Leave Your Leaves, Thanks

Our thankful project:

Sticky sticks

Paper leaves

 Hole punchers

Leaves on trees 

And words. 

To remember

why we have it so good.

 NOW the party can start....

 

 Thankful!

For laughs.

For cheeks. 

 For kisses.

For great books, art, nature.

For peace bringers.

For friends and kindreds.  

  

Happy Thankful Day, friends. 

And whether, my artsy allies,
my parent pals,
my bloggy belles,
whether
you are waltzing in your glory days
or mired in your daily dirt, 

in spiky heels or holey socks, 

with a wealth of words or a stuttering muse,

regardless of where you stand on your map, 

I wish you joy and great thrills 

of contentment.  

Books of Thanks and Hope:

 

Brother Sun, Sister Moon -  

by Katherine Paterson, illustrated (in stunning papercuts, no less!) by Pamela Dalton

Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise - Tomie dePaola

Train to Somewhere - Eve Bunting, ill. by Ronald Himler

The Dog Who Belonged to No One - Amy Hest, ill. by Amy Bates

Apple - Nikki McClure 

Hope for Haiti - Jesse Joshua Watson (Buying this book helps kids in Haiti, too!)

Flighty Gifts

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt;

poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.

- Leonardo da Vinci


 Paint!




 Maple Seeds!


 Cheese boxes!

Did you know that besides his famed Mona Lisa, 

Leonardo da Vinci laid claim to
water walking shoes, 

ball bearings,
a robot, 

and a telescope?

Clever man, that Leonardo.

His flight machines got us thinking...

What about homemade helicopters?

So we painted maple seeds,
inspired by this cleverness.

You know those round cheese boxes?

The ones that nest shiny triangles of cheese? 

They make a perfect home
for flying seed games.
We painted our boxes with acrylic and gel medium.  

And tucked in fall poems for good measure.

A fun holiday gift for your flighty friends.
Or your seedy ones.

And books! We have books!

A Seed is Sleepy - Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
Leonardo and the Flying Boy - Laurence Anholt
Leonardo Beautiful Genius - Robert Byrd
Leonardo's Notebooks - Leonardo da Vinci

And here's one stunner
that celebrates not so much seeds or invention,
but the bittersweetness of time, and change...

 
House Held Up by Trees - Ted Kooser, ill. by Jon Klassen
...which reminds me of another fascinating
and compelling read :

Wildwood - Colin Melloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis

Happy reading!
Happy writing!
Happy flying!