Taste of Soul Sunday

The Communications Department at the Grand Rapids Public Library, where I work, has been trying a new promotion for large events. I've been designing posters in addition to the usual brochure. We mail them out to local churches and businesses and go door-to-door posting them in appropriate places. For this particular event we even inserted them into our city's African American newspaper, The Grand Rapids Times.

Designing posters is really fun for me. For this particular design, I used elements that I created specifically for this event. All the patterns were derived from African designs that I found in books (and we have plenty of those at the Library). The colors are all from the Library's logo, as opposed to using a traditional African color palette. I do think the oranges serves well for getting attention. Taste of Soul Sunday is in its fifth year. This is the third year I've designed the materials for it so I think the "look" is somewhat established. I am always experimenting with different ways to use the patterns.

When I first had this piece drafted my one concern was that it was too busy. But that's honestly an accurate reflection of the spirit of the day! The Library will receive between 1,200 and 1,500 visitors in a four-hour period. The building is packed and buzzing with excitement. If you're here in Grand Rapids, you should definitely consider checking it out!

How sweet!

I came across this recipe for sugar cookies, and, even more exciting, glaze! I've never seen a recipe for a glaze before and was really excited about how it looked. I have to admit I had a hard time with the dough – the consistency wasn't right – but that's probably due to user error. Besides, I am sure any sugar cookie recipe would suffice.

They used little squeeze bottles for the glaze. We had one but of course I had to have more than one color! The only similar thing we could find at the grocery store were really designed for ketchup and mustard but they worked just fine. When I first mixed up the glaze it was pretty stiff, like regular frosting. I added more milk to make it more liquid. And I definitely added a bit too much. Ah, well. We'll do better next time!

Depending on the age of your little ones, this activity could actually become three separate kitchen adventures. We made the dough on Saturday (it needs to chill at least one hour), did the rolling and baking Monday night (cookies need to cool before decorating), and then the decorating on Tuesday. My daughter especially loves the sprinkles!

An affordable splurge

I discovered the website 20x200 a while ago. There was a blurb about it in one of my design magazines. The name of the site comes from the fact that the artists sell 200 prints at $20 each (along with larger prints at higher prices).

This past weekend I decided to treat myself to a piece of art. The painting I bought was one that caught my eye when I first discovered the site many months ago. Lucky for me there were a few left. I am in love with the colors. The beautiful sky, the lush green, and the striking black and white of the birch trees. It has a calm and hopeful feeling for me. The artist is Lisa Congdon. I glanced through her blog and saw her entry in regards to her birthday. She noted that she did not start painting until she was 33. See? It's never too late to pursue the thing that interests you!

Sharing the Love

Ok, so Valentine's Day was yesterday. That doesn't mean we can't still be enjoying festive heart decorations now does it? We need something cheerful to get us through this last painful month of winter! A few weekends ago I enjoyed some crafting with Christy (my "sew" talented mom-in-law). I had a vision for cute little plush hearts to hang from doorknobs and in windows.

I sent some down to my nieces and nephews. Some stayed at Christy's house. The rest my daughter found homes for all over the house. We plan to make more next year! It was a super fun afternoon and a great way to use up scrap fabric. 

I also wanted to make a garland to hang on my fireplace mantle and brought along some pre-measured green ribbon just in case we got that far. We debated on the colors of the hearts (all red? all pink? every other?) but the final scheme was suggested by my sister Michelle. I especially like the bright green with the red and the pink. Like flowers on a stem I think.

Valentine smiles!

I got crafty this year and hand-made valentines for Julia to send to grandparents, aunts & uncles, and great-grandparents, and other such important people. And of course I made an extra one for the scrapbook!

I am trying to be thrifty in my crafting so I used some fun bathtime photos that I had already printed with the intention of mailing. I still have some red number 10 envelopes left from our wedding invitations (I had to buy 500) so I based the size on that. The piece with the greeting is actually trimmed off the end of the full valentine. The cool transparent paper was a free sample from a paper vendor (hint: secure it with clear 2-sided tape so it doesn't show). And the cute little heart was made with a paper punch that migrated to my home when I moved out (sorry Mom!).

Speaking of Mom, she was my inspiration for this project. She did something similar with photos of the three of us girls during my childhood. One year, each of our faces were flowers. Another year, we were each a scoop on an ice cream cone. I can remember specific photo shoots just for these valentines. And, if my memory serves me correctly, we got to help assemble and use the very same heart paper punch!