Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


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Haiku Moment: garden queen

wands waving hello

enticing all to inhale

fragrant garden queen

garden queen by Angie Quantrell

Woodinville, WA


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Haiku Moment: purple buzz

a sea of green and

purple flows in and out, calls

buzzes to visit

purple buzz by Angie Quantrell

Yakima Valley, chives and buzzes

Sunday Joy

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Happy Book Birthday! Be Kind, Make Friends by Angie Quantrell, Illustrated by Gayle West!

Yippee! Happy book birthday, Be Kind, Make Friends! The author 🙂 (me) is so very happy and pleased with this picture book!

Be Kind, Make Friends

Written by Angie Quantrell

Illustrated by Gayle West

Woman’s Missionary Union, 2024

So many people contributed this book, whether it be by sharing an idea, reading different drafts, offering suggestions, copyediting, proofreading, creating the fabulous illustrations, or getting the word out. Thank you! This was a labor of love, and I am thankful to the Lord and the community of helpers.

About this book:

What does it mean to be kind and make friends? Why is this important? Preschoolers will explore the whys and hows of being kind to others and making friends as they interact with the engaging text and colorful pictures found in Be Kind, Make Friends. You can encourage preschoolers to be kind and make friends with this picture book. Preschoolers will be especially glad to follow the examples when you share that missionaries show kindness and make friends with others in their work around the world.

Just in case you were wondering, Be Kind, Make Friends is available at wmustore.com.

Sunday Joy

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Sunday Joy

A long ago trunk split, and then a gradual reconnecting across empty space stitched together this tree to make it amazingly strong. Plus, that window looking out across the park! Fascinating.

Palouse Falls, Washington State


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New Picture Book Cover Reveal!

Just look at the joy on these precious faces! They make me smile.

I’m THRILLED to present the cover of my new picture book BE KIND, MAKE FRIENDS! Published by Woman’s Missionary Union, BE KIND, MAKE FRIENDS will be available next month. Coming soon in JUNE!

Sending much thanks and love to the fabulous team at National WMU! You rock!


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Flower Hammering & Mixed Media

Here is what happened in round 2 of flower hammering. I tell you, pansies make great prints! I don’t have much else of substance blooming yet in the garden, but I’ll keep experimenting as the season goes along.

This is what the cover paper looks like after hammering.

I tried hammering this batch of flowers on paper I’d already added color to. It turned out very nice by the end, and the flower prints give great texture. But I was a bit disappointed that the prints did not turn out as well as I had hoped. At least the yellow/orange ones did not. You can barely see the stem I tried, and darker bits where I added leaves.

The poor smashed flowers.

Here is try number 2. You can see where the prints on the previous page soaked through, which is cool. There is some beneath my arranged flowers as well. The bleed through is at least 2 pages worth. This page is all white except for some bleed through. I crammed the flowers, leaves, and stem with the hope of getting plenty of color.

This is how the back of the cover sheet looks after hammering. Things tend to move around a bit. I start out with the cover paper straight, but by the end, it’s all twisted. It’s hard to hold it still and not hammer your fingers!

Oooooh, yes! This is where I’m getting results. Just look at those pretty pansy faces on the white background! You have to gently peel off the petals, or in some cases, just let them dry and rub them off. Bonus: The cover page also has wonderful colors! I’m saving that for another project.

I LOVE this! I haven’t done anything else with this flower hammering page, but the ideas are brewing. Growing? Smashing? ;0

I did go back to the green background page and finished that mixed media project. I LOVE how it turned out! This is one of my favorites so far. The smashed flowers really add texture and the greens tie in so nicely. I saw another creator (several actually) who added circles to their art. So I played with some gold glitter acrylic paint. Wow! Perfect touch. You can see the other materials I used on this page.

Et voila! Stamp pads, rubber stamps, hammered flowers, chalks, washi tape, acrylic paint, colored pencils. Plus a stick for painting and an empty tape-dispenser plastic disc for the circles.

Have you tried flower hammering? Or creating of any kind? What is your favorite trick?


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Haiku Moment: spring waltz

ruffles dance graceful

beneath bower and sunshine-

spring waltz and hurrah

pink snowfall gently

whirls, flutters, pirouettes, rests

ethereal gown

spring waltz by Angie Quantrell

Yakima Valley


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Haiku Moment: unfurl

unfurl fuzzy ears

listen, what says the forest?

breathe, exhale, relax

unfurl by Angie Quantrell

Saint Edward State Park, WA state