Children's Picture Book Day

Since I love kids' books, I was happy to see today is National Children's Picture Book Day. If my kids were still little, we'd probably celebrate with a reading tent under the table and tons of books. I'd probably have snacks to match too. In Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, she brings cheesy snacks to her teacher, so we could have had those. Lilly and Kevin Henkes are some of my favorites. This book came out when my daughter was little (1996) and it's how I discovered the author. Colleen loved Lilly and actually had a purple plastic purse with a flower on it, so that made it even better.

If you've never read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom aloud, you're missing out. It has the best rhythm and I found it when the kids were little too. It was published much earlier (1989) but I hadn't heard of it. 

One of my son's favorite picture books was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, another classic for a good reason. Great illustrations and the board book has sturdy holes in the food that kids can poke. Ben loved that part. This book is almost my age, as it was published in 1969!

Lane Smith has a ton of books but one of our faves is The Happy Hocky Family (1993). It's cute and has clever little asides for the adults and older kids.

I found Mo Willems through my kids too. His Pigeon books are adorable, Knuffle Bunny has great illustrations and his Elephant and Piggie books are favorites of my daughter's students. Yep, Colleen became a school librarian and she is fabulous at it—she's even dressed up as Elephant for her kids.

If you're looking for some children's books written by women, here's an article that highlights some. I have several of these on my library list to read, including this one, with the cutest illustrations.

And, since I was a Go-Gos fan back in the 80s, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this new picture book featuring the lyrics of We Got The Beat.

To wrap it all up, I'll share this card I made recently featuring Where The Wild Things Are stickers from The Paper House. I added nuvo drops accents and clouds and drew in a ground and added a sentiment.

I think I need to revisit some old friends from the book shelf today to celebrate!

Happy Friday!

Chark

My Month is All Booked Up

This is National Book Month, people! So excited! This means I have all the excuses in the world to read instead of clean...what kind of citizen would I be if I ignored National Book Month? 😃😃

I have to admit I've already been doing this for a few weeks. Yes, I see those cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling but I need to find out whodunit. Plus, since it's October, don't they add to the Halloween decorations? I'm pretty sure they do.

Some of my favorite books from my childhood or my kids' include Winnie-the-Pooh, Arnie the Doughnut, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Little House books, the Blossom Culp books and Guess How Much I Love You. Side note, the Colorado Craft Company is now making acrylic stamps designed by the illustrator of that last book, Anita Jeram, and I snagged a set. Can't wait til they get here.

Some books I think everyone should read include Red Scarf Girl (because it's a memoir that reads like fiction and takes you on a journey in China during the Cultural Revolution), Saint Iggy (because the main character is engaging and you want him to succeed despite the rough hand life has dealt him),  The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (because it's fun and funny and the narrator happens to be bisexual during the 1800s), Roots (because it's a riveting read based on the author's family history and it's an American story for all of us), and The Handmaid's Tale (originally it was a cautionary tale, and now it feels like current events).

On my reading shelf right now is Bowlaway, A Calm Brain and Southern Sass and a Crispy Corpse. 

To finish up the post, I'll share a new artist I found on IG, @marnie_makes who has the best whimsical style and who has prints and digi stamps available at her Etsy store. I love this Oz stamp and of course had to buy it and color it up with my new Parkoo alcohol markers. I threw in a yellow brick road, a flying monkey and a Glinda bubble, though bubbles are apparently hard to draw.

                                                  

What's one of your favorite books from when you were a kid?

Happy Friday!

Chark

Make Mine a Soy Latte

I love this $3 Jess with Coffee image from Sweet Escape Digis. Of course I bought this for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and so here she is on a card with Lawn Fawn paper (I colored her shirt with the same zig zags, but then I covered up one of them with the sentiment from the Punny Collection of Doodlebug). I made her Christmas colors too, so she'd fit into the Winter theme of the hop.

You have a couple more days to enter the hop with your coffee/tea/cocoa themed project here.

You can also scroll down to comment and enter my four giveaways or head to my IG to comment. You have until Thursday night to enter!

Happy Wednesday! 

Chark

Yippee! It's Read A New Book Month

September is Read a New Book Month and it's practically a sin not to read some new stuff this month. So, if I have to, I have to. I love to read and have for as long as I can remember. I loved the pictures, the words, the stories, the feel of the books and the way you could go far away and learn so much all from your comfy chair. 

