momstory

Meet Mom Belinda from Bendigo, Victoria, Australia...

Hi there, my name is Belinda Moon. I have two children, a beloved husband, a clumsy dog, a snobby cat and perhaps the longest living goldfish in history. Lachlan is my eldest at seven, and his little sister, Lara is four.  We live in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia and have been here for six years now.

I have a small creative business called Moonmum which I run from home, making paper goods with my unique style of sewing on paper. I have always loved the combination of paper and thread, so a couple of years ago I started making things to sell. I started with just a few cards on etsy and now there are many shops in Australia that stock my handmade items. It is wonderful to work from home around my children’s schedules and add a little extra to the family budget doing something I enjoy. As the children get older I find I can dedicate more hours to creating and am looking forward to growing my business. I am also an organiser of a handmade market here in Bendigo called The Square. I write about my creative pursuits on my little blog.

What kind of house do you live in - are you and the kids happy here or is there anything you find lacking or would like to change?
We live in a very ordinary brick house in a very ordinary street and we love our piece of suburbia.  While I would like more room inside for a dedicated work space and a big playroom, our back yard is perfect for the kids to play, we’ve squeezed in a few garden beds to grow veggies and the dog has plenty of space to chase a tennis ball too.

What is it you like best about living here?
I have to confess that Bendigo is not a place I would have thought we’d end up living. We were living in Melbourne (which we loved and do miss terribly) but moved six years ago for my husband’s work and we haven’t looked back. The lifestyle it allows us with a young family is perfect. It is spacious, affordable, child-friendly, it’s not too hot or too cold and it’s beautiful in autumn.

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s rooms?
I spend a lot of time thinking about decorating our home, browsing online for inspiration and flicking through magazines, but things only happen very slowly around here. I have a long list of crafty and DIY-type projects floating around my brain that I’d like to do one day. Our living areas are fairly small so things have to be functional first and aesthetics usually come second.

What are your children’s favorite items in your house?
Lachlan’s absolute favourite thing in this house is his lego. If I were to ask Lara today what her favourite thing is I’m fairly sure she’d say the pink nail polish on her toes. The dress up box is a constant favourite for them both too. Our cat Peppah is much adored and they love when she snuggles up with them on the lounge while they read or watch tv.
We have recently bought a new computer and the kids love taking silly photos in the ‘Photo Booth’

Some tidying tips?  Do your children tidy up after themselves?
I don’t like separating children’s areas in the house so we all share the living spaces we have. This means there are many days that the lounge is complete chaos and toys are perched on every available surface. But that’s ok with me. They are both learning (slowly) to tidy up as they finish one thing then move onto another and they know that when five o’clock rolls around its time to start packing everything away for another day. Cleaning up is a never-ending battle but I remain optimistic that one day they’ll surprise me.

What places in your new neighborhood do you like to go to for shopping?
I really don’t spend much time shopping. I like to frequent the local op-shops in the perpetual hunt for a good find. Otherwise craft markets and online shops are my favourite places to search out handmade and unique wares.

What is your idea of a perfect day with your children?
If I could formulate a perfect day we’d spend time at our favourite park downtown, have a lovely meal with family or friends, lots of laughter, lots of cuddles and a good storybook before bed.

What is a normal day with your children?  What do you do on weekends?
Most days I like to get out of the house in the morning while they are all fresh, full of energy and my morning coffee is still giving me strength. We run errands or go to the park, perhaps a swim or catch up with friends. The afternoons are usually quieter, we might spend time in the yard, doing craft, reading or something else at home.
Weekdays are a bit of a balancing act between the kids’ schedules, my creative business work and the mundane tasks of running a household. I grab a few minutes here and there throughout the day to do a bit of sewing, paperwork or packaging and it’s nice to get them involved in some way, perhaps sorting buttons or wrapping parcels. Some days it all works a treat, I get lots of orders done, the children are happily busy and I marvel at the whole arrangement. Other days… well, you know.
Weekends are family time that we really look forward to. We might do a day trip somewhere or plan something special, but we are homebodies and mostly enjoy just hanging out. In the warmer months we do lots of barbeque dinners out the back. After eating we’ll sit and talk, listen to music, watch the kids play, throw a ball for the dog and soak up the long summer evenings.

