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A writer and illustrator tries to find joy in the daily grit, connect with other writers, read books, manage four children and find out where she's put the phone today.
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Here are the polar friends, nearly finished,
hoping to bring light and love
into the world.
They kind of make me feel like the party has arrived.
See? They even brought candy canes and made cookies.
I kind of forgot to make Christmas cards
so these are going to be my tiny love and light-bringers.
And these.
Happy Advent, my friends.
May thankfulness,
love
and light
fill you up
and bring you peace.
Here's a peek at some of my new treats:
Tiny buttons!
Prints!
More batches of sight word cards - in new boxes to boot!
Plus greeting cards, stickers,
and small, gifty surprises
that I'm still finishing.
If you are local, you're welcome to come visit me downtown this Friday or Saturday.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends.
I hope your day is rich and deep.
surrounded in love,
bright in gratitude.
Some of us are supposed to be getting ready for a pop-up art sale next week
but we keep getting lost the woods!
The good news: new art flashcard sets are coming!
I'll keep you posted.
Here's to finding light and joy in the midst of the wild & woolly this week.
Kids' Caldecott Club is up and running!
In our first session, we talked about the Caldecott award, and about how the Caldecott committee works. We talked about layers, theme, and tone in story, and what we will look for as we hunt for the most distinguished picture books of 2016.
Here's one - Alan's Big Scary Teeth by Jarvis.
I asked the kids to tell me what kind of tone or mood they predicted it might have.
"Funny."
The Tree in the Courtyard by Jeff Gottesfeld, ill. by Peter McCarty
shows a different tone - historical, poignant.
The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers
feels mysterious and intricate
Henry and Leo by Pamela Zagarienski
has a soft and ethereal mood.
We're starting with about 28 books this year because we only have so much time.
It would be lovely to absolutely roll in a roomful of books, but considering that we are working with after-school hours, 28 books is perfect.
Our wonderful librarian Martha helped as we evaluated two books with our ballots this week.
First, we examined the cover, jacket flaps, endpapers, copyright page.
We looked for interesting notes about the making of the book.
Next, we "read" the pictures all through, page by page, without words.
We searched for themes, color, mood, point of view, excellent details.
Then, I read the book aloud.
We asked ourselves what the book was about.
We asked what else it was about.
We looked for details to support our ideas,
nuances in text and art, in layout, in font.
We asked ourselves if the text and illustrations wove well together, or clashed.
We asked if the book would appeal to kids, if kids would be excited about that book.
We filled out our ballots and put them in their matching envelopes.
Exciting!
Here are the books we examined this week:
We All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
I'm utterly wowed by the mind-explosions They All Saw a Cat creates.
I love the details our kids' committee noticed -
like balance in layout, patterns in text that echo in the illustrations,
exuberant differences in perspective throughout this book.
Genius!
The Music in George's Head : George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blueby Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Stacy Innerst
Another wowzer!
Kids pointed out that the illustrations are done in browns and blues,
which seemed fitting considering that it's about Rhapsody in Blue.
They liked the playful hand lettering,
and the way the story begins, crescendos, and ends.
We listened to Rhapsody in Blue as we tidied up.
What a jazzy bright delight!
I love my library!
Stay tuned for updates as our Caldecott Club continues.
I'll post notes on our ballot and criteria next time.
If you're a local friend, you're welcome to join us!
We're meeting Thursdays
at the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock
from 3:45-4:45 p.m.
See more info
here.Except on Thanksgiving.
That's reserved for the turkey eating club.
It's Mock Caldecott season!
Beginning November 4,
we'll meet Thursdays
at the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock,Washington
from 3:45 - 4:45 p.m.
Get ready to be wowed by beautiful reads,
learn about the Caldecott selection process,
grow your critical thinking skills,
and help choose the stand-out picture books of 2016.
Read more about it here.I'm so honored to get to join our stellar children's librarian
Martha Ashenfelter and the Jefferson County Library
for a second helping of Caldecott Soup.
I'll keep you posted on all the book deliciousness!
A few of the books we'll be looking at:
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel: I'm wowed by how this book
plays with visual point of view. Clever in the extreme.
