Arian Armstrong

Awesome Points

2012-01-29T16:07:00.001-08:00

Daniel is spending the weekend in New York City on a creative getaway with our good friend and photographer extraordinaire, Jon Willis (www.jonbob.com). They're hanging out, exploring the city, and dreaming up projects they can collaborate on.

Letting him go while I stay home with the three boys earns me about 27 "awesome wife" points which I BELIEVE is worth roughly two new vintage dresses and perhaps an afternoon sans children to sew some time in the next few weeks : )

I also insisted Jon take no less than 3-5 Instagram photos of some of their adventures. So here is what they've been up to so far. Looks like fun!

Good morning

2012-01-27T06:14:00.001-08:00

Cute stowaways in our bed, fog and rain out our window, warm steel cut oats with raisins and cinnamon ready for us in the crockpot, and a new green smoothie recipe that turned out to be delicious. Good morning.

Arian : )

ps- green smoothie: frozen bananas, spinach, coconut flakes, honey, and water. Good stuff.

Instagram, etc.

2012-01-25T21:51:00.001-08:00

My iPod is my not-so-secret weapon for staying mildly productive with a newborn. One handed photo taking, photo editing and photo uploading--sweet. Plus I bought new shoes for Hudson, planned this weeks meals, made out the grocery list, answered Etsy convo's, copied down a crochet pattern (for whenever I happen to have TWO free hands), and started researching this summer's vacation destinations...all while nursing my sweet baby. Don't get me wrong, sometimes all I want to do is stare at his little face and his ever-growing cheeks : ). But I'm also grateful for technology, useful apps, and the ability to "window shop" at Anthropologie at 3:00am from my rocking chair.

And I'm grateful for great help. Jude is a pro at folding washcloths and can wield the kitchen sink sprayer like the best of them. He's good company in the kitchen as I get back to cooking and baking after a good long run of meals from friends (thanks, guys!)

Btw, if you're on Instagram, leave your user name in the comments and I will follow you. My user name is "arianarmstrong". Come find me! Or if you have any favorite apps that help make you more efficient, I'd love to hear about them!

Arian : )

Weekending

2012-01-20T18:36:00.001-08:00

We celebrated my dads birthday this weekend. Since the births of Eli and Wilco, he has two MORE reasons to make the 10 hour drive from North Carolina to see us.

Star Wars, chess (according to Jude's rules), favorite Cincinnati foods, the boat show (which also had motorcycles and campers), cuddle time, wrestle time...it was a great weekend. Happy birthday, dad!

Arian

Story Time

2012-01-19T17:30:00.001-08:00

As much as I love reading to my boys, having a boy who can now read to us is pretty awesome too. Mummy mysteries, Transformer battles, pirate adventures...they all sound adorable when read aloud by a seven year old.

I think I'm gonna love being mommy to a band of brothers...being the "softest one" (as Jude calls me) in a house full of airplanes, dinosaurs, light sabers, and my little men in the making. I like being the softest one : ) The softest person in the whole "wood" (world), according to Jude.

Arian

Robot Pants and Cloth Napkins

2012-01-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

I've been on a bit of a pants-making kick around here lately. Really, it's just an excuse to buy more ridiculously cute fabric from my new fav little fabric shop. I followed this really easy tutorial. Thank goodness for Pinterest : ) See, the hours I've spent pinning are not in vain. : )

Pinterest also brings friends together. When some of my girl friends and I noticed that we'd all been pinning photos of cloth napkins we decided we might as well get together in real life and make some. Maybe "pinterest accountablity partners" is not a bad idea....you know, friends who are willing to ask, "Hey, have you actually made those no bake granola bars you said you were gonna try?" or "Hey, lets see your abs. Surely they're nice and flat by now since you pinned those '12 moves to flat abs' forever ago." Just an idea ; )

It's cold, snowy, and windy here today. I'm totally content to just stay inside and keep making cloth napkins. We are, after all, gonna need more than the three napkins I was able to finish with my friends last night. But errands call. Time to bundle up and face the elements!

Arian

The Day

2012-01-11T16:26:00.001-08:00

1. Practicing letters with the fabric letter set from Aunt Mindy
2. Pouring through the seed catalogue that came in the mail today...Daniel and Hudson already have big plans for this summer's garden.
3. Helping friends dream up how to turn this warehouse they purchased into a sweet office space.

How was your day?

Arian

Getting Out

2012-01-10T18:53:00.001-08:00

We're getting out a little more each day. Yesterday--my first trip to the grocery on my own with all three boys. Today--a walk to the library and a date night (with a cute little third wheel) : )

Still, sometimes nothing beats staying in. We're about to settle in to night #5 of our Lord of the Rings extended version marathon.

Goodnight!
Arian

Cozy Does It

2012-01-09T17:50:00.001-08:00

A few shots from a quiet, cozy day.

Arian : )

Ah, Fridays.

2012-01-07T09:30:00.001-08:00

Happy weekend! Hope yours is off to a good start! We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and went on our first family walk to Starbucks. I survived my first week with Daniel back to work (thanks to meal, cleaning, and laundry help from family and friends--pretty awesome.) And it was good to ring in the weekend with a celebratory soy latte : )

I made this skirt today! It's still a work in progress but it's inspired me to make more like it! The challenge with clothing a recently pregnant body is finding cute outfits that are forgiving of my still-changing shape and are also nursing friendly...this combo seems to work! I'll post a how-to on the skirt when I get the process a bit more refined ; )

We're slowly falling back into our weekly/weekend routine. Tonight--Friday night family pizza and a movie night. Feels good to be back to something regular. I even got a few more rows done on the family movie night afghan. My goal--to finish it within a year of starting it. I think that gives me about one more month. I can do it!

Happy weekending!

Arian :)

Baby Bag

2012-01-04T20:51:00.001-08:00

Just ask Daniel. He'll tell you that whole "pregnant nesting instinct" thing is real and it's a force to be reckoned with. All I wanted to do in the month(s) before Eli came was sew, crochet, and organize--quite a few trips to the fabric shop, lots of time pinning easy crochet and sewing patterns for baby.

One of the most useful things I made has been this super cozy sleep sack. In fact, Eli is snuggled up in it right now while I nurse him and blog one handed...ah, multi-tasking.

I bought the pattern here. Maybe my stitches are too big or I misread the pattern but my first attempt at it made a sack that looked like it was gonna be big enough for a 5 year old and use 3 more skeins of yarn than called for. So I unraveled it a bit and made the base smaller...just FYI in case you make one yourself.

Eli is quite a fan and hangs out in it night and day!

By the way, my sister's baby was born today! Wilco Brave. I can already tell he's gonna be a cool kid who lives up to his cool name. And he and Eli are gonna be BFFs for sure!

Welcome to the world little Wilco!

Love,
Aunt Arian

Mornings with Newborns

2012-01-02T10:38:00.001-08:00

I learned when Hudson was born to call it a good day when I was showered, dressed, and had eaten something that resembled a meal by the time Daniel got home from work. And the same rule seems to apply with newborn #3. The key to surviving the newborn stage? Lower standards : ) So it's 1:30 and the bed is unmade, I just finished breakfast (helloooo coffee), and I have yet to replace the sock I somehow lost during one of Eli's middle of the night feedings. I'd call it a good day so far : )

Arian

2011.

2012-01-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

2011. Quite a year. I started the year newly pregnant. My sister and her husband flew off to live in South Africa for awhile so we started our "Pic-A-Day" project, each posting a picture from our day on opposite sides of the globe (hers involved a lot more sunshine and giant wild animals than mine)

I fell in love with crocheting and finally conquered the granny square.

Which was helpful because when my pregnancy ended early, spending quiet days with Jude in a coffee shop with new crochet projects helped me cope.

We also had to move suddenly. But that turned out to be a good thing...

...because for the first time in our married lives we got to live in a (rented) house of our own with a yard to play and grow in and no neighbors above or below to worry about.

So we got dirty, and grew vegetables, had picnics,

planted flowers,

had lots of parties,

and finally felt peace in our own place.

Another BIG highlight of 2011--getting to create a music video for Josh Garrels, one of our very favorite musicians. (If you haven't downloaded his new FREE album yet, do so! It just won Christianity Today's award for best album of the year)

Creating that video with Daniel was such an amazing experience--lots of late, late nights and long, long days but the whole process so life-giving. Plus Daniel is a pretty attractive co-worker.

And then we got to MEET Josh and his lovely family. He sang for our friends and they stayed at our house and it was awesome!

Also awesome--getting pregnant again : ) Boy #3. So proud!

