Mushroom Love

     So I promised I would give you a little background on this particular piece. It has a couple of meanings. The first being the obvious, everyone should be allowed to love whomever they choose. Personally, I don't care if your black/white/latino/gay/straight/trans/Christian/Buddist/purple with pink polka-dots...Okay! Why can't we all just love each other?

     The biggest reason though for this work is my parents. Now as many of you know I lost my dad last August and was unabe to make it back for his funeral. I wanted to do something small that reminded me of the happy times I shared with him, and I couldn't help but think that he is the reason I'm a Geeky Girl. I love video games because of my dad! He bought me the Atari when it first came out, and it was the first gaming system we owned. We later upgraded to a nintendo, and we would spend hours sitting on the floor playing it. I loved Mario brothers with my favorite being Super Mario 3. What can I say, I love being able to turn into a flying racoon. ;D

     My best memory is the one I share with my mother about my dad and I playing Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. We spent more time throwing acorns at each other and knocking each other off of the tree than we ever did the missions, but it's my favorite memory.

     Now for those of you unfamiliar with Mario (for shame!) the Red mushroom will make Mario or Luigi grow big. The Blue Mushroom was introduced in later versions and makes your character  shrink to teeny tiny proportions. Now this piece represents both my parents. They both always said they were mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed bull. Those of you that know my  parents know also that there was an age and size difference in them. Mom is a larger lady, from many years of farm work when she was younger, and Dad was a fairly scrawny fellow. So my Mom is the Red mushroom and my dad is the Blue. On a side note, my dad's eyes were also blue, so I thought it was fairly fitting.

     So dad, I hope your up there shaking your head and smiling thinking of our video game time whenever you grand kids start taking each other out on Infinity. The apple apparently doesn't fall far from the tree.

This design was also inspired by a previous version I did as a part of a series that I will be working on entitled Be You~nique and can be seen here:

Both pieces are available on my Society6 website as Fine Art prints and apparel.

Summer Passport Fun 2

So here is part 2 for the Summer Passports.

I really had such a blast making these. They took a bit longer than anticipated, but were well worth it. Of course this will more than likely be an annual tradition now as the kids loved this one so much they want one each. LOL!

Who doesn't love Disney.  (Okay, I know there are a few people, but hey there's one in every bunch right?) This is one of my favorite places. I love the magic and fun that going to Disney means. The grandparents surprised the girls by taking them. I have to admit though, I am a little jealous that I didn't get to go with them. After all, it's my favorite place to go, besides snuggling down into warm fresh out of the dryer sheets. :D

There's a hospital in Florida that I used to take the girls for appointments, and it was tradition while we were there to always go and feed the ducks after an appointment. Since they are going to be in the area, I thought they might enjoy visiting sans Dr. Appointment.

Not many fireflies left last time I was there, but I hope they can catch a few and admire them for a while. One of my best memories of being employed at the Sheriffs Office was watching a grown police officer in uniform dance around until he caught a firefly for me because I had never done it as a child. They are some pretty awesome  little beetles. Did you know that the light they omit (bio-luminescence) is used to attract both mates and prey?

 The junkyard band I was originally going to leave out because I thought I was running out of room in the booklet. But one of my daughters begged me to put it in. So what is it? It's basically using your imagination to create instruments out of recycled materials. The guitar can be made from layers of cardboard cut to shape, then you cut a couple of rubber bands and stretch them to make the strings. The Drums are cleaned out soup cans with the labels peeled off (hey, save those box tops, and labels for education - the schools could really use those) then you stretch a balloon over the top and hold in place with a rubber band. The maracas are two plastic spoons taped over a plastic egg with beans, change, or rocks inside. The pan pipes are straws cut different lengths and taped together.  The opportunities are endless here. We've made a tamborine before with beans, cardboard and multi-colored strings, and I'm sure you could make a harp in a similar manner as the guitar. Just use your imagination.

Again as before, most of these are self explanatory. Just fun things to keep the kids active and give them choices. We like to eat out, but if I let my kids have there way, we would be eating Chicky nuggets and fry-fry's till the cows came home. So that's why there are several food choices in the passport as well. Plus most of these places we do not have in WA.

