Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your love doesn't go extinct! ☄️ 🌋 This is a cut paper dinosaur and Valentine theme mashup that I made a couple years ago & licensed to Design House Greetings for greeting cards.  

 

 

The above two images show the cut paper work I created. The one below is the final file, cleaned up with layers and ready to sweeten someone's day. ♥️ 🦖

Say Yes to FUN!

 I aspire to have more fun. Last night's Super Bowl halftime was the most joyous kind of FUN!

 I never knew how much I loved dancing bushes!

Spread Love ♥️

It is February, time to spread some love! I recently found The Cupid Project, an annual volunteer-driven, non-profit that delivers handmade Valentine’s Day cards to nursing home residents. I thought this was super sweet & wanted to join in. For the last couple weeks, I’ve been cutting out a simple heart shape, grabbing markers and doodling lovey-dovey messages while I watch shows in the evening. It is simple, fun and will hopefully make someone’s Valentine’s Day a bit brighter. Visit The Cupid Project if you’d like to join in too!  

You can keep it easy by limiting your supplies. Here's what I used.

This is my final assortment for now....

I'm sharing a few of my favorites here.

I like Valentine's Day, it's a good opportunity to let someone know you care. To me it is not just about love, but kindness towards others. Even ones you don't know.
 

Make waves

 

I was heartened by my last post. I know the storm isn’t over, but I can see that we’re in this together. We must make waves, keep our eyes open, and forge ahead with a fearless heart—

there is too much at stake to be quiet now. Reach out to your elected officials & let them hear your voice. 🌟

The wrong direction

 

I made this earlier today feeling frustrated and yes, somewhat hopeless. I won’t pretend to have the answer, but I KNOW this is not normal.

I feel lucky to have art to lean into when there's something I need to work through.

My husband is an immigrant from Chile. Who just got his citizen last April knowing it was now consequential if he didn't.  I see the hatred, the fear, the bullying (of even small children) and it makes me wonder why we are pretending this is normal.

We can still correct the course. Midterms can't get here fast enough. In the meantime, I'm going find ways to be a little kinder in my everyday interactions. 

We're all going through a lot! Especially those without privilege or power.

 

A flashback to 2016

 

 

I’ve been enjoying the nostalgia of looking back to 2016. This was the year my first two Hello, World! books Solar System and Weather hit the shelves. Making Hello, World! ten years old!

 

 This project with Random House Kids, Doubleday books changed me in the best way. As I’ve mentioned before I never considered myself a writer. Being dyslexic I shied away from writing but somehow, I would always find myself adding words to my surface designs wanting to tell a story. The words in these first two simple, non-fiction board books took me longer to craft than the art. Art seems to flow out of me, words are not always the same case. Making these books is a fun, sometimes scary challenge that has helped me grow in lots ways. I feel honored to have my books shared and loved by many. ♥️

I’m so glad that shy, convinced I couldn’t write, me took this opportunity when it was presented. Take a chance… you never know! 

We need more love. 💙

Spread love and kindness— A couple quick ideas...

-Offer help in a small way, holding a door, reaching for a high up item, saying, “HELLO”!

-Write a letter or text to a family member you’ve been thinking about.

-Let someone cut in front of you in line if you can see they’re in a rush.

-Share your favorite uplifting book or podcast.

-Bake something & give it to a friend.

-Be kind to yourself and know that you’re showing up in a time when the world feels harsh, with an abundance of bad news.

 

Love and kindness can be a soft spot to land or at least visit a couple times each day. 

January

 

Winter, when the days are shorter, the shadows longer and the color quieted by it all.

 

 

 

Nonetheless, there's a beauty to it. Somehow, I thought these two went together well.  

Done Chillin

 

The winter is long and cold, the holidays are over, and who really knows what day it is anymore?

Here's to finding your way back into the routine this week.

(Watercolor on Arches cold press paper with a few real flowers from my garden sprinkled in.)