fresh picked whimsy

Takes me back

Working on some fruity illustrations with colored pencils in my sketchbook.  Colored pencils always take me back to memories of my love of coloring books and crayons when I was a little girl.  My friends and I would color lots of pictures and tear them out of the books and then go around to all of our neighbors and try to sell them for a quarter each.  Some people actually bought them!  Our goal was always to save up enough money to buy paperdolls.  We loved paperdolls!  One day I hope to turn the book characters into paperdolls.  I can't explain how the thought of that makes me little-girl-giddy!

Last day of school!

It's time for flip flops, baseball, picnics, watermelon, swimming pool, sunshine, crafting, sleeping in, staying up late, road trips, ice cream man, the beach, freckles, lemonade stands, sidewalk chalk, grilling out, night games with the neighborhood kids and so much more!!!!

As a nod to summer break, here is one of our favorite summer desserts..."homemade" ice cream sandwiches

Through much experimentation with different chocolate chip cookie recipes, i have found that the good ol' cut and bake cookie dough in the tube, makes the ultimate perfect cookie consistency for these sandwiches.  They are just right every time and stay chewy even when right out of the freezer.  We prefer Homemade brand vanilla ice cream for the middle, but any flavor would be delicious.  Sometimes, for an added treat, i will roll the edges in mini chocolate chips, too.  I wrap them up individually in wax paper and pop them in the freezer.  Two jumbo tubes of cookie dough yields approximately 16 ice cream sandwiches.

Freezer is loaded!

 

Assorted end-of-the-year teacher gifts I made this year:

He didn't confirm his reservation

Meet Sneaky the Squirrel.  He was an unexpected {and unwanted} houseguest this past weekend.  We believe he may have even spent one night with us. 

Yikes!!!!!  It took us about 5 hours to get him to check out of the inn.  Kismet was oblivious to it...even when we tried to cajole her into chasing it out.  Normally, when a squirrel passes by the front window, she goes ballistic.  But, in her house....no.  Good to know.  We eventually borrowed a humane trap from a friend and tempted it out with peanut butter and crushed walnuts.  Once the trap was in place, it only took 10 minutes to catch it and he had a nice little snack.  Mark and K released him into the woods near our house.

Worth noting:  the very first thing i thought of when my son, R, yelled "there's a squirrel in the house!" was to grab my camera.  Is that wrong? 

Illustration Friday: worry

When I got the IF topic for the week, immediately i thought of the worries I have as a parent.  The saying goes:  "Deciding to have a baby is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body".  This is so profoundly true. 

For this week's IF, i was inspired by my daughter who will be graduating from 8th grade this week and will officially become a high schooler.  I still cannot wrap my brain around it...so, imagine how my heart feels.

Letterboxing: the greatest family hobby EVER!

Most people have never heard of it.  We discovered it, as a family about 2 years ago.  I cannot say enough great things about it.  Here's why: 

• it's free
• it's something that all five of us really enjoy doing {which is saying a lot with a teenager, a tween and a 7 year old!}
• it gets us outside
• it gets us moving
• we can do it everywhere we go!

So, what is letterboxing?  It's like a treasure hunt!

Here's how it works:  We follow clues {that we get from a letterboxing website} that lead us to a hidden box {mostly hidden in public parks, cemetaries, schoolyards, landmarks} that contains a homemade stamp and a small notebook. We bring our own notebook, stamp pad, and our homemade stamp, too.  Once we find the letterbox {carefully...so that we do not disturb the nature around us and so we are not seen by those who might not be kind to the letterbox...a.k.a. "muggles"), we open it and stamp our stamp in their notebook and their stamp in our notebook.  We record the date and the location, too.  Our notebook is quickly filling up with some of the most beautiful and unique stamps I've ever seen.

So, step by step, here is the letterboxing adventure we went on this weekend that led us to the stamping above.

We use a letterboxing website that allows us to search by city.  There are thousands and thousands of letterboxes hidden all over the US, and really, all over the world!  This particular clue took us to a cemetary about 20 minutes from home.  The clue was titled "Zuzu's Petals"

The first clue was to find the final resting place of a man who shared the name of Jimmy Stewart's character in "It's a Wonderful Life".  Here it was:

The next clue said "from his gravestone, walk SE the same number of steps as the last two digits of the year he died".

