Good Mail Can Make You Cry

Have you ever gone to the mailbox and found a random package you weren't expecting?  That happened to me this week.  When my husband brought in the mail, there was a surprise package from my friend Val.  It's not my birthday, a holiday or even a package for a swap.  Val sent me a thanks for being my friend package.  It brought tears to my eyes and then it made me smile. Val made this cute little voodoo doll and sent it to me. Isn't he so cute?!!  I love him!  After I wiped away the happy tears I had to stick him with the pins she sent.  He really didn't mind.   I have to admit I have crochet envy, as I only know how to crochet a chain. I adore the amazing crochet creations Val makes and now this one is mine.  Thank you so much Val!  You made my day! Thank you for being my friend!

Playmakers

I had the opportunity to become a Life is Good Playmaker this year.  Playmakers are a group of people who are trained to bring joy, optimism and a love of life to children who have been affected by trauma, violence, illness and poverty.  You can learn more about Playmakers or look at the schedule for future trainings at the Life is Good website. I've been a teacher for almost 20 years so I've attended a lot of trainings and workshops during that time.  The LIG Playmakers training is by far the best training I've ever attended. 

Yes, the fun starts here.  During the Life is Good Festival a few weeks ago I got to meet and work with a group of LIG Playmakers to play games and spread good vibes through play. It was a lot of fun to help kids into sacks then watch the laughter and joy as the hopped across the field.

Here's our sack race crew for the first shift on Sunday.  In case you haven't done a sack race in a few years, it's much harder than I remembered.  I was super slow and quickly realized it was way more fun helping the kids race than racing myself.

This photo comes from the LIG Playmakers.  These are the people who volunteered to play games with children and their families.  I'm in the back on the right hand side(the dark blue sleeve.)

Playmakers rock! I got to meet the Chief Playmaker, Steve Gross. He's in the middle in the brown shirt.  He was super nice. Really all of the Playmakers I've meet are nice, it goes with the whole Playmaker philosophy of spreading joy. It was so much fun to meet other Playmakers and spend the weekend playing with kids and their families.  I'm looking forward to the LIG festival next year.

For my crafty friends, I just had to share this picture.  This is Emily, she's one of the awesome Playmaker trainers. Can you believe she made this amazing dress from a ripped parachute?  Isn't it fabulous?!

Life Is Good Festival 2013

I volunteered at the Life Is Good Festival a couple of weekends ago.  It was fabulous!  I had fun and got to see some great music to boot.

The proceeds from the festival benefit the Life is Good Playmakers, who help children in need. I'll share more about the LIG Playmakers in another post. In the meantime the theme of the festival was Good Vibes Save Lives.

 The festival had music, games, food and art.  You know we can't resist an art project.  My girl and I each painted a square tile. The tiles had a number on the back and had specific colors that could be used. This is my daughter's tile.

He're my tile. I included my name and a bit of a zentangle flavor on my tile.

The tiles were place into slats to create a large mural. You can see our tiles two rows to the right of the letter N in this picture.  Each person who painted could make a monetary donation. The donations collected benefit the The One Fund Boston.  $538,150 was raised from these donations over the two days of the festival.

This is the finished mural.  Isn't it awesome!  I love that our artwork is part of a larger piece, created by a community of people who want to help others. You can't see our tiles in this picture with all of the people, but the tiles are there(behind the head of the guy in the blue shirt.)

Best of all the festival ended with almost two hours of Jack Johnson.  Those of you who know me, know that he's my favorite.  I love to listen to my Jack Johnson albums when I sew. My husband and my daughter attended too so we enjoyed the show as a family.  It was awesome!  It turns out Jack and his family walked around the festival like the rest of us. Of course I was disappointed that I didn't see him but really it's probably for the best.  I'd like to think I'd play it cool and act normal but in reality I'd probably act like some crazed fan and make a total fool of myself.

The festival was great! I'm already planning to volunteer again next year.

Outdoor Art

We took our art outside recently and explored sidewalk chalk photo art.  My girl, the girl next door and I headed outside with a box of sidewalk chalk and some ideas.  We each created one scene ourselves then took turns having our photos taken in each other's art.  It was a lot of fun!
My girl made the beret and and paint brush, I added the paint palette.  It turned into a family project when we enlisted my husband's help to climb up on a ladder to take the photos. The pavement was pretty warm and the sun was so bright that it hurt to open your eyes. Try as we might, we couldn't keep our eyes open for most of the photos.