The Storyteller by Evan Turk: Set in Morocco, this layer-upon-layer story is intricate and deep. The illustrations are done in ink as well as indigo and sugared green tea. Striking.
Sam and Jump by Jennifer K. Mann: Soft and sweet, this is a poignant book about loss and connection.
There is a Tribe of Kids by Lane Smith: I love how this book deals with the concept of collective nouns simply and efficiently, but the illustrations tell a deeper story.
Ada's Violin by Susan Hood, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport : This is an amazingly uplifting true story that starts in a garbage dump. Gorgeous illustrations!
Before Morning by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes: Here is another beauty with simple text and visual story that begs to be followed again and again.
I'm playing with tiny paper people lately.
It seems easier to figure out than real Halloween costumes.
I keep hoping the wildebeests will agree to dress up like book characters.
Easy characters.
Like Baghead by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
That sounds reasonable, right?
Grocery bag?
A costume that doubles as a trick-or-treat bag!
Okay I'm mostly kidding.
The tiny guys are my way of getting ready for a virtual boo party
with Puddle Jump Collective.
Coming soon!
Do you have any easy costume ideas to share?
By:
Faith Pray,
on 9/23/2016
Blog:
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How do you feel about failure?
This summer, we made chalk paint with cornstarch, food coloring, and water.
Summery delight!
See our driveway canvas?
Little did we know that a thunderstorm brewed two hours away.
All our chalky wonders washed away overnight.
It's that resonance of art and failure that makes us strong, right?
Do you ever wonder if we can learn as much from our flops
- our sloppy first drafts, our rejections, our imperfections -
as from our neat and tidy successes?
I have this thing. This fear of ruining a brand new notebook or sketchbook.
I figure if I'm constantly working at something, then naturally, I'll keep improving.
And when I look at my old notebooks stuffed with terrible first drafts and awkward brainstorms,
I get panicky. What if this first page represents who I am through that entire notebook or sketchbook? Can't it at least start out perfect?
Talk about writer's block, eh?
So, I solved it.
It's my secret to hurdling the fear of failure. (in a notebook.)
I just skip the first page.
Then I'm set. I have a one-page cushion keeping me from a first-page flop.
(Really, it means that the second page becomes the first page, but shhh.)
But really, don't we gain something in being brave with each feeble offering of ourselves?
In truth, even if I jump right into the first page of a notebook and ink it up with a scratchy failure,
actually my "failure" teaches me something, and that becomes growth.
And if that's true, then maybe "failure" isn't so much of a failure.
Maybe the effort of trying something stretches and grows our skills.
And actually, that is beauty right there: being brave.
So, go out and be brave, my friends!
Ruin some second pages.
Scribble your heart out.
Make sloppy chalk paint that gets rained on overnight.
Get all muddy and splash around in those glorious flops.
Chalky books!
Journey by Aaron Becker
Quest by Aaron BeckerChalk by Bill Thomson
Art & Max by David Wiesner
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
Harold's Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
My camera likes to find the glowy bits, the sacred more than the dirt.
I got to talking with my sisters-in-law recently about the pressure of keeping up with
Western "mom-culture," as seen through the filters of Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and their ilk.
As an artist, I promote myself. I show my best side.
As media-savvy socialites, we most of us show our best sides.
We share our successes, because... who wants to share the flops?
But regular scans of others' tidy homes, clean kids, and glorious creations
can feed into a suffocating sense of failure, especially among mamas.
{It's so clean out there! So tidy! So productive! So creative! So delicious!
So overwhelming! }
With such a tide of seeming success out there, how can one stay afloat?
In truth, my house is so messy from life and work that I don't want to open my doors.
And yet!
I think the secret to staying afloat is by being honest.
Maybe the rest of everyone is as clean and productive and delicious as they seem, but I am not.
And I have a hunch that there are a few lovely souls like me, too.
So here is me, letting you in past the front door.
I am cobwebbed and sloppy.
I don't like to sweep or clean the windows.
I don't remember to dust.
I like to read. I love to make art. I want to write.
I love to snuggle with my family. I like to watch sunsets.
