creating art on arms and hands.

So yeah, I'm going to post a picture of my son's arm. and then pictures of my arm.

You ask why? What do you mean why? Doesn't everyone post random pictures of arms? Oh.

Well, my daughter likes to draw all over herself. I always have markers all over the place. She draws on herself a whole lot. I learned that I don't mind if she uses sharpies to draw on herself because unlike washable markers, they stay put and don't get all over the rest of her body...and because darling daughter "gets away with it," the other littles want to "get way with it," too.

Not too long ago, one of my little guys wanted me to draw something for him and so I grabbed this book 

and found two pictures that he wanted. I followed the steps and bam! a fishy and a penguin were on his arm and he thought I was the coolest mom ever and that he was the coolest kid ever. 

I mean, check it out!  Pretty cool :)

That same day, I drew a teddy bear on little girl.  We've done flamingos and alligators and little birds, too. sigh. no pictures of those today, but I drew them. promise. Perhaps I'll have to add new pictures to this post when I draw more for them. 

I have found that markers are definitely less messy than face painting. ;)

So yeah, I've been known to write/paint/draw on my own arms and hands, too ;) 

I tend to write words as reminders of what I need for myself in the moment or for a certain day or time.  Or I'll wear bracelets with the words that I need to keep in mind. 

Oh, this bracelet says, "Be Brave.  Practice courage every single day."

Blessings! and Joy!

nicole mArie

a list. colored.

I have a lot of little things that may or may not be enough for a blog post, so I am just going to write about a whole bunch of stuff and call it a list. I won't number it, I'm going to color it ;)

<list>

BLUE: Marathon training took a backseat to other stuff in my life recently. Yesterday was the first day that I ran/worked out in 7 days. My grandfather had heart surgery and then he had a stroke, and it's just been messy.  Prayers and good thoughts for him and the rest of the family would be really wonderful.

MAGENTA: I've fallen in love with Redbull. Seriously. I've been drinking my husband's Redbull and it's awesome. Aldi sells "red thunder" which, for the price (2.99 for 4 cans), is equivalent  but Redbull has more bubbles.  I'm a carbonation kind of girl.

PURPLE: I've almost finished the canvas painting that I mentioned in this post.
<------ This is what it looks like so far. When it's complete, I'll post it :)


YELLOW: This conversation actually happened:
M: these guys are going to walk on water (gesturing to his toy superheroes)

Me: well, actually, Jesus is the only guy who has ever walked on water.
M: what?
Me: Jesus, he's the only one who's ever walked on water.
M: wow! awesome. so cool.


PINK: While at storytime yesterday my daughter found it appropriate to say, loudly, "Put me down right now" more than one time. Seriously? Have I mentioned that she is very independent and sassy?  Well, she is. And no, I didn't bow to her statement. but yes, when I did put her down, she found 3 stuffed puppy dogs that she claimed as her own and carried them around until I had to pry them out of her tiny arms.

ORANGE: I am finding inspiration to move forward in my "creative arts" sort of business-sort of blog-sort of etsy shop-sort of life-living. I've been part of a "Right Brain Business Plan Summit" the last two weeks and it's been amazing. I've gotten a whole lot of great ideas from fantastic speakers who are actually living their creative lives in so many beautiful ways. I'm energized and excited for what's coming in my own creative life-living.

GREEN: and this just arrived in my mail! literally, just arrived.

I won the little canvas in the front, and then it came in that fantastically decorated envelope! Thank you, Amy!  You can find her at RubyMoonArt! :D

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

blessings! and joy!

nicole mArie

RED: OH! Also, I am still fundraising! I humbly ask if you are so inclined to consider donating to me for Women's Choice Network!  Let's empower these women!  Click the widget in the side bar ---> or simply click right here!

</list>

29 faces challenge 2013, #12, #13, #14, #15 and brave art

I tried really hard to get my boys to stand still so that I could trace their shadows. My younger boy stood more still (#12) than my older boy (#13). hehehe  They thought it was a cool project and wanted to watch me trace their shadows. After I traced them, the boys went ahead and painted themselves. 

