Month: January 2019

Kindness Rocks

Have you heard of Kindness Rocks? Well you may have found a colorful rock in a store or along a walkway and never realized you were blessed with one of these little pieces of art! Some mystery artist left it there to brighten your day. These artists get rocks and decorate them with pictures and sayings before hiding them in public for someone to find.

9 rock found.jpg
Zoe finds a Kindness Rock at a playground

What started as a little art project, has become a family tradition for us. We have spent many evenings painting rocks and hiding them around town. We have even been lucky enough to see some of our rocks discovered to the delight of the lucky finder!

Pictured our some of my favorite rocks I have made. It is easy to make your own, inexpensive to start, and a great way to spread some cheer. Here are a few tips to get started.

 

1. Picking the right rock
Any rock will do but we prefer, smooth river rocks that are not porous which allows for better paint application. We found a local gardening store that let us pick out any rocks we wanted and sold them by the pound which was cheaper than buying by the bag at a typical home improvement store.

2. Picking your paint
It took some time and experimenting but we’ve found our favorite go-to paints for rocks. We love POSCA as well as Artistro acrylic paint pens which are so convenient and come in vibrant and quick setting colors. The points also allow for fine details or print.

3. Setting the rock
A rock can make for a beautiful blank canvas, but if you want an alternate color, you can save time and get a lovely smooth finish, by spray painting a lot of rocks first. Once dry, paint as usual.

7 rocks.jpg
Spray painted rocks

 

 

It is as easy as that! If you need some help, search Facebook for a local rock group by county or city. Join in and get rocking!

Drink and Draw II- Let’s Get Artsy

Drawing is a creative outlet for me that I usually enjoy in the privacy of my home. Somewhat self-conscious, I never really enjoyed drawing in public, but I thought I’d give the Drink and Draw a try. Hosted by GAAM and local Jacksonville artist, Chappy Lips, it was located at local brewery, Aardwolf Brewery in San Marco area of Jacksonville,  Florida.

GAAM (which stands for Games, Art, and Music) is an organization making strides in the Jacksonville gaming community (I will have to dedicate  post to GAAM in the future) that hosts fun gaming related events throughout the year while raising money for charity. Recently, GAAM, started spot-lighting local, up-and-coming artists to host Drink and Draw where anyone can come, draw, and share a drink among friends.

Chappy Lips , AKA Leslie, wasthe gracious host who set-up a welcoming event and provided her own supplies for guests to explore. Her tools of trade include traditional Japanese inks and brushes that give her often modern influenced art, an old-world charm.

After admiring Leslie’s set-up, I grabbed a beer (a saison) and took a seat in a corner where I set up base. Within an hour, the reserved room was full and bustling with activity. As Leslie’s speakers played hip hop tunes, people could be seen sketching, painting, inking, and having a good time.

group shot sm

Enter a caption

All skill levels were welcome but what about ages? Breweries are changing. I’ve seen more locations that are marketing themselves as family friendly or places to enjoy the community. Despite this, I was not sure what it would be like bringing my four year old daughter.

dnd 3 sm
As a mom, there are so many variables to factor in when introducing your child to new experiences…How will my child act? Is she sleepy? Will it be loud? Will she feel comfortable around so many people? How will people feel with her around?…To add to these concerns, being  somewhere that resembles a bar crosses into what feels like taboo territory. All concerns aside, we gave it a try and my daughter got to enjoy some art time. She got to  meet and see different artists, sample different art tools, and make her own masterpiece. Drink and Draw was a night of creativity and fun! I look forward to the next event.

sm

Zoe titled her art piece “Rainbow Cave”

Check out Chappy Lips on Facebook and Instagram to check out her art or purchase some of her one-of-kind pins and stickers!

gaam drink_draw 2-103What are your thoughts on children at breweries? I’m interested to hear about your experience!

 

Photos by Mark Pariani Productions

 

#momblog #jaxfl #jacksonvilleflorida #momlife

ZOO Lights

As I’ve already mentioned, our family loves the Jacksonville Zoo! When we heard about the ZOO Lights  , we decided we had to go to celebrate the ending of a great year.

1 with new size

The funny part was that we tried on two separate weekends to go and it was raining! When we finally went, the rain caught us in the middle of the zoo but we still had fun. If anything, the rain, and the reflections made in the puddles created made for some very fun photos.

9 edit with new size

18 edit with new size
Dancing in the rain

You can imagine, with the zoo being closed at night, you might not see many animals but we were able to experience the Stingray Bay which was open to the public (it usually costs an additional fee on regular days) and saw some beautiful flamingos who were still enjoying their lagoon as usual.

14 edit with new size

The rest of the park was lit up with beautiful lights in patterns of animals from the entrance all the way to the Asian Bamboo gardens. Along the way, Christmas music played to get you into the holiday spirit.

6 edit with new size

5 with new size

15 edit with new size
Beautiful carousel at night.
4 with new size
The trees played to music near the giraffe area.
17 edit with new size
The Moon Gate entrance to the Asian Bamboo Garden
10 edit with new size

There were some surprise visitors as well such as The Grinch who was seen lingering around the Petting Zoo (and handing out green glow sticks!), Disney Princesses were spotted exploring the Range of the Jaguar, and The Jingle Bell Jukebox Revue performing on the lawn among a little Winter Wonderland complete with fires and smores.

2 with new size
7 edit with new size
8 with new size

This was the first time in a while that I brought my camera to the zoo, and I was so pleased with the results. It inspired me to play around with photography more into 2019. Here’s to 2019! It’s looking bright!

16 edit with new size
And thank you to Community First who sponsors to many wonderful events in our Jacksonville community.