ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

~ silly ~

(Please feel free to join in One Word Wednesday. Just leave a link in the comments where your photo can be viewed .)

GREEN LEAF ART

Look in your own yard or go for a walk and see what different shapes and sizes of leaves you have. Make them into art to hang in your window. It's not just the autumn colored leaves that can inspire a person.


 There is something so soothing and alive using green leaves. It's like a burst of spring, that feeling I get in the early spring when leaves unfold and buds open and the grass gets greener. Looking at the green leaf art brings those feelings to mind.

All you need is leaves,clear contact paper (or clear laminate or clear peel and stick paper), a hole punch, and yarn or string.

~ Cut two pieces of contact paper about the same size. If one is bigger than the other, use the smaller one first.
~Put the contact paper sticky side up on table, secure top and bottom with tape to table.
~ Add leaves, putting largest ones down first and filling in with smaller leaves. Don't overlook grasses or flower petals!
~Cover with second piece of contact paper, starting at the top and unrolling it ever so gently as you flatten it out with your hand. I start it at the top and the children roll it down as I flatten it.
~Punch two holes in the top, about 1/3 in from the sides.( see alternative method below)
~Tie yarn or string and hang on window or door.


Alternative method: Add a thin branch to very top, incorporating it in with the leaves, covering it with the contact paper.  Allow branch to overhang sides. Tie yarn to branch and hang.

These bursts of spring were made by the children in my Earth School today.

And aren't they just beautiful ?

WORDS

 my weekly posting normally consists of a poem, a quote and a passage from literature, but I am paring down, simplifying,and will just include a quote each week for the summer months.

"It's a different kind of world to grow up in when you're out in the forest with the little chipmunks and the great owls. All these things are around you as presences, representing forces and power and magical possibilities of life that are not yours and yet are all part of life, and that opens it out to you. Then you find it echoing in yourself, because you are nature."
  ~ Joseph Campbell

A KINDRED SPIRIT

Have you ever met someone online and knew within minutes that you had found a kindred spirit?  

I felt like I knew her already from reading and collecting her books for years, and more recently, connecting through the internet via our blogs and emails. 

I'm talking about Sharon Lovejoy, author, illustrator, lecturer, and teacher, a joyful and inspiring person who is passionate about gardening, nature and children, and who shares my passion with connecting people, especially children, to the natural world around us.

  Her newest book is glorious and has 130 terrific activities to do with children, or even just for yourself!

 The last stop on her five week spring Book Tour was held at beautiful Highfield Hall in Falmouth, MA .

The Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars Workshop was less than an hour from my house, which enabled me to go hug my kindred spirit in person and meet her wonderful husband, Jeff. My daughter came and was excited to meet Sharon too, and friend Deb and her daughter joined us there. 

Sharon's words and slideshow reinforced everything I felt in my heart about children and nature. I was also inspired by even more fun activities to do with children.


The most important thing is to DO! Be involved yourself and the children will join in and learn by example and have fun.

It's not about *teaching* but more about making the TIME . . .  to be TOGETHER . . . and EXPERIENCING first hand the joy and wonder of our natural world and all it has to offer us.


Sharon, and her blog, her books, and most of all, her friendship have inspired and enriched my life. Thank you Sharon.

FRIDAYS FLOWERS

It's Friday again already and the Hydrangeas from last week are still looking great. 
Yet there is always room for more fresh flowers. 


From the garden today: Yarrow, Bee Balm, Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, False Sunflower and Butterfly Bush. I LOVE the colors!


I guess I didn't realize that last Friday was the last Friday's Flowers for June and it will start up again the first week of July. But I'm on a roll, and it has already become such a delightful habit here at our house so I am continuing this week as well.


enJOY  . . . and happy day!

{this moment}

         

                      ~  wishing  ~

Following  inspiration from SouleMama:
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

BABY CHICKS

Our chicks have grown and are no longer the timid little balls of fluff. They are almost three weeks old and are getting their feathers . . . 

the *top hats* are growing on the Polish chicks . . .

 they are starting to roost on the edge of their box . . . 

  and often venture even further.

and some have decided it to be more comfortable napping on the adjacent windowsill.

 They are so fun to handle and to watch.

Stay tuned for further posts on how wonderful it is to own chickens. . . for children and adults, what exactly it entails, and how easy they are to care for in exchange for the glorious gift of nutrient-rich eggs they provide us. 

