Morning discoveries

Flower printing: a DIY

This could also be called "flower painting" or "flower squishing". Take your pick!

1. Choose your flowers. I've tried it with lots of different flowers, and honestly most of them are disappointing. But! Violas almost always work beautifully, so I highly recommend using them. 

Pick the viola close to the bloom so there isn't much of a stem, and lay it face down on your paper.

Lay another piece of paper on top of it, and start rubbing! Squish, rub, press. Use the edge of your nail. You want to get the juice out of the petals, but don't just mush it around. Try to keep the flower from moving.

Now peel away the paper and the bruised flower, and repeat as many times as you wish with fresh violas!

This is a great way to add a water-colored summer look to your journal without actually using that much artistic talent. ;)
Have fun!

Dear person: of toilet paper, helmets, stogies and redheads

Well, lookie here. I'm finally doing another Dear Person post! Almost forgot about 'em. Heh.

Life is just full of awesomeness when you keep your eyes open for it. These letters are a great way for me to remember some of the things I've seen! 

(I don't know why they're showing up a bit pixelated ... if you click them they will show up a lot better.)

Have you seen anything interesting lately?

Monarch butterfly

Life is ridiculous.

Like seriously. 

How does this: 

do this:

{look at the gold spots!!}

and become this:

??

I keep trying to think of proper words for how utterly strange and beautiful this is ... but there are none. 

God's creativity and goodness are beyond beyond beyond comprehension. 

It tickles! 

//There was that one time.

//There was that one time when you were canoeing with your dad and both of your older brothers, Jor and Ben, and Jor wanted to fish so he made you steer even though you were sitting on the floor near the middle of the canoe, and you zigged and zagged dramatically and Jor had to grab the paddle and rescue you three times in five minutes, but then you got the hang of it and became a pro, even figuring out fancy strokes by yourself.

//There was that time when you got so hot in the sun that you and your bros plopped out of the canoe and sat in life jackets *just so* so as to have a backrest as you lounged in the flooded river, sailing down the fast current, cool and refreshed, laughing and swimming behind Dad alone in the now-nose-heavy canoe, you alternating between pushing the canoe around and hitching a ride on the side, and then dunking underwater and listening to the pebbles swirling and clicking and rasping against the stony bottom and remarking how they sounded like a swarm of locusts and Jor pointed out that you’ve never heard locusts and you retorted, it’s how I imagine they would sound!

//And there was that one time when Jor went a few inches under and disappeared in the murky brown grossness of river water only to blub up out of nowhere, facedown and motionless like a corpse and holding that pose until he spluttered up grinning and shaking his hair and you couldn’t help but laugh with delight.

//There was that time when you were tired and freshly showered and you sat by the fire with Jor and Jill and Ben and Mom and Dad and watched the sunset sky and ate snickers s’mores and slapped mosquitoes.

//And then there was that one time when Mom made a bet with you and lost and therefore had to take you out to lunch and you ate the whole meal rather sloppily with chopsticks and your waiter had a Balkan accent and said, the food is verrry beautiful, yes? and you agreed wholeheartedly and then went to Barnes and Noble - feeling very empowered with a gift card in your purse - and there was a chubby man in a top hat walking around the bookstore being followed by a giant droopy dog who was wearing a green t-shirt, and the man told you her name was Bella Gabriella.

//There was that one time when you were home alone and you played a Simon and Garfunkel record and brushed the dog’s ears and she closed her eyes in bliss, and the record crackled and you sang along off key and it was perfect.

//There was that time when you and your sister Kris stayed up until nearly 2:00 a.m. talking about anything and everything in the quiet warm darkness.

//There was that time when Kris had to get up early and you said maybe you should too and she said, HA!, simply dripping with scoffing like that’ll never happen, so you got up early just to prove her wrong.

//There was that one time when you watched a nighttime downpour pounding the roof so hard it created a mist above the dim shingles and then you went to bed to the sound of thunder and got up early again and watched a monarch caterpillar thrash its way out of its own skin to become a jade-colored chrysalis and later you got literal goosebumps from realizing something beautiful and then you went outside and the sun was so blinding it hurt behind your eyes.

…

//There was that one summer when you were sixteen and you were growing and you could feel it and life was full of good things.

Oh, you know ...

just scanning my face again. Another normal day!

Stuff and things

//Hello.
This is a random blog post.
But I, Inna, am in a random mood.
And this is my blog.
Therefore I do not have to justify myself.
;)

//I have 4 pet monarch caterpillars. Their names are Piggy-Wig, Carrie-Jean, Pablo, and Mike.
It doesn't matter how many times I raise caterpillars, the magic of them turning into butterflies simply fascinates me. Hopefully I'll be able to share pics of the process as they start growing up.

//Attached to a letter I received, there was an envelope saying I owed our mail carrier 20 cents since the letter didn't have a proper stamp. So I put the money in the envelope, and included a little note. Mail carriers need a little love too, ya know:

//Why is it that hair is so attractive when attached to a person's head, but as soon as it's detached and lying in a clump on the floor it becomes so revolting?

//Remember my friend Maddie? We both went to the same outdoor musical on the same night without planning it! My reaction was half :D and half O_o. Pretty sure this is a conspiracy  ... what're the odds??

//Yesterday I had supper at 11:30 p.m.
Today I had lunch at 3:30, and supper at 8:30.
I have issues.

//The Newsies on Broadway in NYC. I legitly want to go.
The dancing in this absolutely kills me. A few of the jumps and turns are ones I've tried in ballet, and I know how ridiculously hard they are. Which makes them so much more impressive and beautiful to me.
And then there's those moves that I can't even imagine attempting...
Oh, and the singing's not bad either. ;)
*Sigh* Some people are just so gorgeously talented it makes me sick.
And this is just a little advertising! Gah. I die.


Well. This has been fun! Maybe I should do more random posts ... what say you? :)