jar of goodies

do you remember the magical thinking jar from my February 2009 post?

click here

the idea came from inchmark

here is another version called:

moments in a jar - click here to see the interactive feature -

it is fun

saw it this morning via swissmiss

which was named one of the best design blogs

by the Times - UK

hooray for #14

i love swissmiss!

more goodies

the art of letter writing

there is nothing better than "good mail" in the post

a fine letter from a good friend

i sit down immediately and devour its contents

i have just sent letters off to my nieces at camp

their first summer in the woods

i loved camp and so did my daughter - she is a counselor now -

how time flies...

we sent goodies...

take a peak...

i also sent each girl a camp journal

i created these each summer for my daughter

and now i sell them in my etsy shop (see left margin)

their mother suggested that the girls complete their camp journals

as a birthday present for her...

which is the day the girls arrive home from camp.

i hope they do.

such wonderful memories ... look at all these camp journals from miss is

look at these yummy jelly rolls....mmmm

Tastier now that you see what is inside.

Don't you just love these?

I was so pleased when I finished my first one on Sunday morning.

Crayon rolls for your little artist.

I am going to make some more for colored pencils and markers.

Perfect for camp - a rollup and one of my camp journals

or

 a roll-up and a summer journal

for a "school's done" present!

Click here to check out the summer journal posts from last summer:

here

here

here

&

here

and if you want instruction on 

how-to make your child a summer journal

click here

Courtesy, Marnie

Happy Summer

Bee Bizzy, Bee Happy 

what's your buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

inch by inch

magical thinking jar 

as seen on Inchmark.

This was the perfect post for me this morning from purlsoho

check it out here

Initially I imagined the magical thinking jar was for ideas.

My mind raced; an ah-ha moment.

A visual representation of ideas.

A big bold jar to capture my thoughts and energy 

just like fireflies in the summer.

Fireflies collection from Heather Ross

  not exactly fireflies but you get the idea.

Just like the little scraps of paper that Lincoln used...

(see last post)

The Jar will become my desktop reminder to capture all my ideas. 

The pieces of paper will inspire me create 

and finish projects.

Brooke Reynolds's magical jar is all about capturing the wonderful words of her children.

My day book has always been my magical jar for my Miss Is's magical words.

As Miss Is grew up and observed life, she would say the darnedest things.

When I could I would jot them down. 

Like the journals that I posted about last summer,

my day book transports me back to the very day...

it keeps the memories clear and bright...

so much can be lost as we go through the daily grind of life.

Boy that sounds a little pessimistic.

Now that my Miss Is is well into her teens 

she can still say the darnedest things 

but our conversations are so interesting,

about ideas, life, politics, history and literature,

movies, and kidstuff,

people and predicaments.

I am on a hunt for my big, glass jar.

Show and tell is almost finished 

just want to inspire any of you readers out there

journals do not need to be elaborate

all you need is a little organization

a place to put some pictures

and a few words

these hiking pictures are terrific

when Isabel hiked in the White Mountains as a camper 

she stayed in the AMC huts.

(Appalachian Mountain Club) 

The huts have guest books and 

Isabel found my name from 1970 when I stayed in the Madison Hut 

as a hiker with Camp Asquam

kinda cool - 

it makes it so easy to tell stories later

you know how kids love to hear stories about their parents

prompts like pictures and words help spur the memories

they did become a bit of chore for Isabel as she grew up

it became a "mom thing" 

oh well -

glad we have the early ones

still reading...

these are some of the early summer journals

2 1/2 feet ago 

my little girl is now 5' 7"

my sweetie pie liked school - can you tell?

but she liked other stuff too

she was and still is a HUGE Harry Potter fan

She is writing about her excitement about the next book

kickball and bicycling and swimming jumped to center stage

and this sweet poem.

If you still have little ones,

these journals are such wonderful keepsakes.

still reading...

kids can't get enough when it comes to reading about themselves

or looking at old photographs

Summer Camp

When my daughter started to go away to summer camp

I created a camp journal each summer.

It is so much fun to reread these journals.

You see how your camper grows 

summer to summer.

I loved summer camp 

and so did my daughter.

I gave camp journals to friend's daughters when they were about

to embark on their first camp experience.

I think the campers liked them; I know the mothers did.

So I decided to create more and sell them.

You can find them at Sea Beans in Wilton

along with the Summer Journals for the younger children,

or through my etsy shop.

create your very own record

of summer fun near the mountains, lakes or oceans 

food in the dining hall you liked and disliked

activities you liked and disliked

camp traditions

and l0ts of room for doodles, pictures, badges, awards

summer journals

so much fun to read years later

School's out

Summer's here

lots of sun and fun in the months ahead, 

swimming, biking, hiking,

tennis, sailing,

picnics

concerts

cook-outs

As soon as my daughter could write I started making her summer journals.

I now sell them at Sea Beans in Wilton, Connecticut 

and through my etsy shop.

Here are some photos of the journal.

The photos are not the best quality,

but you get the idea

clear plastic to protect the cover 

lots of fill-in the blanks 

easy to write - fun to read years later

especially fun to see the changes in penmanship 

and activities of interest

today's buzz page 

writing prompts from the writing wizard

A map to mark the States in books that your child reads

or the States that you visit on your summer vacation.

Draw a map of your travels.

Sorry, international folks, a world map next year.

this was always a favorite - chart the high temperature of the day

and draw a graph at the end of the summer

We also recorded the high and low temperature each day

and then figured the average

good for the math skills!

Tomorrow I will show you the camp journals 

and then later in the week... 

guess you will just have to come back and visit!