He died in '48.  The next clue said these steps would lead us to a lone marker, small and square, about three feet in front of a fence.  It said to reach under the fence to find the letterbox, well hidden at the base of the tree.  Here you see the kids (mine and my nephews...who we've also hooked into letterboxing!) looking for the box.

 

It was a really old, small cemetary.  The kids thought it was so cool that some of the gravesites went back to the 1800's.  Some of the headstones were works of art:

I thought this little tree stump headstone in this line of plain white ones was really sweet:

We also went into a nearby town and searched for a second letterbox.  This one was titled "Quack is Back".  It was planted along a canal trail. 

We followed directions and found the box inside a hollowed out tree trunk:

Another beautiful stamp:

Got my handsome hubby in the picture!

We brought some bread along to feed the ducks:

We have been letterboxing all over Indiana and we letterbox when we go on vacation in other states, too!  We have discovered some really beautiful parks and locations that we never knew existed right here in our own backyard!  By far, the best part of letterboxing is the time spent with our kids...without the tv, video games, cell phones, etc...just getting back to nature and enjoying each other's company. 

Here are some letterboxing tips, if you should decide to check it out...and you should!!!

• bring a small compass...you may have heard of "geo-cacheing" which requires a GPS device.  This is different and a little more kid-friendly.  Clues are mostly N,S,E & W, paces/steps, and nature landmarks
• learn how to identify poison ivy/oak...most boxes are hidden in brush or foliage of some type
• bring a pen to write down where you found it and where you are from
• every letterboxer creates their own stamp and letterboxing nickname that reflects who they are.  Our stamp is a shamrock and we are the "lucky dogs"
• Anyone can plant a letterbox and publish the clues online for free
• The handmade stamp inside the letterbox almost always reflects the location of the box
• Go to these two letterboxing websites for all kinds of great information and the clues you need to get started:
• www.atlasquest.com
• www.letterboxing.org
• Have fun!!!

I promise to post more photos of our family letterboxing adventures in the future.  And, let me know here if you and your family give it a try!  I dare you not to get hooked, too! 

Red, White and Blue Monday

It is easy to lose sight of what today is all about.  It is not just a day off of work or a day off of school.  So, as we gather with friends and family for barbecues and parties, let us also take a moment to reflect and be thankful that we are free to do those things because so many gave the ultimate sacrifice for us and our freedom. 

Girls can do anything boys can do!

It's a good day to be a girl!  Today is the one day of the year that Indy shines brightest.  The 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 is today.  And, in a field of 33 drivers, 3 of them are GIRLS!  They are perfect examples to share with your daughter that she can do anything or be anything, without limit!  She might be an astronaut, a chef, a soldier, a President, a race car champion or a mommy...how her story is written is up to her.

So, here's to you, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher...go get 'em!

The creative process

One of the questions that i got from several of the 4th grade career letters was "how do you come up with new ideas for paintings and art?"

I am inspired by everything around me...nature, songs, my kids, my husband, family, food, magazines...etc.  Whenever I am inspired, i go for my sketchbook.  I keep them everywhere.  I have one in my car, next to my bed, in my purse and tons of them in my studio.  I doodle in them all the time...whatever is inspiring me at the time.  It might be the most mundane thing, or just something that catches my eye.  I have volumes of sketchbooks that I have filled over the years.  I like to go back and get re-inspired by an old idea or doodle.  Sometimes I wonder where my head was at the time of the original doodle.  Other times, i know exactly what i was thinking when i did it.  I had to learn to resist the urge to scribble out or crumple up a "bad" doodle.  These are stepping stones to the good stuff!  It's how an idea evolves.  The truth is, I find that the more I doodle, the more ideas I get.  Every artist gets "creative block", but honestly, the best way to get past it {for me}, is to draw...anything.  I drew these pages of birdies some time ago...and actually, they are only 2 of many pages with bird drawings, but i thought i would share them, along with the picture that i made as a result of them. 

These quick sketches prompted this little pastel that I made a few months ago:

Illustration Friday: Wide

Lucky is what he would be if he fit through the door of his new house.

Recycled fun!

I've got a super busy day today, so i've only got time for a quick post.  I've got a deadline for a mock up of the book this week and need to get right to work.  Just wanted to post these pictures of the bracelet K made out of starburst candy wrappers. 

Isn't that fun? 

We followed the directions from here if you want to make one, too!  Oh, and it's best if you have bright green nailpolish on while making them.  :-)  Have a great day!