Any books you can recommend for parents and how to raise your children?
When the children were babies and toddlers I dipped in and out of a few different parenting books. I picked up some great snippets of advice here and there that worked for me, but in hindsight I wish I had spent less time reading and more time trusting myself.

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?
One of the most important things for us is to involve the kids in every part of our daily life, from mundane chores around the house to special events and everything in-between. They learn and thrive when they know what’s going on and understand the workings of the world around them, especially now as they get older. Easier said than done, but always worth while.
I think its essential to make time to be silly and play, to read often, have lots of cuddles and give them different experiences.

What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?
I enjoy doing just about everything crafty with my little peeps… we paint, we sew, we make music, we cut and paste, we cook, we dance, we garden, we make playdough. I love watching how creative projects take shape for each of them. They enjoy going through our recycling tub for boxes and anything they can turn into something else with sticky tape or glue.

Any tips for keeping the house clean when crafting?
Don’t bother! No one enjoys getting creative if they’re constantly worried about the mess, so we have a big plastic table cloth that I always use and everyone has their own thick craft placemats to work on. If it’s paint or plasticine I spread an old sheet under the table as well, just to stop stuff getting ground into the floor.

Are you a crafter or DIY person?
I’m definitely a crafter and the creative business I run from home is a wonderful outlet for me. I inherited craftiness from my mother who was always working on something, be it sewing, knitting, crochet, or whatever, her hands were never still. Mum died when I was a teenager but we have many things around the house that she made and they are among my most treasured possessions. It makes me very happy that things from her hands are in the daily lives of my children.
My current craft project is a crochet rug that mum never finished. It has sat in my cupboard for years in pieces, with the wool and crochet hook just waiting. I get a wonderful sense of contentment as I crochet along, knowing when it’s finished it will be something we’ve worked on together.

What do you do with all the projects your children make at home or in school?
I find it so hard to throw away any of their creations! I’ll often take photos of the kids with their projects, especially things that are too bulky or awkward to store easily. Paintings are often recycled as giftwrap for presents going to family or friends. We live a long distance from both of our families, so many drawings are posted off to relatives with a little note.

How do you like to celebrate birthdays and other special days in your house?
It has become a birthday tradition that I make a special cake in the flavour and shape they choose. I’m not a natural when it comes to cake decoration, so this usually means I’m in the kitchen for most of the day baking, mixing different coloured icing and cursing the perfect pictures in recipe books!


What are some favorite games in your home?
My daughter would play hide and seek from sun up to sun down if she could. Her big brother mostly likes board games. The games they make up together are the best and watching their imaginative play makes me smile.

What kind of sports do your children like to do and are you very involved?
We encourage them to try lots of things and see what they enjoy. Last year Lachlan did karate and football, although lately he’s been outside a lot shooting basketball hoops. Lara is happiest climbing or hanging upside down.

Are there musical instruments in your house?
Oh yes. We have my much-loved piano and I wish I had more time to play. I used to be quite good, but alas the fingers are years out of practice and simply won’t do what they used to. I do hope to teach both the children if they’ll let me. The kids have a basket filled with musical instruments of their own too, including maracas, keyboards, recorders, those ridiculously annoying drumsticks that you hit the air with, guitars, etc. Occasionally this basket has been known to mysteriously disappear if we need a break.

What are all time favorite books for the children?
Lara’s current favourites are ‘Where is the Green Sheep?’ and ‘The Monster at the End of this Book’. Both classics!
Lachlan is really enjoying science books these days, absolutely devouring anything about the human body, machines, the earth or animals. This has led to the making of many, many dioramas which he works so hard on.
My favourite story to read to them, although they are quickly outgrowing it, is one from my own childhood called ‘The Nickle Nackle Tree’ by Lynley Dodd.

Do your children read books online?  Do they go to the library?
I’m a book person and I’ve definitely passed this onto the kids. Our trips to the library are never quick as we browse and choose some to take home. If a book is particularly loved then I’ll often buy it online for our own collection. My usual online shop for books is  thebookdepository.com because it has free international shipping (my three favourite words!) Our local library runs wonderful storytime sessions for preschoolers which we have been going to ever since we moved to Bendigo.

