Inspiration: Container Gardening

Hey you,
It is RAINY up here and on days like today I'm curling up in bed with my adorably pouty son and going through the interwebs seeking out all of the awesome ingenious gardening ideas. I love the rain its soothing and inspiring some how.  I'm not much for keeping plants alive (my husband seems to be convinced that plants need water on a regular basis.  Whatever.  This is the same man that is convinced that deer only eat our neighbors plants and will leave ours alone and there for don't need a fence.  We're quite a pair.) but I love the thought of gardening and I have a lot of ideas I want to try someday.

Today I'll try to keep it to container gardening outdoors and streamline it so that I can put up all the fabulous indoor things up another day.  Yay for semi planning ahead!

the above were found on 4outof7, food, gardening, housing and thriving on facebook

no minimalist here on pinterist.com

inspiredbycharm via pinterist

herb box for sale at http://www.thebalconygardener.com/shop/all-container-gardens

so yeah... me and sleepy head are gonna go make some din din. hope you enjoyed my daydreaming collage. :)

<3 laura="laura">

There Were No Clouds For Her Head

Hey you!
I'm working through an art block at the moment.

I've spent too much time away from my creative side and I need to come back.  Since I have a clear path to my art desk now.  You may recognize the background on this one.  It's gone through many phases.  It started life as clouds.  I wanted to try some dripping techniques and then I got stuck for forever and today I water colored on top and slowly added in acrylics... which was cool the burnt sienna water colour/ white watery acrylic came together really well... I'm surprised I haven't experimented with this before.

No, I haven't gone Buddhist on you, I just saw water lilies that someone else was working on and I had to have water lillys too.  Which fits kinda well because of the pink and the drippy theme I seem to have going.

 The hubby's out cleaning up the yard today... cashing in the recycling, collecting my lime basil seeds and picking the last of out bunching onions.... maybe it'll be clean enough for me to have studio days in the side yard with the little love.

 My sweet boy in his new bed... I know why you guys really check this blog, you really want pictures of him! oh my goodness hes growing so much, hes schooting around like a scooting machine.  he looks like hes swimming across the carpet its so cute.  No textbook crawling yet but who cares, he gets where he needs to go!  The other day he had both hands and about half of his upper body on the step between the kitchen and the living room.  I would say I'm going to have a climber but I already have one.

Well enjoy your evening lovely people!

I'm going to go get my head in the clouds ;)

Please leave a comment if it suits your fancy. 

siC
Laura

PS: yes I'm still working on my etsy shop no it hasn't officially opened yet.  I feel like I need to have more inventory and more diversity of products... like cards or something.  Let me know what you think.

Thankfull for Life

Hey,
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Well I thoroughly enjoyed my thanksgiving at my moms.  She did an amazing job like she always does and it took her days and days of prep and effort and having to compensate for her sick daughter (me) at work didn't help in the slightest.  Thank you mom you're amazing.

So on our way home from the good dinner with good company we happened across a deer.  He was running with all his might but being as he was laying on his side he wasn't getting anywhere.  Now where I live there are deer in the road all the time, some times they're alive and running around and some times they are dead.  I think this is the first I've seen that was hit but still alive.

He was so sad...  His frantic running motions slowed to a walking pace (again he never moved from his spot). He never stilled on our watch. I was walking the baby in a nearby driveway and I could see his sides heaving and steam rising from his mouth against the flashing lights.  My husband was out directing traffic and calling the CHP.    He pretty much stood guard over the poor guy until he felt it was more important that our son get home and he get out of the street.  The CHP got there as we were leaving. I guess he drug him out of the road and called cal trans. 

Some how all of this is mingling with frustration with our holidays getting over commercialized.  They're not holidays anymore they're "sales events" Black friday is becoming Thanksgiving's mardi gras.  Few know what ash wednesday represents anymore and though we don't have Carnival here it's just kinda sad that a time of deep spiritual reflection is overlooked. 

I don't think I said I was thankfull for one thing today.  So here it goes I'm going to be thankful:

I'm thankfull for my home, my husband and my son who make it home to me. and the city i live in and my parents who raised me here and the friends I met here.

I'm thankfull for life.  The life I poses and call mine and the life I have been trusted with that is my son's and the lives who have touched mine and the lives who havn't yet.  There were a few times this year where I wondered if i was going to die and those who took care of me weren't sure I was going to either. But you know what? I'm fine today and I'm so grateful for those at the fire department and the hospital who got me fluids and blood and got me on my feet again.  Admittedly it took a few tries but they made it right in the end and that's what maters most.  Someone in my shoes went to the hospital 6 times after her daughter was born for the same things. I really feel for that woman, I was lucky to only go back twice. 
I'm thankfull for car seats and strollers and all those things that make toting this little hunk of cuteness easier.  I'm thankfull for the relatives that baby sit ( namely my parents... every week and some times twice) that allow me to go to word or have some time with my man.
I'm thankfull that my man has lots of work for him to do and that his employers recognize his workmanship. 
I'm thankfull to have good food, clean water, clean air, plumbing, clothing and shelter.  I don't have to worry about the basics too often and I am soooooo glad. 

