Weekend Snapshots

 Hi! I just wanted to share some fun snapshots from this weekend. I spent some time arranging my growing collection of stones and collected shells from the beach around my favorite drip candle. Sometimes all it takes is the simplest activity to brighten my spirits.

In need of some art therapy, I spent Sunday afternoon working in my art journal. It's a very intuitive process for me, and I try not to question or judge myself as I work in the pages. This is the place I feel truly free to experiment and explore parts of myself that are usually left in the shadows of my subconscious.

What did you do for fun over the weekend?

May Day Celebrations

Last night James and I celebrated May Day, the midpoint between spring and summer. We sipped on may wine and munched on oatmeal cake and passion cookies. I had fun decorating our living room and preparing a space for our day together.

Hope you all are having a lovely, relaxing spring season! Cheers to the coming summer...

Peace, Rachel

Valentine's Day Sale

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I spent mine relaxing, cooking and writing in my tarot journal. I attended my first yoga class yesterday and took a long hot bath afterwards. Doing the Deeply Rooted Cleanse has really helped me to focus on giving my body lots of love and nourishment and boy do I need it!

In other news, I wanted to let you know that the last day to order from my Etsy shop in time for Valentine's Day is this Thursday, February 6. Plus I'm offering 20% off with coupon code: SOHOPPY.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Peace, Rachel

Life Lately

It's been a while since I shared some of my day-to-day happenings here. If you follow my Instagram, then you have an idea :)

January has been a very reflective month for me. I've realized how much I love the New Year and spending time reflecting, resting and making new plans. 2013 was a very hard year for me and I am ready to give up the parts of my life that aren't working and try new things. The main issue has been battling my poor health. I've suffered from severe neck and back pain since last March (almost a year ago). There is no injury or specific trauma related to the pain. I've tried chiropractic and physical therapy and am still unable to heal completely. The smallest thing will cause a flair up and I will be stuck in bed with crippling pain for a week. (I'm in the midst of this now- all because I vacuumed my living room last Monday! ugh!)

Dealing with chronic pain for so long as really begun to take it's toll on me mentally. I've become less social, more emotional, highly sensitive and self critical. For the New Year I decided to be very intentional about the healing methods I choose from now on. To really listen to what my body is telling me and give it what it needs. To not look for outside solutions (which don't work for me anyway) but to look inward.

One of the things I've done is to start a tarot journal. I've always loved tarot cards but have never really studied tarot itself. At Christmas I treated myself to a beautiful new tarot deck by The Wild Unknown. Using the cards as visual prompts for journaling has been a lot of fun and very eye-opening.

James and I are starting Stephanie Perkinson's Deeply Rooted Winter Cleanse on Monday and I've signed up for a special Yoga for Back Care class on February 2nd. I'm hoping that paying more attention to my own body and being more in-tune with it's needs will help me find true healing this year.

Holiday Snapshots

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I thought I'd share a few photos I snapped over the weekend (if you follow my Instagram, you already know). Some of my favorite holiday highlights were: Dressing up and attending a cocktail party with James and meeting new friends, going swing dancing for the first time in 2 months, starting and finishing a 1000 piece puzzle, eating way too much turkey with family, and crafting some fun ice cream cone ornaments (xmas gift spoiler). What were some of your favorite moments from the holiday weekend?

Labor Day Adventures

Hello September! I'm always sad to see summer come to an end but Portland is truly beautiful in the Fall and I'm already collecting new soup recipes for the cooler weather we have to come.

James and I spent labor day weekend swing dancing at Camp Hollywood in Los Angeles. We learned some new moves and had a lot of fun, but came home exhausted with sore feet and calves. Phew!

The camp took place at the Marriott hotel near LAX. After 4 hours of dance workshops each day, we dressed up for a night of more dancing and live music. We had so. much. fun!

From the Weekend

My mom and I took a walk in the rain on Saturday. It was warm and the rain wasn't too heavy, so it was actually enjoyable. I loved seeing all the pretty spring flowers blooming in my neighborhood.

Dinah and I spent the day resting and painting on the couch.

I finished the watercoloring of this new painting. Next I will use some acrylic to finish it up.

Today is very noisy at my house. It is Day 1 of getting a new roof installed. I'm debating leaving for a while, but am worried about leaving the cats alone with all the crazy loud noise. 

Happy Friday!

These are some flowers blooming in my mom's backyard right now. I love summer time!

Hope to see some of you at the Crafty Wonderland Spring Sale tomorrow! Come by my booth (#77) anytime from 11am-6pm at the Oregon Convention Center.

Peace, Rachel

First Summer Weekend

This past weekend felt like summer here in Portland! I can't believe we have had such great weather and it's only May. I felt pretty good (no back pain or nausea) and was able to work in my garden, have a BBQ and play in the sun!

 Above are some pretty flowers growing in my mom's backyard and a watercolor doodle.