Do you cook together with your children? Does Dad cook?
I’m definitely not a great cook and my enthusiasm in the kitchen wavers. I’ve started getting the kids into the kitchen with me more often when I’m preparing meals. This is such a nice and fun way to spend time together and be productive. If we’re preparing lots of vegetables or making a fruit salad, they love to turn the scraps into ‘compost soup’ to feed to the worms in our compost bins. This was an idea I got from SouleMama ages ago and they both love it! 
We also grow a few vegetables in our yard. It’s so nice for the kids to pick a fresh salad for dinner or watch as the strawberries ripen and become desert. Our last crop of carrots grew in many weird and wonderful shapes, so the kids loved going out to pick one not knowing what shape they’d see.
What kind of place do you like to go to on vacation with and without the children?
Since we have moved quite often over the years, most of our holidays we load up the car and head off to visit family. In summer we love to visit my sister who is close to the beach and the coastal area around her town is simply beautiful.

Do you keep some sort of travel journal with the children?
For one big car trip I bought each of them a blank notebook to use as a journal. We glued a basic map of our route in the front pages so they could follow the roads and see the next town coming up or other landmarks. Each day they wrote or drew pictures of what we’d seen and done. Both the kids have cameras and they love taking pictures of whatever is around them, so some days we’d put photos in there too.

..MoonMum shop..
..MoonMum blog..

Meet Mom Jacoline from the Netherlands...

I am Jacoline van de Meent (29) and founder of Bibelotte. Married with Nico for 7 years, and we have 3 small children. Lucas (5years) who wants to be a farmer! He is always busy with insects, loves his judo lessons and really wants to play the trombone. Josephine (4years) wants to be a fire-man, or she wants to make nice things.  She is very creative and always helpful. Femke (3years) is the youngest. Femke wants to be a ambulance car (!) or a princess, she cannot decide. She loves hats and bags and she collects lots of things in one of her many bags. I started making children’s accessories when Lucas was a baby and soon started selling online. Within a couple of years Bibelotte was born and now is a leading brand, sold all over the World.

What kind of house do you live in - are you and the kids happy here or is there anything you find lacking or would like to change?
We live in a small old house, build in 1923. It has lots of old details and a nice
garden. We love it, but our dream is to buy a farm. We like lots of space, nature, (countryside)   the garden and the outdoors.  We are looking for a farm, but we are not in a hurry.  

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s room?
Yes, I like to spend time on decorating my home but unfortunately I haven't much time for this. I love nice stuff but it must be practical, I don't like things for decorating that have no function. Of course I have a lot of accessories and bedding for the children’s rooms. This is my job and I get much of the Bibelotte samples and prototypes for the children. It’s a good test, trying the products by myself!

Do you keep your children’s play areas very separate or do you believe they should have a space in every part of the house?
We have a playroom but sometimes the whole house looks like a playroom. I find it very important that children can enjoy themselves in a house. So we have reading and craft corners throughout the house but the lego and toys are usually in the playroom.

Where do you look for interior inspiration, favorite magazines, websites, blogs?
Mostly in magazines and blogs. I  mix my own style, I like lots of styles. Modern and design but also vintage or  classic. Most importantly, there is a balance and it says something about yourself. An interior should not be perfect, it should just say something about the people, their passion and show memories.  And it must be lived in! An interior with some things you like and some you don't really like but they all have a nice memory or where given by someone you love.
I really like the Scandinavian style. I always buy magazines from Denmark. They give me lots of inspiration in.

What are your children’s favorite items in your house?
Children's books! I can not imagine a home without children's books!  Our children love them, reading is their favorite pastime. They also love the sofa,they imagine it being a big ship that brings them to America. Or sometimes  its a big shovel, lifting the cushions on the sofa with a long rope. I have also a lot of poufs, they use them also for everything.  of ..(use them in their imaginative play)

Some tidying tips?  Do your children tidy up after themselves?
Oh..that's very  difficult. Lucas doesn't like this but Josephine is very  tidy. I set the alarm and when the bell goes , everything must be tidy. We make it into a game, we are against the clock!

What places in your new neighborhood do you like to go to for shopping?
I do not go shopping often, usually I order  online. I love this site. But if I go, I really  like Utrecht or Amsterdam. Another favorite city is Glasgow or Edinburgh!

What's it like to raise a child in your town?
We live in Ede, a village near forest and heathland. We love to go to the heathland for a short walk or to say hello to the sheep.  Near the parking area  is a restaurant called Juffrouw (miss) Tok. After our walk, we go for a hot chocolate with whipped cream to warm us.

