Things I love...

This week has been brutal, coming up with things I love besides warm weather has been overwhelming.

I have been working on planning my cousin's "One Big Bridal Shower". I took on the task of organizing and hosting her shower for both sides of her family, her fiancé's family and her friends. I will have help from her bridesmaids and some of her aunts in making sure things go off without a hitch. As part of the planning and something I love to do, I made the invitations. I didn't come up with the design, I found one that I liked on Pinterest and figured out how to make it my own. After searching for the perfect fonts, I put together this little gem.

So, why did I decide to do this? I love to make things and this helps me in my creative processes and learning techniques. How did I make it? I did it in Photoshop. I drew the graphic by hand, snapped a photo of it, edited the graphic, layered in the text and printed. 

I am a big fan of making your own cards and invitations because of the personal level. I completely understand that not everyone can or will do things like this. If purchasing is more your speed, check out Esty.com. There are many makers there. Some makers create cards and invites and ship them to you and others create files for you to download and print. There are many different options to get a more personalized or customized look. 

I also make most of the birthday cards we give people. Most of the time cards get tossed with the wrapping paper so I decided to just make the cards myself. These are customized to the theme of the parties we went to but I think coming up with a signature card that I give to everyone might be the best way to go.

Here's the thing with making my own cards, I don't stress and I have fun with it! When I make things its really for me, I want others to like the things I make, but I know not everyone appreciates these things. So, I just make them and keep working on my process and style so maybe one day they will be masterpieces!

Get out and Go...

Like I mentioned last week, the weather has made getting out kind of hard. We still run our regular schedule as much as we can, with school delays and all, but we have only managed to make it out one day to play.

On Sunday, Emerson and I were invited to go sledding with some friends that I have made through our YMCA. I worried just a little bit because we did not own a sled and thought that we would have to show up with cardboard and try to make a go of it. I was lucky and found two sleds at the Ace Hardware and I bought them.

We went to the neighboring park that has an awesome area to sled. I have lived here almost thirteen years and I have never gone sledding at the park. I had such a good time with Emerson. I was nervous about something bad happening but somehow I managed to keep it together.

As we tipped over the edge for the first time and started heading down the sound of laughter from E was so amazing that I knew I had made the right decision. My heart raced, I wasn't sure how to steer and hold on to E. We were sliding so fast I didn't think we were going to stop. We landed safely and immediately said, "let's go again!"

We went down a few more times together and then headed over to a much smaller hill so E could go down on his own.  He was pretty good, his first time he tipped over but got up and headed back up. His next ten times made him a pro, so much so, he thought he could manage the big hill alone. I said, NO!!

We spent an hour taking turns with all the other people around sliding down the hill and trekking back up. I have never been sledding like that. I have skied and slid down a few hills at my parents house on a shovel, but never in a real sled. I had a blast and plan to do this every time it snows!

Get out and go...

Days like today make me count the seconds until warmer weather and we can get out and explore. It's snowing, windy and bitterly cold.

Each year, I set goals for our family adventures. Last year, was to take a three week vacation with the destination of Yosemite National Park for a week. This year we decided that we would stay a lot closer to home. We are going to explore Indiana. We set goals like going to all of our state parks, seeing as many towns and cities as possible, checking out festivals and attractions, participating in our town events, and doing things we haven't done before. 

A couple weekends ago we decided we needed to go on an adventure that was in our town and something we hadn't done before. We choose to paint ceramics as our first adventure of the year. We went to our favorite place to grab breakfast, a short walk around the neighborhood, a coffee and hot chocolate stop and then walked next door and painted a mug and a plate. 

This time Emerson and Eric picked out what they wanted paint. Eric choose a mug to put the boys hand prints on. Emerson painted a plate however he wanted and then I added his name, a drawing and dots. The process was fun and the boys both enjoyed painting. 

I love that we have decided to focus on doing things around town and within our state. Sometimes, I feel we get caught up in the grand part of doing things that we look past what is right next to us. 

A little story about ten eighty-four...

Welcome to Ten Eighty-Four. I am Jill Marie Bower, a born and raised native of Indiana. A place I love and will always call home. I am a wife, a mom, a designer, an artist, and a photographer. Currently, I am working for the two best clients I will ever have, my awesome little men.

I yearn for wanderlust. The world is so big yet so small with our modern ways. So, when we can, we travel, as a family. I love getting my hands dirty. So, I garden. A LOT! My seasons are not complete unless I am thinking about or doing something with my gardens. I love connecting with the universe through nature. I have a desire to document everything. So, I take a lot of pictures. Probably, too many. I like the idea that a picture is a memory but that memory could be completely made up because the picture exists. I am doing this as a way to put myself, my work and my ideas out there. This is a way for me to be a little bit more brave.

This site will be a place that I muse mostly about those three things and problably many other things. I want this to be the start of my next thing. It doesn't have to be big it just has to be real.