the good {and a giveaway}

Zip.

Zip.

Zip.

That is the sound of our summer rushing by.

Zip.  A week.

Zip.  Another week.

I sit here, on the cusp of Independence Day, and grapple with my clumbsy entrance to this summer.  As is life with four kids bursting with energy and intensity and creativity, our summer has started off as a mix.  Some good, some not so good.  Toss in a hefty dose of anxiety about a couple things, and well, that's been these rushing weeks.

So I'm aiming for graceful.  It may be a bit late, and accompanied by the whooshing sound of weeks zipping by, but graceful is what I want my kids to see how summer can be.  The good, and the not so good.

And there has been plenty of good.

Moments of fun, mischief, curiosity, a hometown carnival.  A growing boy in his element

A wonderful afternoon with Annie, a dear friend who is so talented.

So much more good, if I look closely, and slow myself enough to take in these zipping by weeks.

And this.  This is so very good!   

 

This magazine.  Amy is the talented artist behind Amy Hood Arts, and the creator of the Art Together publication.  

Issue 4: Mixed Media/Collage is a journey filled with inspiration, insight, and permission.  Lots of permission to explore and create and discover the beauty of taking many different materials, objects, textures, colors and making art.

Her guidelines are perfectly presented for getting you started, or for helping you delve deeper into the art of mixed media and collage.  The projects vary in scope and time frame, and all can be adjusted for any age - so creating can happen together.  The magazine is full of gorgeous examples, and tons of resources and links.  I love that the projects are flexible enough to make them your own, and bring a playfulness and joy perfect for this time of year.  Take a peek at Issue 4, and check out the beauty to also be found in Issues 1, 2, and 3.

Amy is generously offering one lucky reader a free copy of Art Together, Issue 4.  Enter by leaving a comment below.  A winner will be selected on Friday afternoon, July 11. 

(Congratulations to Kortney - Amy will be sending you your Art Together issue!)

Everyone can also enjoy 20% off of any Art Together purchase with the code: ARTPLAY.

I can't think of a better way of being graceful with these remaining summer weeks.  Slow down, feel the freedom of creating mixed media with my littles.  And maybe even sneaking some time in to create all on my own.

gathering

A trip to a farm over the weekend was just the right balance of roasted corn and ice cream, pumpkin picking and corn mazing.   So we are nearing a sufficient number of pumpkins on the front walk, and the countdown until they become jack 'o lanterns is underway.  But for now these pumpkins are gathered together with the mums and corn stalks.

The fall is bringing gathering of all sorts.  The leaves finally gathering on the ground.  According to our neighbors, our trees tend to be the last to drop leaves.  But it is beginning and it feels and smells and sounds like fall.

I've gathered some art supplies into a basket.  I've been finding them spread throughout the kitchen.  Seems they need to be there.  So I've gathered them into a spot they can stay, at least for now.

Every time we empty a jar of homemade grape jelly another is usually immediately opened.  A current favorite is a dollop of the jelly goodness onto plain Greek yogurt.  This year I canned more than double what I did last year.  I'm already scheming to double it again next year.

That yellow ball.  That yellow ball.  That yellow ball.  Munchkin has had it in near constant motion this week.  A one-man soccer game in the front foyer that lasts hours.  If I am understanding his running commentary, he plays for a powerhouse team called "The Dingos."  Seems they can easily score 1,000 points.

Of course planning for gladsome is well underway.  Now that will be quite a gathering.

In the meantime,  Honey and I are planning another special gathering.  This one at our home, to plant our Peace Pole.  Yes, Honey is the king of cool birthday presents.  The King.

There's been some tie dye.  A much needed late-night-Mama-date with a dear friend.  And night after night of Netflixing all five seasons of Parks and Recreation.  All.  Five.  Seasons.  Oh, hello life, nice to have you back again.

And hello to you all.  Hope you are gathering goodness of your own.

planning

I've been able to sneak away a couple times these past weeks.  In the life of this Mama my time for any project which demands my full uninterrupted attention is usually relegated to the hours when littles are sleeping.  Sometimes this works well, sometimes not so.

And sometimes I simply need to sneak away for a few hours.

See, I've been dreaming of a special project for quite a long time.  These past several months I've been getting closer, planning specific details.  At times that has meant packing up my iPad, my journal, and finding a cozy spot in the sunshine or comfort of an air conditioned coffee shop.

I'm oh so close to being able to share it with all of you, dear readers! 

box of inspiration

Earlier this year I reconnected with an old friend of mine.  It had been over ten years since I had seen or  talked to her.  In the intricately wonderful way blogs work she found me through a comment and link I had left on Amanda Soule's blog in the spring.