Pregnant and due at the same time as my sister (and Daniel's sister!) Three new little boys in our family (2 are here, Andrea's is taking his good ole time : )

So, yeah, 2011 was quite a year. Plus a wedding, birthdays, a trip to NYC, celebrations with family and friends... a lot happened. First goal of 2012...take a nap.

Arian : )

Happy 2012!!

2011-12-31T23:13:00.001-08:00

We rang in the new year with good food and lots of kisses : ) I'm working on a 2011 review--t'was a year of lots of changes. I'm hoping 2012 brings peace and rhythm to our new family of 5.

Happy New Year!!
Arian

The week in Instagrams

2011-12-30T17:53:00.001-08:00

These past two weeks as a family of 5 have been overflowing with cuddle time, family from all over, lights, presents, yummy food, cozy nights in, and afternoons at some of our favorite spots around town. We introduced Eli to the art museum, one of our favorite coffee spots, and my new favorite little fabric shop. I hope your celebrations have been merry too!

A Quick Hello

2011-12-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick hello from my THREE little boys. We're taking each day at a time, spending lots of time loving on Eli, lots of time with family from near and far, and lots of time trying to finish up our Christmas gift crafting. What a season! Hope all is well and cozy with you!

-Arian : )

Eli Richard Armstrong!

2011-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Born 12/16 at 9:30am, 8lbs 10oz, 20.5 inches. And we're all so glad to have him : )

Still Cookin...

2011-12-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

40 weeks and 2 days. At least I was able to get the Christmas tree up and the stockings hung before Eli arrives.

Arian : )

For Your Picky, Art-Loving Friends

2011-12-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

I just added gift certificates to the shop, perfect for your friend who might like to pick out their own art print. There's one that includes shipping for your American friends, Canadian friends, and your friends that live elsewhere in the world. Within 24 hours of purchase (unless I go into labor, then it might take a few extra hours) : ), you'll receive an email that includes a pdf with the printable gift certificate and a coupon code for your friend to use to redeem their gift!

So shop with confidence!

Arian : )

Glitter Lotion DIY

2011-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

So I like glitter, especially around Christmas (also around Valentine's Day, Halloween, Independence Day....Arbor Day.......Presidents Day...) I've had an eye out for a long while for a glittery, shimmery lotion that isn't chock full of artificial ingredients. But "all natural glitter lotion" seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Then it finally hit me---glitter lotion is glitter.....plus lotion. And I happen to have those things at home already. Genius.

So some good unscented lotion, extra fine glitter, a few drops of peppermint oil, and a cute jar later, I finally have my festive holiday glitter lotion. I'm all sparkly and glamorous despite the fact that I'm also wearing sweatpants. : )

So if you're a girl and you're related to me, don't buy any glitter lotion because you'll prooooobably be getting your own cute jar of peppermint shimmer lotion soon ; ) (except my sister, who due to some traumatic childhood "hot car + granny + stale mint gum = car sickness" memories, hates all things mint). Sad.

Hope your December is off to a good start!

Arian : )

Nesting

2011-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

One of the big things on my "to do before Eli arrives" list was to organize all of our art/crafting/sewing supplies in one place. Now when one of the boys needs a pair of scissors for a project I don't have to send him on a 20 minute scavenger hunt around the house.

What was once our dining room bookshelf (which Daniel made out of old barn siding my Papa had...I love it), is now a neatly organized, Restoration Hardware-inspired, creation station.

I have a habit of collecting metal bins, old wooden boxes, and vintage train cases any time I'm out at a yard sale or thrifting. They're perfect for storing art supplies. The boys can just grab the bin, box, or case they need, take it to wherever they're working, and put it back when they're done...easy cleanup!

And our books have a new home in a metal cabinet I also scored from Papa, organized by color of course : )

Next on the list--finish the nursery!

Arian : )

Super Easy Dress

2011-11-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

We had our third annual family Simple Portrait this weekend (last year's, 2 years ago). I love that I'm pregnant in this year's photo and that next year there will be 5 of us!

As soon as we showed up for the shoot, Jude decided he was a dog -- crawling around the studio floor and barking. Classic. It took a lot of convincing to get him to be a boy in at least some of the shots : )

I spent the morning of the photo shoot making this super easy dress out of comfy, maternity-friendly knit fabric....one more thing I can cross off my Pinterest "Things I Want To Make" list. It's basically a grown up pillow case dress--cut two rectangles, sew a tube on top of both, pull ribbon/fabric through and knot, sew sides up. Easy. I want to make more! Maybe out of some fun, sparkly fabric for the holidays or something pretty and lacy.

I paired it with another easy DIY find from Pinterest, the hipster scarf made from one of Daniel's old shirts.

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Arian : )

Preparing for Eli

2011-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

We're hard at work transforming this previously (very!) cluttered closet into a little nursery for Eli. He'll still be just a few feet from our bed but have his own private little space.

Lots and lots of little DIY projects---like these felt and faux fur covered wine boxes I'll be using for Eli's little shirts, pants, pjs, and diapers. They were super easy and cheap. Free wine boxes from a local liquor shop, a few dollars worth of brown felt and fake fur, yarn, metal rimmed labels, and my trusty glue gun to put them all together. Now I'm wondering what else I can use fabric covered wine boxes for! Gotta love cute, cheap storage!

Haha, that painting smock just doesn't cover as much as it used to : ) 3 weeks and counting til Eli's due date! We're almost ready for him!

Arian : )

Shop Early, Get Free Shipping

2011-11-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the "Baby Eli is due some time before, on, or after December 10th so shop now to ensure your holiday purchases arrive in time because new babies make life more unpredictable" FREE SHIPPING SALE!

Enter the code "shopearly" when you're checking out of the shop between now and 11/27! Good for domestic AND international shipping!

Cozy, Happy Letters (free download!)

2011-11-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

I'm working on some fun, new products for the shop and in the process I've made some cozy, happy, free downloads for your letter-writing pleasure. Click on the image then right click or drag it to your desktop to save. Print them, write on them, mail them, pass them around! Just please don't sell them and please do link back here when possible.

Enjoy!
Arian

Little Moments

2011-11-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

Tis the season of getting so busy you forget to enjoy the season. So I am going to be more intentional about catching little moments. There may not be time for lots of words but lots of words aren't always necessary anyways. I LOVED doing the "picture a day" blog with my sister this past winter while she and her husband spent four months in South Africa. Our pictures ended up telling some pretty big stories.

So here are my pictures of the day...

My weekly before-school breakfast date with Hudson (he did his own hair for the occasion) ; )

We're working our way through the Little House on the Prairie series....one of my favs growing up.

Hope your day is full of sweet little moments!

Arian

The Gnomes

2011-11-08T05:43:00.000-08:00

I just added a new print to the shop! A cute little gnome couple requested by a friend a looong time ago (thanks for your patience, Lanna) : )

We've made our Christmas crafting list and are haaaard at work around here, making Christmas presents, creating a nursery, and making a home in our basement for our new housemate. Plus I have hopes of adding a selection of cute Christmas products to the shop....cards, gift tags, a 2012 calendar. I won't lie, I've shed a few tears of "overwhelmedness" recently. 4 1/2 weeks til my due date and still so much to do.

Today I will take deep breaths, take a walk, be grateful for what I DO get done, be gracious about what doesn't get done, order pizza if it makes things more peaceful come dinner time, and be thankful for sunny skies and lots of brights leaves still clinging to the trees.

Arian : )

Just a heads up!

2011-11-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hey! Just a quick heads up to let you know that print prices will be going up from $12 to $15 this Thursday. Just didn't want to catch you fine folks by surprise!

Arian ; )

Family Projects

2011-10-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting a little better at meal planning which means we've had some pretty fun meals lately. Like our living room picnic with the tents we just made with with the boys.

Jude and Hudson picked out their fabrics and helped us drill holes and sew edges (instructions on super-cute blog here). It was a fun, one afternoon-long family craft project! And already quite a few snack times, dinner times, story times, homework times, and snuggle times have happened under these tents.

They are going on our go-to list for handmade kids' gifts for sure.

We're pretty deep into quite a few family projects at the moment, actually.

One major one is turning this less-than-homey corner of the basement into a cozy guest room for a college friend of ours who just moved in with us for a little while.

And the other is turning this embarrassingly cluttered closet into a cute, tidy, vintage nursery before Eli's quickly approaching arrival (7-ish more weeks!)

So, yeah, we're quiiiite busy around here. Daily trips to the hardware store and the fabric store...lots of thrifting and re-purposing. Fun but tiring but worth it in the end : )

Arian

Great, Great, Great.

