ah, summer...

it's hard to believe that this is the same yard and the same kiddo as my last posting... no snow! it's sweet summertime! 

SO much has been growing/changing in our lives, all for the GOOD, but i've been awfully quiet in this space as we've been awfully busy in real life - finally feeling settled into our new house, working on lots of fun home projects, playing pretend and spying on the neighborhood with pink binoculars (as seen above!), and we all spend our days chasing lucy who is a handful at this age! she's almost 18 months and has no fear! let's just say she is a wonderfully curious little being (!), but i'm pretty sure she's given me my first gray hairs!

all is well and we are soaking up these delicious summer days together!

ada is off to kindergarten in the fall and i just might finally find the time to get back to work and this space. i've got a ZILLION ideas and a just little bit of time, but i'm excited to take a stab at a little reinvention of the blog and make new artwork once the leaves begin to fall. 

as for now, we'll be playing in the yard and taking weekend adventures to the seashore... 

follow along on instagram! 

hope you are well in your corner of the world! 

xo *s

let it snow let it snow let it snow...

it's snowing again as i type this today, but this is ada the day before Thanksgiving in our new yard... yes! we MOVED and bought our first house late this Fall! 

Hence the silence in this space! It's been a complete whirlwind, (total understatement) but all for the better... We couldn't be happier with our decision to move as it's brought us closer to family and given us a LOT more room- both inside and OUT. there's a BIG yard for the kids to roam, run, and ride bikes! there's more room inside for all of us too- I can't wait for the Spring when you'll find me on the big screened in porch off of the living room! we even have a playroom which is a big deal with little ones. It's truly a dream come true for our little family. We're still sort of pinching ourselves! 

 

upside of now having a playroom- everything is corralled in one place, the downside- it never ever going to be tidy!

my new "clean slate" studio is almost ready... ! 

My studio has been in boxes for months, but that's been okay as I've been very busy setting up everything around the rest of the house. It's challenging to start every sentence with "I wish I knew where _____ " was, OR "I think we'll find that soon...", but I finally feel that we are getting a bit closer to feeling *kind of* settled. It's going to be an ongoing project to find a "home" for everything, luckily I love working on putting things in their place and organizing and it's the perfect season to stay inside to work. Ada and I have been doing A LOT of drawing and creative projects... some I'll share soon! She's very prolific and I LOVE watching her create as it's so inspiring to just watch her dive in and play... 

 

The girls did GREAT with the move, I think they definitely settled in faster than we did and are SO happy in their new PINK (!) room.  Lucy decided to start crawling and pulling up the week we moved so all of the boxed served as perfect barricades! She's now *almost walking* and in what can only be called her "screeching" mode. *sigh* There's been a lot of NOT sleeping around here with teething in full effect, so that's been well, it's just been...  I look forward to the night when I can sleep for more than 3 hours straight and wonder if it will ever happen again... ( I *know* it will... but still!, it's hard!!!) 

I can't wait to share some more here soon, but I thought I'd pop in and say hello as it's been too long! happy winter and 2015! 

 

I've been taking it all very SLOWLY and focusing on the girls, so no calendars this year (blame lucy and the move), but I have put up a little sale over in the etsy shop, so be sure to check it out as I have some new fun notebook sets! It's felt a bit strange to take this chunk of time away from my art and work, but it's been really special and wonderful to be able to fully focus on our new home and the kiddos! AND, since I'm completely sleep deprived these days, it's been a total blessing! 

I'm excited for what the new year is going to bring and I look forward to sharing more... xo *s

well hello there...

how are you? i hope you've had a fantastic summer and are settling into a new fall routine... 

we had a summer that went by all too fast, but we did manage to squeeze in some fun. 

i was very busy here with my online class- it was amazing, yet challenging to get it all done with two little ones. i had many a late night only to be woken up a couple hours later by the babe. oof! i'm deep in sleep debt these days, but I know if won't always be the case, so i'm trying to embrace it! ha! 

my class began in July and this week is the last official week before I move onto other projects, AND  i'm planning to get back to this space now that class is over. as a mama, i've learned that i can just do ONE other "thing" outside of being a mama to two wonderful, yet extremely energetic little gals. 

believe it or not, lucy is about to turn 8 months old! she's attempting to crawl, chomping down on anything and everything with 2 sharp teeth, making lots of sing-songy noises, AND sitting up all by herself. (until her sister comes and hugs/tackles her which happens all too often)! 

