Playin' with the Dough

Finn and Maya have never really had PlayDough. Maya eats it. Finn gets it in the carpet. I just wasn't up for it. But in Finn's new little school room, he has a new set of PlayDough. And he is so excited:

Oops! It's spelled Play Doh. Like it says right there on the container in the photo that I took but didn't pay attention to. I guess as Homer would say: "DOH!"

A Giveaway, new Etsy shop additions, and how I create my designs

Don't forget! I am giving away some goodies here TODAY:

New items are up in my Esty shop! There is the Insect Number Poster that I debuted a few days ago. And then I thought the girls out there needed a little something for their walls, hence the addition of My Forest Friends Alphabet Poster. Wes still argues that J for Joy and G for Gnome don't really work. But I insist that I may or may not have seen (or didn't see) a real, actual Gnome in the forest once. And he was my friend. And when you look up "sunshine" in a thesaurus, "joy" is right there on the page. So that settles it. And the poster just isn't the same without a gnome with a walking stick and a jovial sun, right? A few smaller, 8x8 prints are also new to the shop. Check them out if you are so inclined:

I thought I would share how I create my posters. Here are some terms you will need to know:

Vector graphic: Vector graphics are drawn in paths. This allows the designer to resize images freely without getting pixilated edges as is the case with bitmapped, or Raster, images. The vector format is generally used for printing, while the rasterized format is used for onscreen display. Photoshop uses raster images, Illustrator uses vector.

Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop: Graphics Editing and Design programs used to draw vector graphics or adjust raster graphics and photos/images. Combined with InDesign (the publishing and page layout software), the three comprise the Adobe Creative Suite.

Wacom tablet: A digital tablet that utilizes a pen tool to "draw" on the surface. The pen communicates with your computer similar to, and instead of, a mouse. Some illustrators prefer to work with this type of tool (I don't, however).

Stock Art: Licensed Illustration and Photography which can be purchased for use in personal and commercial design, illustration, and publishing projects. An example if this is iStockPhoto.

Live Trace tool: A feature in Illustrator that allows you to take an image, and with the click of a button, trace it and transform it into a vector graphic. Very useful, but rarely extremely exact.

Stroke and Fill: When a graphic is created in Illustrator, a "stroke" (or line) of varying size, brush style, and color can be added to the edge of the graphic. The "fill" is the color filled into the center of the graphic itself. Both stroke and fill can be a color, or set to "none" (empty).

Paint Bucket tool: In Photoshop, the paint bucket tool is used to fill areas of a graphic or image with color (equivalent to the "Fill" in Illustrator).

Pen Tool: The primary drawing tool in Illustrator. This tool uses a series of dots and handles created by clicking the mouse, making a "path." Each dot along the path can then be selected and moved. The handles can be adjusted to control the slope of a smooth or curved edge. The entire shape can even be smoothed with the Smooth tool, to achieve a very fluid vector shape. Edges can also be puckered, bloated, and manipulated to look rough, wavy, or even zigzagged.

I minored in Digital Illustration in grad school, and I had an amazing professor at RIT. He really helped me steer my illustration in a direction that was very "me". And it strengthened my design projects, as well, because I was able to combine the two skills. It's still one of my favorite ways to work. When I am in a bind, I'll sometimes purchase stock illustrations to complete a design, but I usually prefer to illustrate them myself. And all of the illustrations in my Etsy shop have been personally illustrated. Both the Forest Friends Alphabet and Oceanic Alphabet posters were illustrated entirely in Illustrator (my favorite method). I use the pen tool (not a Wacom tablet with a pen, but the actual pen tool in the Illustrator toolbox, and my mouse). I adjust stroke and fill all in Illustrator, as well. Sometimes I use Live Trace, but usually I prefer to use the pen tool to click and trace around the edge of something (if I am copying a photo of a flower or animal, for example), so that I can control the outer border. I'm a stickler for that. I hate a sloppy Illustrator vector, especially a silhouette!

Once I know what I want to illustrate, I do a google image search. I am not always great at illustrating directly from my imagination/memory. Usually I have to look at the real deal, then convert it into something whimsical (examples of this are flowers and animals). If I am really unfamiliar with how I would translate something into a vector graphic, I will generally look up other artist's illustrations, to see how they did it. The Toad is a great example of this. I knew I needed froggy feet, but couldn't visualize them as a vector. So I looked some up, and was able to combine the toad's body that I had already drawn, with the feet I was using for visual inspiration (looking at the online version, I drew a similar version in Illustrator). And while I might use a design as inspiration, I would never download someone else's and try to pass it off as my own. There are so many illustrators right now that have a style similar to mine, so I often find lots of designs very similar to what I do. And I have to be careful to just emulate, and not inadvertently copy something too closely. If you ever use an illustrator's or photographer's artwork in your layout or design, make sure you either give appropriate credit, or purchase the correct stock license that allows for personal or commerical use. There is also a general rule that if you do closely copy a graphic, it must be changed 20%. This excludes logos or branding—never copy or recreate a logo, even with a few small changes. You'll get in a heap of trouble if you do.