2011-10-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we took a trip to visit what's left of the house my great, great, great grandfather built some time in the mid 1800's. Pretty amazing.

Happy adventurers.

My mom, grandpa, sis, bro-in-law, my boys, and my man : )

Here's a picture of what the house looked like back in the day.

The house is full of amazing textures that tell stories of generations of inhabitants.

Papa--age 91. He's pretty much the man.

Jude holding a picture of George Henry and his wife who built the house-- his great, great, great, great grandparents. Wow.

George Henry's signature is still scribbled on the wall!

My sis and our matching baby bumps....30 and 32 weeks along : )

Jude the turtle whisperer.

It was quite a day. There was just something so cool about being pregnant and watching the boys hear stories from their great-grandpa while exploring the home their great (x4) grandparents built. Generations past, generations to come!

Arian

The Weekend

2011-10-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our week of eating dinners outdoors and celebrating our hybrid version of Sukkot ended with a full day of eating, relaxing, and playing outside with lots of friends and family.

Dinner was a gourmet hotdog feast! Everyone cooked their own hotdogs over the fire then loaded them up with various combinations of our 20 or so topping choices.

We decorated our back deck as our 2-level Sukkah. Not exactly a "temporary hut" but it worked for us : ) As our boys get older, I'm thinking we'll attempt some pretty epic sukkahs, like the ones they make for the Sukkah City competition in NYC. Or perhaps more like these temporary huts. Either way, it will be fun.

For decorations, we put flameless candles under lots of the vintage insulators I got from my grandpa's house. We covered the tables with paper and crayons and fall flowers. We made autumn fabric buntings, crochet square buntings, yellow duct tape buntings, and paint chip buntings (yay, buntings!) and we hung lots of these little flameless candle lanterns we made from baby food jars.

It was pretty sweet. When God designs a party, it's a good idea to celebrate it : )

Well, today is my birthday (woohoo!) I think I will eat a cupcake for breakfast and then take it from there : )

Arian

Books, Tea, and Movies

2011-10-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

We had such a great, quiet weekend...the first weekend in a looong time that wasn't filled with lots of people, traveling, or big events (though we LOVE people, traveling, and big events too)

We got to stick pretty closely to our "normal" weekend family rhythm. Saturday is house cleaning, Crossroads, and family dinner out at a fun restaurant. And Sunday is rest & play.

And watching a movie all cuddled in bed together is an Armstrong family weekend favorite.

So this weekend we read lots of books together (yay for hours in Barnes and Nobles and a fresh stack of books from the library), got cozy together, built couch cushion forts together, drank lots of tea with scones/biscotti/cookies together, and just enjoyed being together. Good times.

Hudson spent his allowance on a new book light. I have a feeling this boy will be a lot less reluctant to head to bed now : )

Arian : )

Paint Chip Bunting

2011-09-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

I'm working on fall goal #1--decorating our (first) front porch. Plus, Sukkot at our home is coming up next week which, of course, is going to require some festive decorations. And my sister's fall-themed baby shower is right around the corner and, of course, I've happily volunteered to make all the decorations. In short, our dining room table has been overtaken by a mountain of fall-colored fabric, paper, ribbon, and general goodness.

Today I made what will likely be the first of many, many fall-colored buntings. This one I made with paint samples, clear packing tape, masking tape, and nylon string.

I cut the paint samples into triangles which I attached and, at the same time, laminated with clear packing tape so they'll (hopefully) survive rainy days on the front porch.

And between each paint sample flag is a little masking tape flag....folded over the string and cut into a triangle. Super easy!

One bunting down, who knows how many left to go!

Happy fall decorating!
Arian : )

Skirt to Scarf

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to try my hand at one of these hipster scarves I've had on my pinterest for awhile. This skirt had been a staple in my wardrobe for years but it was becoming a bit too short (thanks to approx. 232 trips through the dryer) and had a few little stains and holes so it was time to move on. While Jude watched an episode of Word World and used his scissors to cut a piece of scrap fabric into tiny shreds on my bedroom floor. I used my scissors and turned this skirt into this scarf.

It's fun to wear so I will probably make another (it being scarf season and all!) And maybe I will even try making a new skirt to replace my old one! I found this crazy cute circle skirt pattern today...seems simple enough!

What is it about fall weather that turns us into crafting fiends? Must.....make.....something.....cozy.

Arian : )

Headed to the Country

2011-09-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

We fulfilled part of one of my fall goals this week---heading to the country. Lots of our friends celebrate the Old Testament holiday, Sukkot. Though mostly celebrated by only Jewish people, it's one of those festivals God put in place for great reasons. So we celebrate it because we can and want to! (some pics from Sukkot last year here)

(crocheting and chili cooked over a fire....yesssss.)

For us, it's a week of spending most of our time outdoors, eating (and sometimes sleeping) in tents. It's a reminder that, like the Israelites wandering in the desert with hope of the Promised Land, we haven't yet reached our true home. This is just a temporary dwelling place.

This week is the first of three weeks of Sukkot festivities various friends are hosting so we'll be hopping around from celebration to celebration and eventually hosting our own in early October. LOTS of good food, fresh fall air, and real conversations with good friends around campfires.

Preeeeetty sweet.

I think Hudson and Jude are gonna grow up loving this whole Sukkot thing. : )

Arian

Fall Goals

2011-09-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite season and I always want to soak in all that it has to offer before the trees are bare and the snow starts to fall. I waited til October to do last year's list but, like I said, everything is getting a bit of an earlier start for me this year to make room for baby in December. Fall is bumped up to now and Christmas bumped up to November so that December can be reserved for holding our new baby boy and his two fellow new December boy cousins : )

So here's this year's list!

1. Decorate our front porch. Since we've always lived in apartments/shared houses, we've never had our own front porch before! Its' a big blank canvas I get to make our own. Mums, pumpkins, a new fall wreath, and some handmade fall garland are in store : )

2. Pick our own pumpkins (like last year)

3. Take the boys to their first football game (complete with blankets, face paint, and hot cocoa)

4. Host a crafty ladies night. This has been on my to-do list for tooooo long!

5. Try a new soup recipe. (maybe this one)

6. Head to the country. (at least three times)

7. Take lots of walks (fast ones for exercise, slow ones for Jude)

8. Get a crock pot.....and use it.

9. Make good use of our fire pit!

10. Go on a fall-y date with Daniel.... pumpkin spice latte, walk through the woods, sketchbooks, and cozy sweaters.

That's it! How 'bout you? Any fall goals?

Arian : )

Family fun weekend!

2011-09-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge over the weekend, something we've been promising for awhile. I think the business of raising kids can sometimes get too serious. I know I'm often wondering (worrying) if I'm doing/saying/teaching/disciplining in the right way to ensure they grow up to become good, honest, hard-working men. I occasionally have to remind myself to just have FUN with them and enjoy them in all their crazy little boy-ness.

So that's what we did this weekend. We laughed and played and the boys grew braver and conquered fears as they attempted bigger and bigger water slides. We ate greasy pizza, root beer, and caramel apples and stayed up late watching movies in our comfy hotel room. Gooood stuff.

We left tired, proud, and very happy : )

Love my boys! I'm looking forward to adding Eli to the fun in a couple months!

Arian : )

Museum bench

2011-09-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

I finished up my project for the Cincinnati Children's Museum. Someone donated several old church pews to the museum to use at seating in their interactive kids play area. So the museum had local artists create murals to be attached to the backs of each bench. Pretty fun! Can't wait to see my art in its new home!

I've got lots of posts to catch up on so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Arian

In progress...

2011-09-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm wrapping up a project I've been working on for Cincinnati Children's Museum... pretty fun stuff! This is one of the last freelance projects on my to-do list before I focus all my creative energy on prepping my Etsy shop for the upcoming holiday season and our home for the upcoming December baby! With all the new paintings I want to do for my shop before the holiday rush, all the decorating I want to do in our home, and all the gifts I want to craft before Christmas, there is no such thing as starting too early!

Looking forward to it!

Arian : )

DIY Family Wedding!

2011-08-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

One of my amazingly beautiful step-sisters got married this weekend. Meet newlyweds Josh and Kasey Day! Aren't they ridiculously cute?!

The past week has been filled with wedding prep, wedding crafting, wedding baking, and family gatherings. Goooood times!

My (step)family is scattered all over the U.S. So times when we can all get together are pretty special.

My little man and his mustache sucker wedding favor.

Hudson has only seen his cousin, Nan, a few times but they're pretty tight : )

This pic of Andrea and Tye cracks me up every time I look at it. Crazy kids.

