But recently, Gracie has made the connection between the letters in the song and the writing on the pages of books, and wants to know everything there is to know about letters, including the sounds and how to write them.

For the most part, I'm an excited and proud mother. I love when Gracie shows interest in learning things. But I'm also frustrated because Gracie shuts down easily and often decides that she wants to do things her own way -- when she doesn't have a clue what she is doing.

We have, so far, made it through the letters A, a, B, and G. I was worried the other day, that some of the letters would be too hard for her and her 3-year-old fine motor skills, so I asked around the Etsy forums about which letters are easiest to teach preschool-aged children... and learned to start her with O, S, M, P, and T as they are easier to write and make sound connections with.

Gracie also helped me make double-sided alphabet flashcards so she can make the connections between the letters of the alphabet and the sounds of things she's familiar with.

They are kind of silly, but she loves them, and whatever works is a-okay.

Yesterday, the two of us ran some errands and while we were waiting in line, Gracie stared intently at the sign in front of us.

"I see a letter A, Mom," she said. I took a look and sure enough, Gracie was pointing to capital A. One of the proudest moments in my parenting to date.

Though we have a LONG way to go - and, as Gracie gets frustrated very easily, I don't want to pressure her one bit - I'm just so excited that my little girl wants to do more than just play Barbies all day. I have always had such a love for reading and I really hope that Gracie can love words and reading just as much as I do. Hopefully before long, she will be reading bedtime stories to me every night. I can't wait!

Moms out there, feel free to share your own alphabet teaching stories and reading suggestions with me, as I'm always eager to hear about what worked for other parents and their children.

Enjoy!
xoxo,

Gracie Goose

I realized something yesterday and it came as quite a shock to me. My itty bitty little baby girl is growing up.

Yeah, okay I know... I probably should have realized that sooner, considering that she is three and a half and I spend 24 hours a day with her, 365 days a year - well, minus the 9 days she was with her Grandma last month. But as she was bouncing up and down like her usual goofy self yesterday, it hit me pretty hard.

She may be my baby, but she is far from being a baby. And of course, she makes sure to tell me, "I'm not a baby, Mom," every time I call her my little baby.

I read once that when you have children, the days are long and the years are short. I don't think I have ever read a more true statement than that one. I feel like my days with the girls stretch on and on and on, and the fantasies I have of them packing their bags and going off to college are frequent and often involve them going off to school in Siberia or some other far away place so I can finally have a moment of peace and quiet.

But Annelie turns two at the end of this month, though I swear I only just gave birth to her a few days ago. And it feels like it was only a few months ago that my days involved only my little side kick, Gracie.

She is quite the character, always ready to laugh and run and jump and paint her lips with lollipop lipstick. She is sassy and sweet, caring and creative... and the best little person I could ever know.

As ready as I am to ship her off to college in Siberia, I'm not really ready at all. And when the day comes for her to start kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade, I'll be that mom who stands in the hallway bawling her eyes out while her little girl rolls her big blue eyes and says, "Stop embarrassing me, Mom!"

And though I can't wait to see what kind of girl she grows up to be, I wish I could bundle her up and hold onto her forever.

I just love this little girl to bits.

xoxo,

Resolutions To (possibly) Keep

I'm one of those people who makes New Year's resolutions every single year, all which are abandoned by about the 3rd or 4th of January. Sometimes I wonder if the whole point of resolutions is to set a simple, yet impossible goal to stick to, and then throw it out the window and tell everyone you know, that you'll try again next year. Isn't that what everyone does?

But this year (just as I say every year) I'm really going to stick to my resolution. This year, I'm going to get organized.

You see, I'm the most disorganized person on the planet. Really, I am. More disorganized than you, I swear. Not just in my home... yes my desks are piled high, all surface spaces are filled with odds and ends of stuff that need a place to be put away. Even desk drawers and kitchen cabinets are a mess of things that have just been stuffed in. But worse than that, my life is just a disorganized mess and its driving me insane.

Everyday, I say to myself, "Okay, Marisa, what do you have to do today?" And maybe I write it down on a scrap of paper - which, more often than not, I lose amongst the stuff on my counter or fridge before the morning is even over - or maybe I just decide that my to-do list is so important that I can't possibly forget everything that needs to get accomplished so I don't bother writing it down at all- and always forget everything, of course.

Basically, my day consists of accomplishing nothing more than thinking about the things that I need to do and then getting frustrated because I'm such a mess. And this is a daily thing, going on for nearly 28 years. Apparently, it takes 21 days (or 28, I can't remember - should have written it down) to create a habit. I'm not sure if 28 years of being disorganized will be cured in only 21 (28?) days, but I'm going to be optimistic about it all.

By golly, I'm going to get organized and you can't stop me!

So, I went to the store and looked at all the planners and found NOTHING that suited my life or list-making abilities. Not to mention, the tiniest of planners was about 40 dollars and filled with hundreds of pages of stuff I'd never use or need in a million years.

What did I do? Well, I made my own - as you can probably tell from the above picture. I sat down and thought about how I wanted my day structured and then thought about what other kinds of things I usually note down in the day. I've done Weight Watchers to lose my baby weight, so I added a section for food recording, so that I can keep track of my snacking without needing a different sheet of paper. And I also figured a section where I could record something to be grateful for each day might be a nice thing to include. Then I bought a super cute binder from Target to stick all my planner pages in and voila! I'm destined to be organized now.

Or at least until January 4th.

Are you going to stick to your resolutions this year? Ah, wouldn't that be nice? Well, I hope you do, so good luck to all of you!

xoxo,