Last but not least, I do I do believe in Fairies. Always have, always will, and the girls do as well. This one was a specific request that they had to have in the book. They also make a mean fairy soup with acorns and herbs found from around the house, wild garlic, blackberry as well. I'm not sure if the fairies like it or not, but hey at least they are trying, and it's the thought that counts.

I hope you enjoyed the Passport tour and you were able to find a few fun ideas that you could use for your own kids, or your own kid at heart.

Next week marks the first official permanent change to the blog as I will be revealing my Made in America art series, and the blog will focus a bit more on my art. But don't worry, I'm sure my kiddos and related activities will still make it in as well. Thank you for sharing in my journey.

Summer Fun Passports

I cannot believe it has been over a year since I have posted!

I've finally ironed out scheduling it seems, only to still be working on the changes to the Realm. We'll get there one day, I promise.

Until then, I wanted to share with you these super fun Summer Passports I made my kiddo's for the summer.

If you've been following me over on instagram, then you have seen most of these before. This is part 1 so I don't overwhelm you with photos on the first posting back.

You'll see this image repeated a little farther down, but I wanted to show the cover and since it has already been sent to my kiddo's in Florida; I can't really take another picture of it. I used a passport stamp from Stamp Out Online (which has fantastic custom made stamps by the way) and a pigment ink by Tsukineko (Dew Drop) in Pearlescent Olive. The color looked gold to me against the blue, so I added gold embossing powder before the ink dried and then heated to emboss. Give it a more "official" feel.

This is page one of the girls passport. I suppose I should give a little background information on why I created this for my kiddos. I was supposed to go with my college to Italy for the summer, so we made arrangements for my husbands parents to watch the kids this summer in Florida. I wanted them to still feel close to me though seas apart, so decided to create these fun passports after seeing a similar post on Pinterest here. Long story short, my summer plans for Italy fell through, but we still wanted the kids to enjoy the summer with the Grandparents, and in a couple of weeks, we'll be joining them as well.

Also, the adventurer oath I borrowed and adapted to fit our family from here. The Tickle Wolf is a whole 'nother story hailing from our time in Germany. (But That's a post for a different day.)

Please excuse the over saturation and/or the under saturation of the images. I thought scanning these in would be better than photographs, but I have a fairly horrible scanner, so it didn't go quite as planned. I'll make sure I photograph all other images after part 2. 

 

In short, these are fairly self explanatory. The squares or blank spaces at the bottom are where the kiddo's can stamp and write the date for when they have completed the activity.  I did order a custom monogram stamper with the Letter C on it as a surprise for them. It says Chism Travels on it, and has Been There, Done That in a circular format. (Again, hindsight being 20/20) I didn't think to snap a photo of it before I shipped it off with them.

 

So I hope you have enjoyed part 1. All of the images are my own design, and I colored them with watercolor pencils in a Moleskin 3.5 X 5.5 blank page journal. I'm considering offering something like this in my Etsy shop for next summer, so if you like these, please let me know. They will all be custom and hand drawn if I offer them. Please feel free to leave me feedback and comments.

Changes...

It has been so long since I have posted my Nevermoorian's. I apologize a billion times over for the lack in posting. I became quite busy my last semester of college, and then I moved from the dusty desert of AZ to the green and rainy beach of WA. What a change! Needless to say there has been a bit of an adjustment going on not only climate wise, but also in regards to the Realm.

Now I had told you before that we have deemed ourselves travelers through the Realm of Nevermoore, as well as other lands including Earth. We have been traveling quite a bit as of late as you can imagine. Speaking of imaginings, there are an abundance of creative happenings that are going on at RONM. If you want to stay on top of the happenings in the Realm take a moment to follow us over at Twitter or Facebook.
 

When you Wish Upon A Star

It has been months since my last update. I apologize sincerely. Holidays and living in a separate state than my husband is anything short of distracting. I promise I will try to do much better this year.

So what do I have for you lovelies today?

Wishing Stars!

For the new year, my girls and I decided to make Wishing Stars. Now these are the same as the origami Lucky Stars, but I thought why not make a wish, write it on the inside and make it a Wishing Star? At the end of the year we are planning on opening the stars back up and see if our wishes came true.

