To the Sea and Back

We've been to the sea and back with my dad, sister, and a large portion of my step family, hence the long pause in blog posts. But no worries, there is no shortage of photos to share with you : )

We tried to make the journey just as fun as the destination by taking our time, enjoying the scenery, eating good food, and resting in comfy hotel beds on the way.

The soundtrack to our journey was nearly 20 hours of the audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring. Amazing. Sipping iced coffee, driving into the sunset, listening to the epic adventures of hobbits and dwarfs and elves and wizards---pretty sweet.

And we feasted on vacation. Seriously the BEST donuts I've ever had. The donuts alone might be worth another trip to North Carolina : )

Raw oyster deliciousness.

More donuts : )

Vacation was also a time for lots of baby cuddling! Wilco and Eli got lots and lots of love.

We played together,

and relaxed together

and celebrated fathers together!

Yep, the journey to the sea and back was good for us.

Arian : )

No pressure.

Tattoos are the craziest thing to design. Having you art work permanently displayed on someone's body...crazy. Especially when it's a good friend that you see regularly and want to remain friends with : )  So when Ang asked me to design her first (and giant and very visible) tattoo months and months ago I was flattered and intimidated.

Her vision for it was birds emerging from dust and flying into freedom. It's based on the Gungor song that talks about God making beautiful things out of dust and is a reminder of the freedom God wants for her.

I don't have any tattoos but doing this one made me more interested in getting one (sorry, dad) ; )  I'm glad it turned out so well (shew!!) and Ang and I can still be friends : )

Btw, I am not currently taking on any additional freelance or custom work. But if there is something I've already done that you feel like getting permanently inked onto your body, go for it! Just send me a pic 'cause I'd love to see!

Arian

Kickstartin Seabird

It was Thursday, August 7th, 2008. The challenges of balancing motherhood/wifehood while still trying to pursue art were wearing me down and I was just about to close up the ole Etsy shop and put art aside indefinitely. I downloaded the new album of a Cincinnati-based band, Seabird, I had heard of and went out for a late night seaside run to think things through (we lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts at the time, there's an ocean there : )

Sing 'til your heart hurts, then sing some more
Don't stop singing 'til we see the shore
Sing it loud and clear, I promise you
Someone will hear you sing

I don't know. It meant something to me. It made me decide to keep making art even when it was hard--to pour my heart into it and trust that it will mean something to someone else too.

So I went home and drew this little print--a lone sailor on rough seas, singin his heart out. To make sure it was okay to sell the print with their lyrics online, I sent the band a quick email. They got back right away, said they liked my art, and asked if I'd make some tshirts for them. Heck yeah! I was so encouraged! Maybe my art WAS worth making!

Since then I've made lots of art for the nice Seabird fellas! And we're buddies now! We live near Cincinnati too now so we go to all the shows that we can.

Now Seabird is hoping to make their first independent record and they are raising the funds to do so via Kickstarter. It's kind of a make or break thing for them.  Raise the money in time and they will keep singing. If not, who knows.

SO SUPPORT SEABIRD! The world needs to hear more of their music and I want to keep going to their shows and being inspired by their songs.

So hop on over and at least pre-order the album. But after you check out all the sweet incentives, I hope you'll pledge more.

Thanks for reading!

Arian : )

On Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you superstar moms (especially mine)!

Love,
Arian

This week...

...we drove to the country to bury our friends' son who spent 20 or so weeks in his mommy's belly then went straight to the arms of his Father in heaven.






and in doing so celebrated the kids we DO get to hold for awhile



...I kissed these cheeks again and again and again


because how could I resist?!


... I took some tiny gentlemen on a coffee date





...I stayed up late to craft and enjoy a quiet house


and make a comfy cute shirt for myself from Sew What You Love


...we got our first plants in the ground. It's going to be a good season.


... I ended the week with a resolution to be better at resting.



Hope you had a great week! Here's to the start of a new one!

Arian : )

Weekend adventures

My mom's Christmas present to the boys was the promise of adventure--a bacon breakfast, a back roads Kentucky trip, old time treats, dinosaur bones, and souvenirs to remember the day.


The boys cashed in on Grammy's promise this weekend. With binoculars, map, and animal tracks book in hand we set out for adventure!





Big Bone Lick State Park





Bison!





Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.








Drinking sarsaparilla...yum.


Antiques.


The youngest wide-eyed adventurer.


I love adventure days. I wonder where the back roads will take us next!

Arian