Here is a little inspiration for your Wednesday. I just ran across the work of paper artist, Mandy Smith via Roadside Projects & I was immediately smitten. Not to mention the book her work is included in, Paper Craft 2 looks incredible! Given that I’m married to “cardboard man” who makes art often dealing with interior & exterior spaces, I felt the need to share this.
{Everyday Inspiration} more paper love…
Here is a little inspiration for your Wednesday. I just ran across the work of paper artist, Mandy Smith via Roadside Projects & I was immediately smitten. Not to mention the book her work is included in, Paper Craft 2 looks incredible! Given that I’m married to “cardboard man” who makes art often dealing with interior & exterior spaces, I felt the need to share this.
{Everyday Inspiration} family night out…
Ok, so I’ve been posting a lot of pictures of the tulips & daffodils lately, I know. But, we are surrounded by all of these colors & I really can’t resist. Right now the Tulip Festival is going on so there is tons of traffic in our little town & the fields are swarming with tourists. However, every year, the Tulip Town fields hold what they call “locals night’ where the locals are invited to roam their fields, take tractor/trolley rides, & enjoy the sites for free. It’s always crowded & a fun evening. We started a tradition with my parent 2 years ago & last night we headed on out to Tulip Town adventure like years prior.
While the tulips are beautiful, I sometimes find the people attending this event more interesting & colorful. When taking a tractor ride though the fields, these lovely ladies were in my view. I was taken with their individuality, smiles, & friendships that they were enjoying.
There were also lots of other things to explore. The kites & flags were flying & spinning like crazy in the wind (it was chilly) & on the outskirts of the tulips was this tent. It was intriguing & we let our imagination go a bit. Was it a mini circus in there? I don’t know, but we hung around it for quite awhile. No clowns left from tent that we saw.
All in all it was a nice evening out. We saw some familiar faces, got to play in more puddles, & enjoyed our local surrounds. How is your week going?
{Everyday Inspiration} family night out…
Ok, so I’ve been posting a lot of pictures of the tulips & daffodils lately, I know. But, we are surrounded by all of these colors & I really can’t resist. Right now the Tulip Festival is going on so there is tons of traffic in our little town & the fields are swarming with tourists. However, every year, the Tulip Town fields hold what they call “locals night’ where the locals are invited to roam their fields, take tractor/trolley rides, & enjoy the sites for free. It’s always crowded & a fun evening. We started a tradition with my parent 2 years ago & last night we headed on out to Tulip Town adventure like years prior.
While the tulips are beautiful, I sometimes find the people attending this event more interesting & colorful. When taking a tractor ride though the fields, these lovely ladies were in my view. I was taken with their individuality, smiles, & friendships that they were enjoying.
There were also lots of other things to explore. The kites & flags were flying & spinning like crazy in the wind (it was chilly) & on the outskirts of the tulips was this tent. It was intriguing & we let our imagination go a bit. Was it a mini circus in there? I don’t know, but we hung around it for quite awhile. No clowns left from tent that we saw.
All in all it was a nice evening out. We saw some familiar faces, got to play in more puddles, & enjoyed our local surrounds. How is your week going?
{Everyday Inspiration} A day of red & fuchsia…
Color is everywhere in the valley now. The tulips just started blooming & after our yellow & green adventure last week, we decided to go immerse ourselves a different color yesterday. The sun finally came out & we found a muddy field of red to romp around in…
This field was bigger than the daffodil field we visited on Thursday. This one had a flower stand & Sayer wanted to get Chris some flowers since he didn’t get to join us. He picked them out & bought them himself- he was very pleased with his purchase. I’ve learned over the years to really take advantage of tulip time in our area. It’s nice to be able to explore the fields on days & at times that tourists aren’t around. We usually have the fields to ourselves. The fields will be buzzy with activity next weekend I’m sure. So, here is my red & fuchsia inspiration for the week. What colors are you drawn to lately?
{Everyday Inspiration} A day of red & fuchsia…
Color is everywhere in the valley now. The tulips just started blooming & after our yellow & green adventure last week, we decided to go immerse ourselves a different color yesterday. The sun finally came out & we found a muddy field of red to romp around in…
This field was bigger than the daffodil field we visited on Thursday. This one had a flower stand & Sayer wanted to get Chris some flowers since he didn’t get to join us. He picked them out & bought them himself- he was very pleased with his purchase. I’ve learned over the years to really take advantage of tulip time in our area. It’s nice to be able to explore the fields on days & at times that tourists aren’t around. We usually have the fields to ourselves. The fields will be buzzy with activity next weekend I’m sure. So, here is my red & fuchsia inspiration for the week. What colors are you drawn to lately?
{Everyday Inspiration} A day of yellow & green…
The sun peeked out from behind a cloud for a few minutes today. So, Sayer & I grabbed our boots & cameras, then headed out the door for a little adventure. We don’t have to go very far to be surrounded by fields of yellow daffodils & lots of mud puddles (soon there will be tons of blooming tulips). Sayer told me that he wanted to take photos of the flowers… so that we did!
We jumped, we splashed, & we took photos. We even had a little “Sound of Music” moment. It’s safe to say that we’ll both sleep well tonight. The fresh air & gorgeous color did us some good. Hope you had a nice day too!
{Everyday Inspiration} A day of yellow & green…
The sun peeked out from behind a cloud for a few minutes today. So, Sayer & I grabbed our boots & cameras, then headed out the door for a little adventure. We don’t have to go very far to be surrounded by fields of yellow daffodils & lots of mud puddles (soon there will be tons of blooming tulips). Sayer told me that he wanted to take photos of the flowers… so that we did!
We jumped, we splashed, & we took photos. We even had a little “Sound of Music” moment. It’s safe to say that we’ll both sleep well tonight. The fresh air & gorgeous color did us some good. Hope you had a nice day too!
