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.

this moment {wish flowers}

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

welcome summer

So dear friends,  Happy Summer!  I am thankful that my summer seemed to start weeks ago, well before today's official marking on the calendar.

My flowers are well into blooming in the beds and pots.
The salad table is seeing some lovely little sprouts.
We've been eating our share of ice cream cones.
Trees are being climbed.
A first baseball game, ever, has been watched.

And, most importantly, I am working my way through my list of Summer Daydreams. 

Early Saturday morning found us out picking strawberries.

I wonder if my daydreaming of picking strawberries this summer -- and actually writing it on my list -- gave me that extra get-up-and-go to quickly get dressed, convince Honey that we had to, load the kids up in the car and head out to the local farm very very early to make this daydream come true.

Would we otherwise simply have let another morning slide into afternoon and miss the entire strawberry-picking season, like every other summer?  I think so.

So I am grateful that I've been daydreaming.  Grateful that the daydreaming has manifested itself into a list here.  Grateful that with each dream realized I can pause in awe at the joy in my life.

And those strawberries?

They were very quickly eaten.  Though a few made their way into these jars.

But that is another story, for another day.

Saturday Evening Post

There can be magic as dusk settles on a summer day.

Kids -- and adults -- running and running and running to play capture the flag.

You run so hard you are out of breath and fall flat out onto the lawn, thick grass cushioning you.

The wide sky obscured only by the tree leaves high above.

Laughing with a joy so deep it can almost make you cry.

this moment {water}

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you a weekend of wonderful fun!

Best,
Claudine

discovering {power tools}

So about this saw.

If you would have told me ten days ago that I would know how to use this saw, I would not have believed you.  I actually would have sworn that I would never use it, because it simply freaked me out, seemed way too dangerous.  Leave it to the professionals, thank you very much.

So here's my story, and how I gained an affection for this very saw.

I had the incredible opportunity to be part of a community building project.  As the dutiful volunteer I signed in and checked off the "unskilled" box next to my name.  (I didn't think that my experience with using a matte cutter and hand-held drill for picture framing necessarily counted.)

There were many jobs to be done, and a variety of skill levels needed to do them.  That first day I simply was assigned to help out a couple other people who knew what they were doing, they obviously checked the "skilled" box.

As it happened I had arrived at the site when there was a need for someone to fit into a small space and hand someone else a drill.

Okay, I can do that.  So I did.

I handed the drill to this guy, very skilled.  As a matter of fact, he was one of the leaders on the building project.

And when he couldn't reach the spot for drilling.  He handed the drill back to me.

Because I could reach it.  So I drilled.

So, that's where it began.

I used the drill.

Then an impact driver.

Then a significantly larger drill.

Then a router.  A router!

And finally.  The saw.

Which technically has a very long and fancy name because of all of the amazing cuts it can make.  But to me, it was simply something that I conquered.  As I chopped board after board I felt a power in the doing.  A power I never realized I possessed.  (Never mind the fashionable safety glasses, and ear plugs even!)

It was the same great guy, to whom I had handed the drill that first day, who taught me how to use the saw.  And each of those other tools.  He never asked if I knew how, or if I could, or even if I wanted to.  He simply said "this is what you are going to work on next," and he would show me how.

And so I would.

I am not sure if I would mark the "skilled" box next to my name just yet.  And I still spent quite a bit of time simply helping out:  holding boards, making needed markings with a Sharpie marker, fitting into other small spaces and fetching tools.  At least I knew what tools to get.

So yes, I'm discovering something pretty incredible.  I can use power tools.

And quite enjoy it, thank you very much.

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?

weekenders

It must be summer when our weekend is filled with:
:: sprinklers
:: splashing at our park
:: peach crumble pie (devoured before I could get pictures)
:: sunning
:: sun hats
:: endless popsicles
:: homemade banana bread (of course)
:: watching construction up close
:: sidewalk chalk
:: kid pile ups on the slide (did you see how Baby Sister is pulling, really pulling, Munchkin's hair?)
:: lots and lots of time with cousins
and
:: even more water play

And then there is this.

Can't wait to tell you later this week why I have an affection for this saw.