 We made ours with left over holiday Christmas wrapping paper, and yes, before you even ask, this stuff get's glitter everywhere. But we're a glitter, sparkle, fantastical kind of family, so no harm. ;D

Now I cut my wrapping paper into strips about 2 inches x 40 inches. This way I had larger stars. The paper itself is rather thin, so you may want to back it with another layer of paper, perhaps kraft paper or something slightly thinner just to give your star some stability. (Trust me, your stars will puff better if you have a slightly stiffer paper.) You could always add about 20 inches to the length as well and it will achieve the same purpose.

So supplies needed:

• scissors
• wrapping paper, or kraft paper, or even star paper (if you want small stars) these can be found all over, but I like to order some of my pretty star papers from here plus they have glow-in-the-dark. (I love Etsy don't you?)
• Ruler. - I used a quilting ruler due to length, and the fact that I had it handy, but this is not a necessity.

Steps: (after paper preparation...cutting strips)

Now I'm not going to try and re-invent the wheel to much here. A fabulously easy tutorial for these stars can be found here. I am enclosing a few photos though of my own, to give a quick tutorial if you don't feel like clicking through to a different site.

1. Write your wish on the back of your paper strip.
   
2. Tie paper in a knot. WHAT? I know, this part can be a little tricky. Don't pull to tight, just get it to where the edges line up, and then smoosh (technical term). Flatten out the paper and you should have a pentagon shape. Try to keep the knot off to one side, and just fold the extra in the back over, you'll wrap it up later.
   
3. Now begin wrapping over...
   
   4. and over...
   
   until you are left with about this much of a tail.
   
   
   

5. Tuck the tail under the V shaped opening like this. Continue to slide the paper into the star until snug.

 6. Last but not least press the sides of the star in towards itself gently. Your star should begin to puff up and you will be left with a puffy star.

Simple right? (Don't worry if you don't get it correct at first, it took me a little bit of practice before I figured it out on the small paper let alone jumbo sized).

Good luck with your stars. <3

Tea Time

So if you've been around the blog any length of time, you know I love tea parties. I love herbal tea, I should have been English. I must have my tea just about every morning, and if you have scones. Simply smashing darling, truly.

Which brings me to today's topic. As a little girl I would spend hours on drawing dinosaurs.  I know many of you are thinking do what? What in the world do dinosaurs and tea have in common? That's it I'm outta here. Humor me and stick around for just a few more minutes... Pretty please, with sugar on top?

I have had a book on my Pinterest board "Worth Reading" for quite a while now. I saw it at Barnes and Noble and just had to pick it up. It's entitled Tea Rex by Molly Idle.

Now a bit about the author, we must pay tribute where tribute is due.

Molly Idle, according to the profile on her website; which can be found here, graduated from Arizona State University, and has also worked for the Dreamworks studio many years before jumping into children's literature and illustration. She now resides in Arizona with her family, and I can only hope that perhaps one day I can have a cup of tea with her.

 Now on to the story.

 

Tea Rex is about a children's tea party, and they have invited a larger than life guest. A Tyrannosaurus Rex. Now as you can imagine with a tea party, it has the best beginnings with the hosts showing Mr. Rex to the parlor, and offering a comfy chair. As you can imagine though, it is not long before havoc begins to break loose, and while Rex has all good intentions, well...he is after all a Dinosaur and must ROAAAARRR. Plus the size of the tea cup really should have been addressed before hand. In the end though a wonderful time was had by all, and there will be future tea parties, but perhaps next time at Rex's home.

This is truly a fabulous tale, and spun from the heart of a child. Who else would come up with having tea with a dinosaur? Okay, well besides the obvious answer of me your host.

This is a quick read, and perfect for bedtime... or a tea party tale, and I gladly recommend it to as many as will read it.

The Power of Pretend

Has it been over a month since I wrote to you my duckies? I am so terribly sorry. That is what happens though when you wander in Nevermoore. One can never tell when they will get back... Especially if there is tea to be had.

With Halloween fast approaching and the little one's running around trying to figure out what they will be for the Holiday. I am left with my thoughts and pondering of who determines what it is to be an adult? Certainly not me. To be an adult now is the same as it was to be an adult when I was little...You can do whatever you want.

Now I have diligently tried to lead you back down the road to becoming a kid again, with simple steps. In the end however it all boils down to one thing. You have to pretend again.