Nancy Drew really caught my 11-year-old attention and I plowed through that series like they were going to disappear. The school library had the whole set, luckily, so I could just keep going back for more. I remember the first book I read on my own, too, though I can only guess my age. I figure I was about 5. It was Inside, Outside, Upside Down.

I was sitting on the floor of my room (that I shared with my older sister) and we had gotten this book from the library sale, so although it said New Lexington Public Library and had a card holder in the back, it was ours. Ever since then, I've loved reading and stories.

I just finished All Happy Families by Jeanne McCulloch and really enjoyed it. It was a memoir that read like fiction and I found interesting. But that was finished yesterday, so time to move on to a new book...I have to take advantage of the month and celebrate it, don't I? Even if the housework and phone calls and paperwork all have to take a backseat. It's practically a law. Might jump into some YA fiction now. I really enjoy the young adult literature out there now. There were some good authors when I was a teen in the 80s, but there are a million more today. So I may not be a young adult, but I love that genre.

Here are some adorable Mama Elephant stamps I need to get to make cards for my book-loving family. The set is called Bookworm. Love that bunny!

Look, these cute bookworm cupcakes fit right into today's post. Also, I want cupcakes now.

I'll leave you with this last image celebrating books, Altered Books by Isobelle Ouzman. Oh. My. Goodness. Her site is so beautiful.

If you're a bookworm like me, you might want to check out all the cool clothes, totes and mugs that readers will like at Out of Print.

Hope you find something good to read this month!

Happy Monday!

Chark

Pizzas for Months

Happy Pizza Month! I love me some pizza. I once had a character (in a story I wrote) love pizza so much it was literally what he was living for. So, yeah, I love pizza. It's also International Artist Day, so to make the most of your day, you should probably eat some kind of artistic-looking pizza. Perhaps like these from Giovanni Landi.

The only problem is that eating these would be a shame...so I'll just take one from Papa John's, with their soft crust and garlic dipping butter...yum! Or you could make these cute cat pizzas. I wouldn't feel as bad, since these probably don't take as long to make.

And if you're looking for a Halloween pizza idea, maybe you should make these mummy pizzas before trick-or-treating.

And yep, like my previous pizza posts (I have quite a few for some reason), I have a crafty idea for you too. This paper garland comes in a kit from Paper Source, but I'm betting you have enough paper scraps at home to make it without the kit, if you're like me. 

If you want an artistic banner instead, I love this idea from life is a party's blog. Paint chips are free, just add letters! 

And if you want to theme it up for the whole month, try reading these books. Here's a picture book about pizza in Italy for kids.

And here's an adult novel that features pizza apparently. Haven't read it, but here you go!

And lastly, here's some free digi art to celebrate Artist Day! Head to thoughtgo.com for this download and more masterpiece art.

There you have it...pizza and art celebrated together. Now I need some pizza and my crafty tools...time to create!

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Best Day Ever

Today is National Read a Book Day...and if that isn't right up my alley, I don't know what is. To celebrate, I'll share some great book covers and some books I've been reading and some book crafts. 

First, I just finished reading the Young Adult novel, The Revelation of Louisa May Alcott. It's the first I've read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It has some interesting details about Alcott's family and life as a teen, even though it's written in novel form. The author tells more about the timeline and accuracy of the details in her story.

One on my shelf right now is A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller. It's another YA historical fiction book...I like me some historical fiction. It was when I found good historical fiction that I then started liking history. Now I watch the PBS shows and other documentaries about history...when I was a teen that was not interesting to me at all. I like how good fiction can transport you and make you understand other times, other people and other points of view. It has always been what I love about reading...that magical feeling of being elsewhere while being cozy in your own house.

Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern in the covers...faceless young woman in her setting in history with lots of scenery. Interesting.

I just finished a creepy YA novel phase where I read about ouija boards and scary dolls, so I guess that phase is over for now. I am definitely pulled in by the covers of books, and while this one isn't nearly creepy enough, I did really enjoy reading The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender. I think the girl isn't sufficiently scary enough for the asylum background and scary font. Maybe if we couldn't see her face like the above covers...lol!

