Inspire Me: Emma-Leone Palmer

Okay, I just could not get through this week without showing you guys the amazing light infused paintings by London based Emma-Leone Palmer. She has painted quite a few breathtaking works in the past (like the entire "Paint Play" series) but these pieces stopped me in my tracks and made me want to dive into their world.

I've seen many light-based works before (thinking of the talented light manipulation photographers you can find on Instagram) but there's a somewhat surreal quality to Emma-Leone's works that take these paintings past typical light manipulation and to a more magical place.

Snapshot from Studio @emmaleonepalmer

From a distance, the pieces look like they are incredible realism. But when you look closer and start to lose yourself in the work you realize that the brush strokes invoke a sense of movement that can only be found in paintings. Without the rules of realism, the works are given the freedom to manipulate reality to best highlight the subjects themselves. This is not to say that there is a single brush stroke within the piece that is placed without thought: Even the smallest details, such as the strands of hair that escape the mass to frame the face, have a sense of purpose for the composition as a whole.

Detail of "Thalassa" by Emma-Leone Palmer

The lights themselves are treated in such a way that they give the work an almost supernatural vibe. My first unchecked thought upon seeing "Thalassa" was "oh, this girl uses magic to spin light." The neons guide you around the painting, giving your eyes a path to follow while still contributing beautifully to the entire piece.

Detail of "Thalassa" by Emma-Leone Palmer

The color palettes chosen for each piece are fantastic. Using an on-theme rainbow of colors, Emma creates shadows that you can get lost in and highlights that will steal your gaze. She utilizes the lights to create stretches of skin that have no actual "skin color," opting instead for vibrant hues straight from a 90's rave. This results in stunning pieces that leave you simultaneously in awe of the work and hungry for a sugary treat.

In Progress Image of "Titan" by Emma-Leone Palmer

"Titan" by Emma-Leone Palmer

If you would like to follow the evolution of this series (it's kinda obvious that I will be), here are Emma-Leone's links:

@emmaleonepalmer on Instagram

www.emma-leonepalmer.com

Facebook

10 [bullet journal] Things

I've been keeping a steady bullet journal for two years now, which, if you ask me, is a small miracle. I summed up what bullet journals are and how I use them in this post last year, so this time I'm going to tell you about my top ten bullet journal supplies.

The most important thing is a good notebook. My favorite (obviously) are Field Notes notebooks. I go a little over the top and use a new notebook for each month. It really helps keep my creative juices flowing. I've learned that my themes have to vary from month to month or I just get bored.

Notebooks pictured above: Field Museum x Field Notes (sold out),  Expedition, Lunacy Edition (sold out), M x L x B x D Edition (sold out), custom painted rainbow mess, Cherry Graph, Coastal Edition (sold out), Campfire Edition (sold out), another MxL..., XOXO 2018 Edition, and Abercrombie and Fitch x Field Notes.

The second thing you need? A good pen. These erasable pens are my absolute favorite.

Really, truly, a pen and a notebook are all you need to set up a bullet journal. But there are a few other things I find myself using time and time again.

Need some help setting up? The creator of the Bullet Journaling Method has come out with a book. You can buy that here.

Because I use such a small book, I use sticky notes to add info to pages constantly. I personally really love the bright colors of Post-It sets like these.

Since I've started journaling like this I've found myself collecting unique office supplies. One supply I use in every journal (mainly to mark where my daily log is) is paper clips. I love the color of these gold ones, and these dinosaur ones are just so playful!

Along the same lines as the paper clips, I often tape tabs onto pages that I keep re-visiting. This set from Michael's is colorful and cute!

I sometimes need a pick-me-up in the middle of the day, and I've found that sticking a photo of my little monster on the front page of my journal is just want the doctor ordered. For that, I usually use an Instax camera.

And to stick the various things into my notebook (it's seriously like... a scrapbook/collage/doodle-fest in these notebooks) I usually use washi tape, purely for the cuteness of it all. You can get washi tape at pretty much any craft store these days, but I really love the colors in this set.

Sometimes I need something a little more sturdy to put my mementos from the month in, and that's where stickable pockets like these work really well.

If you're planning to switch journals a lot like I do, you're going to need a box to put them in. Field Notes has a really nice one that I've been eyeing for a while. I keep my journals in a simple box from a craft store that my sister wood burned a label and date into, and it looks awesome on my shelves.

