Creating Art for Art's Sake

Over the past few months I have been painting daily on a journey to rediscover my aesthetic. (Obviously this has changed slightly now that little miss Rae is around.) I’ve come to find that creating for you is more important than creating for the potential client. I found that in creating everyday, just to create, my heart was more invested and in turn the artwork more inspired. I started a journey of creating consistently for one hundred days. The purpose was to get myself into a rhythm of creating again; to find inspiration and find the style of my artwork. It had been years since I had consistently created artwork for myself and I felt like part of me was missing when I wasn’t painting.

After day one of painting, I looked forward to my daily painting time. Sometimes I had to push myself into it, but I knew once I got into it I would be elated in my painting world. It was a chance for me to escape reality and create for myself. I focused on creating things that I was happy with instead of worrying about how people would react to it on social media. I know many times we get lost in the world of social media. We look at numbers of followers and numbers of likes, but in reality that robs you of your creativity because you focus on others' opinions instead of creating what your heart desires. Don’t let others' opinions stop your creative methods. Keep creating what you love.

Right now I’m half way through my one hundred days of painting and I actually haven’t painted in a few weeks. My husband and I welcomed our first little one into the world at the end of September and I don’t even have enough time to sleep – let alone paint. The thing is that I’m not going to push myself further than I can take just to get back in the painting studio. There are different stages of life and with this new little one I know that my painting has to take a back seat. Not to say that I won’t get back to painting, but that it isn’t my main priority.

When you have a big life change, be okay with those things taking priority. I am looking forward to getting back to painting, but I know that there are other things that must come first right now. Again, don’t let others' opinions change what you know is best. Don’t let the obstacle of others' thoughts change what you are doing. The fear of others’ expectations should not be the reason you push yourself back into creating.

Once I get back into painting I still want to make sure that I’m creating work that I'm passionate about. Eventually I’d love to get artwork in people’s homes, but for now I’ll stick to creating for myself; for the process of it all.

At the beginning of my one hundred days of creating I wasn’t sure how to start. You may be in that same place; unsure of where to begin. I want to encourage you to simply jump right in. When you create for yourself it truly doesn’t matter how successful those first pieces are. Get those ideas out into the world and see what follows them. Your art will change and you will gradually see pieces that you are excited to share. Don’t be afraid to share your process either. It’s encouraging to see the entire journey instead of only the end product. Encourage others by sharing your journey of creating for you. I would love to see your process and how you’ve come to find your creative aesthetic. You can see my one hundred days of painting on Instagram [tulipslacestudio] or feel free to contact me via email at tulipsandlace.studio@gmail.com. Continue to make pieces for yourself and you will be more invested and inspired to create!

Come check out my work so far on Instagram!

https://instagram.com/tulipslacestudio/

Sweet Baby Rae: Two Months

We just celebrated Thanksgiving with David's parents and now we're celebrating Raelyn's two month birthday! We have so much to be thankful for!

Two months stats: 9lbs 1oz, 22.5in long

Rae loves: kicking her little legs and moving her arms, having more awake time, being held up right so she can wiggle her head back and forth, stretching her little body, when we make this weird "pssssss" sound (it usually makes her smile), being held

Rae doesn't love: diaper changes, being hungry

Raelyn is getting more active each day and we love seeing her little personality shine through! She's actually liking the mamaroo now and also loves just sitting on the ground wiggling around. Rae is working on her head/neck control and is great with following objects and people with her eyes. She squeezes mom's fingers as well. She's already been to her first wedding and taken her first airplane trip!

Little Raelyn is still in newborn clothes and newborn diapers. We're slowly working our way into 0-3 month clothing and I'm hoping her Christmas Eve dress will fit!

look at those blues!

captured this one mid-sneeze

celebrating her first thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sweet Baby Rae: One Month

We're quickly approaching Raelyn's two months mark so I guess it's about time I posted her one month photos and such. Honestly, I don't know how I took these photos... that first month was a doozy. I was quite an emotional zombie!

(Note: this has literally taken me days to put together and post because the second I pick up the laptop, miss Rae decides she's not a happy camper.)

One month stats: 7lbs 6oz, 21in

Rae loves: getting her hair washed, nursing & sleeping on daddy's chest

Rae doesn't love: bath time (until hair wash time), tummy time & the mamaroo

I truly don't remember many of the specific things Raelyn did during her first month other than eat, poop, sleep and of course cry. We were so thankful to have our moms here for a little while to help out with the transition into parenthood. I also don't think we would have eaten dinner for a month if it wasn't for our amazing church family who provided meals!