We all pretend to a certain degree. We daydream at work of the cute little cabana at the beach where we would sip on something cold...and for some of us it would always be 5'oClock somewhere. The mountains we would climb, the horses...(*ahem Unicorns*) we would ride off into the sunsets.

But this is not what I am referring to my darlings. What I mean is really pretend again! When you were a kid, did you ever want to something really awesome? I don't just mean a police man, or a firefighter...those are attainable with a little hard work...Well let's be honest! Anything we dream can be attainable with a little hard work.

Okay, so what I mean is did you ever want to be Batman? Or Superman able to fly and have laser vision? No....Some kind of mutant, like Jean Gray, or Wolverine?

 Guess what...The beauty of being an adult is that we can go back and revisit those things just like our kids do. And it will make play time all the more fun with them if Dad or Mom is a super-hero right beside them. Or a super villain that they can vanquish. (I mean come on... most of us in our childhood wished we could vanquish our parents, so why not have a little fun with it.)

This for me is what Nevermoore is built on, and will continue to be built upon. I hope to provide you with a world to escape through with books, and play food, and sketches that will capture your imagination again. I will be re-launching my Etsy store Friday 10/11/13. And hope you all will join me.

The blog will becoming more focused on the progress of new items for the store as well as my journey in and out of Nevermoore through the written word, and I am truly excited for you to meet the characters that run around in my head all day.  It is about time I give them a bit more leg room...it's getting a bit cramped up there.

Now you just have to remember that Pretend and Imagination is the secret. For if you can conquer these you truly have the Power...For this is where the Magic lies.

Super-Sized

I feel like I have been everywhere this summer! I'm exhausted, and I do apologize because it is you who follow me that suffer from lack of posts. :(

So as I had stated in a previous post, we had moved up to beautiful Washington, and on the way up we stopped at the Grand Canyon. Which brings me to todays post topic on how to remember and keep that childhood magic and wonder at the world alive.

DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU FEEL SMALL.

Yes I'm yelling it, because we often don't do this enough. For some of us feeling small makes us feel weak, but that is not what I am aiming for at all.

Now as you can see here, and have heard, the Grand Canyon is huge. Pictures really do not even do it justice and you really can't even put into words how massive the canyon truly is.

 

 

Another display of the huge rocks that are in the canyon here.

 

 

 

And if the previous two pictures were not enough, Look how small our family is compared to the Super-Sized Grand Canyon.

 

 

Now I will not continue to beat a dead horse; hypothetically of course, I would never beat a horse alive or dead...but I digress; by telling you exactly how huge the Grand Canyon is, but to stand beside it is simply breathtaking and it reminds us of how small we truly are. If you take in the vastness of the canyon, and then contemplate how small the canyon is compared to the ocean, and then compared to the Earth in it's entirety, you just become awestruck.

 

Now the Grand Canyon trip was actually almost a run by as we had gotten lost and had gone about two hours in the wrong direction and then had to double back to take it in. But it was definitely worth the six hours behind schedule we had gotten.

 

A bit less of a rush was our recent trip to Mt. Rainier. This gorgeous always snow covered beauty is upwards of 10,000 feet. Talk about a Super-Sized mountain. 

 

 

We hiked for quite a while at Paradise Valley which is one of the spots most visited by tourists. It's no wonder why it's the most visited as the flowers were blooming and there was still snow on the ground. Plus being able to walk comfortably with Summer clothes. Well worth it. While on one of our two hikes my daughters spotted a tree with a hole at the bottom and demanded pictures. Well of course I'll oblige pictures of you poking your head out of the tree looking like a little sprite, or elf.  (and for those of you who are concerned, we did check the tree before allowing her to climb in...no snakes, skunks, spiders, etc.)



 

 

Then there were these wonderful little flowers called Western Pasqueflower, which I didn't know until we returned from our hike, and looked them up. We had a blast though referring to them as Trufulla Trees. They really did look like miniature little Trufulla Trees from Dr. Suess' The Lorax.

