Your Corner Children's Bookstore.

Do you remember the first time you saw You've Got Mail, and you stepped into Meg Ryan's bookstore with the darling children's section and the reading corner? I was swept away. Every town need's a children's bookstore. Barnes and Noble and Borders are great...don't get me wrong. I spend enough time in there for sure. But what about the "ma and pop" children's bookstore you dream for your neighborhood? Good news for Utah readers: There will be a wonderful new bookstore just like that one in Utah very soon! But this store needs your support.

Michelle has a dream....an active dream to open a children's bookstore in Utah. She has a space, and has spent hours getting it all ready. But she needs a lot of help to finish it up and open the doors.  She needs a bit more support from the community and I want to help spread the word.  To start up a business takes an incredible amount of intertia, motivation and energy, and Michelle has given her all to this children's book store. She has promised to put in so much! Here is her plan:

*Story time for young children *A gathering place for book clubs, writing groups, and other small organizations that need a free place to meet *Book clubs specifically for tweens and teens *Writing classes for children, for teens, and for adults who write for children and teens *Visits from some of the most outstanding authors in children's and young adult literature, which will include readings, signings, lectures, and other social events *Prominent placement of books by local authors and those published by smaller, independent presses *A network and community for all those who love books and want to share their love of reading with coming generations

Don't you just want to move to Utah if you aren't here already?

So here is what you need to do:

Come over and BID on my $100 gift certificate to her shop.

You can start under price of course...just start bidding! Do I here $25? $30?

And how's this: if you BID at all.....you will receive a $5 gift certificate to the shop.  Just email me at the time of your order to verify.

And make sure to bid on more items on her site....there is plenty for the book lover to enjoy. Just click on the link and leave a comment.

Here's to happy book reading time with children and fostering a wonderful dream of a very ambitious woman!

So head on over and bid!

You can read more of her story here and see more ways to support here.

But hurry: the bidding ends Saturday March 20th at midnight!

Enjoy!

Best Friends.

Inseparable. They pretend they are independent and happy on their own, but the truth is, they can't be apart.  This year has been full of a lot of transition and changes, and looking back at all the chaos of a rather over-ful year, these two have relied so much on each other for consistency. In the past year, we've had 2 moves, 3 neighborhoods, 1 new baby, and the craziness of two parents trying to figure out where to settle the family. And looking back, I marvel at how they have stuck together as each other's constants. Best friends always stick together. Here's to hoping he always stays her prince, and he always stays her hero. They're a match made in heaven.

Inspiring spaces & some excuses

Let it be known that I have officially let my email inbox tower beyond reason (Sarah Cynthia Sylvia stout hights) and my house it currently a tornado zone. Well, there is usually an element of tornado-ness on a daily basis, but we have now reached danger zone. The move is under way, and is going slowly but surely as we are also remodeling the new place before we move in. I am so thrilled. We are loving the neighbors and the neighborhood. The new house is getting a new fresh coat of paint (no more purple red and green walls) and it's all starting to come together. The art studio is coming along, and should be done this week!

That said.....

If you have been trying to email me, I WILL respond. I promise. I am just super behind! And if you are thinking that the blog will slow down...it won't I still have some pretty exciting things going on behind the scenes. Things don't ever really slow down here. The book is nearly done, and there are some fun shop updates coming soon!

In the mean time, I am dreaming about these spaces, how lovely they are, and the reality that I will have a place to call my own soon.

Oh, and Happy St. Pat's! Corn beef and cabbage on the menu tonight....yum.

Happy Site Friday

Happy Friday all!

This is my effort to bring back Happy Site Friday. It's been a while.

My weekend is filled with filling tall trash cans with stuff that I don't want to move, and cleaning out storage bins in the basement. Oh, and do some laundry...maybe. We are moving in a week!

This is my list of distractions when the boredom is just too much:

* This girl's room was featured a while back here and I am in love.  Her blog is amazing and check it out here.

* Listening to this song is sunshine to my soul right now: I am transformed to a dancing fool.

* Loving this rocker and wishing it fit in the budget right now

*  This article on getting back to the orderly way with kids. It will happen someday...I just know it.

* This art piece. I had an imaginary friend, did you?

* This print makes me miss living back East. And her art gives me warm happy chills...have you read her books?

* Tell me you aren't transformed when you see this. I can't wait for summer.

Happy Friday everyone! My weekend is filled with filling tall trash cans with stuff that I don't want to move,and cleaning out storage to get ready for the move.

What's making you smile this weekend?

xo

sarah

Growing out.

Meet the cradle.

It is almost done with....for now. And I don't think it's has ever had a proper introduction.