{Everyday Inspiration} books & fun…
This was an unusual week. Chris & I had a mini vacation- about 24 hours in another country & visiting with new friends. It’s pretty amazing – but with a small kiddo, and many jobs – we just never seem to get away. We met up with Daria (LaLa Shoes) & her husband in Vancouver, BC. Although Daria & I communicated regularly for the last year, we never had the opportunity to meet in person until now (they live in Croatia & were visiting Vancouver). Sayer had a sleep over at his grandparents, we were unplugged from the computer, and footloose & fancy free. A really sweet couple from Vancouver had visited Hutch Studio right before we left & passed on some great little shops to Chris -which in turn sort of created our agenda for the day. One cool shop lead to another & the ongoing theme was books, typography, & vintage finds. Which we all four love. I found this amazing book, The Big Book of Fun, ( that was printed in the early ’30’s) at a place called Stepback -along with some other small treasures. This place was awesome-vintage & handmade goodness. I went sort of crazy with their collection of Wonderbooks. It was sort of like my mother ship had landed in there. {photos below -except the open book- via here}
Another interesting place that we visited was, The Regional Assembly of Text. This was another special shop that showcased the owner’s love of typography & books. I think we all drooled a little bit in there. {photos below, via here}
We were looking for the recent issue of UPPERCASE Magazine & the very sweet ladies at The Regional Assembly of Text pointed us in the direction of this next place called Collage Collage. It housed lots of wonderful books, magazines, & art supplies. When we showed up, there was a children’s art class happening right in the middle of the shop. I think I had a permanent grin on my face while I walked around looking at the books. It made me miss Sayer even more- he would love to take a class at a place like that. I wish it was in our neighborhood. One of the things I noticed was that they had lots of supplies for making comic books there (ie storyboard tablets for kids). {photo below, via here}
Which brings me to another thing- we visited some Comic Book shops too. Daria’s husband, Tonci, illustrated a few new graphic novels that are out in stores now (Who is Jake Ellis series) so we visited a some places that were right up his alley. Of course I found some things there too- a Moomin book & a Yo Gabba Gabba comic book to bring home to Sayer.
Those of you that follow this blog know that I love to take photos. Well, along with “unplugging” from the computer, I took a break from the camera too. I brought it with me because I really did want to document our trip & take tons of photos of Daria & her husband. But, I guess I just really wanted to be in the moment. I find that when I get behind the camera, I sort of go into my bubble. Because of this, the photos of the shops are from their websites & I only have 3 photos of Daria & I. They are quick & blurry. However, if our day was a comic book… we may have looked a little like this.
It was such a nice getaway- & particularly fun to be with people that had similar interests. I have some cool treasures to fill up this beautiful handmade bag that Daria gave me. But most of them I can hold in my memory. All in all, this book sums up our trip- The Big Book of Fun. Hope you are having a great weekend!
{Everyday Inspiration} books & fun…
This was an unusual week. Chris & I had a mini vacation- about 24 hours in another country & visiting with new friends. It’s pretty amazing – but with a small kiddo, and many jobs – we just never seem to get away. We met up with Daria (LaLa Shoes) & her husband in Vancouver, BC. Although Daria & I communicated regularly for the last year, we never had the opportunity to meet in person until now (they live in Croatia & were visiting Vancouver). Sayer had a sleep over at his grandparents, we were unplugged from the computer, and footloose & fancy free. A really sweet couple from Vancouver had visited Hutch Studio right before we left & passed on some great little shops to Chris -which in turn sort of created our agenda for the day. One cool shop lead to another & the ongoing theme was books, typography, & vintage finds. Which we all four love. I found this amazing book, The Big Book of Fun, ( that was printed in the early ’30’s) at a place called Stepback -along with some other small treasures. This place was awesome-vintage & handmade goodness. I went sort of crazy with their collection of Wonderbooks. It was sort of like my mother ship had landed in there. {photos below -except the open book- via here}
Another interesting place that we visited was, The Regional Assembly of Text. This was another special shop that showcased the owner’s love of typography & books. I think we all drooled a little bit in there. {photos below, via here}
We were looking for the recent issue of UPPERCASE Magazine & the very sweet ladies at The Regional Assembly of Text pointed us in the direction of this next place called Collage Collage. It housed lots of wonderful books, magazines, & art supplies. When we showed up, there was a children’s art class happening right in the middle of the shop. I think I had a permanent grin on my face while I walked around looking at the books. It made me miss Sayer even more- he would love to take a class at a place like that. I wish it was in our neighborhood. One of the things I noticed was that they had lots of supplies for making comic books there (ie storyboard tablets for kids). {photo below, via here}
Which brings me to another thing- we visited some Comic Book shops too. Daria’s husband, Tonci, illustrated a few new graphic novels that are out in stores now (Who is Jake Ellis series) so we visited a some places that were right up his alley. Of course I found some things there too- a Moomin book & a Yo Gabba Gabba comic book to bring home to Sayer.
Those of you that follow this blog know that I love to take photos. Well, along with “unplugging” from the computer, I took a break from the camera too. I brought it with me because I really did want to document our trip & take tons of photos of Daria & her husband. But, I guess I just really wanted to be in the moment. I find that when I get behind the camera, I sort of go into my bubble. Because of this, the photos of the shops are from their websites & I only have 3 photos of Daria & I. They are quick & blurry. However, if our day was a comic book… we may have looked a little like this.
It was such a nice getaway- & particularly fun to be with people that had similar interests. I have some cool treasures to fill up this beautiful handmade bag that Daria gave me. But most of them I can hold in my memory. All in all, this book sums up our trip- The Big Book of Fun. Hope you are having a great weekend!






