My girl drew this one. She wanted it to look like she was floating away with the balloons.

I wanted to create butterfly wings for us.  In the photos of me you can tell I was uncomfortable laying on the hard, burning pavement.  I looked as stiff as a board and couldn't keep my eyes open.  So here's a picture of the girl instead of me.

The girl next door drew this one. Both girls decided they wanted it to look like they were running in this picture.

 
We had a great time creating these. Next time we need to do this earlier in the morning before the sun heats up the pavement and burns out our eyes.

The Zombies are Here

 It's back to school time but I couldn't resist joining the zombie doll swap hosted by Val.  Stop here to see the amazing zombie dolls everyone has created! My zombie came in the mail on Friday.  Just look at the packaging, I knew it was going to be good.

The theme of this year's zombie doll swap was Alice in Wonderland. My very talented partner Kathy created this amazing zombie Cheshire Cat for me. Thank you Kathy!! Check out Kat's blog to see how she created this amazing kitty.

 Here's my zombie horde with their newest additions.  I couldn't resist making myself a Cheshire Cat to keep, he looks a bit impish or devilish but I think he's charming.  Both Cheshire Cats seem happy to have a zombie horde to join. They're one big happy, bloody family. Aren't they cute, in a bloody zombie sort of way?!

The Cheshire Cat on the left is the one I mailed off to my partner.  He's got a removable dead mouse that attaches to his hand. I was sad to send him off as I can't tell you how many hours I spent creating him, but it took a very long time. That's why I created a second simpler one for myself.  I really enjoyed creating these guys. I'm already thinking about more dolls I could make.

A Girl & Her Dog

Having a pet is an important part of childhood.  Sometimes having a dog is a pain; like every time he eats her Legos, chews up a brand new Sklanders figurine or jumps up and scratches her because he's excited she's home from school.  Having a dog can be a pain but having a pet to love can also be great. Here she is giving Chunk a hug while he waited for the vet to come give him a check up.  He gets nervous, so she pets him and hugs him to make him feel better. What a sweet moment!
 

My girl loves to craft and paint.  Last month, she painted this picture of she and Chunk.  It's just so cute!  For back to school night she wrote ten important things about herself.  "I adore my dog Chunk!" was on the list.  It's a good thing because . . .

this morning he chewed up her stuffed bird. She was upset but she forgave him.  That's how it is with a girl & her dog.

Holiday Spirit

The holidays are fast approaching.  It's not even Thanksgiving yet and we're getting into the Christmas holiday spirit.  We found this Santa hat at our local grocery store.  It says "Merry Christmas, Eh!" I thought it was hilarious since I grew up near the Canadian border watching Canadian television. My daughter just loved the hat! She really loves her holidays.

There's nothing like a bit of holiday crafting to get you in the holiday spirit. We've been making different types of snowflakes.  The preschool department is in charge of the holiday party at my new school, so we've been experimenting with snowflake decorations. 

I made these snowflakes from an old phonics workbook that hasn't been used in a million years.  I used this tutorial.    I love how they look hung up by my fireplace. Beware, they look awesome but are very time consuming. Between the time spent on them and the fact that I love them so much I've decided they'll be staying at my house.

 I made this one from card stock. It was much less time consuming and I think it turned out to be really cute. I think this one can go to school to be used as a party decoration.  Of course I'm thinking I need some more of these woven paper snowflakes to decorate the stairs in my front entryway. While I'm making those I can  make more for the school party as well.

I also made this huge snowflake for the holiday party at school.  It's about three feet high. It's going to be sprayed with adhesive and sprinkled with silver glitter before being hung up. 

I joined Val's Christmas ornament swap.  I created the owl ornaments but decided they weren't Christmas-y so instead I made these wool Santas.  I just sent them off to Val's house today. I'm excited to see what everyone else made for the swap. Check out Val's flickr page to see what other people have created.

 When I was playing around with ideas for a new Christmas ornament I made this button ornament for myself.  I wired the buttons on so I'm not sure how well it will hold up.  I guess I'll have to put it on the tree and test it out. I think I might do something I never do, put the tree up right after Thanksgiving.  I'm getting excited about it, I think the holiday spirit is in the air.