Lawn Fawnatics Book Challenge

So, the Lawn Fawnatics current challenge is to take inspiration from a book, movie or music for your project. I love children's books and have read countless kid's books with my son and daughter over the years. 

My daughter is now an elementary school librarian, so we often share books even now...she's always been a reader and if it hadn't been for the public library, we would've had to spend her college fund to get books to satisfy her thirst for reading. One she shared with me is this one, The Day the Crayons Quit. It came out in 2013, when my kids were teens, so I wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't found it. It's stinkin' cute and it was my inspiration with this challenge.

I used alcohol inks on a glossy cardstock, just letting them drip down the page as I held it in the air. The crayons and sentiment are from this mini stamp set that Lawn Fawn has. The faces are actually from the the Be Hap-Pea stamp set but because they have such a wide variety of faces, I used them instead of the one that comes with the crayon stamp. 

I colored the crayons with Prismacolor pencils and the happy birthday die cut is from Memory Box.

I've really enjoyed this challenge at Lawn Fawn and hope you'll be inspired and join in too! I have my first entry over on Instagram (link to my IG account in the sidebar here). And I know I'm not finished yet!

Happy Saturday!

Chark

Picture Book Month

So, I love, love, love picture books. Always have, always will. Loved reading them to the kids and I love picking them up at the store or library today. Since it's Picture Book Month, let's share some faves!

The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith (see also, John, Paul, George and Ben about the founding fathers). Baby Hocky eats a candy apple. "I have a loose tooth, do you have a loose tooth? I have a loose tooth."

I first read this to my son (15) when he was little and loved how funny it is, they are so cute and this whole book makes me smile, even the author's note. "I have a Caldecott, do you have a Caldecott, I have a Caldecott."

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. I found Lilly when my daughter (21) was little. I looovveee Lilly. She's so real! And adorable and the words read so smoothly. She gets a present from her granny and can't keep quiet about it at school, even though she knows she should. She gets in trouble, gets mad at the teacher, feels bad, and makes up with the teacher. I think every kid has gone through this cycle. It's so fun to read aloud.

And also from my daughter's time, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Lois Ehlert...another one that's fabulous to read aloud.

And one of our all-time faves, Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller...LOVE! She wrote The Scrambled States of America too but this one is our favorite by a hair. She has a fabulous website too, click her name to check it out.

When Arnie realizes he's about to be eaten...

Got a fave picture book? Tell me so I can read it too! My son literally still calls a sprinkled doughnut an Arnie...as in, "I'll take an Arnie." lol!

Happy Wednesday,
Chark

Can't Believe I Missed It

Apparently, the first week in February is Children's Authors and Illustrators Week—who knew? You would think someone who likes to call herself a children's author might know this. I didn't get the memo, so to celebrate, I will do Book Covers of the Week this week to celebrate kids' books.

I love children's books and ya books, along with historical fiction, biographies, and anything I can get my hands on. I just finished Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little and looovved the narrator. She was imprisoned for her mother's murder and doesn't know if she did it. It's not the plot that caught me (although a good mystery is a great find) but rather, the main character and her observations. Not a kid's book, but I highly recommend it anyway.

Some fabulous kid's books (imo) are:

Lilly is just the best and I will read anything by Kevin Henkes. He rocks.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. I first found Pooh Bear on tv as a child and didn't even know there were books until I had my child...seriously. Both kids got copies of the adventures of Pooh. It's a fabulous story and adorable illustrations and just so wise. Read it if you haven't, even if you don't have little kids.

Nancy Drew is the penultimate female character who wasn't like other girls. The Mystery at the Ski Jump was the first Nancy Drew book I read and I didn't stop reading them. Nancy was a great role model for me at the time. She is plucky and fierce and she saves herself on lots of occasions. Brave and inquisitive and so flipping smart, Nancy always gets the bad guy. You can get the original stories, manga comics, first-person mysteries, little kid Nancy books and movie novelizations. All I know is that I want to be Nancy Drew someday.

Red Scarf Girl is absolutely riveting. If you know nothing of China's cultural revolution, this is a great read for learning more. It's about society in general and how we are products of our culture but we can also grow beyond our culture to connect with the greater world. I honestly thought this was fiction as I was reading it and realized it was memoir later. It reads like a compelling novel and I think everyone should read it. Everyone.

And, lastly, I thought I'd better throw in one last card I made for the nursing home. I used a Project Life kind of card, although I don't scrap with pocket pages. I love the little cards though! You can put together a birthday card or hello card in minutes with them.

I added a Doodlebug enamel heart to one of the hears and alphabet stickers and twine to finish it off.

That's it for President's Day! Happy Monday!
Chark

p.s. If you have a military family, you might want to check out the publisher, Elva Resa, who specialize in books for military families. I love the illustrations for my story and how easy they made the process of my first publication...see the cover on my sidebar here.

p.p.s. There's a newsletter that one of the editors runs that is worth signing up for, as well, called Books Make a Difference. The newsletter isn't just for military families and not just for writers, it's just about books...and how they make a difference. Weird, huh? :)