Weekend in review

Loving, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

We had a great time in Des Moines celebrating Bethany's graduation - party on Friday, Saturday ceremony, then headed home Sunday for the annual watching of the Indy 500.

One of the exciting things about this weekend was my big purchase of a new MacBook. I will be handing over the school's iBook when I finish my teaching year next week, and I didn't think I could go a day without my precious laptop. This one is very new and improved. It was love at first sight! They were running a sale on printers, so I upgraded our home printer as well. The new printer and the Bam Pop paper I ordered online inspired me to take some pictures this afternoon - I printed them and went straight upstairs for a little holiday scrapbooking. I'm very pleased with the printing quality! My first 8 1/2" x 11" page - looking forward to doing more in this format.

Here's to a short work week! Enjoy, everyone!

Congrats grad!

grad, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

I love you and I'm proud of you!

Sushi night!

One of the things I look forward to during the week is heading to Reminisce to work on Thursdays and see all the new stuff - and sushi night! It has become a bit of a tradition to order some take-out sushi for dinner during work. Tonight Missy and I were really enjoying ourselves - and celebrating that the Love, Elsie line has finally arrived. Love, indeed. I controlled myself pretty well, but I have a feeling I have more purchases of this adorable stuff in my future... Another reason to celebrate - this is post #200 to my blog! Can't believe it!

Off to get ready for our trip to Des Moines to join the graduation festivities!

Don't quit your day job...

Last night I painted my first window advertisement at Bill's dealership. Not so bad for a first time, I'd say, but next time I'd like to get some images up there to go along with the letters. If there *is* a next time, hee hee.

In other job news... most of you who read this blog probably already know this, but I've decided to leave my position teaching elementary art and I've accepted a job at an art and music centered preschool in Iowa City. I wasn't really in the market for a new job, but when this came up, and I went to visit the school, I just had a great feeling about it. There are lots of reasons I decided to make the change, including it is much closer to home, and it will be less hours and a more relaxed pace. I love working with the younger students - the kids at Preucil are 3,4, & 5 year olds. One thing I am really looking forward to is that I will be teaching one class of 17 each day - instead of the 150 I see every day at school. And I get to work with them on art, but also everything else - reading, writing, and creating of all kinds. The school is based on the Reggio Emilia approach, which is very student directed and respects the students knowledge and interests. The last day of school is June 7th, and I start my new job on June 11th - not wasting any time!

Iowa's state flower!

So, I was looking around for what this flower is and discovered that it is a wild rose (I think) and that is Iowa's state flower. Pretty cool!

Happy Monday

The fish quilt tops are sewn and ready to pass on to the parent volunteer who is going to quilt them. Yeah!

If you want a good Monday laugh, check out this flickr set.

Scrappin' Fever

I've been busy scrappin in my free time lately - I think I broke a personal record by completing an album for Chalk the Walk only a week after it happened. I was just really inspired by the fun pictures and new products from Reminisce, including these KI Memories felt letters, American Crafts Thickers alphabet stickers and the Autumn Leaves French Twist paper and chipboard journaling shapes - and of course the beloved Signo white pen!
Here's the front cover - I think it needs a little flair - any ideas?


Friday night we had our monthly teacher crop at Kim's house - I got lots accomplished - including this layout of Cleo.
A bush in our backyard started blooming with these beautiful pink flowers this week. Does anyone know what they are?

Also keeping busy sewing together those fish quilts, writing an article for the Reminsce newsletter, making something special for Bethany's graduation next weekend, and getting ready for the end of the school year. Should be a busy few weeks ahead!

A few favorites...

... from the past few days. Bill with nephews Jake & Dylan on Mother's Day.
Cleo soaking up the spring sunshine in the windowsill.
4th grade boys showing off their 3-D masks
and a work-in-progress shot of one of the panels I'm sewing with the gyotaku fish prints we all know and love.

Rooster+Fountain

Rooster+Fountain, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

Finally got the pump and fountain hooked up in our little pond this morning. I love the rooster so much - that window behind him faces our bathroom, so I can see him in the mornings when I am getting ready. The giant rooster head looking in our window has only spooked me a few times.

Wednesday Links

Friend Dona posted some more fun pictures from when she came to visit us on Saturday. You can see them here.

Excited about new music from Bjork (she's so crazy - check out the link for evidence), Tori (ok, she might be more crazy), and Michael Buble (his voice makes me swoon). Also lovin' the recently aquired Amy Winehouse and new Joss Stone.

And for extreme cuteness, check out the flickr House Party pool and Fifi.
Ok, better get back to work!

Chalk the Walk 07

Wendy and I had a great time participating in the 2nd annual Madonnari festival in Mount Vernon, IA this past weekend. The weather wasn't quite as cooperative as last year, but fun was had nonetheless! We decided on a reproduction of Van Gogh's bedroom for our piece, which turned into a bit of a parody when we girly-fied it into "Van Gogh's girlfriend's bedroom".
Saturday we started out by finding our 8'x10' spot on the main street and drawing out a grid of one foot squares. That called for a break to head down to Fuel/Nest, a great coffee shop and art shop downtown to claim a large metal rooster for each of us. Sounds funny - but we fell in love with them last May, and by the time we showed our interest, they were sold. So we weren't wasting any time this year and the roosters are *ours*. love!
The rest of Saturday was spent sketching out the shapes of our piece and filling in about half the color - along with a fair bit of socializing and eating. We finished off the night with a yummy grilled dinner at Wendy and Jeremy's and some board games.
Sunday morning was cold (for May) and windy, so we slowly made our way to our spot, coffee in hand, determined to finish before the impending rain storms made it to Mt. Vernon. Meanwhile, one of the local news stations showed up and wanted to interview us about our piece and the festival - I was on the 5:30, 10:00pm, and apparently this morning's news! That was exciting and embarrassing at the same time!
The rain held off until we took a break for lunch, then a steady rain started the long process of washing the art away. A few people tried to cover their chalk or continue to work in the wetness, but since we were already mostly done, we said C'est la vie! and went off to pick up our roosters and have a delicious cup of hot chocolate. All in all, an excellent weekend. If you would like to see more pictures, check out Wendy's blog or my Flickr photoset. I also added the first photo above to the group pool for 24 hours of Flickr - a collaborative project to share photos from May 5, 2007, some of which will eventually be made into a book. Check it out - lots of really great photos.

Ok, all you master gardeners out there...

and I'm sure there are a TON who read my blog - ha ha! So now that I know we have a patch of aparagus in our backyard, and I cleaned out the old growth from last year, I'm wondering what and when to do with it. Is it too tall to harvest now? If not, how do I? Hmm....
And while we're at it, what's this, do you think?

Happy May Day!

Happy first day of May! I actually got a May basket from a student today, that was sweet. I love the memories of making baskets and leaving them at friends' doors. Also our last day of gyotaku fish printing today. I got a kick out of the message one of my students left on my white board.
Also had a fun art night with Wendy last night working in some decos and planning for Chalk the Walk. You might remember me posting about it last year. If you'd like to read more about it, look here. Anyone who is nearby should make a stop on Saturday or Sunday. We'll be there all day both days, weather permitting. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine and mild temperatures!