The beauuuutiful twins.

Fancy homemade strawberry champaign cupcakes!

My little family : ) 24 weeks along with boy #3!

The wedding was filled with family-made details. This was my first attempt at a wedding cake topped by the hand-carved cake topper my step-brother-in-law made.

Instead of a traditional guest book I put together this tandem bike + fingerprint balloon poster per Kasey's request. Each guest left their print and initials. Such a cute idea!

And this is the art I made for the front of their wedding invitations-- inspired by one of my vintage floral pillowcases and Josh's love for chess.

My step-mom has quite an arm ; )

Congrats to Josh and Kasey! We're soooo happy for you! Love you guys!

Arian

New York!

2011-08-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

Daniel and I just came back from a short trip to New York City! He had several meetings there so I tagged along!

I never get tired of the view from an airplane. Amazing.

Times Square!

Being in NY felt a lot like our years living in Japan. We got to shop at some of our favorite Japanese stores and eat some of our favorite Japanese food.

Japan makes the cooooolest pens. That's one of the things I miss most-- Japanese stationery.

And Japanese food! Mmmmm, curry : )

And while Daniel spent the day in meetings (doesn't he look cute!)

I spent the day venturing out into the city on my own. It's been a loooong time since I spent a whole day by myself. Must say, it was pretty sweet : )

Central Park and a good cup of coffee. Yessss.

And I got to meet up with long time friend (circa 5th grade) for lunch at an amazing vegetarian restaurant. Oh man, New York has some of the best food! It's making me hungry just thinking about it.

The trip was short and sweet but much needed. I love New York!

Arian : )

Hug print

2011-08-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

I just added a new print to the shop. It's the piece I did for the art show at our home last week. The show was such a hit! Our little house was busting at the seams with friends,family, and people we've never met who came to listen to the music and check out the artwork that the 8 of us created. We'll definitely do this again soon as there are lots more musicians we'd love to feature and lots more local artists we'd love to host!

Good music, good food, good art, good people, and good weather made for such a great night!

Arian : )

Workin On...

2011-08-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night we are hosting our first in-home art show and house concert. It's the first of hopefully many. Eight of us, who have been getting together weekly for the past 6 weeks to hone our skills and share advice are exhibiting our new pieces for our friends and family. Wine and cheese, live music, my cute black maternity dress....should be a good time!

I'm putting the finishing touches on my painting and have a lot of cleaning and rearranging to do before 5:00 tomorrow night. I'll be sure to show you pics!

Feel free to come if you're local!

Arian

Hard at Rest

2011-08-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying the water, the sun, and the sand of North Carolina with tons of family!

(sporting my 21-week baby bump) : )

The first half of our vacation was spent with Daniel's family, splashing in the water, lounging by the pool, lounging by the ocean, and lounging around good food....not a bad way to spend a week!

With a full schedule of relaxing we still managed to squeeze in a trip to the aquarium.

Week two of our vacation has been just as relaxing with my dad and family.

Yesterday we braved the 100 degree temps to watch 40+ soldiers jump out of an airplane at Fort Bragg. Definitely worth the wait.

And the boys are enjoying their favorite cartoons on PopPop's big screen tv, some even in 3D!

So, yes, we are definitely on vacation and loving it! Things will get busy quickly as soon as we get home so we're doing out best to make the most of our time off!

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Arian

PROUD mama : )

2011-07-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

It's a boy : ) Check out our first pics of Baby Eli! I'm already so proud of him and am so looking forward to holding him. I picked up some blue and grey yarn on our way down to North Carolina for vacation and love feeling him kick around while I start work on a cozy crocheted blanket for my third little guy.

And Eli is one blessed little boy to have two big brothers and lots of boy cousins to show him the ropes, teach him how to play Star Wars, wear a cape, shoot bad robots, and make a proper paper airplane...you know, the important things in life.

Arian : )

Crafting Legacies

2011-07-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I spent the afternoon keeping Papa company at his house while my mom is out of town for the week. We chatted, cooked, did some laundry for him---easy stuff.

We also spent some time rummaging through Granny's old crafting wardrobe that still has a lot of her patterns, supplies, and unfinished sewing projects.

I didn't even know she crocheted but apparently at some point she was quite the doily and lace maker.

There are yards of handmade lace, tiny vintage crochet hooks, and a giant tin of old buttons.

I see where we get our habit of organizing by color. : )

And there are boxes of antique necklaces, tiny wrist watches, and beautiful brooches that belonged to Granny or some of her relatives. I love seeing what my grandma and great grandmas thought was beautiful.

It's stuff like this that keeps me crafting. How cool would it be for my great-granddaughter to wear my favorite jewelry or a dress I made (like the green dress in the first pic that was Granny's) or my kids' kids' kids to warm up with something I crocheted.

Like maybe this scarf I finally finished for Andrea's birthday. I used this pattern. I didn't add the tassels and I think my edging turned out differently than the pattern shows. But I love how it turned out and it was a fun challenge to make!

Tomorrow morning we find out if our December baby will be a boy or a girl!! I'll be excited either way. We love having boys and there is something really special about raising boys to be great men. But having a girl would also be pretty sweet too! We'll see!!

Either way, I plan on swinging by my favorite indie yarn shop right after the ultrasound to get gender-appropriate yarn on our way to vacation. My December baby needs at least one mommy-made blanket to keep cozy : )

I'll pop in here and let you know!

Arian

The Horse Farm

2011-07-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Wrapping up the last of our July 4th weekend photos! What a photo-rich weekend! The last day we spent time out at my great-aunt's horse farm. It's been years since I've been there.

(the boys and their great-great Aunt Norma)

There were fish to feed, horses to pet, wild flowers to pick, and a barn and garden to explore.

The boys LOVED petting the horses and the horses were so patient with them.

It was beautiful and calm. We'll definitely have to go back sooner than later.

And here I am sporting my 18-week baby bump ; ) Yay!! Baby Armstrong should be arriving some time around Dec 10th!

Have a good one!
Arian : )

July 4th Weekend Part 2

2011-07-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

The rest of the 4th of July weekend was spent enjoying the peaceful, fresh, internet-free countryside of Kentucky. I love love love time at Papa's house. All is well there.

Food tastes better there and more time is spent making it and eating it together.

Like homemade ice cream in Papa's vintage ice cream maker!

Raspberry chocolate chip on the front porch....yum.

And there's lots of time to play and explore.

And, of course, more fireworks : )

More July 4th adventures to come : )...

July 4th Weekend Part 1

2011-07-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

My dad and a portion of my step-family came in town for the holiday weekend!

We crammed a lot into two days, including enduring 9 innings of the painful slaughter of the Cincinnati Reds to enjoy the big fireworks show at the end.

They were loud but the boys loved them! (despite the look on Jude's face) : )

And, of course, no 4th of July weekend would be complete without hotdogs on the grill and sparklers. God bless America : )

More coming up...

Arian

Happy Birthday, Papa.

2011-07-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

We had such an amazing weekend with lots of celebrating, lots of family, lots of fireworks. From downtown Cincinnati to the back roads of Kentucky...all good stuff. Lots of pics to show soon : )

We celebrated Papa's 91st birthday yesterday. He's one of the best dudes you'll ever meet. Served his country, owned his own small business, built a house on a hill for his wife and daughters, stayed by his wife's side til she died of old age. Still has a job, drives a car, lives in that same house on a hill, builds things with his hands, plays with his great-grandchildren, and can't talk about his country, his bride, his family, and answered prayers without getting all choked up.

Love you, Papa : )

Arian

Impromptu Adventures

2011-06-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the church parking lot down the street to ride their bikes yesterday. But it was so hot, that Hudson quickly ended up sitting on my lap on the pavement in the tiny bit of shade while Jude tried to cool off splashing in the 1" deep puddle that had collected near a drain in the middle of the parking lot. "This is ridiculous, " I thought. "These boys need real shade and real water."

So I grabbed a blanket, water bottles, and books and took a quick look at the satelite view in google maps to see which direction had the most trees. The hope was that, if we hopped in the car and wandered far enough in the right direction, we could find a quiet stream somewhere with lots of shade and a grassy spot to spread out our blanket.

And we did! We headed down a highway we hadn't been down before and just kept turning down smaller and smaller roads til the roads turned gravel, the trees grew thicker, and a little creek ran along side of us.

It was perfect. We picked flowers and skipped rocks and got wet. Just what we needed. Hopefully it was the first of many impromptu adventures this summer where we just pack a lunch, grab a map (or not) and head out to places we haven't been before.

