Happy Site Friday: Kiddie Records Weekly

Good old fashioned listening!

One of my favorite Date night activities with my husband is listening to old radio shows from the 40's online at Radio Lovers. We'll get out the popcorn and the tea, snuggle on the couch and listen to Abbot and Castello, Bob Hope and the Benny Goodman show.

I can remember the "old record days" just barely. My mom would put on a record, and we would follow a long in our books, turning out pages to the chimes. I can still here it. We'd dance along to the music...static sounds and all.

And just when I was getting all nostalgic, my husband led me to this site! Kiddie Records Weekly. Oh this is a treasure! With all the visual media out there for kids to choose from, there is very little listening going on. My kids LOVE listening to books on tape...and now...all the old classics from the 40's and 50's are available for free download! All you need to do is download it to itunes, stick these on your ipod and you have amazing car time with your kids! Or even better, snuggle on the couch with popcorn and blankets. Even better if you have the book to go with it...which maybe you do.

However you choose, enjoy! Good old fashioned family listening time is great for the soul. I highly recommend it! Happy weekend!

Excuse me.

We aren't getting much sleep around these parts...and it isn't from a newborn...yet. It is from children old enough to think waking up in the night and keeping their parents up for hours at a time is a rather fun passtime. I mean, I love my kids and all...but I may be taking a break from blogging till I get my brain back. In the mean time...have fun making wall art!

Make your own gallery: templates

Ok! Due to popular demand, you can now make your OWN art gallery. All you need to do is click on the links (don't click on the picture: too small), download the image and follow the instructions! Horray! Have so much fun...there are so many others you can make, but for those of you who prefer tracing, this should be a lot of fun!

Sparrow Template

Seal Template

Elephant Template

**EDIT: And yes, I am VERY aware that the bird template is a swallow, not a sparrow. This only goes to show the state of mind a mother can be in when she has her 2 toddlers crawling on her while doing art projects! I could go in and change this posted picture, but instead, let it stand as proof that I am mother and often make silly mistakes at the expense of just getting projects finished in time to please excited little ones!

Live Simply.

I found this via Modeco blog today. FREE DOWNLOAD among other great prints. Just download it, print it and hang it in your kitchen when your brain gets in over-drive. Live simply.

**And thanks for all your great comments about the wall art below! Speaking of FREE downloads...I will be posting the animal templates to my blog in the next bit so you can make your own art galleries. Be watching!

Making an art gallery.

We paint and make things a lot around these parts. I love watching my little artists have at it. But after a while, I started to wonder what in the world I was supposed to do with all their art pieces. Too many to save, but not any room to put them. There are plenty of ideas I have found about storing your children's art, but I really wanted to showcase it. Here is what we came up with.

We continued the art project by turning the art time into craft time. I drew basic animal shapes on a piece of paper, and cut them out to be a template. Then I placed them on the poster board (making sure to find the most interesting parts of the art) and cut then cut out around the paper template. (The bird print is actually a collage of the art paper, cut into random shapes, glued down on a paper, and then cut into a shape...very Eric Carle-ish.) The kids helped me glue the cut out animal shapes to white paper, place them in an IKEA frame, and VIOLA! Instant art. Pleasing for me and for the kids. I can't wait to make more!

**EDIT: And yes, I am VERY aware that the bird template is a swallow, not a sparrow. This only goes to show the state of mind a mother can be in when she has her 2 toddlers crawling on her while doing art projects! I could go in and change this posted picture, but instead, let it stand as proof that I am mother and often make silly mistakes at the expense of justgetting projects finished in time to please excited little ones!

Happy Site Friday: Amy Butler

I don't have a lot of pictures of flowers on my blog. I am realizing the lack of spring colors right now, and frankly, I am needing some spring color, so indulge me here. Spring flowers. Spring air. Spring greens. Oh...Spring...come quickly! In the mean time, Amy Butler is my fix right now. I am aching to bring freshness and color into my home right now...so enjoy the eye candy...and maybe, just maybe, Spring will come quicker than we think!

xoxo

Happy Friday Everyone!

Shop promoting tips: get inspired by Little Brown Pen

There are so many different ways to promote your business in this day and age. Too many ways it seems. But making a clever video and accessing the audience on YOU TUBE is a super smart way to go. Check out this music video from Nichole of Little Brown Pen. Has me re-thinking the way I use social media.

Nichole Robertson's arsty shop video

Ok. Aren't you seriously inspired? I met Nichole on TWITTER and fell in love with her ETSY shop and her BLOG. Nichole is an American living in Paris, and sells PDF's which is brilliant...I am thinking of all the paper I cut and print each day and am thinking she has it good!

In the mean time, check out her shop: darling, darling.

And for a trip to Paris in February, visit her AMAZING blog: you will feel like you are there.

Have any of you used video to promote your shop? Thanks Nichole for getting me to think outside the box!