Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Until next year October...







Yay! The computer and I are friends again because it allowed me to post a few photos from October to share. Very grateful for new Halloween and Autumn memories for my family and I...

Friday, November 9, 2012

Littlebighead at Blackbird Attic!



I was hoping by now I could have shared with you a few family photos from this past October. Pumpkin patch memories with Natalie and Finn and Halloween photos of them as Little Red Riding Hood and the (little) Big Bad Wolf. For some reason my Mac is not allowing me to upload photos into posts so I am pretty bummed about that. I do however, have some Instagram photos of our little events if you feel so inclined to take a peek. Hopefully we will work out what's going on here because we all know how much I love to share photos.  Until then, I can share some new art and news as well.
Starting tomorrow, I will have ten original pieces up at The Blackbird Attic in Beacon, NY. This is my first solo show and I am too excited! I wish I could be there but if you are around, please have a visit! Here are a few pieces that are a part of the show:







Tuesday, September 11, 2012

New season and little things

September is finally here, the girl has begun third grade and a whole new season is beginning. Even with a Summer that loves to linger longer and longer each year, my mind is still gearing itself for Fall.  Things are definitely changing even if the climate hasn't yet. Now that school has started, the boy and I are working on a new home schedule which now also includes meal times along with his nursing.  This is definitely a busy time for me not only because of family, church, domestic and softball duties but because I have an art deadline coming up soon. My mind is trying to work itself up but I also have to remember to slow down and rely on His grace and strength to get me through. There are many things, both big and small that I am thankful during all this, including a very helpful, supportive husband!

With that said, a little list of simple pleasures of late:
I'm also excited about the folks at Bulb in Blue/Blue Marguerite posting a few of my crafty things from my previous blog as tutorials on their websites! Bulb in Blue is the English version and Blue Marguerite is the French version:

http://www.bulbinblue.com/DIY-Craft/diy-projects-7639-festive-cardboard-garland.deco











http://www.bulbinblue.com/DIY-Craft/diy-projects-7766-coffee-filter-ghosts.deco

Be back soon hopefully after alllllll my work is done. Well, at least the art work for the show because we all know work is never done! Until then, looking forward to the air becoming crisp, sweaters engulfing me with warmth, gilded and crimson leaves crunching beneath my feet, pumpkin spice everything and tea tea tea! 


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

An Evening with the Bard

 Last Saturday, we saw The Comedy of Errors at Griffith Park with my parents and a few friends from our Church Community Group. The play is held outdoors where the old L.A. zoo used to be and is performed by the Independent Shakespeare Co. The entire event (including parking) is free, and it was a great way to spend a Summer evening. 

The stage was set at the bottom of a broad, sloping lawn, and it was covered with blankets and chairs and picnic food. The kids were entertained by the nearby 'caves' that once housed animals for the zoo.  Nat had lots of fun exploring the enclosures with her dad, and was delighted when a cast member dressed as an old-timey policeman stopped them to show her a couple of magic tricks.

It was a relaxed, light-hearted atmosphere, and the play was so much fun! A trio of musicians performed songs on ukelele, drums and piano that helped the story along. The play was set at the tail end of WWII, and I loved seeing the dresses, costumes and hair styles from that era. Nat enjoyed herself too, even with the occasional asking 'What just happened?'





(this elderly couple stole my heart!)

The Griffith Park Shakespeare Festival will continue on Thursdays through Sunday until September 2nd. They also do A Winter's Tale and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I would love to see the other two but found that The Comedy of Errors was perfect for our little family. It's hilarious and relatively short and a good place to start when introducing kids to a play from Shakespeare. Though, I do think Nat would like the fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream!



Friday, August 3, 2012

Our first Paper Theatre and presenting Scout and Pony...

Natalie and I have been working on a little project and finally finished the first one today. When looking for ideas for crafts earlier this week, we decided to combine two idea sources to make our very first Paper Theatre! We took the stage necklace idea from Creative Crafts for Clever Kids and made our own Tales puppet set  I found on Oh! Sweet Babies by (Kiss me) go to act out our versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In all of our excitement over our creative collaboration, we came up with a name for this and all of our future 'productions'. We are now Scout and Pony Productions! We plan on making new and more sturdy theatres (since this was our first, we quickly realized we will be needing light cardboard for better durability) for more fairy/folk tales and a few of our own made up stories as well.
The cast of Little Red Riding Hood comes to life...

as well as Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

The entire cast awaiting a new plot for the mashed up story of both tales.

She found another way of telling stories by laying the theatre down. This was a particularly funny 'pre-pre' story to a prologue tale we have to yet to get ready. All I am going to say is that it involves a wedding.
To her delight, I set up a little 'blog' for all things Scout and Pony. You can find it at https://scoutandpony.jux.com.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Alas! A tiny craft day...


It's my first week with the kids alone since Rick has gone back to work. Today I thought it was time we try making a little craft or two since it's been awhile. I remember having many craft times with Natalie when she was younger and I do wish we had more time like that again. Now, with an almost five month old little brother, it's possible just with a little extra patience from all of us. After we had breakfast and our morning devotional, we brought out papers, scissors, glue and a couple of washed tin cans to make flower pots. During our time of cutting paper, gluing, taking care of and feeding Finn (Momma's job exclusively) we had a great conversation about baptism, faith and other things.
While waiting for glue to dry on our tins she began to draw a bear for her marker (with inspirational help from The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer and Sachiko Umoto's Let's Draw Cute Animals, photo above). I also wanted her to make another marker, a banner to have a word of encouragement. She decided on BRAVE and made known that she also liked it because it referenced her new favorite movie by the same name. I decided on THANKFUL as a good reminder and a rabbit to go with it. Hopefully we will finish our tin cans turned flower pots tomorrow and continue to find ways to be creative and have fun while learning to adapt to our new lifestyle with another child :)


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

An important (but very short) message.

It's true, littlebighead will be moving from the site it has been at for the past several years. The days of mylittlebighead.com will be over soon and I am quite happy about it (due to some confusion of 'mylittlebighead' being the true name, which of course, it's not). You can also now reach me at hello.littlebighead@gmail.com. I must begin works on setting up a new site which I will be sure to announce once it's all ready for viewing. Thanks so much for following me along!

Friday, July 13, 2012

The boy's first trip to Disneyland







Our little man is four months old now but I couldn't help putting up a few photos from his first trip to Disneyland and California Adventure when he was two months old. We are blocked out for Summer (which I am completely okay with!) but look forward to the end of Summer to return to one of our favorite places.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

New beginnings


As the saying goes, one when chapter ends another begins. I have had loads of fun blogging about art and life over at Cider & Faun but I believe it was time to start anew with the old! As odd as that sounds, it's my effort to consolidate and simplify so here is my new blog. Since I am pretty much all over the place on the web, I thought it would be a little less confusing to have my personal/art/life/everything else blog under the name littlebighead since that's the name I do art under. 

With Summer here, my eight year old girl is on school break and my four month old boy is beginning to discover the world around him little by little. I've also started to think upon my art and craft once again. I'm working on a new refreshed website under a new url (again, in effort to lessen confusion). Once that is up and running, I will definitely announce it and I can't wait. I have Fall to look forward to for various reasons, one being a show in November which I'll give more detail in due time. Much work and responsibility but thanks to God's grace, a loving husband, great kids and good friends, I know it can all be accomplished!