Happy adventuring!

Arian : )

Beautiful.

2011-06-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

What an amaaaazing weekend. A.MA.ZING.

(Hudson and Heron listening to the sound check)

(My sound genius brother-in-law getting things set up)

As we were cooking dinner in the GIANT, GORGEOUS home of my childhood friends who graciously agreed to host the house concert, Josh Garrels, one of our very favorite musicians, was warming up in the background. Daniel and I just kept exchanging joyful "I can't believe this is actually happening!" glances.

We set up for the show, got to know the Garrels a bit over dinner, then the guests started pouring in.

It was a full house! And it's a giant, giant house! At least 1/2 of the people I had never met before which is awesome. The word spread! Everybody was totally captivated by Josh's music. It was beautiful.

Then the Garrels family stayed the night at our house (sweet!) We were up til 2am talking and learning more about each other's lives. Josh and Michelle are such good people.

The next morning we woke up and enjoyed a long, leisurely brunch with my sister and the friends who first introduced us to Josh's music. Lots of conversations about music and collaboration, art, family, hopes for the future, etc.

(the youngest Garrels....how cute is he?!)

It was perfect. I'm sooo grateful for this weekend and hope that our friendship and creative partnership with the Garrels family has only just begun : )

If you haven't downloaded Josh's new, free album please do yourself a favor and do so. Then tell a friend : )

Arian

The Garrels Are Coming!

2011-06-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

SO! PUMPED! Today we get to meet the Garrels, swim in Josh's music live with 100+ friends and family, then hang out with the Garrels family over bagels, coffee, (and whatever else I can cook up) on our back porch in the morning. How cool is that!? It's been a frenzy of house cleaning and concert prepping and there is still lots to do!

If you're local to Cincinnati, come by tonight!! You won't regret it!

Yay!
Arian : )

"White Owl" Josh Garrels video

2011-06-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yay!! We finally finished the Josh Garrels video we've been hard at work on! It ended up being a much bigger project than we've ever attempted. This past week has been a sleepless blur. But a wonderful sleepless blur. It was quite magical... exhausting, but magical. : )

I hope you enjoy it!! I'll do a little "behind the scenes" post later and show you some of the artwork and rough sketches from the creative process.

And you need to stop by Josh's website and download his new album for FREE. It is beautiful.

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads. And happy fathers day to my amazing dad! Love you!!

Arian

The Wire

2011-06-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's go time! Two days left to finish our animated video for Josh Garrels! His new (and free!!!!) album releases Wednesday. Daniel has moved his animation station from his office across town into our bedroom with me (yessssss.) so that we can work side by side (or back to back) to get this thing done in the next 36 hours or so. Probably gonna be a late late night but I LOVE. THIS. Love it!! This will be our fourth video we've made together and hopefully our best. Looking forward to sharing it with you!

(a little sneak preview for ya) ; )

Man Points

2011-06-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Daniel won his fair share of man points this weekend crawling through mud, climbing over cars, dodging tires, running up hills, and jumping over fire at the Warrior Dash. Pretty fun stuff as long as you don't mind sweat, blood, and the risk of dysentery. : )

The boys and I cheered him on from the safety of the sidelines. Though I'm pretty sure Jude's favorite part of the whole day was the 5-minute muddy school bus ride to and from the race site.

The men earned their cuts, bruises, and the free bananas at the end, that's for sure.

We returned home late that night to a BAT in our BEDROOM!! It was dark but I swore I saw something fly pass me into our dark room. "Daaaaaaannnnnnnnielllllllll...........I think something just flew into our room.........I thiiiiiiiink it was a bat." He assured me that I was probably just seeing things, flipped on the lights, looked around the room.....nothing. Then he gently flipped over the pillows on our bed and there. it. was....spread out on our pillows... our PILLOWS!! It took off flying around the room, we ran fast outta there and slammed the door. I quickly gathered any weapons I could think of...a broom, 2 buckets, a former tennis player....

Praise the LORD Daniel played tennis in high school and hasn't lost his aim (or his racquet). I married Daniel for lots of reasons...turns out this was one of them. Skillz.

Hope your weekend was great....hopefully a little cleaner and less bat-infested than ours : )

Arian : )

Granola and "Milk"

2011-06-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun browsing through Ani Phyo's Raw Food recipe book my mother-in-law gave me. We drink plain almond milk here in our house so I though I'd try making our own nut milk. It's super easy! Just blend 5 cups water, 1/2 cup nuts (like cashews or almonds or brazil nuts), a pinch of sea salt, and a bit of sweetener (I used Stevia). You can watch Ani make a vanilla-flavored one here with dates as a sweetener. I want to try that next! Sounds tasty!

You can strain the mixture using a nut milk bag or something similar. But I left the tiny bits of cashew sediment in ours because, when eating it with granola, you don't even notice.

I don't have a recipe for the granola because I just threw it together--- oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, walnuts, flax seeds, chopped apples, cinnamon, melted butter, and maple syrup. You can't really go wrong with yummy ingredients like that!! 350 degrees on a foil-lined baking sheet for 20-25 mins (stirring once or twice). Then let it cool and store it in the fridge! Soooooo good!!

Off to try out some more recipes!

Arian : )

Beautifying

2011-05-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

We're working hard and having fun beautifying our outdoor spaces....lots of trips to the garden center and hardware store and an ever-growing pile of muddy shoes and clothes in the laundry.

Daniel has the vegetables covered, I'm working on herbs and flowers. I pretty much don't know anything about taking care of flowers. I just know I want something pretty and hardy because I will undoubtedly forget to water them. Any tips?

And Jude, as always, is such a sweet little assistant and full of encouraging words--- "Those are beautiful flowers, mommy, you did a good job planting them.", " I like your skirt, mommy, it's just right for my heart.", "It's a wonderful day, mommy, I so love you." He really says this stuff...all day long! He's my own personal, pocket-sized self-esteem booster.

All the fun and hard work makes for some pretty tired boys (and parents) but we're loving it!

How are your outdoor spaces coming along? If you got any photos, post the links in the comments and I will be sure to check them out!

Arian : )

First hats : )

2011-05-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

I crocheted my first baby items--two little baby hats that I'll be taking to one of the plethora of baby showers I'm attending in the next couple weeks. So. Many. Babies!!

Cute, right? I had a ton of fun making them and I recommend this pattern (that I mostly followed) to any beginning crocheter like myself.

Suuuper busy weekend planned--- 2 baby showers, 1 birthday party, 1 dinner party, 1 baby dedication/baby dedication party, and leading worship with my sis in all 5 services at Crossroads! Back to back to back good stuff! And I'm sure I'll be toting along a ball or two of yarn and a crochet hook just in case I have a moment of downtime. : )

Happy Friday!
Arian (and Jude) ; )

Best Job Ever

2011-05-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

I am LOVING the current music video project we are working on. The musician is one of my FAVS so collaborating with him like this is so fun and such an honor!! Plus I love, love, love working with Daniel. And now we've got a new team member, our illustrating/animating friend, Luke!

(Sidenote: Check out this music video Luke created. He wrote the song, performed it, illustrated and and animated the video. Talk about multi-talented!)

We had our first team meeting via skype (Daniel and Luke at their office and me at home) to work out the details of the main two characters. Here's a shot of my screen during the meeting. It's truly a collaborative process with all three of us contributing sketches and ideas. Fuuuuun stuff!!

And Daniel and I spent our weekend evenings nestled in our cozy bedroom, listening to the song on repeat and painting/drawing away!

And here are the stars of the video! I won't show you too much along the way so as not to ruin any fun surprises when the video comes out in June, but I thought it'd be fun to introduce you to our father/son duo.

I think we're gonna really enjoy working in this style....it's a fun combination of real painted textures and digital color. So I'll get to wear my paint smock and get messy with paint and big sheets of paper and all kinds of brushes.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Arian

The sun!

2011-05-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm so grateful for yesterday's blue skies and warm weather!! We jumped right out there and got to work preparing for our summer garden! Hudson loves mowing with our new reel mower and we love that our 6-year-old can mow the whole lawn by himself without inhaling gas fumes or chopping off a valuable appendage.

We're so excited to be in this rental HOUSE with a YARD!! The yard, however, was left uncared for for awhile and there are a lot of dead trees and crazy overgrown bushes to be cleared to make way for the garden and all the lawn parties we hope to have!

So we rolled our sleeves up, called our good friends and garden partners, and got dirty! Loved it. It's going to be a good summer in the backyard.