When all those things are accomplished for the day, I breathe.
Sometimes I clean up.
And the thing about the mess is
that we live here.
We, with all our strings and nests.
We, with our hive of buzzing. our endless scraps of paper
our mountains of books.
We, with our jars of pencils. Our oddball sorts of tape and fabric and library card and rubber band and broken watch.
We, with our shuffle-off-your-shoes and slough off the backpacks, hunker down with a good book, snuggle in for a daydream or a few minutes of escape and forget the chores.
What does our mess represent?
That dinner happens here.
Not elegant. Often blacky on the edges.
But family and chatter and real plates and silverware.
That health happens here.
Not spit-spot. Often grimy. with mildew creeping on the fringes.
But fresh, running water and soap. Running shoes. Soccer gear. Bikes. Laundry.
Music happens here. More practice than polished. But honest and earnest.
Art blooms here.
With scribbles and smudges. With paper crowding all the corners.
With story starts and muddy middles.
This is us.
This is our mess.
A haven. A canvas. A library.
for dreamers, athletes, artists, readers.
Life is a beautiful mess.
Here's to enjoying the sacred
and the dirt, my friends.
What does your mess represent?
Our latest reads:
Also an Octopus by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, ill. by Benji Davies
Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, ill. by Tiphanie Beeke
Book Scavenger - by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Because we like to shoot at least an entire roll of virtual film
on the first day.
No jitters here!
Birdy just wants to meet the classroom bunny!
The fella dealt with his jitters by making faces.
Here's to the firsts in life, my friends -
First grade!
First time in middle school!
First page in a new book!
First scribble in a sketchbook!
First line of a new story!
Here's to all the beauties to discover ahead -
all the joys,
and even more exciting,
all the mistakes around the bend -
the rough starts,
the scribble outs,
the failures
and bad days.
May they grow us kinder, brighter, wiser,
full of grace,
and brave in hope.
Here's to the beginnings in life, my friends!
Here's to joy in all of our seasons,
in all of our chapters.
Here's to each day we get a clean page
and fresh pencils
to make our mark.
Here's to erasers, and forgiveness when we make big, scribbly messes.
Here's to friendship and kindness
and all the beautiful things we pick up along the way.
Books!
Wherever You Go - Pat Zeitlow Miller, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
Atlas of Adventures - illustrated by Lucy Letherland
Zoo ology - Joelle Jolivet
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, illustrated by Frank Marcellino
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet
Ramona the Brave - by Beverly Cleary
Here is a little something I wrote for
Puddle Jump Collective about magic and art-making:
My twins just read the Harry Potter series -
seven books and one play.
My whole rabble of wildebeests is now running through the house with pointy sticks, saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and "Expelliarmus!"
Aside from the bad parenting of letting children run with pointy objects,
I myself would not mind a wand for a few things in life.
1. The dishes. (A den full of four hungry wildebeests and their keepers can be very full of dishes)
2. The laundry. (Again with the den analogy.)
3. The writing and the art.
Wouldn't it be fun to flick a pointy stick
and magic oneself into a brilliant writer and/or illustrator?
So, really, where is that magic spell?
Wouldn't it make everything easier?
So, I once had the opportunity to hear picture book illustrator
Renata Liwska and her husband Mike Kerr speak at a SCBWI conference in Seattle.
Wide eyed and wonderstruck,
I wanted to know the tricks and magic spells
that would turn me into a picture book illustrator exactly like Renata Liwska.
Ever do that?
Well, maybe not. But I did.
So, we all of us watched thirstily as Renata and Mike unpacked for the talk.
They pulled out a motherlode of black sketchbooks and laid them in a mountain in front of us.
Each sketchbook was filled with perfect illustrations.
Perfect! Pristine in skill and finish!
How was there not even one scratched out, loopy mess up in the entire collection? How?
Renata is soft-spoken, humble, and has such a kind smile.
Her husband Mike pointed to the pile of books and told us Renata's magic spell:
"This!"
Sketch every, every day.
That's it?
W-w-w-work?
Just work?
Where's the magic in that?
Two years later, it's beginning to sink in.It isn't an instant change, but each drop in the bucket is a spell of sorts.
