Upstroke and Personal

12/19/2022

No longer taking commissions. 😢 Highlights of 2022 below. Please see original Instagram post for details.

Cristina V Johnson shared a post on Instagram: "Hi everyone! I know I haven’t been very active on social media in the last year, but I did do a few unannounced projects that I am proud of, which I will now show you! However, I came here to say that I will unfortunately be on an indefinite hiatus f...

01/09/2022

Congrats to my Ate Joy and Brian on their marriage! After knowing her for many years, I always hoped she would find someone to complement her tenacity, positive energy, and beauty. I am so happy she was finally able to find her match!
✨In case you’re wondering, I didn’t eat her 🤣 “Ate” (pronounced AH-teh) basically means “older sister” in the Filipino language and culture and can be used to address not just your actual older sister, but a respected friend. 🌈
🖼: Acrylic sheets, painted white acrylic
🖋: Posca paint pens

01/04/2022

Happy 6 months old, Emerson!
💙: Playing with your toes, eating your toes, planking, rolling around on the floor, Sophie the giraffe, playing peekaboo, a cool breeze on a sunny day, looking at trees, watching doggies play
🙅🏻 : Still hate going down for naps/long sleep and being changed
I love you so much, my boy.
😆

11/24/2021

Happy birthday, Benny! Your family has some beautiful taste! 😉 Congrats to one year on this earth! 🌎

11/24/2021

Happy birthday, Benny! Your family has some beautiful taste! 😉 Congrats to one year on this earth! 🌎

11/20/2021

Turning 7 for this sweet girl was magical! 🦄✨⭐️🌈 Happy birthday, Maggie!

11/06/2021

Emerson turned 4 months on Thursday!
You rolled over this month and are still learning how to consciously do it on your own. You like standing and sitting up like a big boy. You finally are entertained playing Peek-A-Boo. You give us full on baby giggles sometimes. 🥰 You are doing great taking your daytime naps in your crib in your room. Lola and Lolo are getting great practice taking care of you for hours at a time. You continue to be the little ray of sunshine in our lives! 💙💙💙

10/31/2021

Happy Halloween! We handed out candy in our driveway with costumes on this year. It was a great turn out! I hope it’ll be just as busy next year when hopefully Emerson will be walking by then.
➡️➡️➡️ Signage. Costumes. Sign deets.

10/10/2021

Happy 1st birthday, Hudson! Loved this colorful space theme 🪐💫⭐️🌎🚀🛸Outdoor party had a little rain, but didn’t stop everyone from having a good time!

🖊: Arteza, Bistro, Chalk Ink chalk markers

10/04/2021

Emerson, you’ve been in this big wide world for 3 whole months today! You are sleeping about 5-6 hrs most nights and love your swaddle, even though you hate it when we’re putting you in it. You can grab your hanging book and your ball now, and you gave us your first big giggle last week that melted Mommy’s heart. You’re holding your head up for longer and longer during tummy time. You love going places with Mom & Dad… but you got no choice anyways. 🤣 You had your first overnight stay with your Lola and Lolo and you did great! We love you, little man, and are looking forward to what this month will bring! 🎃👻🍂🍁

04/03/2021

🚂🦄🦈All aboard for the train/unicorn/shark-themed party! 😆Wasn’t sure how I was gonna pull this one off at first, but I’d say it ended up pretty cute!

I know it’s been a while! It was refreshing to pull out my chalk markers and create a simple hand-made work of art that served a fun and functional purpose and was well appreciated. For me, making this also means that we are starting to transition back into a somewhat “normal”, pre-COVID state, as more people get vaccinated and numbers trend down and stay relatively flat. Well... at least in my area they are. Society is slowly starting to come back out of the woodwork, small gatherings and celebrations are starting to take place again. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter each day! ✨

🖊: Arteza chalk markers

12/26/2020

Back to back news: It’s a boy! 💙
Quick story: Normally, knowing the gender now is early. I’m at 14 weeks, and apparently we would’ve had to wait until about 18 weeks to find out via ultrasound. However, Geoff and I conceived this baby via in vitro fertilization. The clinic already knew the baby’s gender as an embryo, which we chose not to know at the time. Our mothers had a strong desire to know the gender earlier and presented it to us as part of their Christmas gift.
IVF was a year-long tedious process for us, but we are so fortunate for two main reasons:
(1) For us to be living in a time where we could utilize modern medical technology to achieve this. Had we been born just one generation earlier, we would not have had this opportunity; and
(2) many women and couples struggle through various emotional, mental, and physiological hurdles in this process just for one healthy baby, and sometimes still do not have any success. We are so grateful that our journey to this point has been fairly straightforward, but will continue to try to acknowledge and be considerate of those whose journeys have been rocky. I have a new appreciation for anyone who decides to go through this.
Thanks to all who have been so supportive of us this far in! I understand everyone has their own comfort level with how open/private they’d like to be with something this personal (btw, this will probably be the only time I post about this here, lol). If you end up having to go through this process, please do not ever let anyone make you feel ashamed. Many men and women struggle with this issue; you are not alone. Remember that all pregnancy journeys are very different, and to sit there and compare yourself with all the people you know that can seem to just pop out babies, or even those who choose not to have babies, and be resentful of them may be what you feel sometimes, but do not let that consume you. There are specialized clinics, support groups, financial assistance, and tons of information that can productively guide you. Feel free to DM me if you ever need someone to talk to about it.
Mamas are such special people and I am excited to be a part of the club!