 On another topic. . . today my daughter and I have a exciting excursion to Falmouth (on Cape Cod) to finally meet author and illustrator, Sharon Lovejoy, and to attend a fun workshop. She is an inspiration to us all and her glorious  books are  a must have ! 


I follow her blog and consider her a friend even though we haven't actually met in person, until later this morning, that is ! Some people are kindred spirits whom you just *connect* with instantly. I'll keep you posted  :)


happy day!

FAERIE ART

I made a mixed media faerie for a dear friend . 


     The faerie is flying in the forest enjoying all the marvels on her journey.

 I was able to use my new creative nook today, despite the heat and humidity. When I start creating, I get in a flow and tend to forget any sort of discomfort.

 Her body is made of chenille stems and embroidery floss. Her head is a wooden bead, her hat an acorn cap, and her braids are made from the manes of our Haflinger horses. Silk flowers make up her skirt. 

 The forest is hand marbled paper and the birch bark, ferns and lichen are real. An inspiring book, Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor, has other adorable faeries and wee folk to make and enjoy.

"And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know ... there are fairies everywhere under bushes, in the air, 
playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day.
So listen, touch, and look around -- in the air and on the ground. 
And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing." 
 ~author unknown

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

~ colorful ~

(Please feel free to join in One Word Wednesday. Just leave a link in the comments where your photo can be viewed .)

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

Summer's Solstice

Ahh! First

Ray of Dawn

Awakens the heart

In appreciation of life

This morn of Summer's

portent born.

Yes! Love,

My basket,

Yearning to be filled

With all bliss in the ecstatic

Joy garnered from Earth's

Green delight!

Oh! You

Golden orb,

Bless all life brought forth

In the flowers' promise made known

By fruit and bird song

From now on.

Ha! Smile

Upon us,

Lighten each our heart

That every child is fed and loved;

Embraced in green arms

And bloom bright.

Ahh! First

Ray of Dawn:

Summer's Solstice born.

Earth's passionate embrace fulfilled,

Her covenant song

Our troth

~ poem by Jade Wah'oo

CREATING IN THE OPEN AIR

Have you ever created in a horse barn . . . with two of your very best friends?

I am! 
I made a small creative nook at the very end of our horse barn looking out towards the woodlands. It's small and quite rustic but it's just perfect. . .for now.

 It is here that I will work on my small projects while in the company of my equines and nature.  My creative space, and probably the only one of its kind, is part of the second annual  Where Bloggers Create party hosted by Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage blog.


  I'd love to hear if you stopped by here for a visit! Leave a comment so I can be sure to visit your creative space too!


Come on, I'll give you a tour.
This is my work space. Don't you just love the view? It will only be for the summer months and only for certain small projects as well as designing and planning.

I added some wall decor, a few things that make me happy-
women and children, sunshine and a quilt. 
It's hard to dress up a horse barn. I had to keep it simple :)

 I am working on small mixed media pieces, tiny faerie dolls and a hand-pieced wall hanging right now. I will only have the supplies I need for these projects in the barn. All other supplies are in the house in the basement, easily accessible, but I need natural light and looking at nature where I create, so I would rather work in this nook until I can build my creative space in the woodlands.


 I keep small items in the cigar boxes and other favorite supplies close at hand.

I bought these pewter pieces at a yard sale and love using them for supplies. The acorn caps in the jars are for faerie hats.

I love to work with colored tissue paper. 

To the left of my table I keep a few items on a sawhorse ( well, it IS a barn!)
A larger basket houses a few projects in the works and the red accordian folder is for art work and assorted papers. The paper mache bowl, made years ago by my youngest daughter, keeps yarn, wool roving and other fibers nearby. 

And there's always a need for fresh flowers and tea.

My nook is just inside the barn so I have cover from the sun. But on those perfect days I can just as easily move the table even closer to nature. Ahhh, be still my heart :)

 So this is where you might find me.. .  bonding in the barn with my horses as I work on my art, dreaming of my future creative space nestled in the woodlands.




happy day and party on!

FRIDAYS FLOWERS

I almost forgot about Friday's Flowers until my sister in law walked in with a vase of her beautiful Hydrangeas for me. I didn't pick them but they are from our land.


Gorgeous huh?

Thank you Beth!