beautiful words, a reminder of love

I received an email last week from a lovely customer who had purchased a set of mini-prints from me a while back, as a gift for her dear friend. She wanted to let me know what she'd made with them after some time spent deciding how she'd present them (there are lots of things you can do with them!). Her friend collects decorative coasters, so using some tiles and felt she had made a set of special coasters for her with the prints! (See the photo above that she sent me of a few of them)... What a gorgeous idea!

It was so wonderful to hear and see this... and best of all the sweet words she wrote - that her friend 'can know how loved she is every time she sees the beautiful words.'

It's absolute magic for me to think that my work might remind someone of how loved they are!

(mini print sets are available here on Felt and here on Etsy)

Happy new year xx

Hello 2012!

We are so excited about all that you have in store for us...

New years day, 2012

Happy new year everyone!

Wishing you all much love and goodness for the year ahead xxx

Thank you 2011

Dear 2011,

In so many ways you have been our best year ever and I will always remember you with much love, happiness and gratitude.

Thank you for everything.

xxx

Dear Maia (your first roadie)...

6 days old, with your dad

Soon after you were born, your dad had to go back to Rotorua for the final 2 weeks of his recruit training, so for a little while it was just you and me together, getting to know each other. Your dad and I talked every night and I would tell him all about you...

8 days old, you and me

It was the hardest thing for all of us having him away, but we had so much amazing support from our family and friends. Look at all the love we were sent for you...

I soaked up the celebration and newness of you for as long as I could (it's not that long ago that I finally took the cards down)!

When you were just 2 weeks old, we headed away on your first ever roadie to see your dad graduate! It was a serious adventure for your new mama with you being so little!

2 weeks old, road trip to Rotorua for dad's graduation

I was so grateful for so many things... grateful that you arrived a week early which meant when the time came we felt ready enough to make the trip... grateful for your wonderful grandparents and uncle who helped us get there (we couldn't have done it without a support crew!)... grateful for the chance for us to be together on such a special day for your dad...

Grateful for our parents (your wonderful grandies!) who are always there for us, providing the most incredible support and so much love... They all think you're just the bees knees little Maia...

Grateful for your dad... for having him in my life for as long as I have, for all of our experiences, and for growing up together... Your dad, who I could not have been more proud of after such an amazing journey and who I love so much more than I could ever really say.

And so very very grateful for you Maia, our beautiful baby girl... for love, for happiness, for family... and being together again.

Dear Maia (happy first Christmas)...

Today has been beautiful...

(gorgeous Christmas buntings - a free printable download! from Team Kitten)

...filled with all the things that make a Christmas day perfect... family, laughter, great food, loads of blue sky and sunshine...

and blissful naps.

Happy first Christmas baby xxx

Dear Maia (you were born on a Monday)...

You were born on a Monday.

In a world where Mondays are generally not a favourite day of the week for many, I have come to love them. Throughout our pregnancy Monday was my 'count' day, the day each week that we knew we were another week along and another week closer to you. So it seemed appropriate somehow that it was on a Monday that you arrived.

It was the middle of August when you decided you were ready, exactly a week early and right as we were having the coldest snap of the year. So cold that it actually SNOWED in Wellington for the first time in 30 years!

Snow falling on the green across the road from our house

(thanks Mum for this photo!)

It was quite the amazing adventure we had together that day (19 and a half hours!), one that your dad and I will never forget. We were seriously counting our blessings when he made it home from Rotorua in time to be with us for your birth. His flight was the last to land before they closed Wellington airport due to the snow! I've written out our birth story for you - because I needed to for myself, and also of course in case one day you'd like to know about your journey into the world. It's hard to describe the absolute raw emotion and joy of meeting you for the first time. It was such complete love, a love that I don't think we could have ever truly known until that moment...

15th August 2011, 7.31pm

7lb (3.2kg)

You're just one day old in these photos...

These are my most favourite ones of you with your daddy...

And I love this one of the 3 of us.

We were (and are) so blissed out in love.

(thanks Aunty Penny for this treasured photo!)

You're 18 weeks old today Maia (after my last post I decided I had to check what week it was!). Happy Monday baby girl. It will forever be a favourite day of the week for me.

xxx

Dear Maia...

4 months

You're 4 months old today my sweet girl. I realised the other day that at some point recently, without really noticing, I had stopped counting the weeks. How totally strange this felt when it seemed we'd been aware of 'the weeks' for such a long time. The very early weeks of our pregnancy when we were completely in awe at the very thought of you. The milestone of reaching 12 weeks, and seeing you for the first time so tiny in my tummy. Seeing you as you were growing so beautifully, at 20 weeks and again at 36 weeks (when my blood pressure suddenly skyrocketed and we had to check you were ok). We counted down the 12 weeks that your dad was away on his training in Rotorua. We welcomed you at 39 weeks - a week early! And we were finally all home together as a family when you were just 3 weeks old. We marvelled at your precious newness and tried to soak up all the changes that happened so quickly through your early weeks. Then it was like we'd come full circle as we reached the milestone of 12 weeks again. You were 12 weeks old and I found myself emerging (finally!) out of the fog of new mamahood.

And now suddenly, I don't know what week it is. How did we get here so fast? Everyone says that you're only little for such a short time and I'm constantly amazed at how true that is. I'm the happiest I've ever been, but over the last few months I've also often been struck by a profound sense of sadness at the passing of time. Is it too much to ask for you to just stay my little baby forever please? Thankfully the sadness of each stage passing is balanced by the wonder, excitement and joy of the next beginning.