Ada continues to be a fantastic big sister and seems to be growing and maturing right before our eyes. I think someone pressed a "fast-forward" button shortly after she turned 4 this Spring. She is in school 3 mornings a week and is doing VERY important "work"- lots of field trips and playing! I still try NOT to think about the fact that she is off to Kindergarten next year, and would like to know where the "pause" button is! 

we also have so much going on "behind the scenes" in our everyday life, so writing here has certainly gotten pushed to the side... taking a little break here allowed me to SEE it a bit more clearly- I'm going to be working on lots of new and updated material here and on my website/shop this Fall. I'm excited to share with you soon... 

time to go get a bit more done while lucy takes her "please let it last more than an hour" morning nap. eesh! 

xoxo *s

photo: ada and the polka dot train at the trolley museum. amazing, isn't it??? 

sneak peek!!!

color pattern paint promo from Sarah Ahearn Bellemare on Vimeo.

it's here! a little sneak peek of my class! we had a lot of fun putting it together! the only challenge was finding a time when there wasn't a babbling and/or fussy baby in the background... but that's what i get for working from home! what you don't see is A LOT of footage of ada wandering through the studio... ya know, just "passing by" as she claimed! then she finally admitted: "i want your students to know you have a child". ahem. so, she got her cameo at the end AND got to be the one to say "action". ha! whatever works is my motto these days! 

i hope you'll enjoy watching a little peek into what the class will be like! 

and yes, space is limited, so sign-up for your spot! class begins on july 14!!! 

i'm SO excited! xo, *s

ps: if you are a returning online student (you've taken p&p or ppw part 1) there is a super discount code! just email me at colorpatternpaint AT gmail.com in case you need the code! thanks! 

my sister's sea salt!

check out my sister's new business - atlantic saltworks! my big sister heather has been one of the biggest cheerleaders in my career, and i am SO proud of her for following her passion to be her own boss! she and her college friend alison have started an amazing saltworks and it has taken off! you can read all about their venture here, but i want to also tell you my side of the story. 

heather moved out to colorado from massachusetts when i when i was in college, just as we were getting to be quite close as "grown ups" (ha!), when we were both out of the house and off at college. we were at the same school - i was a freshman when she was a senior - and it was so comforting being able to escape the dorm life to hang out at her apartment. i felt really lucky to have my big sister close by that year! i was really sad when she moved far across the country, and it was tough not seeing her more than once or twice a year for many years, but i'm happy i can say we see her much more now! lucky for us, she moved back to new england just after ada was born, as she decided that it was time to be closer to our family. we are SO happy, because she is hands down, the best aunt EVAH! and yes that's said with a boston accent since she lives just north of the city, but better yet, she lives right near our favorite beach! we try to visit as often as we possible can, because ada just LOVES the beach... it truly is a magical one! 

 

it was actually on that very beach day last summer when heather asked to borrow my empty water bottle to collect some salt for an "experiment" she and her friend alison were doing... i was paying more attention to ada running down the beach at the time then to what the "experiment" was, but let's just say that little experiment worked, and that's how Atlantic Saltworks was born! 

i like it sprinkled on a perfectly ripe avocado best! 

i'm just so proud of my big sister and can't wait to see where their salt will take them... they are on kickstarter right now to help fund a larger production facility so that they are able to support the current and future demand for their products - restaurants and shops are scooping it up! 

and you can too!!! head on over and show them some love! (a little sister thanks you!) 

four years / 3 months

top: a "late" night out at target trying on some shades while picking up school snack

bottom: some of the little decorations we had around (and still have) to celebrate ada's birthday

ada turned 4 last week! what?! how did this happen? we threw a pretty fun party for her little pals complete with a butterfly pinata AND a butterfly cake. the butterfly theme, as you may have guessed, was her request, and this year it was really fun to have her help me make the cake! for favors, in an effort to not give out toys/candy/plastic stuff you don't really need, all the kiddos got colorful butterfly nets. ada used hers this weekend to catch some tadpoles AND a frog... she even *almost* caught a butterfly!