Each drop is a growing of your eyes and ears and hands,
every sketch is an observation, a study of the world,
each page is a honing of your vision -
and therein you find the transformation!
So, my friends, let me share some magic spells for improving your craft in a nutshell:
1. Show up. Every day.
(Writers also call this "butt-in-chair.")
2. Sketch. Sketch. Sketch.
(Or insert your passion here. Bake cakes. Practice soccer. Juggle fruit.)
3. Write. Write. Write.
(Especially important for aspiring authors.)
4. Read. Read. Read.
(Observe and learn from the world relating to your craft. If you want to be a picture book illustrator, by golly, read picture books like a sieve!)
5. Repeat.
6. Every, every day.
Once more:
And the thing is?
The more I do it, the more I love this daily rite.
It's like magic.
Books!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Withering-By-Sea by Judith Rossell
Half Magic by Edward Eager
The Magic Half and Magic in the Mix by Annie Barrows
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Strega Nona's Magic Lessons by Tomie de Paola
Books on Writing and Art:
Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly by Gail Carson Levine
Rip the Page: Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke
Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer & Ellen Potter, illustrated by Matt Phelan
Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals
20 Ways to Draw a Cat by Julia Kuo
Let's Draw a Story by Sachiko Umoto
It's here! It's here! It's here!
Puddle Jump Collective : 13 children's book author / illustrators combining forces to showcase art, discuss craft, collaborate, and contribute to the kidlit world.
We'll blog, share projects, and splash often.
I'm honored to be one of the lucky 13.
This rain-loving girl skipped to the front of the line
for the our very first project -
a collaborative Puddle Parade.
Author/illustrator
Lorian Dean is next up
to combine my rainy girl with an entirely new character and set up,
which she will post, and tag another illustrator to follow suit.
I can't wait to see what transpires.
I hope you'll join us as we journey into the big pond.
Jump!
Let them eat cake!
Sweetness from Cafe Pray...
It's always fun to play with noses
on famous art...
They puzzled over my hand-drawn pieces of Picasso's Woman & Bird
and then played "Pin the Nose on the Picasso"
After a scavenger hunt, and treats,
we made wee matchboxes des Paris.
Ah the joys of the small things in life!
Paper. Art-making. A clamor of cousins. Laughter. Balloons.
Joyeux anniversaire! Happy birthday!
Here's to finding joy in the small things and the good things, my friends!
Au revoir!
C'est la belle vie!
Swan song!
Books!
Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock
The Iridescence of Birds by Partricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Hadley Hooper
Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter
A Giraffe Comes to Paris by Mary Tavener Holmes and John Harris, ill. by Jon Cannell
Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail by Laurence D'Anholt
Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson
They say some people match their dogs.
I wish I had a dog so I could know what I look like.
I so often enjoy looking behind the camera at the world.
For an upcoming project, I was asked to make a kid portrait of myself.
A selfie? A sketchie? A skelphie?
I approached it the same way I approach a new character.
Sketch a zillion bundle of possibles,
then hone in on who that character is.
So.. who am I?
What do I look like anyway?
What do I feel like?
What would I look like if I combined me now
with some of my favorite things from childhood?
Books. Overalls. Sunshine. Rain.
Puddle boots.
This is the girl I settled on. Bookish. Hopeful. Happy.
Not afraid to get messy.
Here's to finding your happy self this week, my friends.
It's birthday week for my three girls.
It took them awhile to agree on a theme.
Paris + kitty cats + French pastries.
Kitty cat cafe ?
Ooh la la.
And you know me - I love any chance to make art,
especially for a party.
After researching all manner of things French,
I sat down to sketch in the book fort.
(Avec iced coffee in a jar, no less.)
Oh, happy day, mes petits.
I think I'll make some hanging art
and some tiny, cupcake art.
I should probably figure out games.
I'm no good at games.
Anyone?
Hide the baguettes?
Name the French cities?
Guess the French words?
