Sometimes I have to ask myself, “Why am I just finding out about this now?” When Drew told me about Book By Its Cover, it was one of those times. It is so cool.
You guys…it’s a site devoted to art publications.
Check out the Camilla Engman entry, the book I’m currently reading.
And cool children’s books.
I want to get this one for Nathaniel soon. Mo Willems is ah-mah-zing.
And it was created by Julia Rothman.
She’s speaking at Alt. That’s awesome sauce!
Did I mention that I just found out about it…THIS WEEK?!? Why do you try to hide things from me, interwebs?
Say Please Lunchbox Love
When I was in elementary school, I had a pink Junior Miss lunchbox like this one. Yes, seriously.
In addition to my peanut butter sandwich and thermos of soup or SpaghettiOs, my mom would write sweet messages on napkins that she would tuck into my lunchbox. I loved getting those notes, and I’m planning to carry on that tradition with Nathaniel.
This week in Daily Candy Kids, I learned about some really cool lunchbox notes by Say Please.
It will be so much fun to put things like this into Nathaniel’s backpack and lunchbox once he’s reading. I’m looking forward to getting crafty (in spite of my next obsession) and making my own!
Our Jack-O-Lantern/More Sucking at CraftsBehold our jack-o-lantern!
My photos of it kind of suck, but I really like the face that I designed and Drew carved. I got inspired by this cool mask photo project on Design*Sponge, that I read about on one of my favorite blogs, Honey Kennedy. I still want to give some of my photos masks sometime. Right now, I’ll settle for the pumpkin.
Then I just couldn’t leave well enough alone.
Remember that I kind of suck at crafts? Well, the suck has struck again.
I saw this Party Time pumpkin on Daily Candy. I was all like, my pumpkin needs to “wear” a mask AND be sparkly.
Why Melanie, why?!
On Saturday, I went to Paper Zone to redeem a $20 LivingSocial deal.
Originally, my plan was just to get some washi tape to use on collages, cards, maybe another art project, whatever. Washi tape looks cool, and I want some.
Note to Paper Zone: People like washi tape. Enough to make their own. Having just two options of three-pack non-holiday washi tape is not okay. Get with the program. Also, what is up with your stencil selection? People might want to stencil things other than a square, a rectangle, a triangle, or one type of font.
Note to Melanie of the future: Order all supplies online. Do not buy deals for Paper Zone.
Anyway, after the washi tape fail, I walked around the store and saw a variety pack of non-washi tape that included gold and I was like, “Awesome! I can stick that on our pumpkin and it will look just as cool as the Daily Candy pumpkin!”
Umm, hey…Melanie from the past: No, it won’t.
While the problem may not be apparent from this shot, I only had enough gold tape for two strips. Two strips on the entire pumpkin.
I filled in a few of the blanks with some of the other tape in that package (white with gold polka dots, rhinestones), but the white tape wouldn’t stick to the pumpkin and the rows of rhinestones were too thin to really make a difference.
Then I was like, “What am I supposed to do with all of the blank pumpkin space that the two strips of gold and the two-and-a-half skinny strips of rhinestones won’t cover? It looks stupid like this. Oh…I know! A green magic marker!”
People.
This is a perfect example of why I’m usually sleeping well before 11:30 PM. My brain does not function normally after 4:00 PM. I am a morning person. If I’m awake after 10:00, you just might have an effed up jack-o-lantern on your hands.
Today I ripped off the gold and rhinestone tape and dumped it into the garbage. Not much I can do with the greenish magic marker lines though.
Happy Halloween!
Did you guys see the Google Doodle on Friday? I’m glad I did, because it introduced me to the work of Mary Blair.
Check out this super short video from The Washington Post for a few facts about her life.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ud5Awr6izU?rel=0&hd=1]
Mary was a Disney animator and children’s book illustrator. I love her colorful illustrations.
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| Via Mate PSD |
Want some of Mary’s magic in your life? You’re in luck. Mary’s nieces have created Magic of Mary Blair, where you can purchase her wonderful work.
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| Via Wading in Cement |
Back in September, I introduced you guys to one of my favorite websites, The Glow.
This week, I was blown away by it again, when I saw the photographs and interview with interior designer Athena Calderone and her eight-year-old son, Jivan.
Isn’t Jivan’s room great? I love it.
I also think that it’s incredibly cool that Jivan has developed an appreciation for design and that Athena includes him in those types of decisions. I look forward to asking Nathaniel what he thinks about art and design and the different things that he sees.
This artwork created by Athena and Jivan inspired my washi tape obsession. I want to create art from tape and let Nathaniel give it a try too. I’ll give him his own tiny canvas and see what he comes up with!
Athena had some fantastic motherhood quotes that really spoke to me.
“When you become a mom, you get to believe in magic again. Santa Claus and the excitement of Christmas morning, playing hide-n-seek, running around barefoot on the grass, having water balloon fights, getting messy and not caring, going sledding and having snowball fights, dancing and spinning around until you fall on the floor in a ball of dizzy laughter. Having a child has helped me let go!”
Then, there were the paintings that Athena and Jivan did, and the sweet poem Jivan wrote for his father.
You guys really have to get yourself over to The Glow on a regular basis. Truly inspiring, especially for you creative mom types out there. I love it.