(Taking a break to talk to Pop Pop on the phone)

We took a break to enjoy our first picnic of the season and our latest batch of home-brewed kombucha. Have any of you guys tried or brewed kombucha? Good stuff!!

Looks like those little feet had a pretty great day--flip flop tan lines and lots of dirt : )

Arian

And the winner is...

2011-05-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

Kim said...

I have two-one is crochet kids-it's similar to this one but kids in impoverished countries make hats and sell them and my other is 140 million orphans. Both great causes! Kim(who Andrea used to live with ;)

So, Kim, head to Sperantsa's site to pick your hat and then drop me an email at arianarmstrong[at]yahoo[dot]com to let me know which one you'd like and where to send it!!

The rest of you should head there too and get a hat or bookmark it for later! I think I might have to add a hat for myself into the order...can't decide between these two though...hmmm

Happy shopping!

Hats for Hope--GIVEAWAY!!

2011-05-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

I pretty much wear hats as long as I can...anything less than 85 degrees is still hat weather to me. A tank top, breezy skirt, flip flops, and a hat is pretty much my fav outfit to wear. And I LOVE products that help people so I 100% support my young friend, Arthur's, attempts to sell 400 Dece hats made by impoverished moms in Romania in the convenience of their own homes. Yay for "work at home moms"! His shop is called Sperantsa.

The hats are awesome, high-quality, and come in tons of styles and colors and I'm GIVING ONE AWAY!! Leave a comment below letting me know your favorite fair trade/non-profit type business. I'll randomly pick a winner on Monday and the winner can pick ANY HAT THEY'D LIKE!!

Here are a few pics from Sperantsa's website...

(awww, Arthur) ; )

Crazy cute, right?! So leave a comment, spread the word, and get yourself (and a friend!) a sweet hat!!

Arian : )

Home print

2011-04-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

I finished the print I started working on last rainy Friday-- a cozy print to match a cozy evening.

It's available in the shop if you're interested!

Did you guys watch any royal wedding footage today? I have to confess, I spent probably an unhealthy amount of time pouring through the video clips and photos of the wedding day and teared up more than once. I thought I was pretty indifferent to the whole occasion. But it turns out I'm a sucker for a beautiful bride and her handsome prince. It's not often that the headline news on cnn is a love story. Kind of a nice break from the usual wars and disasters. Blessings to the royal couple! May their marriage be loving, life-lasting, and full of children : )

Arian

Lovely Easter.

2011-04-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful Easter with friends then family! I hope yours was lovely too!! We started the day with brunch and worship with a house full of some of our favorite people. I'm borrowing the following photos from my photo-talented friend Andrew. I was too busy monitoring Jude's donut intake to take many photos. : )

Lovely ladies, lovely dresses, lovely babies, lovely instruments.

We love the McMurrays!

(me) : )

a sitar, banjo, and several guitars....now THATS some great worship!

and, of course, an amazing spread of Easter carbs : )

Yay! Our family on Easter!! (Thanks for the pics, Andrew!)

After the brunch we headed to the country to be with family for more good food, handmade ice creams, egg hunting, and conversation on the front porch.

Love my boys!

I hope the weekend gave you time to slow down and enjoy spring!

Arian

Finally

2011-04-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

I finally have had a decent amount of time to just draw today. Seems like its been months. Definitely feeling a little rusty. I sat and stared at the empty sketchbook page for what seemed like hours....drawing a few lines, erasing, drawing a few more lines, erasing...

(Jude obviously doesn't feel the need to stay within the boundaries of his paper)

But conditions are perfect... a quiet storm is beating against the giant window in our room, I've got a rainy day play list running on itunes, and the boys are busy making pizzas downstairs. It's going to be our new Friday night family tradition...pizzas made mostly by the boys and then snuggle/movie time. Perfect.

Dinner time!
Happy Friday!!

Arian ; )

Fried Yard Clippings

2011-04-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Jude and Grammy have been enjoying spring today-- spring weather AND spring flowers!!

Grammy taught Jude how to fry dandelions and wild onions from our yard.

First, remove the stems and discard. Then soak and rinse the flowers with salt water to get rid of any dirt or tiny critters.

Dip the dandelions in flour and seasoning (salt, garlic powder, pepper, etc), then in a raw egg/milk mixture, then back in the seasoned flour.

And then just fry them in a pan of oil til lightly browned and crispy

And there you go!

Pretty tasty!

Date night tonight! So excited!! Daniel and I have been working on a detailed weekly family rhythm. Being artists, we tend to be weak in the "planning" area and tend to just go with the flow. But we've really noticed that our family could benefit from some structure in our week. It's going to be great. Things like "date night" and "family night" and "art with friends" will hopefully become regular weekly occurrences in our home.

Do you guys have a regular weekly family schedule or do you just take one week at a time?

Either way, hope you're week is going well!
Arian : )

Cases

2011-04-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I left my iphone on top of our car and drove off. Luckily it was found the next day by a kind stranger, unharmed, in the middle of a busy intersection a few blocks from our home. It's an iphone miracle! This is why people like me need hard cases for all their expensive hand-held devices.

But for the rest of you more responsible folks, may I suggest GelaSkins! They've got hundreds of amazing images to choose from or you can upload your own. We got one for Daniel's mom's ipad for Christmas customized with this picture of my boys playing piano (she's a pianist). She loved it!

And my lovely friend, Mandy, used my "Snowy Night" print for her ipad. I think it turned out great!! Thanks for the photos, Mandy!!

If anyone else is interested in using any of my prints for their smart phone or ipad or nook or whatever, let me know! We can work it out! As for me, I will be sticking to hard cases for now : )

Arian

I'm still here : )

2011-04-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hey! How's it goin? It's been a little while! We've been unpacking and getting settled as quickly as possible. Nothing like hosting a party/house concert to motivate us to get things in order!

We're loving our new home. I love the way the sun pours in at different parts of the day. The sun rises in the dining room and sets in our bedroom...lovely.

And there are plenty of pretty details, like the vintage door knobs and the dark, refinished wood floors.

We're enjoying the spring weather. Our outdoor spaces are in need of some TLC. I see lots of trips to the hardware store and garden center in our future. I picked up this patio table set for free on Craigslist and am excited to transform it!

Loving the spring flowers!

I've got a growing collection of inspiring home images over on pinterest. Is anyone else as addicted to pinterest as I am? It's like my crack. Must... Pin... Pretty....Pictures.

So many ideas and color schemes swimming in my head. Gotta get crackin!

Arian : )

Settling In

2011-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

We're slowly getting settled into our new home. I think it's going to be such a blessing for our family!

We're maybe 1/3 unpacked and they are still doing work on the house (like putting in a new kitchen!) so we're in that "cold cereal out of Styrofoam cups for lunch" and the "I need a glass of wine but don't remember which of the seven 'kitchen' boxes has the bottler opener in it" phase.

But the boys are loving it. Their room is like a cozy tree house. I can't wait to finish it and show you pictures!

And my mom, who stays over once or twice a week, has been working on her little sunny sleeping nook.

We're so grateful for our friend, Eric (on the left) who bought this place just two months ago when it was in quite bad shape. And when he heard we needed a place fast, he and his wonderful crew worked like crazy to make this house beautiful and available for us!

(And still managed to have fun in the process) : )

Plus we welcomed home Tye and Andrea yesterday from their adventures in South Africa!

So happy to have them back! We've already made plans to hit up one of our favorite Cincinnati spots tomorrow morning. Yay!!

I hope your week has been beautiful!

Arian : )

Happy Birthday, babe!

2011-03-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Daniel!! We'll have to postpone our celebrations for a weekend when we're NOT packing everything we own into a giant UHaul. But I just wanted to say you are the best one. For real. The BEST. ONE. I'd be lame without you. You are a rockstar of a husband, friend, son, and dad. And I'm so grateful to be on your team.

(Our wedding day and the long wig my mom "double dog dared" our friend, Dan, to wear during the wedding....which he did.)

(I don't know what is happening in this picture--I wasn't there. This is what happens when I'm not around to keep people in line. Mayhem.)

Love you!!
Arian : )

Just Around the Corner

2011-03-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes making art is more restful than sleep for me. So I traded in a couple hours or so of sleep and ignored the packing boxes tonight for the chance to do a little "just for fun" sketching. It's just a little scene from our busy day.... a moment when we stopped to smell the newly blossomed flowers.

I came across this video about a month ago (I'm probably the LAST person to see it, it's been around for awhile!) But it reminded me to take heart! I love winter but this one has been a particularly hard one. My heart is ready for a new season, new growth, fresh air!

Well I guess it's finally time to crawl in bed with sleeping beauty back there ; ) Shhhh...