Some French books we love:
This is Paris - Miroslav Sasek
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Story of Babar - Jean de Brunhoff
The Fantastic Drawings of Danielle by Barbara McClintock
Madame Martine by Sarah S. Brannen
The Story of Diva and Flea by Mo Willems & Toni DiTerlizzi
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell, ill. by Terry Fan
By:
Faith Pray,
on 6/27/2016
Blog:
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A small friend is turning 6 in two weeks.
She lives across the country,
and we can't make it to the luau party.
We can't come for cake and balloons and birthday hugs,
but we can send pineapples
and kitties
and fancy toothpicks.
They're like tiny, paper aloha hugs.
So, in shuttling wildebeests to soccer camp lately,
I have discovered a few good surprises
in being the carpool soccer mom.
Books on CD.
Car-goofy kids.
And sketchbook time
while all my soccer players
do their runs and drills.
Big chunks of sketchbook time
help when working out new ideas.
It's funny that I can sketch happy around a crowd,
but I can't write a drop.
My thoughts turn to stone and my stories sink.
But then, that's kind of a theme for me with words anytime lately.
I know some writers who scribble serious magic
in coffee shops and airplanes.
What about you?
When do you do your deep story work?
Can you create masterpieces with everyone there?
Do you thrive with hum and buzz?
Or do you like a hush when you create?
Wherever you find yourself this week,
I wish you peaceful breezes, sweet surprises, and
aloha.
Books {and CD books} we're enjoying this week:
Captain Cat by Inga Moore
Dream Friends by You Byun
Ling and Ting Share a Birthday by Grace Lin
Ling and Ting: Together in All Weather by Grace Lin
A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, ill. by Catia Chien
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko
The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof by Annie M. G. Schmidt
Goodnight, pencil jars.
Goodnight, lunchboxes.
School's out!
Hello, sunshine books.
Hello, swing seats.
Hello, sandy feet.
Summer is in session!
Summery reads:
Sam and Jump by Jennifer K. Mann
A Beach Tail by Karen Lynna Williams, ill. by Floyd Cooper
Listen to Our World by Bill Martin Jr & Michael Sampson, ill. by Melissa Sweet
Surf's Up by Kwame Alexander, ill. by Daniel Miyares
Ocean Sunlight by Molly Bang & Penny ChisholmIsland: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin
A happy accident in pencils, cardboard backing
and color palette experiments
is my latest submission to the May SCBWI Insight's prompt word "borrow."
Don't you love getting to borrow from all the delicious books waiting in the library?
Here's a question for my creative friends - do you ever work with prompts?
I am stretched when I work on art for Birdy's sight word cards.
I try to think of all the ways a simple word speaks to me,
looking for the story behind it.
Online resources such as
SCBWI Insight drawing challenges
or Colour Collective's weekly color prompts are a fantastic springboard
for experimentation. And online challenges are abundant, once one starts looking.
How do you stretch yourself?
Do you write from prompts?
Do you ever coax words out left-handed, if you're a righty?
Sketch with eyes closed, if you're an artist?
How do you dig deeper for inspiration?
My brother, illustrator
Jesse Joshua Watson continually inspires me,
He paints jaw-dropping wonder on reclaimed wood, old surfboards, drums, plywood.
Beauteous.
Some of our borrowed library treasures this week:
The Night Gardener - Terry and Eric Fan
Roar Like a Lion - by Tae-Eun Yoo
A Rock is Lively - Diane Hutts Aston, ill. by Sylvia Long
The Bear and the Piano - by David Lichtenfeld
Pax by Sara Pennypacker, ill. by Jon Klassen
Tiny Creatures : the world of microbes by Nicola Davies, ill. by Emily Sutton
The Adventurers by Rachel Elliot, ill. by Valeria Docampo
Dream Animals - by Emily Winfield Martin
What does BORROW bring to mind?
so we hopped over for the book birthday celebration.
So many delicious new books. Drool!
Jennifer Mann read from her book SAM and JUMP,
which is a poignant story about loss, discovery, and friendship.
And then Jen shared stories of loveys lost and found.
The wildebeests brought up a book to be signed and loveys to show.
Jennifer is so engaging and gentle with all of her fans, even the small ones.
Here's a picture of Jennifer with local authors
Margaret Nevinski and
Dawn Simon.