Who do you consider is a good example for your children?
I think it's  important to be honest and have respect for others. We encourage our children to get their own opinion but also respect opinions of other people.
This is also important in our business Bibelotte. We established a project in Indonesia  “ Give people hope” , where we employ disadvantaged women and give them support and a  change of a better life.

What is your idea of a perfect day with your children?
Obedient children who do not quarrel….;-)  of argue zou ik eerder gebruiken

What is a normal day with your children?
I only work for Bibelotte when the children are at school. When the children get home in the afternoon, we play and spend time together. I only use a child-minder one day a week, I want to be with my children as much as possible.........

What do you do on weekends?
Weekends are quality time.  On Saturday morning Nico works and  I go to the fresh market. In the afternoon we do fun things together, we go to the zoo, a museum or we go to the forest, the Posbank or the Hoge Veluwe. In the summer we play and eat in the garden. On Sunday we turn off our computer and cellphone and do nothing but relax with the children and go to church. No work, no obligations just time for the children.

Tell us a funny story, quote or remark one of your children recently made.
This summer we had a barbecue in the garden. Lucas was excited and ran in the kitchen: Mom I’ve put the sausages already on the altar!

Any books you can recommend for parents and how to raise your children?
How2talk2kids from Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. They have a lot of great tips! And: they work!

What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?
We love to paint, with watercolor and also finger paint. Josephine loves drawing. She is very creative. Another nice thing we like to do is making paintings on canvas. We buy cheap canvasses from 20*20 cm. and paint on them. They make lovely presents for grandparents and teachers. Or we make candle lights out of empty jars, we cover the jars with thin paper, just like paper mache. They also make very nice presents and are fun to make.


Any tips for keeping the house clean when crafting?
No! Let your creativity not be stopped by wanting to paint without any mess! But when it's nice weather, we go outside and paint in the garden.

Any decoration ideas on how to hang, keep or use them as presents?
In the kitchen, we have a narrow wall and the children can hang their own drawings with masking tape. They like it!

How do you like to celebrate birthdays and other special days in your house?
We have a tradition with the birthday cake. The birthday cake must  be very special and is a big surprise.  past time Femke got a beautiful princess cake with a “real” princess in the middle.

What are some favorite games in your home?
We do puzzles and board games like "Orchard game" of HABA. We love the games of HABA, they are very well made and informative and fun to play.

What kind of sports do your children like to do and are you very involved?
Lucas goes to  judo classes which he loves.

Are there musical instruments in your house?
Josephine learns to play the recorder .  Lucas is desperate to play the trombone, but is a little bit too young for this, so he has to wait! Josephine would also like to play the  violin, but first she has to learn to play the recorder.

What are all time favorite books for the children?
"Piep mag Mauw zeggen" by Frans Lases with great drawings from Tom Schamp or the books of Annie MG. Schmidt. I love them too!  Especially Ibbeltje, we have all the radio plays of Ibbeltje and listen a lot to them.  It is such good humor!  Every holiday we buy books, so they're kind of holiday souvenirs.  Our children also receive books on Christmas day.

What movies do your children like to watch, is there one from your childhood you would love to show them too?
They do not watch movies very often  but sometimes they like to watch Bob the Builder. I really like Pippi Longstocking but they find that too scary!

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food lover’ or both?
Both! I really love cooking, but I'm also very fond of eating out. Cooking and baking is relaxing for me, I love to be busy with food and really enjoy good food. When Nico and I go out, we prefer to go for a meal. We love to try new restaurants and new dishes.

Do you cook together with your children? Does Dad cook?
Together we make cookies or bake cakes and the kids help peel apples or potatoes. Nico is very good at making pancakes, when I make them they always fail. Nico is also the man of the salads. He makes delicious salads in the summer, with lettuce and tomatoes from our garden.

What kind of place do you like to go to on vacation with and without the children?
We really love going to Denmark!  There is so much to do, even for the kids! Delicious food, very fresh and tasty. The children go out to the sea to catch shrimps and bring them to us. There are so many lovely things for sale and the country inspires me and I feel very relaxed. Each year Nico and I go for a little break together. Just no work, no kids but time for  each other. This is very important for us, we both have our own business and our 3 little children. If we are  not careful, we have never time for each other!

