Fun | Love, Laughter, and Life

February 9, 2017
by Angie 9 Comments

Snow Cream

Today is it, folks. At least for the Yakima Valley. Maybe.

Time to get out there and grab a bowl full of clean fresh snow before the rains hit tomorrow. Let’s make snow cream!

Snow Cream

Fill a cereal bowl with clean snow. If you are doing this with kids, give them each a bowl to fill.
To each bowl add about: 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. sugar, and enough 1/2 & 1/2 or milk to desired consistency. Mix with a spoon. This is very light sugar, as I don’t care for syrupy sweet stuff, but you can add more sugar if you want. This would also be great with fresh fruit.
Eat, enjoy, repeat.

My mom used to make snow cream for us when I was a kid. I think she used to add eggs. But I’m not a big fan of raw eggs, and I was a kid. I could be way off base. Either way, no eggs.

Brain freeze!

February 7, 2017
by Angie 2 Comments

A Photo Becomes A Painting

A photo tells a story.

At the end of a recent vacation, I shot a selfie of the two of us, relaxed and replete after several days of downtime and fun. This picture is one of my favorites.

Factor in one of Kevin’s co-workers, Kathy Bensch. She wanted to do a painting of us for Kevin’s office. Just because. We gave her a copy of our favorite photo.

Et voila! There we are, in living water color. Thank you, Kathy! Perfect!

Not that the painting will ever make it to Kevin’s office…I do have some ideas on how to share.

But I think this painting looks great in the RV.

February 3, 2017
by Angie 6 Comments

Throwback Thursday: The Princess and the 100-Year-Old Dress

Princess Autumn is happy to show off an antique gown.

The title says it all. Here is Autumn, our princess. She’s not 100-years-old, but 9 months, and comes complete with teeth, crawling agility skills, and potential for climbing.

Autumn is sporting a 100+-year-old cotton dress. Notice the intricate stitching and detail as she chews on her hair brush. See the tiny buttons stitched to the opening on the back of the dress. Allow your gaze to appreciate the length of the long dress and long sleeves. For posing and walking, this ankle length gown is divine. For crawling, gnawing, and drooling, maybe not so perfect. Over 100 years ago, this antique gown was handcrafted by a loving and skilled female member of the family. I adore vintage.

Throwback Thursday welcomes Princess Autumn, which is kind of ironic, as she has not even had that many Thursdays…yet.

January 31, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Got 30 Ideas? Sign the Storystorm Pledge!

You made it through! It doesn’t matter if your journey was like this… Because you have emerged victorious! OK, so maybe your journey wasn’t that difficult. Whatever the path was l…

Source: Got 30 Ideas? Sign the Storystorm Pledge!

Ta-da! A month full of great picture book ideas! OK, maybe not all are great, but still! Many thanks to Tara Lazar for making Storystorm happen! Happy writing!

January 31, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Storystorm Day 30: “Make Soup!” by Dr. Carrie Barron

by Dr. Carrie Barron Here is a wonderful quote I just found by psychologist and creator of the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, Abraham Maslow: “A first rate soup is more creative than a second rate pai…

Source: Storystorm Day 30: “Make Soup!” by Dr. Carrie Barron

Creativity. Sometimes it comes and sometimes you have to start working and then the juices get flowing. Writers and other creative souls, we just need to start working with our ingredients, be those pen and paper, paint and canvas, clay and tools. Smell the soup!

January 29, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Storystorm Day 29: “Let’s Play Books!” by Kirsten Hess

by Kirsten Hess, Bookseller It has been wonderful to read the posts in Storystorm this month, to get a peek into the creative processes that go into the many wonderful books that we carry in our sh…

Source: Storystorm Day 29: “Let’s Play Books!” by Kirsten Hess

I love having books and play partnered together! Perfect match. Need to visit this bookstore!

January 29, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Storystorm Day 28: “Book, Not Novel” by Audrey Vernick & Liz Garton Scanlon

by Audrey Vernick & Liz Garton Scanlon Audrey: Like all picture book origin stories, this one starts years ago. Liz and I knew each other but not well at this point, if I remember correctly. Li…

Source: Storystorm Day 28: “Book, Not Novel” by Audrey Vernick & Liz Garton Scanlon

I hab a code, too!

This is a great post with strategies for helping write picture books – with a friend!

January 27, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Storystorm Day 27: “Ruth Spiro is Asking for it!”

by Ruth Spiro Two weeks ago, I posted the following question on the Storystorm Facebook group: I had been brainstorming my own list of ideas to write about, but I think it’s important to do some ma…

Source: Storystorm Day 27: “Ruth Spiro is Asking for it!”

Ruth shares some great writing strategies for turning ideas into picture books. Thanks, Ruth!

January 27, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Fun Friday: How To Write Your Name In Elvish In 10 Minutes

Reblogged on WordPress.com

Source: How To Write Your Name In Elvish In 10 Minutes – The Meta Picture

Love it! Everyone needs to know how to write their names in Elvish. LOTR, ready to go!

January 26, 2017
by Angie Leave a comment

Storystorm Day 26: “Non-Fiction Truths” by Rebecca E. Hirsch

by Rebecca E. Hirsch Congrats, Storystormers, you are almost done! Tara asked me talk to you about how to get nonfiction ideas. In fiction, anything is possible. But nonfiction shows the world as i…