I'm so thankful I have Dawn as my critique partner.
Her exuberance and wit are such a delight,
and her writing critiques brilliant.
What a treat to live near talented and gracious authors and illustrators.
What a treat to celebrate SAM and JUMP!
Because... of
this poem by Children's Author Nicola Davies, and the #3000chairs project.
It's worth every second it takes to read.
My husband and I had the opportunity to spend time in Kosovo with war survivors - refugees who returned to their homes carrying life-wrenching scars of war, with stories that ached in the hearing, and burned in the telling.
I wish a chair for every child running from war.
I wish refuge.
and hope.
and light.
By:
Faith Pray,
on 4/27/2016
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Apparently, it's Poetry Month.
Only, I've been a little distracted.
I skipped off to the city
for my local SCBWI meeting -
an art show,
a lecture from book-wise and witty
editors Mary Kate Castellani and Caroline Abbey,
and then a consultation and workshop with
art director, professor, and story genius Joy Chu.
This is the same Joy who guided me over the last two winters
in visual storytelling classes through the UCSD online extension program.
I'm still reeling with inspiration.
I could have listened for days. Months. Years.
Now I'm home, all bright and hopeful,
waiting for my brain to shape so many beautiful tips
and ideas into working order.
Time to let the front thoughts simmer.
Time to play with poetry.
We started with a poet-tree.
The wildebeests and I cut out branchy trees and labeled each branch with simple word:
sky, go, sea, etc.
Next, we cut out dozens of leaves - in all flutters of color,
because it just looks more exciting that way.
Each branch grew rhyming leaf words:
sky = cry, my, pie, etc.
Because we like to make life even more thrilling, and sometimes complicated,
I thought it might be fun for the older wildebeests to thread their leaves on yarn.
Winnie added a button.
Pip used gold pen. She's really into gel pens lately.
And their finished masterpieces.
I'd love to meet a tree like this someday, shimmering with colors, yarns, and words!
I think I'd move in.
I'll share more poetry play next time.
Until then, here are a few favorites:
A Kick in the Head, An Every Day Guide to Poetic Forms - compiled by Paul Janeczko, ill. by Chris Raschka
The Random House Book of Poetry - edited by Jack Prelutsky, ill. by Arnold Lobel
Switching on the Moon - collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Peters, ill. by G. Brian Karas
Chicken Soup With Rice - by Maurice Sendak
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard
Now We Are Six By A.A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard
It's National Library Week.
How glad I am for libraries this week and always.
How rich it is to have a place to borrow books,
to load up on research, art, music, words, and stories!
How glad I am for the staff at my library,
gracious souls who do not even sniff
when the wildebeests and I emerge
with a mountain of books to take home.
How patient they are with the noise and flamboyance
of kid-ruckus and story hour,
even when small bears and dragons and pirates
weave and wail beyond their story circles.
How perfectly like a matchmaker
is our children's librarian,
always hunting down treasure
to help her patrons fall in love with reading.
Happy Library Week!
Our latest librarian-found treasures:
When Mischief Came To Town by Katrina Nannestad
Hector and Hummingbird by Nicholas John Frith
Tea Party In the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi
Detective Gordon: the First Case by Ulf Nilsson
Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary.
Thank you for Henry, Ramona, and Beezus.
Thank you for Klickitat Street.
Thank you for your books.
Because you always wanted to save 10% in my
shopwith the code Spring16.
Birthday cards? Wall art?
Sight word flashcards, anyone?
A gift for your teacher, your pre-K, your kindie...
A gift for your walls...
My Spring Sale goes through April 30. Cheers!
Things to do on your third stroke-aversary:
Sketch.
Read.
Write.
Dig for treasure.
My treasure might be hiding in the mountain of dirty laundry downstairs.
Or maybe in shuttling wildebeests to lessons, or practice.
Or maybe the treasure is in every speck of this beautiful daily dirt.
The sun is shining,
the flowers are out.
It's beautiful.
Being alive is good, my friends.
It's so good.
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They kind of make me feel like the party has arrived. 
Merry Christmas to you and your sweet family, Faith! Keep shining your beautiful light! xo