 

 
We'll be taking two month photos in less than a week! Sometimes it feels like time is passing so slowly, but I can't believe Rae is already almost two months old. Everyone keeps telling me they grow up so quickly so I'm trying to soak in these moments when she's so little.

Sweet Baby Rae: Raelyn's Birth Story

I didn't think I wanted to share Raelyn's Birth Story with the world, but here it goes anyway. I hope that it's an encouragement to any mother who ever felt like a failure because their body did not begin labor naturally. You are not a failure. You endured through birthing a child in some way, shape or form and your little one is now healthy in your arms. It's no small task.

My only goal was to get Raelyn here safely and not beat myself up about how it happened. Of course I had an idea of what I wanted to happen but at the end of the day we were both healthy even though things didn't happen as I expected.

Here's our story:

We had passed Raelyn’s due date (September 21^st) and we were anxious to meet her by this point. Induction wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for, but it was how we met our precious little bean. I went in to my midwife on Thursday the 24^th and we discussed the options. We scheduled the induction for the next opening at the hospital, which was 9:30pm on Saturday night the 26^th.

We waited patiently all day Saturday and called into the hospital at 8:30 to see if there was still an available bed. They told me to come in at 10:00 so we eventually made our way over there. Once we got there, checked in and were given a room number, my mom just kept walking with us and some how snuck back there too. Sneaky mom. I guess I was surprised that the staff didn’t ask about her specifically. We were a little early, so we sat around for about 10 minutes before anyone came in to talk to us.

I started the process by first getting an IV put in and hooked up to saline. They started the induction process with a small dose of Cytotec at around midnight. I had to stay on the monitors for 2 hours then I had an hour off to walk around or sit on the exercise ball, then back on the monitors for the last hour (4 hrs total) before they gave me another dose. Nothing much changed during that first dose and around 5am they gave me another dose of Cytotec. The process kept going and I received another does around 10am. The contractions weren’t that painful at this point, but I could definitely feel them. We did laps around the delivery ward and I walked with my awesome IV cart. The cytotec was doing its job and I was dilating over time, just not very quickly. We watched some Sunday football waiting it all out and around 2pm the contractions were getting more painful. I would breathe through them pretty heavily and squeeze the crap out of David’s hand. He was such a great coach through the whole thing. 

Around 8 or 9 pm I brought up getting the epidural because at that point I was crying through the contractions. At 10:30 I got the epidural and David had to step out, as it was a “sterile operation”. I probably squeezed the hell out of the nurse’s hand as I was getting a contraction while they were giving the epidural. That epidural was liquid gold! After I had gotten it though, Rae’s heart rate dropped as did my blood pressure and many nurses ran into my room in order to stabilize Rae and make sure she was okay. They threw an oxygen mask on me and other than that I truly don’t know what else they did. After they stabilized her and heart rate was back to normal, I was able to rest up and David came back in shortly after. He had no idea about the hiccup but there would be another one later. About an hour after resting on my left side, the nurse and Marsha came in to flip me to my right in order to move Rae down the birthing canal. Raelyn didn’t like my right side and her heart rate dropped again, bringing more nurses in to stabilize her and myself again. Another oxygen mask and David was actually there this time – he did really well through it all. They took off the external monitors and inserted internal monitors for both her heart rate and the contractions. After that point, they flipped me just a few more times every hour as Rae kept moving towards the exit. Next thing I knew I jumped from a 5 to an 8 pretty quickly. Gave me pitocin as well once I was stabilized after the epidural. They kept monitoring me and early in the morning Rae was ready to make her entrance!

At 4:30 in the morning it was time to push. Marsha was great at coaching me through when to push. I pushed for 45 minutes, on every other contraction. I couldn’t feel the pain, but I could feel the pressure. David would come up to the bedside every time I pushed so I could squeeze his hand. He did great too – because if anyone knows David – he doesn’t do well with anything related to doctors, hospitals or pretty much anything medical. I was pretty much ready for him to pass out.

Through the pushing, my legs and arms were shaking terribly – like I was shivering. My body was so tired and worn out, I’m truly glad I got the epidural because I don’t think I would have been able to relax my body for it to progress on its own. 