I'm thankfull for teething tablets.  Sitting next to me is my adorable co-author who is smashing his face into blankets mouth first and alternatively chomping down on his teething ring for all its worth.  He is definitely working on a third tooth here.  The sounds he is making rival the shrills that are associated with dolphins and its most adorable. He has a lot to say and at the moment I simply fail to translate it. He's probably raving about his grandma's yams.

Listen to this... it's my new fave "Fu-rigional" by the fu music.


Well.... my husband's on his way from his crazy walmart mission (I'm not sure if he does this to be contrary or what but every year he has to go to walmart on black Friday so he can get rain gear for work.  I think most of it is people watching. kinda like he goes to the casino to play two or three rounds of roulette and leave. I think he's more interested in seeing what people act like there.

He's back! yay!  awe baby bear got some new fleece jackets and pants.  a red plaid one and a blue plaid one and diapers woo hoo!!

I love you all (since I know about half of you are family. I believe one of you checks back about every day... thank you!)  Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me and I really wish I was better at showing my genuine appreciation for what all of you mean to me weather you're my mom, aunt, cousin, fellow fly girl or first time reader... each of you plays a roll in the story called life that I'm living I don't know where its going to take me but you've each left a unique mark on it. Thank you. 

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to thank God.  He's the one that placed me in the right home and the right circumstances and wow.  Where would I be without him? I wouldn't have a bible or a savior, I wouldn't have anyone to pray to, I wouldn't have a Rock when the world becomes sinking sand...

Ok.  I really need to go.  I'm going to go be thankfull for hot chocolate, chapstick and family now.

Bye
laura

ps: no my etsy isn't close to operational yet.  Sorry.

happy aniversary to us!

hey you,

 

 

Wow there's sooo much going on right now.  My anniversary is tomorrow and I must say this has been the single most intense year I've experienced in a while.  I married my love, I got my job back and quit again, I had my son (who is now teething, munching on rice cereal, saying "mum" and dangerously close to crawling), and I'm getting serious about my art. Pretty crazy. 
Here's to living life!
siC
laura

I believe in Beauty

I'm posting this without the permission of my best friend and modern saint if I've ever met one, Morgan. She is seriously one of the single most insightful people I've ever met and is in credibly brilliant with the hugest amount of humility to match. I wish I had more friends like her but lets face it there are no other people like her.  I'm sure she'll disagree with at least half of this but its all true.
I want to collect all of her insights and revelations and publish them for the world  if she doesn't do so for her self.  I'm sure many people would benefit from her musings/ writings.  Ok, all that gushing aside here's what she wrote the other day that astounded me (again).

I believe in beauty. I believe in real struggle. I believe in mystery. I believe in healing. What this boils down to is that I believe in hearts. I believe that they are as complex as each of the initial "I believes" put together and more. I believe a heart is a part of being human, with love as its relentless evidence. I believe in the heart of God, which was revealed to us in Jesus. I believe that this heart is very good news.  Morgan

Baby's crying, gotta go 

siC

laura

Pumpkins, Pumpkin and Chickens

Hey You,

Are you ready for Halloween?  I'm just about as ready as I'm gonna be.  My hubby and I carved up some pumpkins... he took a more classic approach and make a friendly pumpkin (who are we kidding? that smoldery smirk is out to find him a lady pumpkin. )  I how ever broke out the art supplies and decided to officially christen my gauge. It was hard to do tight curves  but it was really fun.  When I put a mini flash-lite inside I could see my designs glow... when I put a candle I couldn't see any of it.  The pumpkin was too thick and I needed to cut away more.  

I did a small one for my son and punched clear through ans was impresses that I could sort of write with the gauge.  :)

This morning we tried some rice cereal for my boy... he was really distracted and just kinda pushed the spoon out and drooled his food everywhere.   Cute, but rather unsuccessful.  I don't think he was hungry.... strange but true.

Any of you heard of Heifer? they give animals and farming tools to people who are struggeling.  It looks like a pretty cool project.  I'd like to help so im thinking of making some farm animal paintings and prints and a portion of the profits will go to Heifer.  (find out more about this cool project http://www.heifer.org/ )  So I'm pretty tiard to day for whatever reason but I get it in my head to paint chickens.... so these are my half cocked paintings of... well... cockerels and pullets.  

I haven't quite worked out a style I want to paint them in yet but the ideas are coming in.  By the time I get a canvass I might have a clearer direction I want to go in.  but for now... its what I got.

My little pumpkin is patiently waiting in my lap for me to be more fun... so I'm going to go..  as always comments are more than welcome :)
siC
laura

Restoring

Hey You,
 
Sorry I have been on hiatus. I have been writing half blogs and then not posting them.  They seemed too ramble-y and disjointed to post. In all honestly I didn't finish my thoughts. It is about an art piece I made and I'm super proud of it but writing in depth about it ...I kinda went with the flow, read it back and realized I was lost in spontaneous details.  Anyways, this is not that post. 
So updates on my little art world:

I did a craft fair with my paintings, I didn't expect to sell anything and I was correct but I did get feedback on what people liked and talked with more experienced artists so that was a plus :) AND there were lots of home made muffins, another plus!
I am on etsy now and I plan to be launching a shop to sell some of my originals soon!!  I'm looking into making prints and greeting cards too but we'll see.  ( recommendations are welcome) More on that soon!!

