pink and green and stone

I saw this stone along the shoreline at my grandfather's cottage on Lake Michigan. The pinkish red streak is naturally occurring in the boulder. The green is some kind of algae or seaweed growing on the rock. I was struck by the fabulous color combination. Red and green are opposites on the color wheel so they are very powerful together. Let this inspire you in creative ways!

Petoskey trip: face rocks

In the midst of our Petoskey hunt, we also came across a collection of rocks that appear, charmingly enough, to have faces. Our four-year-old was especially good at noticing these cuties!

Petoskey trip: fossil finds!

One of the very best parts of our family vacation to Petoskey, Michigan was, of course, the finding the famous "Petoskey stones." The stones are actually fossils of the coral that once lived in the shallow warm ocean that covered my fair state long long ago. They are amazingly abundant in this part of the state and therefore not too difficult to find. Just reach down in the water for a handful of sand, rock, and pebble. Shake gently to sift out the sand and pluck the Petoskey stone that is awaiting you.

My husband and I both got very obsessive with our searching. In fact, my four-your-old accused us of "ignoring your children while you look at rocks."

Here's just a sampling of what we found:

I am considering trying to polish up one that is already somewhat smooth. The easiest thing to do would be to dump them into a vase or a dish. The beautiful patterns are only noticeable when the stones are wet. They actually appear to be plain gray once dried. I'll keep you posted on any potential Petoskey projects!

dirty work

Thanks to the support (um, hard labor) of my husband the backyard garden project has taken off. He gets full credit for digging out the cement block border, reinstalling said border as a back edge, ripping up sod, inserting the edging, buying and hauling the dirt (I did manage to help with the this), and using the scary looking rototiller.

I removed, relocated, and replanted existing plants. I also used scrap stones from last summer's backyard project to make a path back to the rain barrel. And I very gleefully purchased new plants and arranged them in the new garden. I remember looking over my work and saying "it's just like graphic design!" as I considered how to place different textures, leaf shapes, and plant colors.

 The back edge is raised, allowing the garden to slope forward

Crafting my stone path through the mud and muck

All my new plant babies!

story stones – part 2

I told you I was going to get back to these. And I still want to do some more! The idea originally comes from Emily Neuburger of Red Bird Crafts.

This go round the baby was content in her chair so I could make some of my own. I was trying to think about what kind of things would help my older daughter use the rocks to tell stories. I did a few of the weather. One of the beach, mostly because I wanted to use the frayed end of the blue fabric as water. Together we did a bird and a flower using a button. I did one of my daughter and grandma made another to represent her favorite blanket.

treasures from nature

a polka dot feather

an acorn becoming a tree, frozen in time

a smiling stone

you blogged it: story stones

We recently enjoyed an extended visit from the cousins. I assisted my mom-in-law with finding some great craft inspirations for keeping the kiddos (minus the two babies) busy.

Now I get to share our "you blogged it, we did it" stories!

One activity we did was story stones. I first found the idea on one of my favorite craft sites, WhipUp. Full credit goes to Red Bird Crafts as seen on both Etsy and in the blog world.

We hand selected the best rocks from a heap at the nearest landscaping supply place. We filled up a bucket for a mere $2! The stones aren't polished or anything but they were a good size for this craft.

Ours ended up being a bit more influenced by the characters and illustrations already adorning the fabric, but that's ok. Only the adults were wielding the fabric scissors so it worked out better this way. The kids were more than happy to select the perfect rock and spread the Mod Podge out. The googly eyes were a fabulous and funny touch.

 I hope to revisit this craft soon for myself and use more abstract fabrics to create shapes that could be used in storytelling. In fact, I was reminded of one of the final pages of the super-cute children's book Penguin. Everything Penguin "says" is drawn as little pictures. It's a lovely picture book that has become a favorite at our house. May it inspire your own story stone adventures!

My husband made this cute one!

Oh happy day!

The pergola is complete. Finished. Done. Over. Now let's enjoy a few before and after shots to just how far we've come.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

stone steps

Well, after debating about rounded steps made with multiple stones, or finding the one perfect large stone, or using cement or wood, we finally settled on finding pre-cut stone stair treads. We'd seen them online and knew they existed somewhere. It was just a matter of finding them locally. We had great success at Stone Zone. The color was right, the size was right, voila – instant steps.

Ok, so maybe not that easy. They're very heavy. Very. Like, don't you dare load them into a car you fool (we borrowed a different vehicle and a trailer). I should also note, for others of the DIY mindset, that my husband prepared the site in a similar fashion to that of the stone patio: dug it out to the properly calculated depth, leveled it so it angled away from the house, and put down a gravel base. We used two 48-inch stones for the base and one 36-inch stone for the top step.

To move them in place my husband and I – to the credit of married couples everywhere – displayed some remarkable teamwork. We used a method he referred to as Egyptian where we rolled them on plastic pipes. I don't imagine the ancient Egyptians had plastic pipes but perhaps some other similar method of rolling. Once one pipe was released from the back, I quickly fetched it and positioned it in front. Very carefully and slowly we laid them into place. Then we both had to brace ourselves and use all the strength we had to adjust them by half an inch. Really, they are that heavy. Those beasts are in for good.

They were a tad more expensive than I anticipated but isn't that how it goes with projects like these? I really can't complain though. They're perfect for our yard.

fabulous fossils

As promised, here is the stone that I adored but did not buy. It's a pale buttery yellow and has naturally occurring fossils that appear like delicate paintings of trees. I may have to buy a small piece to hang on the wall or prop up on the mantel. It's really that beautiful!

stone shopping!

We kicked off our vacation week with a visit to Best Bark & Stone in Jenison, Michigan. I have to admit I was swayed by their lovely, photo-filled website. And the recommendation of a friend of a family member.

However, there are several great stone places in our area and I can't say I recommend one over the other. We didn't get a chance to do much shopping around since most places close at 5:00 during the week and by early afternoon on Saturday. We will be looking around for somewhere that sells large stones already pre-cut into rectangles for use as steps though. So perhaps at that point I can add to my knowledge of west Michigan stone shopping options.

I was hoping to pick something compatible with our brick. Not necessarily an exact match but with the similar tones and warmth. I think we succeeded. There was another stone, one that will be worth of its own post tomorrow, that I adored but it was a pale yellow that wouldn't have been right.

I especially like the dramatic black mixed in. We bought three really large pieces (being weighed below). They'll be in the center of the patio and the small pieces will be worked around them. We bought extra hoping we'll have enough for stepping stones. That's another project though!