Do you keep some sort of travel journal with the children?
It's very  important for Lucas  to write down every night  what we have done. This gives him peace and overview. So it's like a travel journal and it's nice to carry and bring back memories!

What kind of souvenirs can they bring back home?
Femke always finds the most beautiful stones. She carries them with her the entire walk. Back at home in Holland she keeps the stones in one of her many, many bags! And I buy always much nice things like cushions, posters, books in the holiday’s, memories of a great time!

How do you prepare for a trip, any useful tips?
We don't like to plan too much. We often go for a last minute holiday, just decide on where to go, get some stuff ready , pack the car and go . We don’t worry to much if we have everything, if you forget something  you can always buy it. The summer-holiday requires more preparation but also here we book briefly before we go.

..Bibelotte..
..Bibelotte collections..
..Bibelotte blog..

Meet Mom Katie from Walnut Creek, California...

My name is Katie M. Zeigler and I created k.t. blue designs., a handcut paper artwork design business in Walnut Creek, California.  k.t. blue designs. was created seven years ago when my oldest son was born. (Actually, it was created in the two weeks before he was born, since he arrived two weeks late and my nesting instinct was in overdrive.) Bored with watching bad television reruns and unable to walk across the room without hyperventilating, I took out some construction paper, scissors and a glue stick and began creating personalized artwork for his nursery. Seven years (and another son) later, I've created wall art for nurseries, living rooms, children's rooms and kitchens from California to Virginia and lots of spots in between.

I started out specializing in handmade, personalized framed artwork, featuring a child's name and likeness. I've now grown to offer a wide variety of artwork, stationery (including note cards, notebooks, magnets and other cute items) and apparel (children's tees and onesies). I’ve also begun the wonderful adventure of teaching art classes for children and have loved every minute of introducing art appreciation to those who appreciate it most! I also provide “art parties” for children’s birthday parties and write two blogs: one about my business, k.t. blue. blog, and one with recommendations for children’s books; my mamas goodnight blog.

Every piece of original art is made entirely by hand by me (still using construction paper, scissors and a glue stick...).  I am a wife, a mother of two boys, a writer, an artist and a firm believer that all the best things in life are handmade.

Walnut Creek, California is a beautiful, family—oriented town within driving distance of San Francisco. My husband and I met in Washington D.C. and stopped in a few places along the way before finally settling here and we couldn’t be happier. We’re nestled right at the base of Mount Diablo, a 3,800 ft. mountain that you can see from just about everywhere downtown. And our home is within walking distance of a gorgeous downtown shopping area. Where else can you sit in your backyard where the occasional deer takes a leap and, within a fifteen minute walk, be at Tiffany’s or Nordstrom?

Our children’s elementary school is two blocks from our house and we adore the fact that we live among such a multitude of families with children of similar age. There’s something so comforting about our neighborhood – the children can walk to each other’s houses and there’s a wonderful mix of new families, older couples, tree-lined streets and really fantastic Halloween trick-or-treating! There’s an air of old fashioned Americana in Walnut Creek that we just love.

On the rare occasion that we actually want to leave Walnut Creek, we can literally just pop into our car and be in downtown San Francisco, the beach, the foothills, Napa Valley, Monterey Bay, or even my alma mater, Stanford University!

I love my home and I am a constant redecorator. Not in terms of furniture, because the pieces I have mostly came from my mother and grandmother and I’ll love them ‘til the end of time. But I am constantly switching out art in my home. I love mixing fine art pieces with pieces I’ve made or the wonderful artwork of my children. One of my favorite things to do with my boys is have “art time” – we just think of a theme and run with it. My son recently decided that there really is not enough artwork devoted to mustaches, so we spent the afternoon making “mustachioed men” out of clay and painting them. These little hairy beasts now occupy a place on honor in our home!

I also LOVE to use wrapping paper as artwork. I’m a huge sucker for all things paper and I really think wrapping paper deserves its rightful place as art! I completely redecorated the boys’ bathroom based on this goldfish wrapping paper I found while on vacation in San Diego – because, honestly, who could resist those little goldfish! Vintage wallpaper is another love of mine – and I just adore taking big sheets of gorgeous vintage wallpaper and throwing them in a beautiful white wood frame. The look is spectacular and it’s much less expensive than buying a framed piece of fine art!