 

 

 

We hiked quite close to the snow covered portion of Mt. Rainier but still it loomed so far away, and so massive. This is again another reminder of how small we truly are when compared to the Earth as a whole.  Sometimes we need to be reminded of the fact that we are small. It tends to humbles us as well as make us think twice before stepping on something smaller than we such as an ant just because it is in our way. We all have our own individual purpose here, whether we be an ant, a Moose, a Tiger, or a Human and we have to learn to live with one another. By being reminded of being small we know how our children feel, and can better understand the way they think, and what they feel, for they often feel quite small, and as a parent, sometimes it can be quite easy to remind children of how they are not old enough to do something, or are to small to help.

 



But being small can make us happy. Think of when you were a child, you were small enough to fit in spaces adults couldn't, and always had the best hiding places. As a child you're hand was small enough to fit in the Pickle Jar resulting in whichever Pickle was the fattest instead of settling for the one on top. There are so many wonderful things that come from being small so take the time to remember to be small, and visit someplace Super Sized.

Fictional Bucket List

Ever think to yourself I watch too much television? Ha! Well I know I probably watch a bit too much, but it just gets my imagination flowing even more, and sometimes you just have to have a break from all the fresh air. Well okay, so sometimes it's raining here in beautiful Washington state, so I get caught up on all of my favorite shows. :D

 

So my fist pick would be Castle on ABC. Now Castle was actually my Captain before he was Castle, love Firefly, and I still think it's a shame they cancelled that show, but unfortunately it seems to happen far to often to the good ones. But I digress...

 

I simply love the chemistry between Beckett and Castle on the show. They simply feed off of one another's energy. While Castle does have some crazy theories at the beginnings of each episode they always solve the case together by the end. Though it's a fictional show, I would love to work with them toward catching the baddies.

 

Though this may never occur, it's definitely going on my bucket list and who knows...perhaps I could write some interesting spin off fan fiction based on some of those far fetched theories of Castles.

 



Another favorite television show of mine would simply have to be Once Upon a Time. Though I am a bit behind missing all of Season 2 (thank goodness it comes out in August) I would still love to just jump right in the television and help Henry with Operation Cobra. Wouldn't you?

Now since I am a serious bookworm, you didn't think I was going to forget about books I would like to jump into did you.  I mean if I had a super power, I would really want it to be the ability to jump inside any book and live it just like it was real life.

Now one of my favorite series would have to be the Chronicles of Narnia. I was just tickled to death when they released new movies of the Narnia books, and thought they did an amazing job. I only hope they will eventually release the rest of the series. So on to my last fictional bucket list item for today.

What about you. Do you have any fictional bucket list items? I would love to hear about them, and even create an image for your Pinterest bucket list like the ones above. Until next time. Don't be afraid to let that child-like imagination show, and DREAM.

Cephalopods and Book reviews: Brian Kesinger

Evening post for you all today and a book reveiw of a more specialty styled book from Brian Kesinger called Walking you Octopus a Guidebook to the Domesticated Cephalopod .

I fist discovered Mr. Kesinger's work when I was considering entering a T-shirt conest for We Love Fine. I believe it had been a steampunk contest, and his entry was a piece I just fell in love with called Walkies for Otto. Needless to say, I felt my own art doodles were not quite up to par with his, and I chickened out and didn't enter. Shame on me...But sometimes that happens...Okay let's be honest, most times that happens. Be I'm working on it. I double dog... pinky promise...swear to you.

Now I wanted to wait to share this particular book review with you until after I had completed one of the hats for my sisters Hats for the Hearts project so I could couple them together...similar themes and all, more info here.

 Brian Kesinger is well know for his animation, writings, and art work with Disney for over 15 years, but perhaps he is much more well known for his creation of the Tea Girls quite often featuring the lovely Victora and Otto. His work can be found here http://www.bkartonline.com as well as on DeviantArt and Facebook.

His first book Walking Your Octopus a Guidebook to the Domesticated Cephalopod is an adorable story for children, and of course the child at heart as well.

Now while the idea of having an octopus or any cephalopod may seem a bit silly, you have to use your imagination, and if you have ever attended or plan to attend any type of Steampunk or Cosplay event you know that this is not that strange of an occurrence.
 

I absolutely love the copy of Walking Your Octopus from the time I opened it from it's hardback cover (yes I know, I'm a bit of a book snob) to the metal corners, and Mr. Kesinger's signature inside. I felt at first that the book was a bit of an odd size and photos of the book are a bit deceiving. It is a rather strange length for a book measuring in at 7" x 14", but once you open an understanding on the size dawns on you as his work is showcased wonderfully well on the more panoramic styled pages.