It's with all of this that I've realised I need to start writing. I don't want to forget or miss a thing. I've wondered how best I might be able to do this and feel like my blog could be the perfect place to start. I wish I could have begun sooner but it's only in the last little while that I've managed to reclaim my brain from the whirlwind of new parenthood! But I'm a firm believer that it's never too late to start anything and so my first few posts here to you will be retrospective, until we catch up to now... Perhaps this will be another way we can share our journey with our family and friends that love you so much. I certainly feel like this could be therapeutic for me, a creative outlet for your artist mama (especially in the face of no art work happening right now!). And if possible, I hope this might be a special way to capture some of our moments together.

These will be my letters to you Maia.

xxx

38 weeks

'journey' - 6x6 inch, mixed media on canvas

Where to begin? I finished work on Friday. This is Tim's 9th week away (out of 12). And our baby is now due in just under 2 weeks. With so much time passed and me having been totally missing from this arty blog space, I thought I'd try and offer a wee snapshot of the last crazy little while to bring you up to date... I also thought I'd better post some more bump pics, before there is no longer a bump but a baby here!

bump at 27 weeks

Tim has been away from home since June, on his recruit Firefighter training in Rotorua. My gorgeous man getting this amazing job has been some of the best news ever and 2011 has turned into an even bigger year for us because of this! The timing of the training has been less than ideal (through the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy, and with graduation not until 2 weeks after I'm due!) but we've been doing our very best to focus on all the incredible positives and the bigger wonderful picture of what this means for us and our family.

celebrating with Tim - check out the cake my lovely mama and sister made - classic! I was 29 weeks here, a week before Tim left for Rotorua

But it hasn't been easy flying solo over the last few months. We talk every night and thankfully we've been able to see each other at least every other weekend. I'm so proud of him and excited for this journey he's on. But I also miss him like crazy and can't wait to have him home again with us.

'i heart home' - 4x4 inch, mixed media on canvas

32 weeks, Tim home for the weekend

bump at 32 weeks

Craft 2.0 in early July was fabulous - I loved getting out amongst all the art and craft goodness at the Dowse art gallery, in my hometown, surrounded by some really incredible makers and the amazing team who make this awesome market come to fruition several times a year. I can't wait to be involved again just as soon as I can (though I decided not to apply for October as I'm likely to still be finding my feet a wee bit then with our new little family!).

my stall at Craft 2.0, July 2011

magnets on display, Craft 2.0 July 2011

I'm a bit sad about the complete lull my artwork has found itself in this year. My focus has simply been completely elsewhere and while at times this has bothered me greatly - that I haven't been more motivated and made more time for myself to be able to 'do it all' (especially given the creative momentum I had going in 2010), I know that this lull is just another (giant!) ebb in the ebbs and flows of any art life. And this is ok. This is just how this year is meant to be for me. My art is not going anywhere. The ideas are still there. My canvases are packed away for now but are ready to be pulled out at any time. Opportunities have come and passed, but I trust they will be there again when the time is right to seek them out. And the flow and momentum will come again.

34 weeks, on a weekend visit to see Tim in Rotorua

Life has been busy for us... Growing this precious little one, getting things organised round home in anticipation of the arrival, finishing up at work and taking care of each other as best we can from a distance...

heading out for a precious date night, weekend together in Napier

(at 36 weeks)

belly at 36 weeks

37 weeks, starting to look heavy and hmmmm just a little tired!

this was my last week of work...

And now it's simply time to nest...

this was the lovely view I had as I sat out in the sunshine with a cup of tea earlier this week....

belly, 38 weeks

Bliss! xx

Craft 2.0!

Super excited (and nervous!) to have my first stall at the fabulous Craft 2.0 market this Saturday at the Dowse Art Gallery in Lower Hutt! This will be the first time I've 'ventured out' with my art work all year and I'm starting to wonder if I'm a little insane to be doing so... I've been running around and busy getting organised, and the house is in its usual mad state of 'market prep chaos'... and all whilst flying solo with Tim away and me now being 32 weeks preggo!

I'm so glad for the opportunity to be part of Craft 2.0 for the first time though, I've loved the market for so long and can't wait to get amongst all the goodness on Saturday. I've been in such a lull with my artwork these last few months (hello July tomorrow!) and this has been weighing on me... so it feels really good to be undertaking one of the big goals I had on my list for this year. (Dare I say it, but in reality with all that's going on, it could well be the only one!)

More to come from me soon on all our recent happenings... the art lull, Tim being away (terrible timing for us but all for the most amazing reason), preggo progress and baby excitement (not to mention my slight anxiety at how fast the weeks seem to be flying by right now)!

xx

hello (yes I'm still here)

i heart mindfulness - 4 x 4 inch, mixed media on canvas

Dear sweet neglected blog,

Just popping in to let you know I'm still here. It's been so long since I've written and there seems so much to share that I'm in that space where it's just plain hard to start again. So...here I am, simply starting with a little hello. There's been lots of overwhelm in the last month and I'm doing my best to be mindful and nurturing. To know that it's ok to take my time. And trusting that the rest will follow more easily (and soon) after this first little hello.

Erin xx

gratitude

i heart gratitude - 4 x 4 inch, mixed media on canvas

We have so much going on round here, life seems to have thrown us in the deep end all of a sudden and we're trying hard to keep our heads above water. But behind all the chaos, there is such overwhelming goodness that despite how tired I am, I feel nothing but gratitude for all that's happening for us. More to share on all this soon... I just wanted to pop in and say hello quickly - I realise I've completely fallen off the radar again since my last post here!

And to share some blue skies and smiles....Here are a few happy pics from the lovely weekends we had away over the Easter break and early in May.

beautiful Mahia beach - Easter 2011

us at the top of Mahia beach hill

me, at Mahia - 23 weeks preggo, Easter 2011

us, at a Tim's cousin's beautiful wedding in Christchurch

more soon lovely peeps! x