Rocks

After weeks (months?) of hoping/thinking/planning/saying I was going to leave some painted rocks on local paths and trails this Spring, I am FINALLY ready to hide some treasures. (If you're here, reading this blog, because you found one of my rocks, thanks for dropping by. Are you keeping it? Do you have a collection? Or are you re-hiding it? Let me know in the comments.)

The rock-painting process is time consuming.

1. Get inspired. (Seeing actual rocks while one walks, goes a long way to sparking inspiration. It is delightful to discover a tiny work of art while trying to get your 10,000 steps in.)
For example, this evening, while catching Pokemon along the Vedder, I noticed this treasure under a bench:

Lovely, yes?

Another source of inspiration is Pinterest. Yeah, most of these are intimidating. This is my pinterest page.

Or just google "rock painting" and click on images.

2. Get rocks. Hahaha. This was not as simple as I thought it'd be. The best rocks are near the water. So, think, lake, river, ocean. (Or your neighbour's landscaping rocks are perfect for this.) I decided to pick up rocks on one of my usual walks. And just put them in my pockets. Like a 5 year old boy.

Know what? Ten rocks are heavy. Five in each vest pocket, and my vest was hanging to my knees in the front, and the back was riding all the way up to my shoulder blades. And then I had to walk 2 km back to my truck looking like that.

Thinking of maybe bringing a bucket along next time.
(Or just knicking my neighbour's landscaping rocks at midnight.)

3. Wash rocks. And vest. Because both are covered in sand and dirt.

4. Dry rocks overnight. They should be totally dry before you paint on them.

5. Gather supplies. At some point, you'll need to make sure you have acrylic craft paints, an assortment of not-sucky brushes, and some sealer. Or hang out with a friend who has these items.

The first time I painted (with Maxine and Heather) I thought I could get away with some old Billie's Country paints and brushes. But Billie's has been closed for about 20 years and those colours? Were not happy. Haha. Hard to be JOYous with colours like dull green and mustard yellow. BLOOMing isn't exciting when you're painting with barn red, golden yellow and sad blue. Oy, those folk art colours of the '90's were not cheerful.

So I picked up a package of cheap, but better brushes and a dozen smiley colours, including two metallics and one glitter paint. I miss Billies. Shopping for craft supplies at Walmart is just so sterile.

6. Start painting. Invite friends over to paint too. WAY more fun than doing it by yourself.

My rocks:

Maxine's works of art:

And Heather, who is a MACHINE:

Just got some pics from a friend who's a piano teacher. She's painting a rock for each student:

It's now mid-June and all I've done is three rocks, that I never got around to finishing or sealing. So my plan this weekend (besides reading my Book Club book, doing a couple loads of laundry, walking every evening, doing a blog post, watching 13th on Netflix, cleaning the bathrooms and sleeping 12 hours each night,) IS TO PAINT THE REST OF MY ROCKS. (And collect another dozen.)

Next time I'll put down a plastic table cloth.

And have more snacks on hand.

Accepting the fact that I can't write on rocks very well.

That sealer is powerful. Whoa. Left the rocks in the bathroom with the door closed and fan on so I wouldn't pass out from the fumes.

Printing a word on top of dabs of paint is not easy or fun. That's 6 coats of white paint for SHINE. I won't do that again.

Joy looks a bit more joyous with the glitter paint added, yes?

AND WHOA I SUCK at using a paint brush. ABSOLUTELY no control. Those stars in the night sky look like a 6 year old did it.

This one was the easiest, most relaxing one to paint.

Lastly, I added my blog address to the back, so whoever picks them up, can see who made them.

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Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Wildflowers, especially those blue ones, along the side of the roads and in ditches.

2. Four-day work weeks.

3. A hair appointment! Mid-July. Last time my head had any attention paid to it was before Christmas.


Wash your hands,
stay safe,
xo

Links and Whatnot

•  Dani and her dad have started a thing: Woodever Crafts. I am super excited for them... have a look at their Instagram page, then follow them if you like their style. So many beautiful gift and decor items...

• This is me: 

• This is also me:
  

• I was poking around on Pinterest and noticed a growing trend of doodling verses in the margin of your Bible:

Which is beautiful but intimidating for those of us who don't do doodles quite as artistically as that. But, good news for those of us who need lines:

Kinda cool, no?

I think Ima gonna get one. 

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Challenging days only last 24 hours.

2. New babies.

3. All this rain is melting the snow/ice; the driveway is almost safe to walk on again.

Shalom,

Because we Focus on families...

The rest of Canada will be celebrating families this weekend, with Monday being Family Day in every other province except BC. But because we focus on families, we are getting a long weekend too! You just wish you worked with me, don't you?

So, yay!

I am ready for another Monday off. Haha.
What a cow I am.

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It's been a colourful week, starting with last Monday at the lake:

On Tuesday, I went straight from work to Terry's house.
Her and I, in the olden days, used to walk in her hood every day. I'd stop by her place before heading out to the three separate schools to pick up and drop off an assortment of boys from each. First stop was the middle school to pick up Max, Nate and Jon. Then over to the elementary school to pick up Drew and Matt. Then over to the P's to drop off Jon, then over to the R's to drop off Nate and Matt and pick up Clint. Then over to the pool for swimming lessons, or the dentist, or Bunsmaster, or Safeway or Billie's...

ANYWAY, it's been years since her and I have walked.
So Tuesday we did.

This was my 'drive by shooting' as I left work. Passenger window open, eyes on the road ahead, right hand extended across the passenger seat, shooting wildly, hoping my camera is capturing some of the beauty. I knew that by the time I'd get to Ter's it would be over.

Terry's road; a typical country lane, complete with farm yard smells...

Before we could walk though, she had her evening chores to do.

The girls needed to be fed and their pajamas had to be put on.

And then her cats.

With all the critters fed and happy, we headed out:

Know what?
There's nothing quite as nice as an evening walk when it's not raining.
Seriously.

Even if there are hills.

On Wednesday I went straight from work to Maxine's house to decorate cookies:

One hundred cookies later, it was time to go. 

So I gathered up my mail (yes, I'm still receiving mail at my Murrayville house. Colleen lives there now, so she gives it to Maxine, who saves it for me) and took my cookies home:

(It's a holiday mash-up. Christmas meets Valentine's Day in Maxine's kitchen.)

And yesterday? 

I had a few friends over to give the ancient art of Paper Quilling a try. 

It all started when I posted this pic as one of my February profile pics on Facebook:

and people said they wanted to make one.

So Terry bought supplies, and we met at my mom's dining room table to give it a go. 

The outcome was disappointing for most of us. 

Haha. 

NOTHING like the project that inspired us to coil up thin strips of paper.

But we all learnt something.

So there's that. 

Three things I'm particularly thankful for:

1. Friends who do things with paper, glitter, glue, icing and cameras. 

2. Friends who are up for anything; even if they haven't a hot clue what they're doing.

3. Hands that work, eyes that see, freedom to try.

Shalom, friends.

xo