Holiday Card

I didn't send cards to too many people this year. I did one though. It's a bit different. I capitalized on their likes: Isaak art and Mica listening to music. 

Did you send out cards this year?

AIM Institute's Holiday Card

I didn't do a family holiday card this year. 

There's multiple reasons why:

•My past work gave me the Adobe programs, for as long as the subscription ran. The subscription to Adobe ran out. 

•I was busy ending a job, and beginning a new one. 

•We got a new gecko, so my energy was put into making him a new habitat. 

•To be honest I just didn't have it in me. 

•I'm exhausted from the year and I keep waking up at 3 AM all wheezy. Sleep in general hasn't been good. 

Lots of excuses to add up, but I just needed a break from cards. 

Lots of good came this year:

•Travis sold a sculpture at The Bemis, and because of that he got to show a second piece.

•Travis had a productive residency + a few grants in his favor that have helped put his work in a different, but more him direction.

•It took me getting laid off, a store closing, and working another job to find the one that seems to be perfect for me. I do like AIM, and the people. Its mission of instilling technology into the community is a good one. 

•I survived teaching online, all the sudden.

•We got "Warhol", our newest gecko. 

•Mica got a big award from his last year at King Science - The Rotary Honor Roll. 

•Isaak was one of two that got an art award last spring. 

•Both boys have struggled with remote learning, the new crazy pandemic world, but they aren't failing.

AIM's first few assignments for me:

Write copy for their STEM portion of their website. All was going great, until this last part...I have to look up jobs to add to it. Well I've been on a job search, for the longest time. I'm drained of that. I'll get through it. 

Then they wanted me to make a holiday card. Something I told myself I was skipping this year. Ha! On top of that the designer that they have only uses Illustrator, so graphic shape oriented art. I struggled with, Do I add my own flare? Do I do what they do? Do I do what I want to do? I did a mix.

Here it is:

Then I animated it...because why not? 

I sort of feel guilty not making a family card this year. Seriously it wouldn't of been that hard, with the idea I had in mind. It doesn't help that I'm getting some in the mail that say, "I can't wait to get your card." It has to be let go! 

WW: Holiday Card #homealone {Linky}

This year I sat on doing our holiday postcard a little too long. So much of me wanted to say bah humbug to the card. It could be that the boys are growing up, and are harder to make cute, maybe it's the fact that I just feel overwhelmed with things, or possibly it's that Isaak's having a crappy school year. He does so good in school, but has a difficult teacher, his basketball team fell apart, and one of his best friends didn't invite him to her birthday party. I just want something to go in his favor! I just wasn't feeling it this year.

Instead of a postcard (due to time) we did a holiday doctored photo. Our theme was Home Alone. Once I started working on it, I got into it. Isaak was so excited that he was the star of the card! Isaak played Macaulay Culkin. He loved being the star of the photo. That made me smile. He didn't get left at home, while we were on vacation. He did however get left at school when Mica was supposed to pick him up. Thankfully they do have a place called Kids Club he could go. He does cook us breakfast by himself on some Saturdays, and in my mind he kicks some butt!

The rest of us were robbers. While I realize there are only two robbers in the real movie, our photo has three. It was so easy to have Mica make that face. He does it in many photos when I ask him to smile. This time I wanted the crazy face. Travis was happy to wear his stocking cap that he has on most of the time. I did get the, "Mom why are you wearing jewelry? A robber wouldn't look nice!" Maybe I stole the jewelry.

I tweaked the Home Alone Logo, so the photo place wouldn't give me grief about printing it. The original has a line under it, a line breaking up the roof on the house, is never a cream color, and has a different font.

I added a infogrphic style letter. Basically it includes things we've done, or like. It was nice to not be confined to a tiny postcard space. While it doesn't go to a song, or rhyme it's still fun.

Do you make a holiday card? Are there times where you just don't feel like doing everything you usually do?

Putting Up Our Tree

Daddy put up our tree and lights. We don't get a real one because of my silly allergies. I'm sure the dust isn't good either. We're shooting for the lesser of the two evils health wise. I put up the ribbon and beads. The boys with my help put up the ornaments. Isaak calls them, "Ordaments". It was Isaak's turn to put up the star.

I also wrapped a package for each cousin, each boy, Daddy and one for myself. The boys thought it was funny that I wrapped one for myself. They were begging to know what was in their own boxes. Mica thought he had it all figured out. He doesn't.

I also worked on our holiday card. I'm stuck because I think I'm close to done, but sometimes when you work on things for a long time you're not sure if you're done, or not. I still have to write out something for the back. That will take awhile to.

Here's what I have:

It's from a cake I made in an Oreo Challenge from A Nut in A Nutshell. I seriously do not know if I'm done, or not. Daddy thinks I need snow flakes on the left side. I'm kind of going for a Jib Jab kind of look.

Daddy spent some time looking through a Christmas find book with Mica and Isaak. They were super into it.

WW - Suitcase {Linky}

This weekend I took some shots to use for Christmas cards. I do not plan on using the background that is showing. Just the boys, the suitcase and I'm collaging a train in the background out of candy. The train is taking a long time. It's looking pretty cool though.

The shot I'm using.

I liked this one to, but not enough of the suitcase was showing.

Mica going nowhere.

Isaak looking a lot like Mommy.