What is your idea of a perfect day with your children?
The perfect day with my boys would entail reading lots of books…I’m lucky to have two little book worms and we love going to the library and finding new treasures to read. More than anything, I just love being with my sons. They’re imaginative, creative, silly, witty, kind and wonderfully individual. We have a big backyard for them to play in and we’re lucky to be able to walk anywhere from our house. Within a few minutes walk, we can be at a restaurant, at a book shop or in a beautiful city park. 

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?
Most of our parenting values come from the wonderful way both my husband and I were raised. We were nurtured, loved and, most importantly, allowed to become the people we were meant to become. Both of us were given every opportunity to become good, highly-educated, well-rounded people  - and we both want to instill that same sentiment in our boys. My sons couldn’t be more different – my oldest is sensitive, empathetic, thoughtful and cerebral and my younger son is more outgoing, outspoken…much more of a risk-taker than really any of us!

And I adore their differences – and want to make sure that they always know that we, as parents, support them and will encourage them to be whatever it is they want to be. Which doesn’t mean we don’t set parameters and have rules within our household…we definitely expect our children to behave and have manners and speak politely and respect others. Our role as parents is just that – to parent – and to teach them how to go forward into the world successfully and with kindness.

I’m constantly making new paper artwork for my k.t. blue designs business, and my children love it when I bring out my big boxes of paper, my scissors and glue sticks and get to work. I wish I could say I use my actual office for my work, but I can’t seem to tear myself away from the dining room table. I put the extra leaves in the table, cover it with a big bright tablecloth, put some great music on and get to work right smack dab in the middle of everything. I love that my boys join me in their own art projects too – they’re quite handy with a pair of scissors! At this stage of the game, most of their artwork revolves around Star Wars…so we see lots of Yoda and Darth Vader on our walls.
Perhaps because both of my sons enjoy books so much, they also really like to create their own stories and illustrate them. What great keepsakes these are! Especially my older son’s first book, written at the age of 4, entitled “The King Who Picked His Nose.” An instant classic.

What are all time favorite books for the children?
My sons both inherited my love of reading and we really enjoy diving into a new book together. I love to read to my sons and now that they are both reading themselves, it’s such fun to find them, tucked away on a couch, deep within the pages of a new book. We, as a family, are enormous Roald Dahl-ophiles. We’ve read them all, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to The Twits and, my sons’ favorite, George’s Marvelous Medicine.  My older son really loves Hardy Boys as well, and my younger son has just realized the splendors of Captain Underpants.

How do you get your books? Bookstores?  Online?
We tend to get our books from the library – we go at least once every two weeks to stock up on new books. I also love small, independent bookstores – like Storyteller here in Lafayette, Calif. It’s a lovely little children’s bookstore with the most wonderful employees who know more about children’s books than anyone I know and are so eager to point my sons in the direction of their next great literary love.

What kind of place do you like to go to on vacation with and without the children?
Every summer we visit our family house on Heron Island, an island off the coast of Maine. My husband’s great grandfather bought it in the 1940’s and it is our favorite place on Earth. There are only 24 cottages on the island and most of them are the original structures from the late 19th century. There is no electricity – only gas lamps and some gas-powered appliances and we use collected rainwater for showers and baths. It sounds a lot like camping (which, between you, me and the lamppost, isn’t my favorite gig in the world) but it’s utterly wonderful with my husband’s great grandmother’s blue willow dishes and the original antique furniture and cocktails every night overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. With no modern conveniences, no television, no video games and fundamentally no cell phone reception, we, as a family, become so much more connected while we’re there.

We talk, play games, make s’mores, read books in the hammock, spend time with our extended family, play tennis, beat each other at croquet, eat way too many lobster and just allow each day to bring forth its blessings. It’s my favorite place in the world. My husband has never missed a summer in his entire life, nor have my children. And I’ve never missed one since meeting my husband. It’s this special place tucked in our hearts that we look forward to visiting all year long.
It’s also a wonderfully inspirational place in terms of new artwork. I love to take lots of photographs of the island and then create those images in paper art. I’ve done a few of these – like “Lobster Dinner” and “Little Skiffs” and I love creating artwork from real life. Turning the realistic into the whimsical.

..k.t. blue designs..
..k.t. blue. blog..
..my mamas goodnight blog..