When I was pregnant with Addie, I was gifted this handmade cradle from a dear family from back home. It was built by a dear friend of mine, painted white by my mother with a hand sewn skirt, and shipped out to her first grand-daughter Addie. I painted a lion (Aslan to be precise) laying in a garden of flowers,  just days before my first child was born. The Narnia books have always meant a lot to my husband and I, and this we felt represented so much of what we hoped for our little girl.

Since her birth, each of my babies have spent their first few months here. They have all loved being swaddled, and so it has done just fine. Ella is now over 8 months old, and is growing out of it quite quickly, but since we are just days away from moving....she will have to wait a bit more for her big girl crib. In the mean time, this cradle has served us so well and so I'm saying "Good-bye old friend. I hope to see you again some time soon."

It's my bit of magic in the nursery.

Warming up.

This is the play by play at our house:

7:00 pm: Put the kids to bed.

7:30 Flop on the couch.

7:30:01 Feel the wave of exhaustion hit.

7:31 Snuggle my husband and chat pretending like the day is over.

7:50 Kiss him goodbye as he leaves to go work on the new house (tonight it was ripping up sicko-grosso bathroom flooring).

7:51 Ignore the pile of laundry and dishes.

7:52 Make myself some tea (tonight it was Bengal spice mixed with milk and honey)

8:00 Start drawing.

But since the exhaustion is still present from a day of crazy moving-ness, I warm up. A lot. And I love it. Because then I get excited like a little kid who gets to stay up all night and read. It's just me. On the couch. All night. Drawing. The book is nearly done...but I still spend time doodling to get my hands warm. And my eyes engaged. Here's highlights from tonight's warm up.  Nothing special...but the time I get to doodle with no references, no deadlines and no reasons always excite me. Like waking with no destination. It feels good.

The making of an art studio: Part 1

The greatest part about getting a new house is getting to finally design new spaces.

The first room we're working on: The art studio.

Since I am working on the book, and timing is critical, we are getting right from the start so that things aren't messy and chaotic like most things tend to be when moving in.

I am so excited to have a room just for art. Like really excited.

We chose a room in the basement for the studio, close to the family play area so that it's close to the kids. It's a basic standard room: 10x13 feet I think. Closet, one ceiling fixture and one south facing window.

But the room had really junk carpet, smoke stains on the wall, and sliding closet doors without bottom tracks and heavy metal band stickers on the doors. Nice.

So, for a bargain priced makeover:

1. Ripped up the carpet to expose the concrete foundation. Perfect for an art studio! Carpet is so hard to clean with messy art happening, hardwood is too pricey and laminate still came up to about $500. And with cement underneath, it would have been hard to put in a hard flooring anyways. Solution? We're painting the cement a bright white. I can't wait! It's going to be stunning. And so easy to clean. And white. I love white.

2. Took off the sliding closet doors. They were junk, wobbly, marked up and covered in heavy metal band stickers not to mention they just covered up a really great closet space. This will allow for a bit more room for furniture, and exposed storage to motivate me to keep it tidy and organized! And, curtains will add a splash of color.

3.  Paint: Haven't chosen it just yet...you'll see by mid week what we chose. But for one of the walls, I'll be putting up chalkboard paint so that the kids can create and draw in there too. It's so important for me to have a studio where the kids feel welcome. Addie most always draws at my feet when I work. But since the space is so small, we are utilizing the wall space for the kids to create.

4. Light fixture: I'll be putting in full spectrum bulbs, but haven't decided on a fixture yet. If any of you have good suggestions for good studio lighting with a fun design statement, please share!

5. Furniture: This will be a mix of what I have plus a bit of new. More on that in another post.

I'll keep you posted on the progress! My amazing husband has been working on this since I am illustrating in the evenings. He spent at least 10 hours prepping the floor for paint: ripping up the carpet, pulling up nails, patching holes, scraping up carpet glue and oil stains....the man is amazing. I love him! And I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

He's got it all figured out.

balance chair

Conversations with a just turned 4 year old.

Ian: Mom, close your eyes and come here.

Me: I cover my eyes, hold his hand and walk across the room. I love these games.

Ian: Open!

Me: I open my eyes.

Ian: See, this is my art!

Me: ART. Junk as art. I love this. Cool Ian, tell me about it.

Ian: See, everything is balancing and it won't fall down!

Me: Ok. That is art.

Balance. He's got it down. I'm still figuring it out.  Real slow.

*My favorite part: See that Mr. Incredible's figure hanging for dear life on that rope over there? That's me. But it's all good. There is a Fisher Price fire engine just on the other side. Pretty good planning for a 4 year old.