Calling All Junior Arborists

I was going through some old pics to post on my shiny new Facebook Fan Page, and I came across this one. It’s from the tree at Gypsy‘s house, located roughly halfway between Awesome Porch and Awesome Garage, and I love it. Its flowers look and feel like magnolia flowers (apart from being pink), but the leaves are soft…

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From the Garage

Facebook is a funny thing. Greg Hall (yes, that Funky Werepig we all know and love) posted this morning that he has 500 friends, and intended to celebrate by buying them all breakfast. Kelli and I were sitting on the green couch in the garage at the time, dutifully hammering away at our keyboards. We know Greg, and we…

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X Amount of Words

Last night I was editing a story I hadn’t looked at in a while — it needed some TLC and the 10% cut (you know, the rule about trimming 10% of the words…that’s a GOOD edit). I dug it out because it was one of those rare times when a magazine was in the market for A, B, X,…

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A Rigabamboo

Patented by Princess Pat — I believe this is something I, as Princess Alethea, should look into. In the meantime, check out these awesome pics from last night’s Girl Scout Talent Show in Red Lion (click on the pirates). It was short and sweet, but a lot of fun. It’s just a shame the battery on Qwee’s camera died……

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Brownie Points

In Scottish folklore, brownies are hobgobliny imps that will do housework for you (and things like keep your milk from turning sour) if you treat them well and leave them proper tributes like bowls of porridge and honey. In America, Brownies wear chocolate miniskirts and beanies and sashes with nifty patches sewn on them by overwrought mothers. They go…

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Return of The Ladies

Back in December, right after Christmas, my little sister sat me down with a paintbrush and a piece of gessoed masonite and said, “Paint me one of your ladies.” It was a lot of fun, and reminded me of something I should be doing…that I *haven’t* been doing. Not because I haven’t wanted to or needed to or had…

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How ’bout *them* apples?

Carson: Who wants to play “Apples to Apples”? Lee: Me! Chloe: Not me. Everybody Else: (grumble) Lee: Somebody has to play with us. Two people can’t play… Gypsy: Justin will play with you. Justin: Sure, okay. (Rip-roaring game of “Apples to Apples” ensues. Did I mention I freaking love this game? Wackiness and…

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The Art of Screwing Up

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams I screwed up one of the pieces I was doing yesterday. I had originally achieved the affect when prepping a rainbow-colored butterfly on a scrap piece of paper, and Gypsy and I both loved how it looked. My goal was to recreate that…

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Suitable For Framing

Not only do I have the honor of AlphaOops: H is for Halloween being a Junior Library Guild Selection, but now I have this awesome lapel pin and a certificate suitable for framing. Squee!!!!! This is *so* way better than making the honor roll. Don’t forget — the release date is July 13, 2010. The publisher may sell out before…

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