Something Pretty, Something Smart

How is it Friday already??
I'm stunned. And also happy. Friday nights are Family Nights here at the ranch, and I have some tricks up my sleeve... 


So, without any more ado, here's this week's picks, because every week should contain:

Something Pretty,

Something Smart,

Something to Do,

and A bit of Art.

... and maybe one or two things Just for Fun. 

Something Pretty:


## i really love paintings done over text. something about the dual forms of art coexisting so beautifully.... 
and these ones from Coco de Paris are a perfect example of how that's done. 

Something Smart:


## watch this wowwing video of the milky way.


The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

## Check this post from Black Eiffel for inspiration to read more classics. (and then spend some time walking through the rest of the blog.. its tip top) love the visuals.

Something to Do:


## loving these DIY Rope Bracelets from Honestly WTF, via Poppytalk. Aren't they the nifty-est! 

## and could someone please bring me one of these Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cakes... pleeeeeaaaaseeee!!??

can that be for real? five minutes? ... seems too good to be true.


A Bit of Art:


## Hop over and read this super-cute and sweet Book called Extraordinary by Sarah Mensinga. 

## and how about this art made out of STAPLES!! Yes, thank you. 

 

Just for Fun: 


## i'm not sure if i should thank my friend Tina, or shoot her for sending me here. Awkward family photos. i'm not even remotely kidding when i confess to you that i spent way too many minutes convulsed with laughter ... i nearly gave myself a concussion, when - in one badly timed convulsion - i hit my head on the corner of the desk... you might want to consider grabbing a helmet before you open the link... don't say i didn't warn you. 

you know you just real-life laughed. :)

Frolicking Ferrets,

-shawnacy

Something Pretty, Something Smart

Because every week should contain

Something Pretty,

Something Smart,

Something to do,

And a bit of art.

... and also one or two things just for fun.

Something Pretty

## I don't know if this counts as pretty, but it is pretty seriously awesome... and the rest of the stuff at LennyMud is fantastic too. 

I would totally roll out of bed and start 'pitying' every 'fo' who got in the way of me and this teapot. love. it. 

## Grey skies? no problem. keep a rainbow in your pocket. great idea from Masa-ka.

Something Smart

## Ever read those choose-your-own-adventure novels as a kid? They were my road-trip staple. Love this comic, philosopher's version from Luke Surl: 

## If you happen to be a physics geek, like me, or if you've ever read Flatland by Edwin Abbot, you will appreciate This Video from Tenth Dimension. If you hated physics and wouldn't touch Flatland with a 40 foot pole made of duct tape and pool cues... watch it anyway. it will change your mind. 

Something to do: 

## First.. go Here to Jackson Pollock [dot] org and fingerpaint  online. Seriously. GO. i'll wait.

...

ok. you know you feel better now. 

## Then look at these...

images found via a cup of jo

and go find some ugly thing you can make beautiful. 

A bit of art:

## Since we seem to be on the subject, I'm a huge fan of street art. HUGE (i blame it on a too-young-and-impressionable viewing of Basquiat). I may or may not have defaced certain pieces of public property in the name of art once or ... thrice. these are pretty rad.

image

the above two images

 image

pvc pipe! genius.

## and OH MY WORD, look at THESE insane sidewalk chalk images. 

and... one for the road...

Remember this - the hug me pillow -  it's still just about the creepiest thing i've ever seen.

why would anyone want to share a bed with half a man's upper torso?

it's a valid question. 

wonderful weekend wishes to you all. 

Graffiti and Ganglion, 

-shawnacy

Artist Love: Lizzy Stewart

I am completely enamoured of the work of Edinburgh artist, Lizzy Stewart. 

It seems to be at once alive with joy, and quietly melancholy. 

It has things to say,

And says them eloquently.

Things to teach,

and with such grace.

She has a new project that has just come out called Toska, which is an illustrated book (it's breathtaking) based on the uniquely Russian experience of Toska, as described by Vladimir Nabokov. He says, 

“No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”

Go and check out all of her work, and take a moment to be abashed. These are the things, folks. The things that make us human and alive. 

You can find her at her site, Here, 

Her blog, Here

And her Etsy shop, Here

I'll leave you with a few more, for good measure

Whirlwinds and Wonderlands,

-shawnacy

Kids Poetry Challenge week #1

Last month was National Reading Month and we had such a great time doing our celebratory theme: 30 Days of Books, (flip through for tons of book recommendations for all ages... even grown-ups!) and participating in the Read-Along at Helping Little Hands. We read so many great books, and did a bunch of fun activities, and, though we'll be continuing to do that, of course, I was a little bummed that it wouldn't be quite as focused or intentional. ... but... I stumbled upon the beautiful and fun Brimful Curiosities Blog via the Ultimate Blog Party (yay!) and she is doing a Kid's Poetry Challenge during the month of April. (double Yay!) 

