January 22, 2018

Experimenting with Watercolor

angelleconant Art, Parenting art, children, creativity, experimenting, fun, jellyfish, lion, parenting, watercolor 0 Comments

In today’s art adventure: experimenting with watercolor! I didn’t get ‘grown-up’ watercolors until I was in my late 20s so this is still a very new medium for me. I set up my daughter with her Crayola watercolors and I set up my ‘grown-up’ watercolors and we set to work. This is the result:

The lion was the kiddo’s idea: “Mommy, do a lion.” The jellyfish were my idea – they are my current obsession. I just find them so graceful, beautiful and peaceful.

Sadly, I can’t show you a picture of my daughter’s creation because it was a wet pile of paper and brightly colored water on the floor. Good thing I recently reminded myself that it is okay to get messy! 😉

What about you? Do you enjoy watercolor? Have any tips or tricks for a beginner? Let me know in the comments! And if you’d like to stay up-to-date on all my artistic happenings, please subscribe!

September 25, 2016

I Did Indoor Skydiving!

angelleconant Living fun, ifly, indoor skydiving, joy, life, living 2 Comments

I interrupt your normal broadcasting for an important message: I did indoor skydiving! And it was freaking awesome!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming. *annoying TV noise*

August 15, 2016

The Positive Affirmations Coloring Book

angelleconant Art, Words affirmations, art, coloring book, coloring book for adults, compassion, creativity, fun, happiness, joy, living, love, positive affirmations, self-acceptance 0 Comments

Well, it’s finally here – I’ve published my coloring book! 😀

I started the rough draft when I was pregnant with my daughter and SOMEHOW I’ve managed to finish the rough draft, final draft and publish it while caring for a rambunctious one year old.

There are two ways to procure a copy:
1) On Amazon HERE.

OR

2) you can get a FREE PDF version by subscribing to my website HERE.

If you do buy a copy or subscribe, I’d love to see any of your beautiful creations! Send them to me via Twitter: @angelleconant.

I hope you enjoy. <3

[UPDATE 8/17/2016: Here’s one of the pages I colored. Motherhood – the struggle is real.]

One of 2 fill-in-the-blank affirmation pages in the coloring book.

April 14, 2016

2016 Houston Art Car Parade: A Phoenix Rises

angelleconant Art, Living art, art car, children, costume, creativity, fun, houston, joy, living, paint, parade, phoenix, phoenix rising, volunteering 0 Comments

Please forgive the pretentious title, but I sure am proud of my costume for this year’s local Art Car Parade. My friend Sarah Gish has a beautiful art car called Phoenix Rising (which I’ve mentioned before) and she was kind enough to let me skate alongside. Here’s the Phoenix costume I created for the occasion:

The finished product – ready to roll!

I had a freaking blast! The best part definitely had to be the kids’ faces when they’d see me coming and the smiles and waves I got from them as I ‘flew’ by.

If you’re curious how I made my costume, it was heavily influenced by this very impressive Phoenix costume. I didn’t have the time or resources to be quite that elaborate, but I think my thrift store body suit, Amazon Isis wings and $30 Michael’s trip did it justice. Of course, I wasn’t without my share of hiccups:

No mannequin = paint in all sorts of places.

No mannequin means I paint with the body suit on and that fabric paint does not wash off easily.

Also, my impatient, walking 10 month old didn’t wait for paint to dry before resting against Mom’s leg.

One last note: we were in a car accident a few weekends ago (a lady ran a red light – we’re all okay). That’s not the exciting part though – the exciting part was that we had to get a new car and we got a fully electric 2013 Nissan Leaf. And it’s WHITE.

Look at the beautiful blank canvas.

Which means it’s just begging to be turned into an art car. Who knows where I’ll be at the next Art Car Parade. 😉

July 26, 2015

5 Reasons I Love My Shaved Head

angelleconant Living breastfeeding, children, follow your heart, fun, hair, haircut, happiness, joy, life, living, love, motherhood, shaved head 2 Comments

After many years of wanting to, I finally shaved my head and I’m loving it. Here’s why:

It was on my list. Ever since my high school English teacher showed us a picture of her shaved head, I’ve always wanted to do it. Why hadn’t I done it yet? Fear. It feels SO GOOD to throw fear aside and do something I’ve always wanted to do. It is incredibly empowering and joyful. I still giggle with glee when I see myself in the mirror. Which leads me to…
I feel so sexy! Confidence and sexiness go hand-in-hand and doing something even though it scared me was a huge confidence booster. Bonus: my husband finds my new hairdo super sexy too!
It’s so easy. I have a 2 month old daughter so I’m all about quick and easy right now. No hair getting in the way while breastfeeding or carrying her around. It’s the ultimate mom haircut but with a little bit of badass thrown in. Also, with this hair, I’ve gotten my shower time to well under 10 minutes. Good for my baby and the environment!
Earrings. I finally get to show off my beautiful earrings that were always hidden behind dark hair before. It’s a whole new jewelry world!
It feels awesome. I love rubbing my hand along my head and feeling how soft my hair is. I love feeling the water from the shower hit my scalp and the wind blow through my hair (which is amazing in this Texas heat!). It’s a completely new way of feeling and I love it.

Overall. I give shaving my head 5 beautiful stars. I highly recommend.

May 18, 2015

Tips for a 3rd Trimester Babymoon

angelleconant Travel babymoon, beach, food, fun, Galveston, happiness, pregnancy, third trimester, travel, vacation 0 Comments

The husband and I recently took a weekend-long babymoon to Galveston, TX while I was 37 weeks pregnant. We learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts of a having a successful trip – our lessons are here for you so that you might get the most out of your vacation, whether it’s a babymoon or not.

Vacation somewhere close to home. This one seems pretty obvious, but I’d thought I’d throw it in anyways. Because I was in my 3rd trimester and only 3 weeks away from my due date, trips to distant lands were out. Galveston is only an hour away from Houston so if something were to happen, we could be home in a very short time.
Think about the kind of vacation you really want and choose your city and hotel accordingly. Do you want it to be more about relaxing or exploring? For us, we wanted a relaxing babymoon so that we could rest and reconnect before our little one’s arrival. If it’s relaxing that you want, then it might be best to choose a smaller town with only minimal attractions and more relaxing activities. If you’re looking for a more exciting and exploratory babymoon where you can share some new experiences, a bigger city might be a better fit. For us, we kind of halfway hit the mark on this one – Galveston is great for sleeping late, relaxing beach walks, sitting in rocking chairs and drinking beer (for the husband), but it has also turned into quite the party town, which we were not in the mood to do.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money for it to be nice or considered ‘pampering’ – value is what matters. We, foolishly, did not follow this one. We ended up spending quite a bit on a historic hotel and, in the end, it wasn’t worth it. The hotel was catered more towards the party goers of Galveston and had jazz music in the lobby until 10pm. After that ended, the bar in the lobby was still open until late and the voices of the inebriated could be heard in our room all night. Not great sleep makes for a cranky, pregnant wife.
When planning your day, take into account your limits and needs. This includes things like: is there a restroom that I can get to within 5 minutes (or less)? Can I get snack and water within 5 minutes? One thing that does help is carrying a large, filled water bottle and snacks everywhere. Also, take into account the level of physical activity that will be required. My little one dropped the day before we were scheduled to leave so walking far distances became something I couldn’t do. Also, the closer it gets to my due date, the more naps and rests I seem to need which is something we had to account for. I’ve also been more sensitive to heat and sun exposure during the pregnancy – another thing to account for.
Plan your food ahead of time if you can. This was one of the best parts of the trip – eating yummy, yummy food so go ahead and get excited about it by planning ahead. And don’t try and drive around to find a good food place when preggo is already hungry – have a place to eat and get there. Be okay with some disappointments – there are always risks in trying new places, even with good online reviews. And if you’re not up for disappointment, it’s okay to go to some chain restaurant that is familiar. Also, try to plan ahead for some healthy food options. During my pregnancy, I’ve become accustomed to eating quite healthfully and was disappointed by the choices at most restaurants. By the end of the weekend, my body was seriously craving some collard greens.
Lastly, ask for what you want. I had a great day on the first day of our trip because we ended up cuddled up in the hotel room watching Sherlock Holmes. I didn’t care if it seemed lame, it was what we wanted to do, so we did it!