Magic Latte

When I asked my coffee this morning if we were going to make it to the weekend...

Cheers friends!

illustration process

I thought it would be fun today to share the entire process of an illustration, from the idea to the sketch to the finished piece.

This one came to me as I was putting away laundry the other day, laughing about how I had told a friend earlier in the week that I had gotten so good at self-care that I was worried I was spoiling myself. But really...isn't reading a good book with a warm mug of coffee way more important than dusting? 

I think so. 

So here's the beginning sketch...

And a video of inking in the lettering... (I almost always use a Papermate Flair pen)

Inking in last night's lettering while sipping on a latte! ☕️🙌 #howidochurch And this isn't boomerang but I'm gonna go with it for today's #marchmeetthemaker prompt!

A post shared by Mandy Ford (@mandyfordart) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:44am PST

A few close-ups of the lettering...

The full illustration after ink...

And the finished illustration with lots of fun color!

Remember to practice self care this week! Those dishes can wait. 😉

Sending good vibes your way!

{making your own magic}

Did you know I can open and shut car windows with my mind?

OK...so I really can't, but I had the boys believing I was magic today, and that in itself made me feel like supermom.

We were driving home from my office, and Landon rolled his window down. It took Ben by surprise, and Landon tried to convince him that it was magic. I decided to take that and roll with it, so I told them I could open and shut the windows with a simple command.

For the rest of our 15 minute commute, they yelled out requests.

"Mom's window down!"

"Mom's window up!"

"Landon's window down!"

"Landon's window up!"

Man I had fun with it. I would roll one down halfway, then slowly roll it back up in short spurts. They were laughing and freaking out and oohing and aahing.

It was fabulous and so magical even though all it involved was a sneaky press or pull of a lever.

We were making our own magic.

Isn't that what life is all about?

Finding magic in something so ordinary and boring and sometimes frustrating as a drive home from work. There is magic everywhere if we look for it.

And if there is none to be found, we can create it. Kind of like a super power, if you will.

Where could your life use a bit more magic?

XO,

{put down your camera phone}

Have you ever met snarky Mandy?

If not, accompany me to my boys' next school program, and you will have the pleasure of her acquaintance. 

This morning the boys had their kindergarten awards program, and whew...my eyes were rolling and the sighs were coming out left and right. Just ask my hubby. Poor guy. 

Before I get too deep with the snark, let me say that this rant is in no way a slam on my boys' school, teachers or principal. I truly love their school and have been amazed at what they have learned this year and how they've grown.

But with that said, I have found nothing more annoying as a school parent than sitting through an elementary school program.

More specifically, sharing a room with all of the other parents at an elementary school awards programs.

And their cell phone cameras.

Don't get me wrong, I loooove taking photos of my kids, but sitting through an elementary school awards program makes me wish the camera phone had never been invented. 

So.many.people.standing.up.with.cameras. 

In the middle of the audience.

Because there is nothing more annoying than having someone block your already horrible view of your children by standing up to take a zillion low quality iPhone photos of their five year old being handed a piece of paper....and sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce on the cafeteria floor...and standing in line...and breathing. You get where I'm going with this. 

Here are the two photos I took of the boys when they received their awards {while staying firmly planted in my seat}...

This was with the highest zoom possible on my camera, because the kids were an entire cafeteria length away from the parents. 

Unless you had your DSLR with a zoom lens, you might as well sit back down and wait for all 105 kids to receive their certificates. Yep...105. I think it is lovely that they were all recognized...but 105 kids is A LOT. Especially at 8 am when you haven't had breakfast OR coffee yet. 

Oy.

So to the grandma in front of me who couldn't help herself, I sincerely hope your zillion phone photos turned out way better than mine. 

And next time I'll learn to sit on the aisle.

P.S. I snapped this photo of the boys in their classroom afterward... 

Much better. :)

XO,

{favorites}

Happy Thursday friends!

I thought it would be fun today to share some of my current favorite things. 

1. If you know me very well, you'll know that when I find new music, I tend to obsessively listen to it. Right now that music would be anything by Greg Laswell. This song of his, featuring another one of my favorites, Sara Bareilles, is on repeat these days...



2. This post.

SO much good stuff...especially if you are feeling pulled toward a new adventure. 

3. Lisa Leonard's new monogram line...

I love the fonts and organic shapes.