our collaborative cake!

our favorite part of ada's party was when we walked over to campus to see the Smith College Illumination Night - when the whole campus is magically lit up with japanese paper lanterns as part of their graduation celebration- but as far as ada knows, it's for her birthday as we've done it every year. once we made it through the crowds with our pajama clad toddlers (and babies) in tow, we let the kids run around the green in the darkness. we could only identify them by their glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces as they ran screeching with joy. it was SO fun... in fact, when asked about her birthday, she told everyone about getting to wear her pajamas to campus- that was her favorite part, and mine too!

just look at those cheeks!

as for little lucy, well, she's been a trooper- participating in all of the activities by snoozing away in her wrap! when she's not sleeping these days, she's happily wide awake looking all around and taking in her surroundings. she's been smiling, laughing, and "talking" up a storm too. i'm liking this 3 month mark! 

this week was

here's what my week looked like - 

IN / ON / OUT !

IN the studio this week quite a bit. paint stained hands and creative juices flowing!
hurrah! thanks, every day in may!
(will recap in more detail next week)!

clean house, fresh flowers ON the table, sleeping baby
(bonus: the table is not covered in other stuff as it usually is)

OUT: we feel so lucky to have this amazing scene as our "backyard"

IN her wrap. a walk OUTside, lots of pink petals found ON the ground
lucy loves being in this wrap. 
i was inspired by the colors + patterns i found when we were 
out and about this week. pink and gray and stripes? yes please!

*happy friday*
xo, s

it is always a big deal for me to put a new venture out into the world, especially one that is so near and dear to my heart! {color pattern paint} has been swirling around in my brain for what feels like a very long time, and letting it go, so to speak, is well, exciting and stressful all at once! 

for me to get it "out there", it takes lots of little baby steps... my GIANT idea needed to get out of my brain and onto paper. yep, paper! i have a big ole notebook for my workshop planning where every little idea/note/detail is written. this course has been in the works since the first one, pages & paint 2012, ended, because that's when i started getting the "please will you make a part 2"emails! so, that notebook is quite full as it's been around for a while, and i'm sure it's what has kept me going to follow through with this class! the notebook certainly isn't pretty - there are lots of scribbles, lines drawn through paragraphs of writing, arrows and lines connecting ideas, lots of items with big stars, lots of question marks, post-it notes galore, and lots and lots and lots of lists. i've worked hard to sort all of the "mess", but most recently, i called in my sister, my biz guru, for assistance. it's always helpful to have another set of eyes to help organize and make sense of these sorts things, and she helped me turn my "mess" into a master plan.  together, we worked on getting ALL the info into one neat to-do list. from there, i worked my way down the list. i also began to create the website for the course, write up all of the content of my brain/notebook in an organized way in Word rather than just on paper, i then loaded it up online, and eventually hit publish. yikes. it made my stomach turn upside down to do so, BUT! i am thrilled at your response!  you are jumping in with me and we are going to have SO MUCH FUN painting together this summer! we're gathering quite an amazing group so far - lots of returning students as well as many new-to-me folks... i can't wait to get to know you all and your work! 

so these days, i'm busy behind the scenes getting our virtual classroom and studio tidied up for you! and as i'm getting it all set, i keep coming up with even MORE ideas to add into the course content! luckily, i've been carrying that notebook with me whenever i leave the house, so i've been adding in notes whenever i get the chance. sometimes these "extra" ideas come to me at the most interesting times... in the shower, on the long walks i've been taking with the girls, at 3 am when i'm up with lucy, in the car on the 1/2 hour drive to pick up ada at school... 

perhaps it's that SPRING has finally arrived here in western massachusetts, perhaps it's that i took a much needed maternity leave, perhaps it's those postpartum hormones that make me think i can do things like write books and tackle big projects... 

whatever it is, i'm awfully thankful! it feels SO GOOD when those creative juices are flowing! 

want to paint along with us this summer? time to begin your creative journey?! join in! all the details are over here: www.paintedpagesworkshop.com