Google dazzles with its doodling again ~ this time with some fancy animated footwork in honor of Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday, and it’s a clever one. Enjoy!
So, I’m barreling along today, putting the final touches on a website, creating mastheads, writing copy, polishing a logo, scheduling meetings … and then I see this:
And I think, how fantastic! It’s from my talented publisher Mary, at Shenanigan Books. She’s very crafty, that one ~ in all the right ways.
She’s also started a new blog with features about the company’s growing flock of authors and illustrators, news about their books, happenings in the world of publishing, and a special Kid’s Page showcasing easy-to-do craft projects, ideas for young authors and illustrators, plus science and nature activities. Head on over now and you’ll find instructions for making a fairy house as beautiful as this one!
So even though writing this up added one more unexpected thing to my to-do list, it made my day. (Because as you surely know, I have a thing for fairies.) Hope it brightens yours as well!
One of my favorite holiday traditions revolves around one of my favorite drinks~ tea.
Every year for the past 20 or so I’ve hosted a “holiday tea” ~ and somehow, no matter how busy we are, or how up-to-our-eyeballs in hustle-bustle, the time shared feels just right. The home seems to magically expand in a welcoming embrace, all tension is left at the door and a warm, light sense of companionship takes over. (I’m always a little bit amazed at how well it all falls into place. But some things aren’t worth questioning; just worth enjoying!)
Designing the invitation is part of the fun, so I thought I’d share some. I can’t find them all, but I’ve got ten, so here’s a collection of “1o years of tea”…
Cheers!
My muse is hard at work, sliding with a vengeance into all available slivers of time. (When is a girl to sleep, I ask?) This time it’s something kind of new for me … and it’s making me smile, despite a crazy schedule, some sleep deprivation and probably too much tea and chocolate. (Wait ~ there can’t be too much tea or chocolate. What was I thinking?)
But I will say no more (because, after all, it’s a secret) and just cut to the sneak peek. Hope it makes you smile too. : )
As if ghouls, goblins and wads of candy weren’t enough, Halloween just got a whole lot more fun.
This is the 15th year of an annual pumpkin carving contest held by Duarte Design, and boy are these carvings great! What a treat. You can even vote for your favorite. (but hurry, voting ends the afternoon of 10/29.)
These are so much fun, I’m thinking I might start my own contest next year. So, you’ve been fairly warned, with plenty of time to think about what you’d like to do ~ and here’s some fantastic inspiration to whet your creative spirits!
Been burning the candles at both ends. Late at night, early in the morning… many projects, many ideas, lots of hot fudge to keep me going.
And it occurred to me this morning that my overwrought brain might indeed have its own image… so if the inside of my head were a picture today, this is what *came to mind*.
It’s colorful, for sure. But like my thoughts, the colors are alternately colliding, competing and complementing. Kind of interesting (I think.).
Then I realized that as the day wears on, the inisde of my head will change – because nothing ever stays the same, does it. So, around noon, it might look like this:
And later still …
And if I’m lucky, by the end of the day, it will calm down to a restful glow…
I posted this piece a little over a year ago. But as I’ve been feeling “all work and no play”, I thought it worth a repeat performance. Sometimes you need reminding to make play a priority. So I’ll leave you with this, as I’m off … to play now!
The Importance of Playtime
When was the last time you jumped up and down like a kid, or played frisbee in the rain … just for the fun of it? If you have, you’re better off. If you haven’t, maybe it’s time!
I recently saw bits and pieces of a TV documentary about the power of play. It showed images of wild animals, who might normally be mortal enemies, engaged in play. And children, of course, using all their natural talent for having a good time.
The essential message though, was that play is not just for fun. And it’s not just for kids or animals. It’s actually really, really good for you.
And when you think of it, who doesn’t like to play? I know I do. And knowing that it’s vitally beneficial for our well-being, makes it even more inviting.
But sometimes we adults can get so darn serious, or acquire some heavy sense of self-importance, or feel so burdened with the weight of our individual worlds (not to mention the world at large) that we don’t make room, or forget to make time, or heaven forbid lose the ability, to be playful.
By continuing to “play” throughout our lives though, we increase our brain’s learning capacity and become more productive. We’re more balanced, happier and well adjusted. We work better, and we live better. And seriously, it’s a lot more fun.
As Stuart Brown talks about in the video below, “play” seems to be its own separate biological entity. It’s inborn. It has a great evolutionary purpose. And this I believe to be 100% true. Yet there really is no particular purpose to play other than the purpose TO play. The point is to have fun. And the benefits are in the side-effects: pure, unplanned, and positively life-giving.
Dr. Stuart Brown’s research shows play is not just joyful and energizing — it’s deeply involved with human development and intelligence. Through the National Institute for Play, he’s working to better understand its significance.
Some of you already own The Book of Mermaids’ companion Magnetic Mermaid Dress-up Game, and know how fun it is.
Previously available exclusively through my publisher, Shenanigan Books, it’s up on Amazon now… took a while, but it’s there!
It’s a great little self-contained toy ~ kids just adore playing with it, parents like the great quality and the no-fuss, no muss!
Happy to share the news with you. : )
What do you get when you put together some cardboard boxes, a bunch of nifty craft stuff and a room of imaginative children? … some great fairy houses!
Yesterday I led a fairy-house-making afternoon at the library, based around A Book of Fairies. The kids had tons of fun ~ each one proudly carrying home their colorful, imaginative creations. I think there are a lot of delighted woodland fairies around town right now!
(Many thanks to our fantastic librarian “Miss Lynn”, for organizing and supplying lots of great tools and good cheer.)
