OH MY... where has the summer gone

The summer is getting away from me.  I cannot believe that August is here and summer is starting to slip away.  The baby turns 1 this weekend, Sam's surgery is next week and then following week the boys go back to school... throw in a few events, some therapies, soccer practices, and religious education classes and it barely leaves time to soak up the last of the summer sun and spend time at the pool.  We are all getting excited about going to the

Wheatland Music Festival ... we try to go every year and the boys love it.  We will don our best tie-dyed tees and spend the weekend enjoying fun music, good food and a relaxed atmosphere.  Although I love spending time with my boys... I can't wait until they are back in school allowing me to spend a bit more time in my studio.  I acquired some new papers and some bobbles and I am itching to get some work done.  I hope to replenish and freshen up my Etsy shop soon with new items.  For now I am just enjoying the rest of the summer with my boys...  

still here...

OK... So I have been MIA for a bit but what can I say... my family comes first and sometimes my life is not my own.  The rest of July is packed and August is impossible... I hope to see myself more in my studio in September.  Anyway... We just got back from a camping trip in the UP (upper peninsula).  I am originally from Michigan so it is fun to take the kids back to see the places I remember as a kid.  Being outside, unplugged and in nature really got my creative juices going.  Colors, textures, negative spaces, random groupings.... aaahhhhh.... I can't wait to get back to work.  Here are some pics... hope they inspire you too.

Tahquamenon Falls (lower)

 

hay bales on the farm

old house at the ghost town (Fayette State Park)

 

another old building at the Ghost Town

   

Letterboxing

Today we hatched as new Letterboxers and had our first find. What is Letterboxing you ask... check out the link. It is basically a treasure hunt with the prize being and exchange of rubber stamps. You get a set of clues (I believe there are several ways to obtain clues but we got ours from one of many letterboxing websites) that lead you to a box that contains a rubber stamp and a log book. Once you find a letterbox you stamp the log book within with your personal stamp and you stamp your personal log book with the stamp inside the found letterbox. Then you discretely re-hid it again for the next letterboxer to find. It combines hiking, nature, clues, art (as many of the stamps are handmade vs store bought), map reading and a basic sense of direction. We are very new and I had no idea how popular it is and really surprised to find that there are letterboxes stashed everywhere... really everywhere. Today, as a family we found our first box. Our collective trail name is Collins 5, but I think we will all come up with individual trail names too (Andrew is getting really creative). It was really a lot of fun. Besides all the local letterboxes we plan on making some side trips when we travel back and forth to Michigan and may even plant one of our own...what a nice way to let the kids stretch their legs after being in the car for several hours or to just burn some energy.

Think you want to try Letterboxing too... check out these sites

www.atlasquest.com

www.letterboxing.org

BOX SALE!!!

I am having a box sale in my Etsy shop. It is about time to clear out some my current stuff to make room for some new boxes in the works. So stop by and check them out. Enjoy!  For now the kids and I are off to the pool. Hope you are all having a happy and healthy summer.

I am also curious what you use boxes for.  To hold treasures, gifts, to just look pretty on a shelf... to keep old love letters or just to store junk in your basement ???? Do you like boxes for function or for aesthetic reasons or both??? Personally I like to make them and I find that the process of constructing them is the most rewarding for me.... from an artistic stand point.  I construct the boxes from scratch using book/binders board and then cover them with beautiful papers and bookcloths.  

stolen time

I was able to steal a bit of time and play around in my studio a bit.  My life is not my own these days with all the games, practices, doctor appointments .... well you get the idea.  And then the weather... who ordered that!  Our area has been hit hard with rain, thunderstorms, tornados, flooding and other random acts of God that have otherwise disrupted our normal flow.  As if the construction traffic was not bad enough already... I find it disturbing that it takes me 30 minutes to drive the 2 miles commute to soccer practice.  So needless to say I was thrilled to get a bit of time to myself, to work with my hands, to complete a task, to just think...  slowly these little books are becoming somewhat like therapy for me... it is like a mini vacation.

 

more red...

I Saw Red...

So I joined in on the I SEE RED game over at Sadie Olive.  Sounded like fun and perhaps a creative boost.  I am always taking pictures so I thought I could spy with my little eye something red... here is some of the RED I saw...