At 5:13, Raelyn Joy entered into the world and she was placed right on my chest after she was delivered. David and I were so thankful that Rae had finally made it and after 25 hours of labor (at least starting to feel the contractions all the way up to delivery) we were a family of three. She was born on September 28^th, weighing 6 pounds 9.5 ounces and was 20½ inches long. Our perfect little peanut brings us so much joy even through the sleepless nights and never-ending diaper changes. She’s wonderfully made and the Lord has blessed us with this precious gift.

Yuma Baby Shower

At the beginning of June, we celebrated little Baby Phillips here in Yuma! Ellen planned the most phenomenal Maryland themed baby shower and we had an amazing time snacking on crab chips and Old Bay fries. There were so many small details that were put into the party, from Chesapeake Bay napkins to Maryland flag toothpicks. Even the invitations had the Maryland flag on them!

We ate, we played games, opened gifts and enjoyed time together. We also had a baby photoshoot at the end - these four little rugrats are hysterical and each one of their personalities shines brighter every day!

I can't thank Ellen enough for all of the hard work she put into making this event so perfect.

Alright, enough jibber-jabber. Here are some pictures!

 

Here's a screenshot of just how many pictures I took in attempts to get a good one. One in which everyone was looking (impossible) or one in which a baby wasn't trying to slobber on another.  I tried to pick the best one of all of them. Either way, they're adorable.

If you want to know where the toothpick flags are from (they have every state flag) or any of the other small details are from, leave a comment on here and let me know what I can help with!

A New Addition

This isn't really new news, but I wanted to make sure I put photographs up from the Gender Reveal Party my sweet friend Erin put together.

Back in January, David and I were blessed with the news that a little baby Phillips would be joining our family come September! Honestly, there's a longer story behind trying to start a family and all that, but that's another post all together. We called our parents and our closest friends to share the great news. My mother of course bawled her eyes out and is so excited to be called Oma come September. David's parents guessed why we were calling because they literally were just in Yuma visiting and we found out the day after they left. 

I waited a while to tell my middle school students just because I really didn't want them telling me that I should name my baby after them. (Yes, that happened... a lot.) In the beginning of March, there were two girls in one of my classes who guessed it before I said anything. One class period, they were giggling and I decided to ask what on earth was going on (usually I ignore giggling during work time, but they wouldn't stop staring at me!). One of the girls said they couldn't tell me and they had a question to ask me but it had to wait until April. I guess to them, it would be obvious that I was pregnant or not by the time April came around. Eventually, I told only one of my class periods - because I know how quick news travels in a middle school. 

I asked one of the girls how on earth they knew I was pregnant and she said "You were moody." 

Oh lovely middle schoolers. They tell you how it is.

Then at the beginning of May, my good friend Erin (she's been on this crazy military ride with me since Virginia) put together a little reveal party for us. We just had a few families over, ate food, had fellowship, and made a huge mess to find out if we were having a little girl or boy.

When we went to get the anatomy ultrasound done, I gave the technician a card and had her circle the gender and seal it in the envelope. Right after the appointment, I dropped the envelope off at Erin's house so I wasn't tempted to peek.

Here's the tutorial Erin used to make the Poppers! You could easily make these for any event.

Here's how the madness went down!

After we found out a little girl would be joining our family, the hubster (David) said that he had to call my dad and ask him how he did it. Sidebar - I'm one of four girls... my poor dad.

One of my students gave me the sweetest gift of clothes for little Baby Phillips and although I won't be teaching next year, I can't wait to visit the middle school and show my previous students our little bundle of joy!

Tulips & Lace Studio: A Custom Piece

I'm trying to be more consistent with blogging. You can see I'm doing an AMAZING job of that...

I think I have worried too much about having a perfect post with the best edited images and forget that I really just want to get my stories out there and down on "paper". My posts won't be perfect, but at least I'm posting.

Most recently, I've been working on getting my Etsy shop together and listing pieces that I created months ago. I just finished up a custom hand-lettered piece for my dear friend Ellen and I'm excited to share that with you! If you're interested in having something created, jump on over to the shop and email me your ideas!

Check out what's new in the shop! ------> Tulips & Lace Studio

I will be posting some events from the past couple months - clearly not in chronological order but I want to make sure I document them.

Happy Wednesday everyone & Happy July!