To Heal

When violence comes next door to your doorstep, even if your not home, you have to take the time to heal.  To try return to normal.  You gather in a circle. You smudge the space with sage.  You reclaim the space.  You plant flowers.  You have a potluck on a windy, biting cold night.  Huddled around the picnic table we brought what we had.  Soup, cereal, popcorn, salad.   You paint a lot.  You make cookies and eat them and send some home.  You listen to the kids that were there, when they want to talk.  The kids that are safe.  You thank the teachers.  You say the words loudly:  I never want to hear the words: school. shooting. violence. children. in the same sentence ever, ever again.    

St. Valentines

Our valentines went across the country this year and up to the city.  Takes a little planing when they have to travel distances. I also bought wooden hearts for the day care this year.  They hung them up with satin ribbon.  I think the biggest hit though was the sugar cookies we made and decorated.  Such sweetness!  I made sure everybody saved at least a few to take home. 

Painted White

There we go.  Still curtains to be made.  But she likes her shelf.  These baskets hold all that a desk would and more. Some crammed with make up and some filled with books.  The pink in her room has been replaced with this green and blue.   I painted this shelf with the same paint I used to paint her dress when she was four.  Though you can't see the name of it anymore on the can I remember it, Wedding Dress White.  I like that name.  With a little stirring it was as good as new.    

Sweet Mail

When you mail valentines across country you have to start a bit early if you want them to arrive in time.  We did just that.  We each made our own unique valentine to send to Nate.  I even painted an ocean rock which I thought he might appreciate.  I've been having fun painting hearts on some flat rocks I found at the beach.  I also made this string of hearts to hang in our window.  They were inspired by Maya*made and her heart garlands that she makes in various forms.  I used a potato stamp and acrylic paint and stamped them on newspaper.   Then I hung them on a satin ribbon.  As I was hanging them at about midnight I deemed them Dude Girl hearts.  Tough, made out of newspaper, yet adorned with pretty paint and hung on a satin ribbon.

Paint Post

Emily had some thank you cards to make and she sat down to make them.  Well, not exactly.  First she said, "I have to get some thank you cards," and I said, "No, you don't.  You can make them."  So she did.   She experimented with different colored acrylic paints.  Then she tried using stamps with acrylic paints but that didn't work as they looked just like blobs of paint.   But  what worked was painting over a mesh like stamp with blues and greens then letting it dry.  When it was dry she put the "thanks" stamp on an ink pad and stamped it on top.  I must say the effect was lovely.  With all the paints and paintbrushes out I got inspired to collect rocks at the beach to paint.  And until then, I think they are lovely in their own right.