Destination: Perth Amboy Art Gallery Center For the Arts for the opening reception of “The Many Faces Of Eve” exhibit, in which some of my work is exhibited along with 7 other women artists. And as is often the case, the journey was more than half the fun.
We’re a party of four: Jose, Nick, my daughter Carolyn and myself. I drive, because Jose grew up in Florida and drives with trepidation at 40 mph on the highway. Nick lives in the New York City and I understand that the last time he drove was on a vacation out west 10 years ago. Nick and Jose think I am an amazing driver, and revel at my “calm”. They sit in the back so they don’t get nervous as I effortlessly dart in and out of lanes with practiced care.
Jose and Nick, both prolific artists, carry on their typically fascinating repartee on history, the arts and socio-cultural snippets in a brilliant, almost stream-of-consciousness style. Cruising down Rt. 287, we cover Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, St. Peter in the Walls, the Vanderbilts, Guggenheims and Coopers, and Nick getting lost in the desert during his Army years.
Because we arrive early, we take a drive down to the Perth Amboy waterfront and find a cozy pub restaurant. We sit at the bar with stuffed and painted swordfish watching over our shoulders, and we order food and drinks. I learn that this is one of Jose’s wife’s favorite places, and that afterwards she likes to go for a walk along the water.
I also learn that this urban scrawl of a town filled with trinkets like Jesus statues with eyes that wiggle, costume lingerie and shops that sell everything for a dollar, was once a thriving city where, in fact, the Guggenheim family originally made its fortune in the tin and copper business. (I’d always assumed they’d been in the art business…) (And to be fair to the city of Perth Amboy, it’s experiencing a revival, much to its credit.)
The bar is small, so we can’t help noticing a middle-aged woman, a retired man wearing a navy baseball cap, and a man in a Mets jacket, in the throes of a vigorous debate about the condition of America – more specifically, about the current health care measures. Tired from a long day followed by a long drive, I think that my daughter, myself and my 2 artist friends are secretly pleased for the diversion. Possibly a classic one.
The woman is a registered Democrat but considers herself Independent. She holds the floor for a good while, batting back rebuttals from across the bar, where the retired man plays devil’s advocate.
“Have you read the bill?” he’d ask, and she’d say “No, but…. well, have you read the bill?” and he’d say “No, but …” …So that both have their say but there isn’t a lot of credence being placed on the other’s opinion. “Are you one of those Teabaggers?” he asks. “No, but I think they have every right to speak up.” “Well, from everything I’ve read they seem like troublemakers” On it goes.
At some point – must have been that our food arrived and in our ravenous state we lost track of the conversation ~ really yummy food, by the way ~ the woman has no more to say and the conversation shifts over to the guy in the Mets jacket seated beside the retired man.
The Mets guy is Republican. If the topic were different, I imagine these two being friends. Obviously they both like baseball. But of course the views of these two men are even farther apart than the woman’s had been, making it feel like we’re watching a microcosmic episode of MSNBC vs. FOX News.
Each man clearly feels confident, and just a little bit righteous, about their opinions. In a situation like this I wouldn’t normally chime in and I do NOT want to get in the middle of what is becoming a somewhat heated political discussion. Yet they’re driving me a little crazy, and it’s all I can do to bite my tongue.
There’s a slight but growing air of volatility. The bartender walks around to diffuse a potential fight. He puts his hand on a shoulder and says, “Take it easy, guys.”
At the same time, Jose apparently senses my tongue biting, so he tosses me into the ring (… what was he thinking? … or maybe he saw an opportunity break the tension…) by announcing that I have something I want to say. Which is actually true – so out it spills. Even more surprising, to me, is that they listen … as I tell them that they are, right then and right there, acting out the divide in our country between right/left, right/wrong ~ it’s all black and white with no gray area. They are so sure of their own positions, they don’t hear the other person’s view. There’s not enough open-mindedness going on to at least consider some of the points the other made. They’re not having a conversation ~ not even a debate ~ it’s all “I’m right, you’re wrong, this is the way it is, and, he said this, and well, but he said that…” Almost a test of wills. There is condescension. Try to listen to each other, not just plan your next stab.
My piece has been said. No fists are raised. (Later, Nick shares how impressed he was that I “got in the middle of the fight”. I did? I didn’t think it was all that bold, but of course, I couldn’t see myself.) Then they ask my daughter her opinion. She answers with fabulous diplomacy for a 13-year-old. I am proud.
Shortly after that, Jose talks to them too. Jose is both an artist and a professor. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more knowledgeable historian; one who’s interestingly knowledgeable, not just book smart. So he comes at them with this wealth of archival information and holds them in the palm of his hand. And, unlike me, (and more bravely than me), he takes sides – yet he does so in such a way that disarms both men.
It is pretty remarkable. They seem to lose their battle cry, and instead wonder aloud about who this guy is – where was it that he taught, what school? Interesting how the mind can respond.
We go on our merry way, four artistic souls out for a simple taste of life. We walk along the piers, take some pictures. Ponder more juicy historical morsels and finally end up at the art show, which is, if you recall, the whole reason for our journey.
The show is lovely, energetic, and warm. I especially like the conga musicians. They come late though, and we have to leave. We head for home… with the streaming dialogue in the back seat serving up more intellectual treats, and stories already being concocted about yet another creative journey with Jose and Nick. And once again, they admire my driving skill.
I’ll always wonder how it ended up over there at the bar by the bay.
I’m also thinking, my daughter probably learned more in those few hours than in a year of social studies class. The really good news is she also thought it was fun. As did I.
A couple days later I overheard my daughter repeat to a friend something she learned that night. Her friend asked her how she knew what she knew. She told them it’s because her Mom hangs out with really smart people. : )
ps: there are a few more pictures from the exhibit at the patricia saxton blog.