We'll do one of these each week this month, and link up with Brimful Curiosities to see what everybody else is doing! Join in!

For our first poem, we used a Chippewa Indian Song called 'A Song of Greatness.'

here's an excerpt:

"When I hear the old men

Telling of Heroes,

Telling of great deeds

Of ancient days,

...Then I think within me,

... I too, when my time comes, 

Shall do mightily."

The boys love hero stories and have been in a bit of an Indian craze lately, so I thought this would be a great inspiration for art. We spent some time looking up information about the Chippewa, and found out that :

## They called themselves the Anishinabe, which means 'original person.'

## They live in North America, especially in the northern US and southern Canada. 

## They lived in wigwams or tipis depending on location. 

## They wore clothes like These.

And then we went to work on our illustrations. We used the fun watercolor colored pencil technique to make the drawings bright and colorful. 

If you've never done this before, it's super easy and ends up looking a lot like a watercolor painting, but without the mess. (less mess = happy mom). 

Quick little explanation, if you'd like to try: you just take a regular set of colored pencils, and dip them in water as you would a paintbrush, before coloring.    We've found that soaking the pencils for a few minutes before using helps the led become nice and soft and watery. Also, that normal printer-weight paper isn't really good enough for this type of technique, as it tends to rip and tear. 

Here are the finished works: 

Max's, titled: 

Young Brave Dreams of Killing a Bear Like a Great Warrior.

Annika's, titled:

An Indian Girl and her Mama in their Wigwam Doing Grown-Up Things Like Cooking and Setting the Table

And Owen's, which he calls:

Chippewa Brave Listens to the Old Men Speak, and Dreams of Brave Things

Thanks for playing, everyone, and pick up a poem today! 

If you're at a loss for where to start, here are some great ones for us big kids:

W.B. Yeats, When You Are Old

Billy Collins, I Go Back to the House for a Book

Margaret Atwood, Spelling

Dorothy Parker, A Thought For a Sunshiny Morning

to rhyme and meter and the love of cadenced words,

-shawnacy

linking up to:

The Z Was Zapped, Yarn Letters, and The Alphabet Signs Song

I've mentioned before how much our family loves all of the Chris Van Allsburg books. (<-- Check out the link! His site is super cool!)

And when an idea popped into my head for an Alphabet Book craft, I couldn't think of a better book to use than his "play in 26 acts," The Z was Zapped. 

It's 26 of his intensely beautiful illustrations depicting each letter succumbing to an unfortunate demise.  Here are a few of the pages, to whet your curiosity.

So. After reading of the untimely end of the alphabet, we set out to create (rather than destroy) our own letters. 

I posted a letter craft on This edition of friday finds not too long ago, and was pretty excited to try it out. 

So, we rounded up some old wire hangers, 

a pair of wire snips,

a pair of pliers,

some tape,

glue,

and yarn.

I let the kids rummage through my stash, and pick out something that would make them happy. 

Then I set to work shaping the letters. I used my hands mostly, but brought the pliers in once or twice to make a neater corner, or flatten out the ends. 

Then I handed the letters (the first letter of each of their names) to the kids and helped them tie one end of the yarn to the letter at the topmost corner (or the closest I could get to the top, anyway) 

After that it was just a matter of wrapping the letters the way they wanted. (We used the glue on the sides to help keep the yarn in place.) This is where their personalities totally shone through. 

Max's letter was a beautiful mess. He also decided he wanted to attach an ink pen to the middle of his letter... (??) Odd things, bright red yarn, that, at the end, turned out looking like some sort of awesome spiderweb... that's my maxy. 

Annika's was neat and tidy. She got a little frustrated when the yarn got out of line, so I helped her get them all nice and straight. I love how hers kind of came out looking like a weird pair of pants. :)

And Owen spent most of the morning making his O into a rainbow-colored dreamcatcher. He wrapped the entire O in yarn, and then criss-crossed the yarn through the center to create the net-like part. Then he went out in the backyard to find some cool rocks, and hung those from the bottom of the creation. I love when the kids take a project and run with it!

While we were crafting, we made sure to talk about the letters, and their sounds, and to sing this little song alphabet song I made up to teach the signs for each of the letters. Signing the letters is very tactile, and it worked wonders with Owen and Max who have a hard time learning visually, when they were young. Here's the tune. (it's Jesus Loves Me) It incorporates the letter name, the sound, and the sign. 

** If you or your child don't know the signs for the letters, take a quick moment to learn. Not only is it helpful for learning the letters, but I use it almost every day when the kids ask me how to spell things. (They always seem to need to know how to spell 'hammerhead' or 'extreme' when I'm on the phone, or in the middle of a conversation. So I can just sign it to them, and reach a new totally awesome level of multitasking! Woo Hoo!!) 

Here's one final look at the letters hanging up in their new homes! 

Great Job Kiddos!

linking up to: