Tidbits: Blogging from Dy's, part 2

Howdy folks!

I am having such a fantastic vacation here! I am not sure I have ever been made to feel so welcome and so much a part of the family when visiting. Alabama is beautiful (except for the ticks- I have now witnessed the removal of two of them, and the scorpions-ewww), the birds are singing all the time, the trees blowing in gentle breezes (and it isn't too hot- we timed this visit beautifully), and I am being so well fed and regularly loved on by babies and big kids- how could I not be having a wonderful time?

yesterday I held the wee babe for 3 hours straight- what bliss!!! And the children and I made art out under the trees for several hour, too. This is better (and cheaper) than therapy.
Friday is going to come way too fast.

Dy took a mess of photos and posted them today. Go here to check them out.
Love and hugs,
LB

Tidbits: Blogging from Dy's, part 1

Happy squeal! I am here and doing fine! So far I have seen a cardinal, and heard unfamiliar birdsongs, experienced a thumderstorm (all we got of the tornadoes), had blackeyed peas and roasted chicken, kissed and cuddled a sweet little mouse of a babe, shared my tea with toddlers, and listened to kids play Ode to Joy on the keyboard. Happy sigh!

It is beautiful country here, and I have been made to feel so welcome. Dy and Zorak have done such an amazing job on this house, and the children are just about the most well-behaved kids I have ever met. Very sweet and affectionate.

Tat's it for now,
LB

Friday Feast

I occasionally partake in Miz Booshay's weekly tradition of serving up a wonderful Friday Feast for her blog readers. I found today's questions particularly inspiring. I thought that I would post my answers here in addition to the comments section on her blog. Feel free to join me in the comments section with your answers.

Appetizer

Invent a new flower; give it a name and describe it.

Soup

Name someone whom you think has a wonderful voice.

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how clean do you keep your car?

Main Course

How do you feel about poetry?

Dessert

What was the last person/place/thing you took a picture of?

My answers:
Appetizer
Hmmm, it would be a rich lime green color with some bright lemon yellow highlights, have lots of beautiful long wide petals, like a daisy or a zinnia, and bloom prolifically on long stems so I could cut lots to bring into the house. I could call it "Bright Sunshine" or the "Glowflower".

Soup
There were some great voices listed at Miz B's blog- Patrick Stewart, Julie Andrews, Sam Neill, etc. This is a bit weird, but one voice I love is Dy's husband Zorak- he has the deepest, richest voice- I love it when he answers the phone. Don't worry, Dy knows I love her hubby's voice already, lol. But really, in all honesty, I love my children's voices the best- they took voice lessons this last summer, and they both sing beautifully. The lessons strengthened my Girl's voice, and smoothed the rough edges of my Boy's low deep voice, and it just makes me smile whenever they sing.

Salad
This last car has been kept the cleanest so far- it is about a 6 or 7, but I plan on making it a 9 this weekend.

Main Course
I love it! I love basic, children's poetry that is easy to remember and quote. I love Margaret Wise Brown's poems for children. I love to compose simple poetry to make kids laugh, or to put in a love note. My dh has written several poems- the ones I love the best are the birth story poems he wrote for each child.

I also adore A.A. Milne's poems-
The more it snows, tiddly pom,
the more it goes, tiddly pom,
the more it goes tiddly pom,
on snowing.
And nobody knows, tiddly pom,
how cold my toes, tiddly pom,
how cold my toes tiddly pom,
are growing.

Luckily, my kids like poetry too, and still remember many of the poems I had them memorize when they were little. They say them to our borrowed kids now and make them laugh. What a wonderful tradition!

Dessert
My Girl reading to our borrowed toddler, and the model of DNA my kids made out of K'nex. I hope to take some today of my new shoes.

See you in the comments!
LB

Happy Tidbit: She had the baby!!!

Dy had a beautiful baby boy yesterday, on Easter! His name is Jason Thomas. He weighed in at 7lbs 4 oz, and was 22 inches long. And in less than 6 weeks, I will be able to hold and cuddle him, and smell his sweet baby head! I am so excited!

Go to Classic Adventures and scroll down a bit to see amazing photos of each of Dy and Zorak's big kids lovin' on their new baby brother. And while you are at it, say a little prayer, and wish them well, because when I talked to her earlier tonight, the big kids were all barfy and sick.

That's all I got. I am off to bed.
T.T. F. N.
LB

Various tidbits

Happy First Day of Spring! It was really a lovely day. It was supposed to rain, but barely did, and not till this evening. My neck was hurting badly last night, and then again this morning, but it is much better now. We had our usual toddler/piano day, got quite a bit of school in (We are doing well with that this week!), played the Dragonology game, listened to music, and started reading aloud the Easter Story in our worn copy of the New Testament. I had them in bed by ten pm, and you know what? The Boy actually went right to sleep! Yay! I have been sitting at the kitchen table working in my art journal, getting photos on the computer, and checking blogs.

The Dude called tonight and is very sick. Nothing like having the flu in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home. He should be home tomorrow night, late. I am actually pretty pleased with how the kids and I did while he was away this week. It has been a challenge, what with my sore neck and all the raging hormones, but all in all, we worked together well, the kids have been integrity with their schoolwork, and I haven't killed anyone or said anything nasty that I would later sorely regret. As Dy says, it's good stuff.

Speaking of Dy, she is in labor and has been for over 24 hours. It's moving slowly but she is hanging in. Think good thoughts. I cannot wait to meet this little person, and all her other little people in a few weeks! I am so very excited to get to finally meet her in person after talking on the phone almost daily for the last 6 years.

The Boy (and I, sigh) has the WA State Speech and Debate championships this Saturday. I am planning on packing lots of art supplies to keep myself busy, as we are pretty much gone from 6 am to midnight. Wish him luck, and me patience. Actually, this really is a fine group of kids, and they seem to have made me their honorary S & D Mom, so it's all good. After that, he will just be preparing for Nationals, which are in Las Vegas (Whose idea was it to let a bunch of teenagers loose in a city like Las Vegas- I need to ask if they need another chaperone!) at the beginning of June.

The Girl found out today that she received a gold seal and an SMTA musical excellence reward at her adjudications 2 weeks ago! This is pretty cool, and means that she is already accepted into the Octoberfest recital later this year, so won't have to audition for that. TBPTOTP was doing a happy dance in excitement that one of her students got a seal. Very cool. We have just one more adjudication for her a week from today, and then a recital in May. Then the season is over for a while- whew! I can use the break! Having the S & D and piano seasons at the same time was a bit stressful and tiring to me. Now that I know to expect this, it will be easier next year.

Tomorrow will be errand day as we are out of both chicken feed and cat litter. I also need to thoroughly clean the house. And especially the kitchen table- we have been having issues with people being on the computer in the kitchen supposedly to do their online writing class, and then playing online games instead of working, so today I worked at the kitchen table. It was messy, but fun.

Gotta clean and tidy up, have the kids help me change my bed linens (Nothing says "Welcome home, Dude, like clean sheets, but my neck is still to sore to do it myself, sigh.), etc.

Talk soon,
LB

Yay! Art Content! Assignment complete, and ATC's

I wrote in this post, about a journaling assignment (watch the video) from SuziBlu, wherein we were to draw our "power animal" in the Mola style. It only took me two weeks, but I finally finished one of the two turtle pieces I am doing for this assignment.

This piece is done with my koh-i-noor woodless colored pencils, which are very different from my Prismacolors or the watercolor pencils. Both the background and the base of the turtle were done with Twinkling H2O's. I like the combination of these two mediums. They kind of make the design look like it is glowing. Very cool. This (of course) looks much brighter in person. I am doing an ATC swap with Tami over at 101 Fairy Lane. I took these photos and will post them, but I would rather you went and looked at them at her blog, because her photos are so much better than mine! They show the colors so much better. Here are the ones I made for Tami. Our theme for this month was a tribute to Lemons and Lemondrop's world, so the one on left is for that. I also sent her a belated Valentine- on the right.

Here is the one Tami sent me, of a sweet lemonhead girl in pretty purples. Really- go look at these at Fairy Lane, ok? I am not sure why mine came out so blurry.
And just because she hasn't had hers taken in a while, a photo of Sparrow, our other kitty-toddler.
That's it for now.
LB

Tidbit: Aarrgghh! Can't find it!

Don'tcha just hate it when you can't find something?!?!?! The Boy is home, safely tucked into his bed, and all is well, but I am wide awake, obsessing because I have misplaced something. This adorable ATC, to be exact. My invisible friend Tami gave it to me, and it is very special to me. It is the very first ATC I ever received (I have a grand total of 3 now), and I love Tami's orchard characters very much. I think I might be Lemondrop's biggest fan, to be honest. I have recommended her blog before.

Tami and I are doing a monthly ATC swap this year, so I was getting together the cards I have received from her so far, so I could show them to you in an upcoming post, and I. can't. find. this. one. anywhere. Sigh. I have tidied the studio, and looked just about everywhere down here. And I am obsessing and can't sleep. Phooey!

I did find a few things I had been missing, and I came across a bunch of art materials that I haven't used/tried/played with yet, so all is not totally lost, but I do find myself in quite a dither over this tiny, flat, sweet little card. Well, I will try to look again tomorrow. I know it is here somewhere, but an ATC is only 2.5 X 3.5, so it could be anywhere. I will post the other ATC from Tami, as well as the one I am working on for our first swap soon.

Guess I will head up to kiss the kids on their (hopefully) sleeping heads, and crawl into bed. After all, it will be time to get up in only about 5 hours.

(Edited later Tuesday morning to add the song that kept going around in my head while I wasn't sleeping.)

Oh where, Oh where has my Lemondrop gone?
Oh Where, Oh where can she be?
I have looked high and low
In my wee studio,
Oh where, Oh where can she be?
TTFN,
LB

Unfinished business

Before I get to the unfinished business, here is a picture of the Fine Young Man for Dy (one of his biggest fans!), at last week's tournament. Isn't he dapper? All the other boys wore black suits until FYM appeared on the scene in this snazzy number. Now we have one guy in a light blue suit, and another whose suit is black, but has snazzy red stripes. I like to think my youngin' started the trend when he insisted on picking this fine dandy at Value Village, almost a year ago, when it was way too big on him. He really has grown so much in the last year! Here is my current work-in-progress. (Click to enlarge) This is the Valentine collage. It is a 14" X 22.5" piece of Arches watercolor paper that I received for free in an art supply order. It has about 3 layers of paper- beginning with some patterned papers from Paper Zone, and then a layer of images cut out from the cards that a friend of mine gives me. She is a gift rep, and gets tons of samples which she usually recycles, unless I relieve her of said cards. We have a deal- I can have them if I don't just use them plain- I need to make art out of them. Twist my arm!! Third layer is some vintage and reproduction scrap, and a few more card images. I used Yes! paste to glue the images, and it is all covered with 2 coats of gloss gel medium.

So now, I just have to cut it into post cards. I will do some 4 X 6, and send them as postcards, and the others I think I will cut to 5 X 7 and use with envelopes, and just write on the back. I may sell these and make some more- I would like to do another collage that had stamps and paints on it as the fourth layer. I meant to add those to this, and forgot until I was on my second coat of gel medium. Still looks good, so no worries. I feel like I should sell these and not use them myself. Trying to get some stuff together to put in the etsy shop.
Okay, these next two photos are for my gorgeous, highly inteligent, soap-making friend Amy. She happens to love to quilt and hate piecing, and I happen to love the top-making, but not the quilting. It is a beautiful relationship. Here is a top I will be sending her this weekend. It was one of the first tops I ever made. I made this one in a 24 hour period about 8 to 9 years ago, and it could be a small lap quilt, wall hanging, or a crib quilt. I named it "Hands-on Habitat". This one is not basted yet, just the top.
This one was supposed to be the first birthday gift for a little boy who will be turning 7 or 8 in April, sigh. It is much smaller, less than a yard square. This one is basted, and you can see the background fabric on the right, there. It is un-named, and is quite bright.
When you click to enlarge these, don't mind the wrinkles- I just pulled them out of a drawer to photograph them. And please remember, these are two of my very first quilts! Exact color matching was soooo important to me back then. I am really much more "free", for lack of a better word, with my colors these days. And I rarely make any quilts with actual blocks.

Ok, so. An amazing Young Man, a work in progress, and two unfinished, and hopefully soon to be finished (Thanks to Amy) projects.
TTFN,
LB

I got a hitch in my git'along.

I feel a cold coming on. This presents a larger problem than it would seem.
My sister has reumatoid arthritis and has a suppressed immune system.

Hmmm. Put on your thinking caps, folks. I need to be there for her, but not be physically near her. I am not panicking, but this is my Question of the day.

I need to get this family well, fast.
Plan: When done updating you, I will make tea, and then nap. Call *FYM in sick. Just rest up. cook. eat. read.talk, drink tea. Throw in algebra and piano for good measure. Find time to visit the studio depths together by a warm wood stove. Enjoy my babies.

Funeral Planning: Be ready to accept whatever Sister #1 needs when she knows what that is.
Offer to do phone things, or errands. Work out any transportation needs ahead of time with Dude (sigh. again with the nicknames.). He needs his car to WORK. Breathing Now.

So. I am going to go work those plans. I will check in with you later. Where's my naturopath when I need her? Wanna call me around noon my time, Dy? What homeaopathics could I use today?



*Ireally have been wanting to use FYM's real name on the blog lately- all of them, but have stayed as "anon" as possible. I think my family likes that. Thoughts?

**But we picked out really cool names that really fit the kids, and we use loving nicknames, and would love to call them that, but it might get consusing to everyone in blog-land, so I stick with just one or two lovey names, blah blah blah.

Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes. This love is powerful stuff. I am tired, but we will make it. I feel lifted up by it.
And like the Green Dragon says, Life is a journey, not a destination."

Hugs back to you.
LB

Today

This is what is on my entire family's heart right now.
Thanks for the prayers and good wishes, and especially the I love you's. They seem to be helping the most. Please continue to offer up thoughts and prayers for C's family.
We are still working out legistics.
Will update later.
LB

Tidbit: New inspiration

Found the video below at Donna Downey's blog, Simply Me. I don't know her, but I already love her. Very inspiring.
LB

A Thank You Post

One of my loyal blog readers and commenters is the kids' Godmother, Pamela. She is one of my fave humans, ever. I love her with all my heart, and hope she knows it.

Well, for my birthday this year, she gave me a really beautiful, yummy gift that I was saving for just the perfect occasion. Well, I never really came up with a perfect occasion, butI used it this week, and I loved it. She gave me some some lovely green tea from a company called Tea Forte', called Oasis, in these beautiful silken, triangle bags, and two cute little Tea trays to catch the drips. I used my fave mug, and the cute tea pot I gave Papa Dude for his birthday, and took it downstairs to the studio to have while I was working. Wonderful flavor, and very fun ritual.



This was a wonderful gift, and I still have the cute little trays- guess I will have to get myself some of this fun tea so I can use them again.
TTFN,
LB

Tidbits: Toddler love and a link or three.

For Tami, here is a better shot of the mural. I haven't worked on it in several months, and I really should- I find that even though I have very little experience painting, it is very freeing, and makes me happy. I need to do more of it, how else will I get better?

Also, if you haven't met Lemondrop yet, you may want to head over and check her out. Tami is her creator, and the kids and I love to see new bits of Lemondrop's story every week. If you have littles, they will love the illustrations. My tweens are hooked!

I took a 2 hour nap yesterday, so was awake till about 2 this morning. It's all the Birthday Girl's fault, really. Miz Booshay posted links to the current Dancing with the Stars show, and I went over to YouTube to check them out. 2 hours later, and I had watched a LOT of ballroom dances featuring Mario Lopez. I can see why you folks with tv reception and cable could get sucked into this show. Good thing we don't do tv- probably a good thing Netflix doesn't have DWTS.

I had the most wonderful time with my borrowed toddler today. While his mama, TBPTOTP (The Best Piano Teacher on the Planet) and Piano Girl worked for 3+ hours downstairs, we did puzzles, and played trains, and read, and read, and read some more. We played our special games, the "I like/do you like" game, the "woof/meow/oink" game, and sang lots of nursery rhymes. Once a preschool teacher, always a preschool teacher. He calls me nanny (my 3rd person name for myself) now, and is just so sweet. And if all that wasn't enough, get this- every week, I sing him lullabies and rock him to sleep, then lay him down for his nap. I know he is way old for this, and I am the only person who puts him down for nigh-nights like this, but hey- he will grow up soon enough, and his mama lets me spoil and enjoy him this way. Anyway, I always say, "Goodnight, Abe. I love you. See you next week." as I lay him down, whether he is asleep or not. Today, he was really tired, but fidgety, so after about 20 songs,I lay him down awake, and said my usual. He snuggled down into his crib, and said, "I love you too.". Now if that just wasn't enough to keep me glowing all the rest of the day, I don't know what else would.

Edited to add this pic of Abe. It isn't the best, but he moves constantly- I took over 20 photos of him yesterday, and this is the only one that even sorta came out- but it is cute- notice his Thomas cap, and James the red engine- classic Abe accoutrements.

I have more I could update you on, but we are headed out the door to pick the Papa Dude up from the airport. I took tons of photos at the fair, and have some art to upload too, will try to be better at posting in the next couple of days- been fighting some bug, and actually sleeping!
TTFN,
LB

Tidbit: Thanks, I'm feeling better now.

Wow, you gals are the best invisible friends a person can have. I was feeling so alone yesterday, but you guys were nice enough to let me know you care, and that we all go through places like this. And Bridget, you were right- Mama hugs still work when you are 42.

Today is our busy music day. The Boy will take the bus to his classes, and then home again, as Papa is still out of town and Piano Girl and I are basically at The Best Piano Teacher's house from 9 to 2 today. I will get my toddler fix and a grownup fix too.

So far as art goes, I am creating today no matter what! I am taking my lutradour and lace with me- I am going to try to just hand-tack some pieces down, so that they might be ready to work on tonight.

That's it for now, gotta get us all moving here.
Loving my invisible friends, and realizing I get to create my own happiness.
LB

In The Mail

Okay, now this is really fun! This is the beginning of a new category- In The Mail. One day last week, I was visiting Lemondrop, and oogling the ATC's I saw in a post there, and her creator, Tami, sent me one! Isn't Lemondrop just the sweetest?! If you haven't visited Lemondrop yet, you should- and your kids will love her, too. In the photo, I used the hand-stamped card Tami sent as an easel. Hopefully, this is the first of many posts where I can show you someone else's art!
That is all I have for now- I need to stop writing about studio work, and do some!
TTFN,
LB

Make Nice-Twice!

Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on;
'Twas not given for thee alone,
Pass it on;
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
'Til in Heaven the deed appears -
Pass it on.
~Henry Burton, Pass It On


Well what do you know? I have received my first-ever blog award-from two different bloggers! Andie was kind enough to think of me as a nice blogger, and so was Kitten. They both said some very nice things about me, and that felt good! It's not a leg lamp, but I will take it. So now I get to pass on the nicey-niceness and pick 7 nice bloggers of my own. This will be tough, as Andie and Kitten picked many of the same bloggers I would! Let's see......

First off, I nominate Nan @ Life is Like a Lunchbox. Not only is Nan nice, but she is generous in spirit as well. She came up with the idea to fancy up my blog, and did it while her in-laws were visiting even. Way nice!

2nd, how about Miz Booshay over at Quiet Life. She is always nice, in a very encouraging way. Whenever I am struggling to be a mom, a wife, a teacher, or any other part of my life, I head over to Quiet Life, for a dose of encouragement. I love you, Miz B. You bring out the best in me.

3rd, Amy @ The Foil Hat. I love Amy, too. She is thoughtful and kind, but mostly, she makes me laugh- the kind of spew your Vitaminwater on your keyboard laugh. That's nice, and I need that.

4th is Poppins. I find her blog to be very inspirational on many subjects. And not only is she generous in sharing links, she is the generous brain behind The Denim Jumper, a great place for secular homeschoolers to hang out.

5th is Sue Bleiweiss. 6th is Terri S. Both of these amazing and talented ladies are so very nice. They share their enthusiasm for art as well as detailed tutorials and how-to's. They are two of my biggest encouragements when it comes to this art journey I am beginning. Thanks, gals.

7th is Dy. I do not care if she has already been given this award, she gets it again. Dy is such an amazing person. She is one of my best parenting examples. She has such patience and grace with her children. In addition to being the amazing mother of five and a dedicated wife, she is a true friend. She calls me regularly to make sure I am ok, and we commiserate, and laugh together. I love her with my heart and soul, and still wish she and Zorak were in love with the northwest as much as they are the southwest.

8th: Ok, there isn't supposed to be an 8th, but I am adding it since a couple of my recipients were already nominated for this award. 8th is Bridget. I just love Bridget's cheerful outlook on life and on her blog- Bridget has a great family she loves with all her heart, and I love the way she showcases them on her blog. Another nice thing about Bridget is that she is one of my regular commenters. Now THAT is nice! I was about ready to give up on blogging a few months ago, and then Bridget started leaving me comments. This was very encouraging, and is one of the reasons I do my best to blog regularly. Thanks, Bridget!

Now for the Official Stuff: "This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

Ok ladies, whom will you pick? And thanks again for being part of my blogosphere.
LB

Surprise! Sorta.

It's not done yet, and needs a bit of work, but you get the idea. My invisible friend Nan is helping do all the tough stuff, like figure out what the heck I did with the HTML codes that pushes my side bar to the bottom of the blog, or disappeared all my links. She took the glass picture from one of my posts, and made the beautiful header, too. She is going to try to have the yellow glass be just on the sides, so it is easier to see the photos and print. And then we will work on rebuilding the side bar.

So, it isn't done yet, but here ya' go!
LB

Stay Tuned for a BIG Surprise!!

Hello faithful readers! Welcome to a beautiful weekend! It is sunny and cool here in my neck ofthe woods. People I know have been complaining about the weather this summer not being very summery, but it has been perfect for me. Not much to complain about weather-wise.

This wasn't the best week for me, so I am very glad to see the weekend. Plans this weekend include reconnecting with my Dude, fig picking, church, hopefully seeing the godparents there, the visiting of Gramma, baking of zucchini bread, and 2 yr old birthday celebrations. My two fave toddlers both turned two this week. I will take some pictures of the little quilts I made them- I still have to finish the binding on the one that is for today's party.

And now for the news: Be sure to check in tomorow to see a surprise here on my blog. I am not even going to hint, but it is something I have been wanting for awhile, and one of my invisible friends is helping me with it. Tee Hee. I can't wait to show it off!

That's all for now. Girl is feeding chickens, Boy doing cat chores, and Dude making potato salad, so I have a little time to slip into the tub, soak my neck (better mobility but still constant pain), and then do a little blog visiting.

I hope it isn't too hot where you are, and that you are surrounded by people who love you. Make it a great day.
TTFN,
LB

A Thank you for Crissy

Well, if you promise not to comment on my wrinkly table cloth, I will show you my Raisin Bran muffins. Don't they look yummy? They were. They are the first thing I have baked in a long time, and the first thing I baked in my new-to-me oven. And a special shout out and thank you to Crissy. The oven is great! So much easier to clean than the yucky, terrible, mean and nasty oven we had, and a much more even baking temp. I am very grateful. Thanks, friend.
LB

A review for Poppins: Why I love my Nature Journal

A little while ago, Poppins asked me why I liked the Nature Journal by Claire Leslie Walker. I tried to write it up as a comment on her blog, and then as an email, but it just wasn't inspiring me. Let's try a review blog post approach, shall we? First off, do visit the Amazon link above, Poppins, and peek inside. It will look like blank pages at first, but if you squint, you can see the faint line details on the edges of the pages.

Ok. Here is my journal. I decorated the covers and the inside page with vellum see through stickers. On the inside cover I have my name in stickers, and a sticker that says "Whispers of nature carried through the wind." I liked being able to personalize my journal, as one of my nature study mom-buddies has the same journal.

I have many sketchbooks, and I use them all. What makes this one great for nature journaling specifically, is in the front and the back, it has several drawing lessons and tips for nature journaling, right out of Walker's book (companion to this nature journal), Keeping a Nature Journal. Here is one spread:
Here is another. For an inexperienced artist such as myself, this is nurturing, inspiring, and useful.
Once into the actual journal, the two page spreads are very inviting. I like to write about what I am seeing- describe it in words, and then draw one or two views of my subject (in this case, a branch of an elderberry bush). There is plenty of room for this. On the upper left corner are faint lines for your writing. On the outside corners of each page are faint lines to add the date, time, location of your drawing session.
It also has this handy-dandy page holder-backer-strap-thingy that works very well. I can find the next blank page in a hurry, so that I can spend time drawing that flitty bird rather than flipping through pages. Notice the words at the bottom of the right hand page (and pardon my fingers holding the book open). There are words of encouragement at the bottom of some of the pages. They are inobtrusive, and don't take away from the 'blankness" of the book.

Here are a few examples:
"Drawing even the little things helps to focus the mind, calm the spirit. There's always something to be drawn."

"What I haven't drawn I don't know."

"Add clippings from newspapers, magazines, note cards, or letters from friends to your journal when they relate to natural events."

The only negative I would say about this book is that you cannot fold it backwards. A spiral binding would detract from the "bookness" of this book, if that makes any sense, but I prefer them for functionality.

Be sure to go to Walker's site. She has written a lot of great books, and also has some of her illustrations on her site. I love to look at others' work for inspiration.
Hope that helps, Poppins.
LB