Here are a few examples of images I used for inspiration, and my interpretations: (notice the froggy feet I mentioned)

 Their feet:                                                             My feet:

 Their version:                                                             My version:

The Insect Numbers Poster has a slightly different illustration style—all hand drawn for the insects, then digitally colored using Photoshop. It's a great technique if you ever want to give illustration a shot! You just doodle with a very fine tip black pen, then scan it in. In Photoshop, change it to Grayscale, then adjust the levels so that it's crisp black and white (this will thicken the line a bit, hence the need for the very fine tip pen). Then you fill everything in with the paintbucket tool. I made sure to draw the characters so that there were no gaps in the illustrated lines, so that when I clicked the area with the paintbucket tool, the color didn't spread to the entire background. Then I selected each graphic with the Marquee Tool, and moved them around. The Text tool was used for the large numbers. I moved each insect around in its own layer to complete the design, integrating the characters with the numbers.

Hope you enjoy the designs! If you have any questions about my design process, or how to get started yourself, clock over there at the left to send me an e-mail.

GIVEAWAY!

I am giving away a surprise over at My Giveaway Today, on Monday (August 30th). So don't forget head over to see a few new things I've added to my shop! You might just win something...

Sanctuary!

I kind of loose my mind a little bit (someone I know might say a lot) when I can't get away. I don't need to go far. Really, I kind of just want to "go to my room." We recently reorganized our back room (which is a catch-all room/office/closet for Wes/school for Finn). The good thing about this, is that I actually have a functional desk. I am typing at that desk right now, in fact. And I have a treadmill back here—with a little shelf for my laptop, no less! Tonight I locked Finn out to watch Planet Earth with Dada, while I "went to my room." Sure I have a view of Wes's shirts hanging in the corner, and a pile of broken down boxes that need to go out to the recycling bin. But I was ALL ALONE. For twenty minutes, at least, until someone came to beg for entry.

Today I hung this quote on the wall above my newly organized desk:

"Creativity comes from trust. 
Trust your instincts. 
And never hope more than you work." 

~Rita Mae Brown

I have one project in particular that this applies to. So I walked on my treadmill, and worked on my project. For twenty minutes, at least, until this one came to beg for entry: (and yes, that's a Danish flag doubling as a curtain...)

How do you find sanctuary?

Thoroughly Modern Mommy

Yesterday I wore a long, brown skirt (you know, the crinkly kind that travels well), a pony tail, and no makeup. I cleaned the whole house, put laundry away, homeschooled Finn, and made dinner, all in that skirt looking a bit shiny-cheeked. I felt like a pioneer mother, out on the prairie somewhere. Any minute the AC was going to go out, and I would have handled it like a pro. I was ready to go out and kill my own chicken for dinner (hardly, cough cough). It was a bit amusing to think that way. Anyone who really knows me also knows that I am absolutely not meant to be a pioneer. I would bring my hairdryer camping if I knew there would be a plug (actually Wes's car DOES have a three-pronged plug, so looks like I'm all set). It's not that I'm high-maintenance. I can definitely adapt. I just like to feel clean and coiffed. And I enjoy garbage disposals, dishwashers, hot (and I mean HOT) showers, and fluffy towels straight from the dryer. But sometimes I get this wild hair (no, not the grays that are starting to make an appearance), and I want to do something...pioneer-ish. (Come on, didn't you ever play school, department store, grocery store, library, and PIONEER when you were little?) And that usually means I want to bake or grow something. I have very inconsistent luck with both. At best. And I also forget to water things (often, cough cough). We don't have a real backyard right now. So I bought this Topsy-Turvy tomato plant contraption when I moved in. And both seasons, this is what has come of it: (I made it extra large so you can see every teeny tomato.)

That's just 3 short of the entire yield this year! Pretty pathetic, albeit cute. (Guess what—I don't even really like tomatoes all that much. I just keep thinking I HAVE to grow them! I have to prove it to the tomatoes of the world that I can make them bend to my will.) So rather than trying to force tomatoes to grow where they just don't want to grow, I am going to stick to flowers (but then again there is that watering problem...). What this tells me every season is that we each have our own talents. I am a modern girl, born in modern times, with modern talents. I should probably pay closer attention to that...And maybe buy some succulents.

