Progressive Pioneer

New Life for Old Frames

What did you think of the family portraits all in mismatched frames, painted the same color?  I thought it turned out pretty rad and I kind of want to do it all over my house now...  The kids and I picked out a bunch of random 5x7 frames at the thrift store for super cheap and gave them a second chance.  Here's how we did it:

Family Portrait

Clay did a family portrait for some good friends of ours.  Instead of the regular portraits he usually does, this was an individual portrait of each family member.  Hung on the wall together it makes one cohesive family portrait with room to grow!  Click through to see some of the individual portraits up close.

Valentine Cards

Last year we sent out valentines instead of Christmas cards and I loved it so much that we're doing it again this year!  We just might have a tradition in the making.  Not worrying about holiday cards is great; it's one less thing to do and gets me that much closer to the simple, relaxed Christmas I'm always aiming for.  And besides that, after Christmas winter just sort of yawns huge and long ahead of me, and I love having something pretty and fun to break up the onslaught of short, dark, chilly days.  I have a feeling other people might enjoy a spot of bright and pretty in their midwinter as well, so I love sending out stacks and stacks of cheerful Valentines.

This year, Clay illustrated a portrait of our little family and then digitally added a greeting, which he painted separately, so that we can frame the portrait, but still use the image with the greeting to print cards from. 

Check out some in-progress shots and read about our printing experience after jump.

Family Portrait/Baby Announcement/(Christmas Card?)

I love watching Clay work, whether in wood or paint.  He recently finished a commissioned portrait of a family in California.  It makes me smile every time I see it. 

The fun thing is that he's sending a digital image along with the original and they're going to print a bunch for baby announcements!  How great is that? 

I love that our wedding announcement is now a framed portrait on our wall; it's such a beautiful way to preserve that moment in time. 

If I could wrangle a little time out of Clay I'd try to convince him to do an updated family portrait (since there are now four of us!) that we could print small cards of to send out as Christmas cards (um, and also baby announcements since we haven't quite gotten around to that either...). 

I love how happy this painting is!  The new baby's name, weight and birthdate will be painted on a separate piece of paper and then digitally added to the pink ribbon for the one they print for baby announcements.  Then he'll either leave the ribbon plain or paint their family name on it for the actual painting that will be framed. 

If you're looking for a special Christmas present this year, perhaps a family portrait is just the thing!

Making Me Happy

The jarful of fresh, "healthy" cookies on the counter.

This great family portrait Clay did for some friends of ours.

His comment, "Have you noticed that my palette has become more colorful since we got married?"  That's the nicest compliment ever. 

Working out almost every day this week!

A pile of pretty fabric waiting to be turned into something special...

Three loads of laundry, folded and put away.

Knitting lessons starting tomorrow!

What's making you happy today?

Thompsons on Utah Stories

There's this great little publication here in Salt Lake called Utah Stories that focuses on local, relevant news.  We were recently interviewed for their "Rage Against Conformity" series (the poster family for abnormality- that's us!)  When they came over to film they saw some of Clay's art and asked him to do the cover illustration.  I'm so proud of him, I think it turned out awesome!  Recognize anyone familiar?

You can watch the video on Utah Stories, here.  It's pretty weird seeing yourself recorded, but I'm trying not to be too self-conscious about it.  I really like how he put all the clips together, he shot a lot of video and I think he did a great job whittling it down and telling a story.

Illustrated Life

I happen to have completely lucked out when it comes to having the world's greatest husband.  Among his myriad talents (chicken coop building, gardening, foot massaging, love letter writing etc.) he also happens to be a fabulous illustrator.  I would brag about his accolades, but he'd be embarrassed.  Instead, I will direct you to his website.  He's currently designing furniture and absolutely loves it.  But, he still finds time to do things like design lovely headers for his wife's website.  He has a promised a new one for each season and maybe some extras in between!
He also did an illustration for our wedding announcement in lieu of the traditional photo.