I went back over the portrait on the left with a white grease pencil so that we could see the outline better, he had a lot of fun painting ;)

While the boys painted, I also painted. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy painting with my children? 

I played a bit with layering and textures, and even snuck a couple of faces into my art to add to my 29 in February tally.  I realize that I didn't complete my faces in Feburuary, but I made a commitment, and I am going to get these faces created and blogged about!  

#14 

#15

blessings! and joy!

nicole mArie

word tickets. dear friends. so much arting :)

This is what I am doing this evening. Being Creative. Missing dear friends, and feeling so much love brimming over for them!  I miss those who I created these words with.

Oh, the canvases are new. Well, new-ish.  Yes, I know that mighty is jumbled and strange looking. The loved word tickets are from 8 or 10 years ago, perhaps? Word tickets were inspired by this delightful lady, Susan Wooldrige, and her book, Poem Crazy. I recommend it, highly.  I am going to go back and paint another canvas.  

And this is my current work in progress.  We'll see what happens! 

I hope that you are having a juicy and wonderful beautiful evening!

blessings! and Joy!

nicole mArie

29 faces in 2013, #10 & #11

I promise that I haven't forgotten about the challenge. I am just terribly slow at taking pictures and blogging them.

My littles wanted balloons and wanted something drawn on them.  I decided that faces were the way to go. They thought it was the coolest thing that the balloons had eyes! I didn't have more than like, 10 seconds with each balloon because my 3 and almost-two year olds were yanking the balloons out of my hands, but at least it's creative ;)

#10 #11

blessings! and joy!

nicole mArie

#4, #7, #8, #9 of my 29 faces in 2013

# 4 is four faces.four feelings.

#7 is hombRAY created by my husband, worn (and picture taken) by me

 #8 happened after I took a painting one of my kids made and drew/wrote on it.  I was pleased with how she turned out.  I like this one a lot.

#9  this is  me.  This is a self-portrait that I took today immediately after my 12 mile run.  I am hot and sweaty and gross and in a whole lot of pain, but gosh, I was (and still am) elated that I managed to run 12 today!  Woo!!!! 

Okay, now I'm only behind 2 days... I'll catch up this week.  

blessings! and joy!

nicole mArie

29 faces in 2013 #6

*smiles* I like these faces. I like this picture (of a picture).


blessings! and joy!
nicole mArie

29 faces in 2013

I've been neglecting the "arts" part of my name -- nicolemariearts -- for far too long now. I get crafty from time to time and tell you about that, I post stories about my darling family, and I write about running. While, yes, my life is art, and raising my kids is my most beautiful art, I suppose, I need to do art differently. Paints, chalk, markers, glue and perhaps even sparkles. I need this sort of art, too. I was recently invited to join an artist community on facebook and I am super excited about it.

These beautiful women make such beautiful honest art. I am inspired again. to create again. To art again. I found a link to this today, in the group. It's called the 29 faces challenge.  I need to draw/create 29 faces during the month of Feburary. I am going to see if I can rock it. A face a day, created in any way, is something that I might be able to work into my life, right? we'll see :D

I'll post two face later today :) YaY



Blessing! and Joy!
nicole mArie

Messy.Painted.Pumpkins

This is a wonky looking post tonight because I'm tired of moving the pictures around.  The gist is that we made a mess today.  We painted our pumpkins.  It was an adventure.  The littles had a tremendous time, and I found out that I really want to be "that-artist-mom-who-laughs-at-messy-little.people-and-allows-them-unhindered-creativity" I am not. I was freaking out because Max mixed blue into yellow paint. And then Grace dropped pink on the floor, and got some on her clothes.  I was laughing at myself struggling with the mess, so I eventually joined in a bit and painted on paper (as I didn't have my own pumpkin), and then we put handprints on the wall ;)  Perhaps I'll rearrange this all tomorrow.

Until then, Blessings and Joy! nIcole mArie