In regards to the content of the book, I found that it makes a quick read for bedtime stories as well as an educational experience. I know, I see a few doubters and naysayers in the crowd saying "how is a book on having an Octopus for a pet actually educational?", but just give me the benefit of the doubt.
 

The book covers points on how you should train and raise your Cephalopod, everything from feedings, and bath routines, to training, habitats, a few fun facts and my favorite the very last page which covers ensuring you and your pet get enough sleep. Though Mr. Kesinger has written each of these items as if the Victorian Gentleman or Lady were raising his/her own Cephalopod each item truly can be related to any type of pet and makes a wonderful addition to the home library.

 

 

 

Now if you like the adorable cephalopod hoodie, or Scoofie as I should say, the pattern is available through the PinkAvenger on Etsy. I did make adjustments in the fact that instead of crocheting the eyes and suckers I added buttons, so I changed the pattern a bit to suit myself.

 

Also please remember that Google will be dropping the Google reader portion of Blogger tomorrow 7/2/13, so if you would like to keep receiving my feed, or even if you haven't followed me yet, but would like to you need to find a third party app. Personally I have switched over to BlogLovin, and I know several of the blogs that I follow have as well.

 

 

I'm off for now to don a Cephalopod on my head and have tea with my fabulous little darlings so until we meet again don't be afraid to let you inner child out to play. I promise the sandbox is big enough for all. 



Summer time Staples

 

 

Summertime is one of my favorite seasons when there is green grass and tree's in abundance. Especially the beginnings of summer, when the evenings are just cool enough to start a small fire in the backyard and enjoy the stars. And what better way to do that than with S'MORES!

 

 

Now most of us have had the plain old chocolate, regular marshmallow, and graham cracker kind that are delicious in their own right, but I have made something special, and as you can tell from picture, they are not the regular s'mores at all.

 

Well lets get right down to it shall we!



 

 

With the above ingredients I made, Key Lime Pie S'mores, Lemon Meringue Pie S'mores, and PB&J Smores, also not pictured which we tried were Rainbow Sherbert S'mores. (excuse me while I recover from my sugar coma)

Ingredients:

Key Lime Flavored Marshmallows (campfire brand)

Lemon Meringue Marshmallows (campfire brand)

Strawberry Flavored marshmallows

Vanilla (white chocolate)

Peanut Butter Cup's

 

 

With any of the S'mores you know you have to toast the Marshmallows to a wonderful golden brown over the red coals. (or if you are impatient to a blackened crisp over the flames, this is purely your choice, I would recommend golden brown, but as my crew is impatient...well you know which we end up with. LOL)

 

These are super simple to make so I'll just let you know what goes together for each.

 

Key Lime Pie S'mores

1 Graham cracker broken in half (for a top and bottom to your S'more -  like a sandwich)

2-4 key lime marshmallows

1 Vanilla chocolate square (we used Ghirardelli Vanilla Dream squares...delicious, but any white chocolate should work)

 

Smoosh (very technical term :) )  together when marshmallows are toasty.

 

Lemon Meringue S'mores

1 Graham cracker broken in half

2-4 lemon meringue marshmallows

1 Vanilla chocolate square

 

Smoosh together when marshmallows are toasty

 

*On a side note, you have to watch the Campfire brand Marshmallows as they tend to melt off the stick, so you've gotta be quick when you toast these lovelies.

 

PB & J S'mores

1 Graham cracker broken in half

1 Strawberry Marshmallow (if someone knows of some grape marshmallows these would be    outstanding as well, or if you make your own...)

1 Peanut Butter Cup

 

Smoosh together when marshmallow is toasty

 

Rainbow Sherbert S'mores

1 Graham cracker broken in half

1 Strawberry Marshmallow

1 Lemon Meringue Marshmallow

1 Key Lime Marshmallow

1 Vanilla chocolate square

 

Smoosh together when marshmallow's are toasty

 

I hope you enjoy these. The kids loved the PB & J ones as they are exceptionally sweet, while the adults liked the pie varieties better.

 

Bring out your inner child and sing camping songs with your kids around a bonfire, and enjoy summer.