Now that we've discussed what I'm reading and the cover art, how about some book crafts? I absolutely hated the idea of tearing up books for crafts, but then I got some free books (because they were damaged and not selling probably) from 2nd and Charles and decided that instead of tossing them into a landfill, creating art with them was a better choice. I don't find it as painful as I did.

Ok, this is just too cute and looks super easy...and it's very timely if you're looking to decorate for Halloween, click here to go to BHG for more.

This one is clever because I know that there are tons of books where the spines fall off, so if you remember to look out for those books at yard sales and library sales, you can make these great bookmarks.

And this craft would be fab for an art journal, scrapbook page or card. I can even see this as a pin to wear or a fridge magnet if you were to seal the paper and adhere the text to some stronger cardstock.

I'll leave you on National Read a Book Day with a little bookish food. I'm not sure I have the time to make my mini ham sandwiches look like books, but if you do, I'll be impressed!

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

A Magical Read

This stamp is from A Day for Daisies and I looovvee it! It's so sweet and reminds me of my daughter, who would rather read than almost anything. She taught herself to read at age three, by saying, "point to the words" as we read to her. So we did. And I remember her getting the little words, a, an, and the right away in a Berenstain Bears book. It wasn't long until she cracked the whole code and I could get her books from the library that she could ready by herself at age 3 and a half.

I made this notebook over by tearing text from old books (painful and yet a great way to upcycle stained books), and adhering them with Mod Podge. Then I used distress inks to smudge color about. I colored the image with pencils, trimmed and adhered with more Mod Podge. Then I added white gel pen accents and a sentiment and use some sequins to make a galaxy.

My darling daughter is twenty-two now and still devouring all the books...and gives me recommendations along the way. I'm so glad she found the same magic in books I did. There are worlds and people and ideas you've never dreamed of found in the pages of those books and I learn so much each time I pick up a new one. I remember my husband saying he only read superhero comics as a kid until about 16, when he discovered Stephen King. Now he has a special limit from the library on how many books he can have out at a time. The limit is 50 and his is 75. And thanks to Thor comics, he knows his Norse myths history when we play Jeopardy.

So, whatever your kids are reading, let them read. Our son loved Captain Underpants and I seriously disliked it. But it got him reading and he ended up starting Harry Potter books in the 4th grade. That would never have happened without Captain Underpants.

So, yeah, we love books here and believe in the magic of reading. If you want to get this Magical Read digi stamp, head to ADFD.

Happy Monday!
Chark

Overdue To Say Happy Birthday Card

I love this Overdue Library stamp set from Your Next Stamp and I actually won this one from their blog (thanks, YNS!) Their products are so cute, and I love the inspiration on the blog. They have a sketch and color challenge each month and I picked the sketch this month to try.

I made my own pocket from ivory cardstock and added books to the front of it with another stamp set from YNS  called Tea-rrific and then used Inktense pencils to watercolor them. I see after posting that my pearl got knocked out of place, but I'm going to have to be okay with that for now...photos are so telling!

I admit this card isn't for anyone in particular, but I know I'll use it because I am notorious for late cards...me, maker of cards! Wha?! It's not the card part, it's the gift inside or the message or the trip to the post office.

At any rate, maybe you'll join in this challenge with me..you don't even have to use YNS stamps to play along!

And speaking of books, I loved this one, and am so jazzed to see the upcoming movie. Here's the original book cover and the movie book cover. I love the original one...the whole book was written around weird faked historical photos that the author had seen. How cool is that?

Happy Wednesday!
Chark

Doodling The Night Away

So, last night we were catching up on some tv, Elementary is one of my faves, and I had a pad of paper and a pen and everyone knows that means I doodled the whole time.

Here's what I came up with, among other stuff. I found this quote by Richard Burton, who is apparently not the actor associated with Liz Taylor, but some dude who lived in the 1800s. But that's ok, I love the quote!

I'd already drawn the cocoa and just had to color and trim it out. I couldn't resist making the marshmallows have faces, but that's kind of sad, because presumably they'll be melting. Oh well, they look like they're having fun! 

I based this on Nancy Drew who always seems to rely on cocoa and cinnamon toast for a tasty snack...and she's not wrong, it is tasty. Here's the original cover of one of her cinnamon toasts snacks from the 30s and the one I read from the 60s.

Happy Monday,
Chark