I Am the One Who

Feels so lucky to be living this life, right here, right now. Every moment is precious. This first week has not been easy. My husband and are walking around with puffy eyes and white faces from stress and like of sleep. However, we are happy. We are grateful. We love our "petite and precious" baby boy. We are learning as we go. Our hearts are full of love.
Wishing you all a heart full of love, too.
Blessings,
Briana

Blessed and Thankful

My beautiful baby has been born! I have trying to document this amazing journey of labor, delivery, and now being a mother. Thank goodness for my iPhone. I love that I can type notes and take pictures. If this works, I can even create a blog post!
Just want to say, "thank you". I am sending love and gratitude out into the world.

Maternity Self-Portraits

Self-portraits are a wonderful form of personal expression.  Personal expression through various art mediums is something that gives my life meaning.  You can see these photos, as well as many others on my Orange Spiral Arts Facebook Page.  Come on over.

Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate

I was inspired by Kira and Roben-Marie to work with my Gelli Arts Printing Plate (8 inches x 10 inches) this weekend.  I made a couple of videos, too, but haven't figured out the ticket to uploading them to Blogger.  I will work on it. If you have any tips, please share them in the comments.  

I used various papers, as well as BioColor Paint and cheap acrylic paint.  The brayer was my friend, as well as a number of stencils.  The bottom two photos show a wood grain stencil.

A Blissful Birth is Soon to Come

It is still hard for me to believe, though the word BELIEVE has been my mantra. The truth is, soon I will have a son. Soon I will become a mother. Soon, my husband and I will be on the journey of parenthood. My friends who are parents tell me it is one of the bravest, most challenging, and most wonderful choices that a human can make in this life.
As my son rolls around and kicks from inside my belly, I imagine him growing strong. I imagine him getting ready to enter the world. I send him Iove and kindness through the skin of my belly, through my warm hands. He is a miracle to me. I am so excited to meet him, hold him, feed him, play with him, and show him this beautiful world. I am truly grateful.
If you are here reading this, may I ask you to hold us in your hearts and positive thoughts for the coming weeks? I am 35 weeks and 4 days along now. This next month is going to go so fast! I am hoping to have a water birth. Please send good vibes our way, so that we can all be safe and healthy in labor, delivery, and post-partum. I appreciate you, and I appreciate this life.
Sending love and peace to you all, as well!
Namaste,
Briana

Stress to De-stress {Naturally}

The day started out a little rough yesterday when the car died in the fast lane, in the middle of morning rush hour.  A state trooper pulled up behind me to see what was going on.  I was on the phone with my husband trying to figure out what was wrong with the car.  The trooper said he'd call a tow, but I wanted to use AAA, which I didn't think to mention in time before he went back to his truck.
Anyway, the car started again after cooling off.  The trooper helped me get back into traffic, so I could get off on the first exit.  From there, I talked with my husband again, and we decided I'd just drive home.  Unfortunately, the car died again.  This time, I was in an Elementary School parking lot where I was turning around, but the vehicle died in the middle of the driveway to the side street.  Fortunately, the car started again after cooling off.  I parked in the back of the school lot by the playground and patiently waited for my husband to meet me.

 This is how dark it is when I drive to work.

This is me, trying to maintain a positive attitude at 6:45am, in a broken car.

He was going to drive the broken car home, and I would drive his truck.  The plan worked.  We made it home.  Yay!
By the way, we had the car in the shop the day prior, but it was working beautifully, so the mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with it.  (For the teachers out there, it's like when you request to have a child observed for behavior issues, and the child acts like a little angel the whole time!)

After some of research and purchasing of parts, my husband fixed the car.  We test drove it to the state park to get a little rejuvenation.  It was a beautiful evening.  Wish me luck on my morning commute the rest of this week and beyond!!

Hope your day is great!

Blessings,

Briana

{BYOB} Bring Your Own Brushes Event Results

I had so much fun today watching Connie Hozvicka of Dirty Footprints Studio work on a BIG FEARLESS Painting live on Ustream.  She suggested that we BYOB (bring your own brushes) and paint with her.  It was like having an art party, or a friend over for an art day.  What fun!  People from all over the world could chat, too!  The internet is AMAZING!