Kelly Rae Robert's E course has come to a close and I'm... well... going to miss it.  It was such a good motivation for me and in 5 weeks and my art presence on line went from a small album of my course work from collage and a few random paintings on facebook and an old online shop selling duck tape roses on etsy rotting away in the hollows of the internet... (probably untouched for 4 or 5 years) to a twitter account @CapenterArt , a blog (which you have found, yay you!), a business facebook page http://www.facebook.com/lauracarpenterart, I've resigned up on etsy http://www.etsy.com/people/lauracarpenterart?ref=pr_profile with new motivation (again no shop yet but I have goals set!) Not only have I been improving on the business front that I've managed to keep house somewhat better and we've been eating less chinese at ungodly hours of the night (yay! that stuff gets pricy after lunch!) 
Best of all I'm finaly considering myself as both a stay at home mom and a self employed artist!  woohoo! I know that's technically the easiest thing to do, call myself what I want to be called... but there seems to be these worthyness crutches we give ourselves like some how something crazy needs to happen before I can really be an artist.  I mean I've always called myself an artist but I was more referring to it as my favorite pastime and not my passion (well, second to God and family).  So yeah... I'm an artist!!

So some battery recharging was in order today and it involved a lovely stroll, a delicious warm dinner and a detour at the cheese shop (good grief I have a weakness for delicious cheese...free samples don't fight fair... some how they turned into salami and cheese for our next "date-night-in" too bad I'm not that into wine... maybe I'll get some grape juice for a touch of class...;)

Ok that's my progress report for now.  Next I want to get an online shop up and running, make a few sales, make a website & revamp this cute (but generic) little blog, and get me some business cards and start making prints!! oi much to do.  I kinda want it all in place before thanksgiving.  Will it happen? we'll find out!

So my recommendation is to do what you love and strive to make the necessary steps to making your dreams reality but don't forget to take care of yourself and reach out to those you love (and eat gourmet cheese... ) fair well lovely people, some pumpkin cinnamon roll dough needs tending to before it goes in the fridge overnight and then some pumpkin seeds require liberating from their orange prisons. 

siC
Laura Carpenter

PS: the recipie I am trying is found  http://katieatthekitchendoor.com/2011/12/05/overnight-cinnamon-pumpkin-rolls/  i don't have cream-cheese   for the frosting but it looks promising all the same :D (it didn't call for fancy shmancy welsh cheddar cheese with mustard seeds and love and fire?? )

Good Bye Summer [Helllllooo Caramel]

Hey You,

Oi I'm pretty sleepy (yes it is three in the afternoon, my time) and my thoughts are probably disjointed... but holy cow its gorgeous outside!!  The leaves are falling the air is cooler but flowers are still blooming and the peppers are still growing (guess what the only veggies to survive my dictatorship were).  Its like summers is sad to go, but it knows it needs to. 
I'm terrible with good byes.  Pretty much always... it takes me like a minimum of 20 minutes to leave someones company unless I know I have a time sensitive thing to do next and even then I can pretty well guarantee I'll be late anyways.
Anyways the air is crisp and I went on a walk with my son in the middle of the day instead of like... 7 pm.  It makes more sense to be a chain coffee drinker this time of year as well.  Ever notice how a certain time of year there's certain flavors that are just so much more appealing? Cinnamon and caramel are definite fall flavors to me. Along with pumpkin and black tea... or red tea... I'm a total vanilla rooibos fan, but its so much better when its chilly out!

All these flavors get me into a rich brown and gold mood.  Today I was up in the shed where my unfinished paintings await in purgatory and I brought in 4 or so unfinished pieces to work with.  The one(s) I was most excited to find were these cream and brown palm trees and I was instantly inspired to work with them again (usually I cannibalize them) so I cleaned them off and added in some browns and golds.  Its kind of a beautiful marriage, if you will, because its so mellow and yet luxurious and though it features Summer elements its really mellow like a memory instead.  I think the time is also right to start working with crackle finishes.  

I bought a few different kinds last year looking for the perfect one and like a dummy I didn't try any because I was too intimidated. Maybe I'll review them here and let you know how I like them and what works and what doesn't.  Sound good? 
Well my little angle baby is wakening up so I'll let you go for now.  Let me know what Inspires you about fall in the comments below :)

You are beautiful and significant, may peace be with you.
siC
laura

Interactive Art

Hey You
I have been pondering the possibilities of Interactive Art lately.   Yesterday I finally sank my teeth into it and I'm overjoyed with my results! I will be selling some of these and pieces like these soon.  I cannot contain myself I feel as though i have made a genuine creative breakthrough!  I want to create experiences! I want to create happy memories! And best of all I want to give those around me permission to soar like Kelly Rae Roberts has done for me!  We all have God given gifts.  Do w truly live if we leave them in the box, afraid to mess up the pretty wrapping papers?

Fly.  Fly, baby, fly.

siC
Laura
Tell me what "Interactive Art" means to you!  I'd love to hear it!