║today my way║: drawing

►►► Nadia is a ballerina, an adventurer, an artist, it really depends on her mood and resources available.

►►► If I wear it, you wear it too... A reindeer stepping outside her comfort zone.

►►► Getting there at an impressively fast rate.

►►► I need to kiss this face immediately!

►►► It's rare that you will ever find Nadia without some sort of creative accessories. Busy week ahead, lazy days around carpeted floor will always find her with less or more serious content to get focused on.

►►► She gets more and more comfortable in our big bed. Yep, that's exactly what's happening around here. And if absolutely necessary, she might just stay there.

►►► Nadia's most beloved activity, sun or rain, school days or not. But let's be real -- the resources are vanishing faster than what says on the box so we do pay attention.

►►► A little something to make my workspace more fun. (Tweaking, changing, re-designing will always be my second name after I've taught the world to pronounce my first correctly ;)

►►► One vintage piece at a time (here are members of my dad's family, doesn't the photo look like a screenshot from Al Capone's movie?)

►►► There's a lot of hard work put into each letter and sign. And it makes all that travel a breeze.

►►► Committed to staying cute x

►►► Stuff yourself crazy at a vintage fair! It was super fun to browse through history I became aware of the minute my nostrils had their share. But it was really worth the wait.

2 comments

Looking at the amount of drawings and paintings collected over time it feels like we spend time doing nothing else than draw and paint around here which is mostly true. And such pleasurable activity if things don't get glued to surfaces that shouldn't get decorated homemade-style. It lifts my spirits knowing a plain sheet of paper gives Nadia more options that Lego bricks or Barbie's closet can (and those as you know don't fail to entertain). Most recent artwork gets hung impressively on the fridge or the side of the wardrobe in her bedroom and each and every sheet has been a loved addition to the growing pile. We kept it in a colourful folder so when the time came to make the treasured possessions more accessible, Nadia couldn't contain her excitement seeing her work once again. She could easily recall the creatures captured in ink and I loved catching up with the princesses phrase and just recently - dogs wearing crowns phrase. We made a decision to put it all in a book - choose the contents lovingly, bind it professionally and cherish eternally. It was more than fun and as long as Nadia's creativity thrives, I'm all in.

There are lots of different ways to create lasting impression as a customer. The trick here is to be friends with the shop owner or vary unusual requests.

And that's material for another book, we know we'll be there soon ;)

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The closer to Christmas the more fabulous activities are happening around the house to get excited, curious, overwhelmed with more than a tiny bit. Not much cooking is going on these days but we do craft like crazy and the big family table gets used properly every time creative thought strikes up. This time we came up with the idea of making our own Christmas cards and stationery of all sorts to the bundles of our joy's delight. Nadia and her two cousins didn't quite know what to start with having all the products they could mess up with at their reach. Immediately their senses activated stimulating creative juices. Everything appealed to busy hands, everything got glued to them and other surfaces accordingly. Not every project was finished off, quite a few could read 'task in progress' or 'will come back to it... one day' because there were some neglected toys awaiting so we called it a day as anything like that could take forever to get produced. But we liked it that way, it's their vision after all.

As for the supplies - let the kids choose what to incorporate in their designs from the whole household. We no longer have straws available and printing paper gets missing in record speed but that's just fine with us. Those things not only expand horizons but magically teach us how to substitute them around house with less used items (and believe me until this day I can't figure out how we let her play with the eggcups, they're foreign to our kitchen now). The best part of time spent on more than just drawing is that Nadia learns colours in English. These days it's all about emphasizing efforts in her second language so she can juggle between shades without blink of an eye. I don't sense a change to this trend anytime soon so prepare yourselves for a rainbow adventure. And we couldn't be more thrilled about that! x

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With extra hour on our hands thanks to daylight saving time painting supplies seem so relevant these days with crayons and pencils being in constant rotation. Although no lack in imagination is to be feared, the majority of materials our art supplies are used on have less and less to offer so our quest was set on more than paper, cardboard, tissues, sporadically walls (it's still happening with my four year old!). We needed something to stimulate our senses again so the nearby beach came with a helping hand gifting us with dozens of pebbles because you'll never get another quite like the previous one. Not before painting neither afterwards. As with most creative duties, technique is of no to low importance - sometimes sublime sometimes clumsy preoccupied hands find what they want on a messy table and put it in good use - let it be paint, stickers, crayons, fingertips of mixed colours to see the magic happening.

We opted for lines and dots, but really the possibilities are endless - sheer fabric, ruffled feather, sparkly dust glued to the gritty surface gaining status of a new toy, useful trinket for the moment ahead. It could be made into a domino, a family of six or a baby's foot tickled by the bristles of a painting brush. Chalk pebbles are the easiest to paint and draw on even with the basic skills however any nature's find is versatile enough to play with it the many different ways. I'm sure there is plenty to be found on the streets, corners of buildings, parks and alleys. All we need to do is pick it up and give it a new life although when it comes to styling nature goes into it cleverly and always does it best. x

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Most times when I write about recent affairs I try hard to sum them up the most eloquent way and easy to understand due to my habit of digressing or not getting to the point eventually. Or just because English is my second language and there are words out there I haven't yet grasped. I try to write detailed posts people would relate to or have the idea of continuation, be able to put all pieces together. I adore bloggers, writing minds for being able to retrospect on every datail that passed on, every emotion wandering inside finds its verbal substitute on paper or on the screen. They tell you as they've seen it sharing a lot of joy out of the simplest of things. I sense a resolution coming: to be more observant, consistent with my daily assignments, tell stories the way I'd love to hear them. So without further ado, here are some recent snippets I raced back to for you to enjoy. And as relaxed as I might feel it always gets the life out of me to believe this is what I really wanted to say. Either way...