As I said before, starting a bullet journal is as simple as having a pen and notebook. But as you go along, you might find that you need a few more things to keep everything organized. The only rule I have for my journals is that they reflect the things I'm into at that moment. My final goal is to capture how I'm feeling. Oh, and to help me not forget things. :)

Love Bug Bouquet

How cute is this little bouquet? I really wanted a simple DIY for this Valentines, and I think I've hit the mark. This project took me, from start to finish, about 30 minutes. And with minimal amounts of glue involved, it is a great project for kids.

Supplies:

Thick Colorful Paper

Straws (ones with super bendiness are best)

Ribbon/String

Pencil

Markers

Scissors

Step one: Cut out your flowers.
I wanted my boquet to have a whimsical look, so I drew the flowers on the back freehand and then cut them out.

Step two: Add your slits for the straws.
To insert the straw into the flowers, you are going to need two quarter-inch to half-inch wide slits in the center of the flower. To do this, I did the old "fold it a little bit in half and cut on the crease" trick.

Step three: Add your straw.
Bend the straw, stick it in the slots, and work the flower up the straw until you've got it where you want it to be. 

Step four: Make your "love bugs."
The bugs on these flowers are hearts that have been folded to make them look like wings. I drew hearts on construction paper, added a pattern, then cut them out. Tip: the easiest way to draw small hearts is to color a little oval at an angle, and then add another one on top, having the lower half overlap (where you want the point to be). You can see the first oval in the picture above.

Step five: Glue on your bugs.
I folded the hearts in half then glued half of the heart down, giving the bug some body!

Step six: Decorate your vase.
I added a few ribbons and a tag that said "Hugs from our Love Bug." Put in the flowers and voilà: A cute, whimsical, and inexpensive Valentine's gift!

DIY Christmas Stacking Toy

This wasn't supposed to be a toy. It was supposed to be a cute little centerpiece for my table. But, like many things in a house with cats, it ended up on the floor. And, like many things in a house with children, the instantly became a new toy. So this post is all about rolling with the punches.

Supplies:

Paper Mache Cones

Acrylic Paint

White Paint Pen

This is one of those super easy mode crafts. You just paint the outside of the cones in cute colors (might need more than one coat). Once it's dry decorate the outside with the paint markers. I had my little one help as much as he had the patience for (which, you know, was about 3 dots).

The cost of supplies was under $10, and this kept him amused for at least five minutes, which is like five hours for a one year old so I'd call this project a success. The fact that the "toy" I've created can also double as a decoration is an awesome bonus.

Discovery Building Blocks DIY

This is one of my favorite projects I've made for Ronan so far. Like, I enjoyed creating this every step of the way, because I took my time and collected things that had a personal significance or were just cool. And the result is a colorful, noisy collection of blocks full of stuff that is truly interesting to look at and can hopefully be used to teach him all sorts of things in the years to come.

Supplies:

Clear small plastic lidded containers (the kind you can find at the dollar store are perfect)

Glue gun

Nick-knacks, doo-dads, etc.

Step One: Collect your stuff. Keep in mind that sound is just as important as looks, so a boring wooden bead or some plastic water bottle lids are perfect just because they make so much fun noise. I also told the people I knew what I was doing so I was able to get things like feathers and shells and that little table that holds the lid of your pizza box up... you know, with the three legs?

Here are some of the things we used for Ronan's blocks:
Thread in every color of the rainbow, buttons, foam shapes (sun, clouds, etc), Feathers, shells, fake flowers and leaves, fun shaped sprinkles, puffballs, beads, cut up straws, small rubber bands, ribbon, toothpicks, rice... basically if it was small enough it was going into a block. 

Step Two: Prep your blocks. I had to cut off some tabs off the lids because I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything he could grab onto and use his herculean strength to pry open. This step included a lot of help from my son... I would throw the finished ones into the bag, and he would take them out again.

Step three: put your stuff in and hot glue the lids on. For the type of containers I had, I found it easiest to put the hot glue in the fold on the lid. Try to keep the contents of the container from touching the glue before it is dried.

And that's it! Simple, cheap, and fun. 