Sometimes I am asked how I "do it all." And I am here to assure you that I DO NOT do it all. I catch toast on fire in my oven, I leave loads of wet laundry in the washer overnight only to have to rewash again the next day (Wes loves this one), I don't dust my floorboards, or make my bed most days, and I don't have a green thumb. I am a big fan of recognizing what we are good at, and just going for it. Of course I love finding inspiration in the talents of others, and seeing if it's a good fit for me. And I can always cultivate the "less talented" parts of myself at any time. But I know it's also good for me to persist with what I am good at right now, and not dwell on the fact that I don't sew charming clothes for my children, or cook an entire meal from scratch every evening, or sing well, or play an instrument with any precision. Or grow a successful tomato plant. Ever. Therefore, I think I'll stick to this: (up in the shop soon)

What are your talents? I'd love to know! Post a link in the comments, and include a link to any one of your blog posts showcasing your talent(s). I'll link to them in a special post.

Here we go!

Finn started preschool today! Only he didn't have to go very far...just to our back room, if you want to get specific. See, we had Finn enrolled in a great preschool opportunity here in our neighborhood—just blocks away. But it fell through at the last minute, much to the disappointment of everyone involved. So we had to think quickly (I'm telling you, I am going to have T-Shirts made that say "Motherhood: Thinking On Your Feet Since The Dawn Of Time"). Since we are pouring all of our financial reserve into Wes's school at the moment, there's not much left over for preschool this year. OK, not any left over for preschool. And once plan A was out of the equation, we just couldn't afford any of the insanely priced preschool options available in our area (plan B). (California, why are you so expensive? And why can't you offer a free preschool that doesn't run 5 days a week, all day long?? Tell me. Please.) Because of Finn's birthday, he won't enter kindergarten until 2012. So this year, we decided to go with Plan C. (gulp) Homeschool.

Woah, woah, woah. Back up, Lyndsay. Just the other day you were ranting about how the last thing you are capable of doing is homeschooling, while picking up the house in a fit of exasperation, trying to calm screaming children. Don't you think adding one more thing to your plate might just send you over the edge. Yes? Hello?

Yes, this is true. I did a little panicking, then Wes and my mom did a little encouraging (and cheerleading). And I cleared some things off my plate (bye-bye blog design...wasn't really that sad to see you go). And voila! I am Finn's new teacher for a year. School is now in session. While I don't think I can handle more than just Finn (I am sure even that will prove to be difficult some days), I know I can make this work for us. Finn's already a social little bug, so I'm not worried about that. And he helped set up his new pint-sized easel, table, and chairs courtesy of Ikea. I ordered a curriculum online from ABC Home Preschool (just the download version). Today we did letters, numbers, arts and crafts, puzzles, and talked about emotions. Finn had a great first day. Here is the proof:

Goodbye, Oregon!

We're headed home today, slowly, by way of Utah. We'll pick Wes up and head back down to California. We've had so much fun it will be hard to go! Thanks to Granny Wink, Grandma Johnson, Larry and Jeannie for the wonderful time. We love you!

 






* I know my photos aren't perfectly aligned—a pet peeve of mine. But I was lazy. I'm allowed to be lazy during summer break...right?

Bottoms Up!

In response to the comments received on this post, I feel I need to address a few things. First of all, anonymous comments only cause me to turn the comment option off. Secondly, I am a very conscientious mother. I always have my children's best interests at heart. I don't appreciate the statement that I am ignoring truths. I am keenly aware of the world we live in. But I don't feel these photos cross a line. I am documenting my children's precious moments for future memoires. These are photos of innocent, fun times we are having as a family up in Oregon. I was very mindful when I took each photo. You will notice nothing indecent is exposed (only natural little bottoms...a common appearence on many mommy blogs, and in diaper ads, and in magazines). And in those particular photos, their faces are not included. While I appreciate the concern, I have a full understanding of what I am posting. This blog is a journal of our lives, for family and friends to share. I do not feel photos of baby rear-ends on my blog are anything to cause a big stir. I did readjust two of the photos. But I won't take them down, or stop posting nakedy photos of my kids who refuse to keep their clothes on in the hot heat of the summer. If any follower questions my motives or disapproves, you are free to stop following. Gosh. Who knew. :)

A day on the family farm, via School Bus #33