Positively crazy about messy play. Laying up our dining table for meals has never had this atmosphere of anticipation and excitement as setting it up for all things crafty, splashy or with crazy amounts of details we find after weeks behind the sofa. I must have spoken before about our life in play dough and the food supply we end up with while at it (how I love pressing the mould for yummy yellow chips). Recently we've been missing printing paper from our printer's feeder but I didn't give it too much thought until I realized this girl needs a proper drawing pad or we'll get bankrupt on paper. Some drawings are finished, some are nowhere near but end up hung up on our fridge anyway. Or piled up on the windowsill. The older ones are safely kept in colourful folder for rotational displays. But we're definitely ready for more.

Friends that talk and those who could. That Nadia comes with her dad to pick me up from work is beyond sweet, I know. That it is past her bed time... well, not so. But it is only a short drive and while at home it doesn't take us long to get ready for bed. But she found out there is this black friendly cat sitting on concrete steps outside my workplace looking at her with those flirty eyes no one can resist. So picture me coming out and seeing her chasing it, petting, talking to it, giggling and sometimes shouting. Has this child have a parent to take it home? (Damian usually observes her antics from a shaded point so nobody is aware she's his. Or mine.) Can this child just stop waking the street up? But the cat is there to laugh at and get impatient with when not coming while called by his name (he's name is Louie). Speaking of coming in contact with others I feared growing up with two boys Nadia would miss on that part of her childhood when she shares her deepest secrets and dreams with a girlfriend so similiar to her, braid hair together and well just be close (I can easily recreate on command time spent with my best friend - the adventures, the emotions!). Those days are here - Nadia spends afternoons chatting away with her new friend Erin over sticks of carrot and soft cheese on a sandwich, they have tea parties for those one eyed dolls in the corner of the playing room, they hold hands, read stories together. It makes my heart skip a lot she's found her tiny soulmate and makes me wonder about all of the amazing things they could be doing together once we go out to play outside kindergarten. Nadia really wanted to invite Erin to her birthday party so we did and had her all to ourselves the whole two hours. She was involved in cooking felt cheese and wooden eggs so wasn't exposed to camera lens too much but telling from what we were given to eat, she had a great time over the stove.

And to top it off every Wednesday I get a little note from Nadia's carer how her day at the kindergarten went. Sometimes it is as sweet as "Nadia has been telling us that she has a DVD with a mouse dancing ballet. She then did a demonstration and when we praised her she got all shy" and sometimes it says "She played with Lego and built a house with a wall." And I'm happy she's having fun, getting independent, making friends. I'm a happy mama.

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I like to do a little bit of everything - amazingly at the same time so never an ordinary activity remains as such for long periods. It obviously creates some unintentional whirlwinds that probably will continue to occur so I apologize for not posting and keeping quiet but I promise we didn't laze about (only when needed). On this day it looks like it was hot and summery but it wasn't. It was windy, a little chilly and fire training at work called for total comfort (flat shoes, tee and a pair of jeans).

Damian took the afternoon off so we had no obligations to anything than venture our shopping mall. We didn't just browse but bought a couple of items (my first pair of ripped below and above the knee jeans which I could put my hands on a little but I guess that's enough of bare skin in this moody weather and also the first pair that fits perfectly. I love H&M jeans, there are a couple of pairs somewhere out there in the mail to me and can't wait to actually CUT THEM! I find only a few pairs {and not those I'm desperate to wear!} that are right for my petite size, all the summer/white/patterned rest is passionately adjusted to my short needs), indulged in delicious comfort foods like pitta bread with sun-dried tomato and basil marinade, grilled chicken and chunky chips, something we almost never change (oops!). We also shared a raspberry cheesecake. It was already a high calorie day, so I just went all out!

In other news I haven't been able to enjoy some of the week because of a nasty ear infection that hurts like no other. I'm the last person to turn to antibiotics or painkillers so I guess I made it worse just by procrastinating taking them, trying to see how long I can survive. The pain was unbearable for the first two days waking me up at five in the morning and I can only wish the antibiotic to clear this up soon.

Also do you remember when I spoke of being on a friendship edge? Almost slipping away. Well, the helping hand has reemerged, building blocks of communication and trust are slowly piling up (we're past the foundations so it can only get better) through little chats here and there. For many good reasons my cousin and I have found ourselves open for knowledge and understanding and will let things happen naturally on a short trip to Cracow (Kraków in Polish) later in July (it is my beloved Polish town I secretly dream of buying a whole tenement house there, merge two floors to live on and rent the rest. I'm pretty certain about it). Tickets booked, sweet hotel right in the middle of a Jewish quarter designed in a vintage, very sentimental and romantic style chosen, theater and event guides bookmarked. I can't wait to slip into whatever is next in this friendship for us but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bad dream about us going separate ways once everything is said and misunderstood. I'm not going there to tell her I will change, I'm hopeful for a new path we will both happily step on as grown up women with different points of view and experiences.

Have a great weekend! x

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