My First Pattern

This week I decided to try and learn how to make a repeating pattern! I purchased Michelle Fifis' class, Ultimate Guide to Repeats months ago and finally watched the videos and gave it a whirl. I chose to create a pattern based on my Mother's Day card design. It took way longer to do than I had originally anticipated, but I guess that's what happens when you are first learning anything. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and that I was actually able to get it to repeat. I downloaded a trial version of Illustrator CS6 which has an amazing new 'pattern maker' tool. I'm sure I'll be so spoiled once the trial is up that I'll have to break down and make the purchase.

I've been really inspired by Helen Dardik's work and love how she creates beautiful patterns based on her illustrations. This might be something I continue to experiment with too!

Life Lately

It's a cold and rainy weekend here in Portland and so far I've spent my time making art, doing some spring cleaning, reading and thrifting...

 I just finished two Rock-A-Bye paintings based on the greeting card designs I created. I'm excited about these as art prints, would look so cute in a nursery!

 Another piece in it's beginning stages....

 Reading Lilla Roger's book is making me super excited for her studio school in June!

 Dusting and rearranging our living room... Listening to records and burning incense helps me get in the 'cleaning' mood.

Art + Life Update

It's been almost a month since my last post, so I thought I'd share some photos of what I've been up to the past few weeks.

I made up these fun Rainbow in a Jar gifts for My Own Labels.

Perfect for St. Patrick's Day!

I finished my February #Sissyfit goal of running 20 miles + taking 2 Zumba classes per week. I still need to shop for my reward (new shoes!). This month my goal is to run 30 miles + Zumba twice a week. Still deciding on my March reward :)

Another fun project- I painted this cabinet door for the little tiki bar

James and I built in our living room.

I just finished a new painting, "Adventure Awaits".

Prints will be added to my Etsy shop soon!

This week I am getting ready for James' 30th birthday party and also finishing up some more ongoing art and craft projects.

I hope to have some exciting new things to share here soon!

Peace, Rachel

SissyFit Challenge

At the beginning of this month my sister, Teresa and I started our own fitness challenge called SissyFit. We set a one month goal to run a combined 75 miles (I ran 30 miles, she ran 45) and chose a special reward for meeting our goal. Since she lives on the east coast, we tracked our progress together using the Nike+ App and Instagram.

Yesterday I completed my goal of 30 miles for the month of January! I ran 6 miles per week and also attended a Zumba class once a week. The running was hard, Zumba was fun, and I'm excited to wear my new tie-dye sports bra from Free People (rewards are great!) They also have a new line of pretty yoga clothing called FP Movement (I ordered these shorts to wear swing dancing.)

My new goal for February is to attend two Zumba classes every week with my friend Whitney (yay for fun exercise!) and jog 20 miles (5 miles per week). Teresa's goal is to run another 45 miles!

My February reward will be a new pair of running shoes and an arm band for my iphone. Can't wait!

January Mood

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This month I feel drawn inward.

Reflection. Dreams. Comfort. Peace.

I'm especially loving the colors pink and green at the moment. I think because they remind me of the warmth of spring and the beginning of new things. January is always a tired month for me. I'm worn out from the holiday season and aching for sunshine and warmer weather. Living in Portland, warm weather is still months away, so I'm lighting candles and bundling up with my art journal and new watercolors and colored pencils. Giving myself a some time to breathe, clear my head and get started on new projects.

A New Year

Happy New Year! 2012 was a good year and I look forward to new and fun things in 2013. I've spent this week cleaning, reorganizing, drawing, working on new Valentine's Day cards (I can't wait to share them when they're done!), and filling in my new 2013 planner.

While my sister was in town for the holidays she got me off my bum and outside jogging. It made me realize how much I've missed exercising with her, so we've decided to make a fitness plan together for 2013. Using the Nike+ App and Instagram, we plan to jog 'together' (she lives on the east coast). We'll be snapping photos of our progress with the tag #SissyFit. Our goal for the month of January is to run a combined 75 miles. Each month we will set a new goal and choose a new reward for our progress!

Now for my favorite part of about our SissyFit challenge, the reward! I thought it would be fun to get matching tie-dye sports bras for our first reward, and this one from Free People is my favorite.

I think making a new goal (and choosing a new reward :) for every month will help motivate me to keep at it. And I know our SissyFit challenge will make exercising more fun and encouraging for the both of us! What are your new goals for 2013 and how do you plan to make them happen?

November Instagram

I still can't believe it's December! I've been so busy this past month with work, prepping for the holidays, and lots of other fun projects. I wanted to share a few Instagram photos I took from November.

I did some fall baking with my mom! You can find this recipe here.

 Two of my favorite things- crafts and nails with my friend Zerrin! We are making shrines out of kleenex boxes, pasta and glitter. Can't wait until these are all finished!

Lots of late night drawing. See this finished drawing here.

More crafting for the My Own Ideas blog. These mini snow globes turned out SO cute! Check out my tutorial here.

I traded for a beautiful crochet lampshade from Atmosphere on Etsy!

James and I hosted a pre-Thanksgiving party and had fun showing off our little tiki bar.

And our friends from A Wooden Nest hosted a post-Thanksgiving party complete with Karaoke. Here is James singing his heart out.

In between all that fun I printed and cut SO many cards for Screaming Sky Gallery and other stores around Portland.

How has your winter been so far?