Good night!

Arian : )

Welcome Spring!!

2011-03-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I am so pumped for spring!! The trees know it's here. All these flowers popped out over the weekend.

We went for a walk yesterday evening to enjoy the early spring flowers, the warm(er) air, and the sunset over the spring rain-filled river.

Our future new house (5 days til moving day!) has a deck and yard and lots of windows so I am excited to soak. it. in.!

Hope you had a great weekend! Ours was filled with packing and family time.

Thanks, Nana and Pappy, for hanging with the boys!

Mom, aunt, cousins, grandpa...

Happy spring!!
Arian : )

Instagraming!

2011-03-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

I too am smitten with the instragram iphone app. We've been busy prepping for our move next weekend and spending time with family and friends. But there's always time to snap a few fun instagram photos! This week we...

...welcomed mom/Grammy home! She had tons of adventures in South Africa, Egypt, and Paris but is glad to be home. Yay! Did you hear the clip of her and my sis singing?

...worshiped and prayed with good friend four great nights in a row...

...played in the mud and looked forward to having our own yard soon. (own yard = big BIG mud pies)

... and double dated with Daniel's parents downtown at one of Cincinnati's best restaurants

So yeah, what a week!!! Hope yours was great too!

Arian : )

Museum Bench

2011-03-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have a cool opportunity to have my artwork in a museum. Granted, it's a childrens' museum and my art will be on this bench, not hanging up on the wall. But that still counts, right? : )

The museum staff wanted something that fits with the "my neighborhood" theme of this section of the museum so this is the illustration I came up with---colorful and sweet : ) It was a lot of fun to work on. And in a few weeks I'll paint the real thing. Fun stuff!!

I hope you had a good weekend! We went to our first ever roller rink wedding reception. It was pretty awesome. The boys had such a great time! Hudson's determination to learn to roller skate was astounding. He'd fall and cry and get back up, fall and cry and get back up. He was so sweaty and bruised but would not take his skates off til the last possible minute.

My little roller studs : )

We're knee deep in boxes and still have so much to do. It's hard to believe that, two weeks from now, this won't be our home any more!

And keep praying for the hearts and lives in Japan. I've spent 3 years of my life there and have a deep love and respect for the Japanese people. They are incredibly hard-working, loyal, and generous. Seriously...they are amazing people and the images we're seeing on the news are heart breaking to say the least. Our first apartment as a married couple was a tiny one-room apt near Osaka with a two-burner stove and a twin bed. Love that place.

Arian : )

In Progress!

2011-03-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Hey! Looks like we found our new home! And I am pumped!! Our good friend and real estate/landlord extraordinaire just bought a sweet little home one town over from us. He's ripping out all the old carpet, wallpaper, cabinets, appliances, fixtures, etc and making it all pretty and new to rent out! And it should be done just in time for us to move in a few weeks. Yay!

It will be the first time in our married lives that we've had a house all to ourselves...our own yard, own laundry, our own garden!

I snapped a few quick in-progress pics. I'm excited to share the moving, decorating, home making journey with you all as we move into this place and make it our own!

In Progress: Living Room...

In Progress: Dining Room...

In Progress: Kitchen...

In Progress: Master Bedroom...

In Progress: Bathroom...

(I'm no plumber but that does not look right.)

In Progress: Sleeping Nooks...
The house only has 2 bedrooms but it has giant closets. So we're going to get creative with the closet spaces. One closet will have the boys' bunk bed in it. I'll make it cute and cozy....like a fun hide out!

And another closet (below) will be the mother-in-law/mom/Grammy sleeping nook for when my mom comes to stay. I'm thinking shabby-chic cottage feel?

And another (not picture) will be a tiny, tiny studio for me : )

And here's the backyard! It's pre-removal of giant dead tree and pre-planting of flourishing vegetable garden ; )

That's your little "in-progress" home tour. It's amazing how much of a transformation this place will have over the next two weeks! Our friend is a rehabbing machine!

Well, I've got to get back to our giant packing list!

Arian : )

EnterTRAINing Weekend

2011-03-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

Daniel's wonderful parents took us all to EnterTRAINment Junction over the weekend to celebrate Jude's 3rd bday. It's a wonderland of model trains and fun house amusement. I knew Jude would LOVE it but I think we ALL had more fun than expected.

Jude was mesmerized by all the trains.

But my favorite was the fun house full of optical illusion rooms, mazes, etc.

The tilted room was soooo funny.

And this spinning tunnel totally messed with my mind. The walkway wasn't moving but the tunnel wall was spinning and I could NOT stand up straight.

Mirror maze...craziness.

It was almost too much fun for sweet Jude to handle. He was out and drooling before we got back on the highway.

Thanks for such a fun Saturday, Nana and Pappy!!

Arian : )

Noah Video!

2011-03-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

I finally get to show you our latest music video. We've been working on it on and off for awhile so I'm glad it's done! It was a lot of fun to work on!

I did the illustrations in pen then scanned them in and colored them in Photoshop. Then Daniel worked his animating magic with Adobe After Effects. Fun stuff.

We went to Hudson's kindergarten music concert today. It's moments like that where it really sinks in that I'm a mom of a school-aged kid. He's 6!

And he had his second little violin recital over the weekend. Proud of my boy!

Hope your week is a bit more relaxed than ours is!

Arian : )

March 31st.

2011-03-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

(venting beeeegins here....)

Man!! Life has been full of unexpected turns these days! Andrea and Tye's life took an unexpected turn (here) so they'll be coming home March 31st. So my mom, who had bought a ticket to go to South Africa in April hopped on a plane today instead. And we just got word from our landlord that he wants to use spring break to do some work on this apartment so we have til March 31st to MOVE OUT! Hellooooo mad dash to find a place to live, round up boxes, pack, and move to....we don't know where yet!

This month was already going to be pretty jam packed with exciting creative ventures of my own, music video animating with Daniel, business dreaming/planning, and lots of family in town. Moving and house hunting under a tight deadline was NOT in my plans.

BIIIG sigh.

(aaaaand venting over.)

Who knows! Maybe our next place will be awesome...a place where we will finally have the freedom to host and paint and play and run and plant and feel at home like we've been wanting to. Maybe God is swooping in to rescue us and take us to a better place. Our own yard?! Our own laundry?! Maybe!!

And the art will go on! It keeps me sane! I'm sure my sketch book, crocheting projects, and iced coffee will be close by at all times for when I need a creative break from the moving business.

Thanks for letting me vent : )

Better get to cleaning and packing!

Arian

Softie Love

2011-02-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

This week had just floooown by!! It's been great, though!! If you've been checking our pic-a-day blog you've seen some of the celebrating, crafting, shopping, playing, ridiculous video-filming we've been up to this week. Andrea and Tye, on the other hand, have been adventuring all over South Africa and have been w/o much internet access for the past couple weeks so Andrea will catch up on uploading her photos soon. I do know the photos will probably include some wine-tasting, safari-going, ocean-gazing, and shark swimming.

My lovely helper, Laura, and I will be working hard this afternoon on a new collection of cuddly characters to add to my shop. And I've also got a new batch of book plates to add. Lots of good stuff coming soon. So check back!

Arian : )

Mr. & Mrs. Beaver

2011-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Laura, requested this print for her husband's Valentines Day gift because beavers are his favorite animal. A cute beaver couple for a cute human couple : )

Mr. & Mrs. Beaver are now available in the shop in all their adorableness!

Hope you have a fun, relaxing weekend it store! We're gonna be spending the weekend with family as part of Jude's 3rd birthday celebration. He's gonna be THREE! Not sure how I feel about that. Being two has suited him very well. I'm hoping he'll be just as cuddly, sweet, funny, and good-natured at 3!

Happy Friday!
Arian : )

Crochet Victory!

2011-02-17T18:13:00.000-08:00

Yessssss. After 2 "how to crochet" ipod apps, multiple you tube tutorial videos, and roughly 37 failed attempts, I finally figured out the "granny square". Victory! I know it's one small step in the world of crocheting but I can finally check that off my Christmas vacation to-do list. : )

So now I just need to decide what to do with this new power of mine. Granny square garland?

(here)

Granny square afghan?

(probably a granny square baby blanket is more realistic)

Or do I venture into new territory? I looove this pillow!

and this one...

and this hat is pretty sweet too. So many color combo possibilities!

I'm just looking forward to having a reason to make frequent runs to this little yarn shop Jude and I recently discovered within walking distance from our house.

Soooo pretty : )

Are you guys crocheters? I'd love to see what you've made. Post links in the comments and I will be sure to check them out!