4. Landon's recent creation...

He took a scrap piece of felt and some Instax photos and put together this little album all by himself. You can say my crafty little heart melted all over the place.

5. This adorable sign I ordered for the boys' room from Prim & Proper on Etsy...

Their space is almost done and I can't wait to share it with you. It might also include a freaking awesome light up globe my mom thrifted for them...I think it is their favorite thing ever. :)

6. And because Easter is this weekend...

Love that Jim Gaffigan.

What are you loving today?

XO,

{life with boys}

These boys.

They like to play PBS Kids games on the computer. 

They have way too many toys.

They have ridiculously fun imaginations.

They can play with Legos for hours at a time.

They amaze me with the things they are learning.

They like rice and beans.

They give me a reason to glue 100 googley eyes on a sweatshirt.

They simultaneously challenge and inspire me.

They remind me of what is important.

And contribute to my laugh lines.



And grey hairs if we're keeping tabs.

Life with boys. 


XO,

{let's talk about bangs}

Last weekend I had a much needed date with some hair color and scissors...

And on a whim I had my stylist cut bangs!

If you follow me on Instagram, this is old news, but I have been neglecting this blog quite a bit lately, and figured this whole bang situation deserved a bit more attention.

Or maybe I'm just reaching for blog content.

Either way, here we are.

Since then I've rotated between loving them...

And relegating them to the side of my head with a bobby pin...

Today we are friends again...

But I can't promise they will last until bedtime. Or even 5:00 for that matter. Something about having hair on my forehead that can just drive me insane in a matter of minutes. And thanks to my Instagram friends, I learned I'm not the only one. 

Whew...turns out bangs are just one of those love/hate relationship things.

I do have to admit I like having the option of wearing them down or pinning them back. Time will tell if they become a permanent fixture.

Do you have bangs? What's your verdict?

XO,

{hello friday}

It has been a very eventful week around here.

First I my doppleganger was on Jeopardy...

Isn't it ridiculous how much she and I look alike?! Even her facial expression is very me. I probably drove my social media friends crazy sharing this but I couldn't get over it!

And then apparently I came by that -400 score honestly because I did this to my phone...

SUCH a bummer. We just bought it and I love this phone. Not sure what to do but for now I'm living with the new crackled look. I know there could be A LOT worse things to be dealing with.

And I finished my most challenging house doodle to date...

Check out that ridiculous railing...whew! I'm still catching up on orders, so if you are someone that has asked me about placing one, just hang tight for another month or two, OK? :)

Oh, and just so this post isn't ALL about me {and my doppleganger}, I know two cuties that got their school pictures back...

Ben's smirk is just owning me, and Landon's big blue eyes...be still my heart. Oh how I love these boys.

How was your week? Have any fun weekend plans?

Linking up with...

{bringing home baby: royal vs. reality}

So I'm not one to follow the royal family stuff that closely, but I was a tad bit excited about the arrival of the royal baby, and even had the live feed from their hospital streaming on my monitor at work. {I can multi-task, people!}

We knew that Princess Kate would look stunning when she made her first appearance, but since I've gone through this taking the baby {or in my case, babies} home from the hospital thing, it really took me back to our first moments outside those safe walls with nurses and room service. 

Speaking of room service...our hospital had the BEST beef manhattans. We didn't know how good we had it those two days. And the little cups of ice cream. I could go on.

Anyway...I thought it would be fun to do a little side-by-side comparison of our hospital exit vs. the royal one. 

I'm totally fine with making fun of myself. 

So here we go...

I'm cracking myself up over here. 

The fact that she is wearing heels AND stockings {or I guess her legs could be that flawless?!} blows my mind. I was still waddling with my mesh undies and super-sized maxi-pad {sorry for the TMI} and just hoped to make it to the car without leaking. 

Seriously. 

Now I know I didn't have a glam squad in my room doing my hair and make-up but I'm still blown away by this. 

Kudos to Kate, and I hope that she was able to throw on some sweatpants when she got back to the palace. And maybe eat a beef manhattan.

{hoodies & footies}

What would be more appropriate on the 5th year I get to celebrate being a mother than some silly photos of my two beautiful boys?

*My Benny was solely responsible for the title and concept of this post.

Love these boys. 

Love being a mom. Even on days like this. :) 

Happy Mother's Day friends!