What a fantastically small world, I say.

Recently when I shared with her the many exciting changes that are happening in our family: new job for hubby, staying at home full time for me, baby number four on the way; she insisted that I needed some inspiration as I journey into this new time of creativity and homemaking.

Last week I received a whole box of inspiration.  Twenty-nine, yes 29, sewing, knitting, paper-making, crafting and homemaking books arrived for me in the mail.  There was much squealing and cheering and jumping around our house for quite some time.  I squealed over the books.  The kids squealed over the bubble wrap the books came wrapped in.

I've been slowly making my way through the stack, book by book, soaking in the lovely pictures and projects, scheming what I might make first.  Oh so much to choose from!

Big Brother on the other hand selected a book right away and within an hour of opening the box was well into a project.  My young artist was following the templates free-hand to create these delightful paper animals.  Munchkin, as he does most days right now, wanted to do exactly the same.  Pretty good I think.

My friend included a book I've been wanting for a long, long time, unbeknown to her.  I figure if any book can, Keeping Chickens by Ashley English will convince me 100% that I do want to keep chickens, and the knowledge will help me convince Honey that he wants me to too.  (Or, it will give me just enough reality to know that perhaps I don't.)

I am still a bit overwhelmed by my re-found friend's sweet generosity, and her wanting to recognize this special time in my life.  I can't think of a better start to my pursuit of homemade creativity than having a personal library of books all for creating.  Especially when the usual routine was a handful of books from the public library in three-week increments. 

Inspiration indeed.

making art

Many of you, dear readers, know that I am a creative soul.  I love to create.  Projects, clothing, gifts, handicrafts, happiness.  I think my favorite being something, anything, I have created by hand.  So I try, really try, to fit creativity into my everyday, but oftentimes fall short.

So, I am excited to take part in the "Index Card a Day" (ICAD) project sponsored by Daisy Yellow.   So much about it seemed fun and doable.  Though I have to admit that the biggest hook for me was that it could be done in, say, 5 minutes a day.  Even I can spare five minutes.

So, of course, I wanted to first create a cubby to make ICAD easy and fun and portable.   Using all items I had on hand, I gathered color pencils, markers, and a huge stack of blank index cards into this wire tote.  (That tote has been around awhile, I first got it as a bathroom caddy long ago when I went off to college.  I turn 40 this year.  You can do the math.)

So art is being created.  A bit each day.  In different spots all over the house. 

The kids have been creating too.  Which makes ICAD even that much cooler!  I am pleasantly surprised how easy it has been to carry that cubby about and use as a perfect creative distraction when needed!

I haven't yet decided exactly how I will share our daily notecards, but I will share them somehow.  For now here is a look at some of our first ones.

My first attempt.  Still not quite finished.

Lovey.  There are 30 more that are pretty similar.  Love.

Big Brother.  One of his favorite subjects, always.

My recent mantra.

I used one of the optional prompts.  Which got me thinking differently.

Even Daddy is getting in on the art action.  He said he always pictured the card perpendicular.  Hmmm, I never did.

Lovey added some of her touches to this after I was done.

Those are Honey's hands holding each card.  I asked for his help out of necessity for good lighting, but then realized how much better I liked each card because of his hands framing each one, giving it both humanness and scale.  He's been hired for the summer.

the extras

It is pretty well documented on this blog that the kitchen is 99.9% my husband's domain.  And he is good, really good, in the kitchen.  Which means I am about the luckiest wife on the planet.

Where I definitely shine though, is in the little extras.  I am able to take just about anything crafty or creative or colorful and make it just a bit more so.  I like to think that I am the sparkle that brings it all together.

When we are planning a party or having company, my husband rules the kitchen and makes the most fabulous of menus.  But I perfect the rest:  pick the right linens, set place settings just so, add some colorful ribbons, create celebration signs.  You know, the sparkle.

So I am delighted to tell you that I have mastered a few little extras in the kitchen.  Yes, me, in the kitchen! 

We are talking banana bread, which gets made around here pretty often.  (After all, it is a nutritious snack, with the bananas and all.)

These extras are:

:: always adding in coarsely chopped dark chocolate, usually from the stash of candy bars in my purse.  You simply can't go wrong with adding chocolate!

:: and using granulated sugar in the pan instead of flour, making it almost crispy with sweetness on the bottom crust.

All around -- yum!  And I did it, sparkle in the kitchen!

What little extras do you like to do to make something special?