Ten [for 12 months and under] Things

I love making these ten things posts, and I realized the other day that it had been a while. I was sitting on the floor in the nursery (because that's what I do with most of my free time now) trying to think of a topic when I realized I was literally surrounded by one. 

So, here you go. A list of the ten things Ronan and I both love the most.

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1 - You Are My Cupcake by Joyce Wan - This was consistently one of Ronan's favorite books. He still lights up when we read it to him.

2 - Very Hungry Caterpillar Sounds and Projector - First off, there is no AC adapter that comes with this. The box is a liar. Beyond that, we love this thing. We turn it on every night to help establish that it's time to sleep. We've been using it for about nine months and have only had to replace the batteries once. 

3 - Zebra Lovey from Oh, Joy! for Target - Okay, maybe this one is more for me. Ronan hasn't really gotten attached to anything for bedtime (besides the pacifiers...) but I still think this is the cutest.

4 - Atom Rattle and Teether from Manhatten Toys - When Ronan really started manipulating things and trying to work them out I knew I needed to get him something a little more complicated than a plastic ball. This toy fits the bill.

5 - Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn, Game and Learn Controller - This toy we mainly bought just to keep our sanity. Ronan will sit next to his dad and watch the TV while pushing the buttons sometimes, and my heart melts. 

6 - Cat Multisensory Teething Toy from Skip Hop - This is one of those crazy toys where when I look at it all my brain thinks is "there's just so much going on!" But Ronan loves it. This is the toy I attach to the stroller for long walks.

7 - Mula Building Blocks from Ikea - In Ronan's opinion, the blocks in this are just okay. But that wagon is pretty much the best thing to ever happen. 

8 - Textured Ball Set from Infantino - These are a super simple but fun and colorful addition to our nursery. We introduced these pretty early on and he still plays with them.

9 - Stick and See Spin Wheel from Infantino - These are crucial to have when you're alone at home and you just need the kid to entertain himself so you can at least go pee. Put him in the high chair and attach this to the tray, viola, instant entertainment. 

10 - Hippopposites by Janik Coat - I am constantly bringing board books home from work. This was the first board book that Ronan really became attached to, so we bought a copy for ourselves.

And, because I wanna make sure you know that I know what I'm talking about (haha), here are some pictures of Ronan using the things. This is how you really know what his favorite toys are... they're constantly popping up on his Instagram grid. Especially the Cupcakes book, it is in no less than 6 pictures.

DIY Nature Treasures Book

Any adventure, no matter how big or small, should always result in treasures. That's why at the end of every walk there's a leaf bunched up in the palm of tiny hands, or a stick shoved into the stroller. I'm a firm believer that anything can be a treasure, and that treasures deserve to be showcased. That's why I came up with this easy DIY  book. It is incredibly simple to make, and hopefully all of the supplies are something you already have around the house. The only things that might be strange are the stroller rings, which I've found most parents have, but could be replaced with bread ties, and the felt, which could be replaced with paper or even left off entirely.

Supplies:

small freezer bags

duct tape

stroller rings (or bread ties, key rings)

felt (or thick paper, plastic, etc)

hole punch

scissors

Step One: Duct tape the bottom edge of your bag on both sides. Try to keep it as close to the edge as possible just because it makes it easier to keep everything even. If your tape hangs off the side of the bag be careful while trimming. We don't want to lose any future treasures!

Step Two: Make your cover. Cut your felt (or whatever you decided to use) to the exact width of the freezer bags, but not the height. You can see in the example picture that my felt is about 3/4 of an inch shorter than the bag.
Place some duct tape sticky side up on the bottom of a bag. I used the bag as a template to make sure everything got aligned correctly. After you've placed the tape put the felt on top of the tape, aligning the felt with the top part of the ziplock. There should still be some sticky tape showing. Put another piece of tape directly on top of the other piece, sandwiching the felt. Make sure there's no stickiness showing.
I customized my cover using acrylic paint, but I think it looks great blank, too. You could also use a permanent marker.

Step Three: Punch your holes. I found it was easiest to make a template that I could line up with the corner to make sure all of my holes ended up in the same spot.

Step Four: Put it all together.

If you fill all of the bags its easy to add more, or if something gross gets saved it's really easy to remove a page and throw it away. And since this project is made with rings it can totally be attached to your stroller during walks. No treasure gets left behind on my watch!