You know what else I'm excited about??....WARMER WEATHER!!! I know it's probably just temporary and there's probably another snow storm in our future. But driving with the windows down and the sun roof open has been gloooorious! Hope the weather is lovely in your neck of the woods!

Arian : )

Party Girl

2011-02-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

I finished the crocheting project that's been like therapy for me just in time for my little friend Ruby's birthday!

It was such fun to work on and I'm anxious to start a new project. I downed a few apps for my ipod and have been bookmarking inspirational photos.

Well, hopefully Miss Ruby enjoys her little party banner. Jude turns three next week so maybe I'll get started on one for him!

(Jude trying to get some love from the birthday girl. She was uninterested. He's never had much luck impressing the ladies.)

Arian : )

Candy Bar Wrapper

2011-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another fast, free Valentine's Day printable for you. Pick up a candy bar that has a foil wrapper (this one is a giant Hershey bar) and remove the candy bar's outer wrapper. Click on the image below for the full version then right click or drag to your desktop to save it. Print it, trim it to the right size, tape it in place, and there you go! I embellished this one with a cute little ribbon, a metal rim key tag (got mine at an office supply store) and a heart sticker. And there you go! A quick, easy, little Valentines Day gift : ) You could even write a message on the inside of the wrapper if you wanted.

Do you have any Valentine's Weekend plans? As much as I love my husband and celebrating holidays with him, I get just as excited about doing fun things for our boys. I bought their presents awhile ago. I've got a fun Valentine's Day breakfast planned and we're going to have a fancy, family dinner at home on Valentines Day evening. Good stuff. Hope your weekend is special no matter who you spend it with!

Arian : )

Bag Lady

2011-02-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

My dad is in town for the weekend! He got here late last night. Snow somewhere along the way in West Virginia set him back a couple hours so I got out the sewing machine to keep me occupied while I waited up for him.

I've been wanting to pair these two fabrics together for awhile. So I made this simple tote bag. The inside fabric is a retro-licious remnant from Granny's stash and the outside fabric is soft and sturdy upholstery fabric from my favorite discount fabric store.

I'm definitely a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of sewer-- no pattern, no planning, no measuring...just wing it. It's good for my soul that way.

The boys (and I!) are glad to have PopPop in town, as you can tell by today's pic-a-day. It promises to be a good weekend : )

Muuuuuch Love,
Arian

Coping

2011-02-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the love, hugs, prayers, etc. And thanks for sharing about your losses too. I wish there weren't so many women who can relate! It's quite a bummer to go through.

I have some moments when I feel like super woman--like it's no big deal and I'm totally fine. And then there are other moments, like when I go to reach for my maternity jeans, that I feel a bit lost. It's an odd transition to go from pregnant to not pregnant without a little baby involved.

But we're coping. There are a few songs I've been listening to on repeat, like "Season of Rain" and
"After the Storm". I'm diving into some creative projects and keep yarn and a crochet hook with me most of the time to fill quiet moments.

And we're making good use of all the Starbucks gift cards I got for Christmas (thank you!!). Coffee shops are good because you can be surrounded by people but you don't actually have to talk to them : )

We sketch, and listen to music, and craft, and sip our drinks and let time pass.

It's good.

Thanks again for the love : )
Arian

ps-- I'm probably gonna keep wearing the maternity pants anyways. Skinny jeans with elastic waist bands are a blessing that need not be reserved only for pregnant women ; )

Was loved. Will be missed.

2011-02-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

I hadn't told you guys yet (was waiting til next week!) but we we've been expecting our third baby since December. We found out yesterday, though, that our little one probably never made it past more than a few cells big. My body just didn't catch on until yesterday.

I'm well. We're all well. And we've been getting lots of love, including long-distance love from my sis in South Africa.

Tiny four-celled baby Armstrong was deeply loved, greatly anticipated, and will be missed. We're grateful for the two sweet, healthy babies we already have and are excited about the sweet, healthy babies to come!

Arian : )

Valentines Day Cards!

2011-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

I just added little Valentine's Day cards to the shop! Get a set of 8 (2 of each design) with 8 round, white stickers to seal them closed for $8. OR, get a set of 4 FREE WITH ALL PRINT ORDERS THIS WEEK!

So if someone you love has had an eye on a print (or if you want to treat yourself to a little art this Valentines Day), hop on over! Your print and cards will be sent out Friday : )

Arian : )

Love Letters

2011-01-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

I love Valentine's Day! Even before I had an official Valentine to share it with, it was a day to exchange cute cards and chocolate with friends or buy myself something pretty) ; ) So here is some Valentine's Day cuteness I made for you guys!

Click on the image below then right click or drag to your desktop to save it. Print as many as you'd like and start writing some love letters! I've got more Valentine's goodies for you coming soon! So check back!

We spent the weekend on a couples retreat with a bunch of great friends. It was so refreshing to get away and spend some time with Daniel and other adults sans children. I feel blessed to have so many couples/families/individuals in our life who love us and build into our family regularly. It's very good for my heart : )

Arian

Those Eyes

2011-01-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

I'm finally coming out of the cloud of sickness that had me down for awhile. It's cute to see your kids go into parent mode when you're sick---getting you drinks of water, recommending their own home remedy ideas, lovingly patting your face with their sweaty, sticky hands : )

Jude and I spent the afternoon catching up and reacquainting ourselves with the outside world. It was sweet.

He's a perfect gentlemen of a lunch date, offering me bits of his damp cookie and sips from his cookie crumble water.

His entertaining tales of good robots and bad robots and his plans for the future ("When I'm free (3) years old, I can have gum! And when I'm a grown up, I can drink coffee!" ) are good company.

Plus he has nice eyes : )

Well, lots to catch up on! More soon : )

Arian

Out for the Count

2011-01-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

So last weekend's illness persevered all week and resulted in a trip to the ER last night for a shot of antibiotics (strep throat = difficulty breathing = no fun). Hopefully I'll be up and at it after a weekend of rest. Hope you guys are staying healthy!

At least my boys are having fun! A heavy snow canceled school for 2 days and Hudson wasted no time getting out there and building a snowman and a snow fort.

Btw, here's a link the the Pic-A-Day blog I'm going to be sharing with my sister while she and her husband are working in South Africa for the next 6 months. And you can follow her blog for some amazing stories.

Alright, time to crawl back in bed. Enjoy your weekend!

Arian : )

Pic of the Day

2011-01-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

Despite trading illnesses with my little boys, we had a great weekend with family, celebrating and sending Tye and Andrea off to South Africa for 6 months. It's not like it's the first time we've live far away from each other. I spent 2 1/2 years in Japan right after college and 3 1/2 years in Boston after that. But over the past two years, we've become quite accustomed to being close.....spontaneous coffee dates, thrifting sprees, brunches with mom, family sleep overs, road trips.... plus hearing her on stage every week at Crossroads.

(click photo to enlarge)

So while she's gone, we've decided to share a "pic of the day" blog...one pic of something beautiful or emotional or fun that captures a moment from our day on opposite sides of the globe. I'll have a link for when it's up but here are the first ones from yesterday. I'm excited about it!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Arian : )

New Prints!

2011-01-14T11:33:00.000-08:00

I just added two new prints to the shop! This Good Knight print I just finished today. Any knight can defeat his enemy with a sword. But only a good knight can win over a dragon with love.

(Cuddling with my little boys and working on the drawing last night....good times.)

And this one is available now too!

The weekend is almost here! Hope you have some lovely plans. Andrea and Tye leave for 6 months in South Africa this weekend so we'll be spending as much time with them as possible before they hop on plane!

Gonna miss these guys!!

Have a great weekend!
Arian

Hibernation Mode

2011-01-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over, snow is covering the ground, a chill has set into the bones of this old house, and I am officially in hibernation mode. I am gathering my arsenal of space heaters, thick socks, warm beverages, blankets, and my beautifully melancholy "winter music mix" (i.e. Rosie Thomas, Ray Lamontagne, Josh Garrels....) and focusing on our nest. I'm making it cleaner, more organized, more cozy, and making sure there are plenty of snuggle stations tucked in each room.

It's becoming the perfect environment for crafting and sketching! We've got a new sewing machine, a newly-organized craft supplies pantry (thanks, mom!), lots of yarn, and a stash of vintage fabrics ready and waiting to be crafted into beautiful things for our nest. I need to get crackin! (right after I sip a cup of tea, take a hot bath, and nap) ; )

In the meantime, here's a handful of beautiful, crafty photos (some of my recent flickr faves) for your inspiration!

(here)

(here)

Arian : )