crooked house

Sprinkles on Frosting Birthday Party Invitation

While looking for birthday party invitation ideas for Luke's upcoming birthday,  we found this gorgeous hand-lettered assemblage made out of sprinkles on frosting. I also love Rose's "theme." Luke had already decided that his was going to be "Roblox, Ninjas, and Angry Birds."  Don't know if we have the time and the patience to make an invitation like this one, though.

Harvey Potter and Harry Potter

Last night Luke asked me to read him a book he had picked out himself at the library called Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen. I was surprised by the name "Harvey Potter" and wondered if it was meant to be some kind of parody of the Harry Potter books. It wasn't -- it was simply the story of a man named Harvey Potter who grew crops of magnif'icent balloons on his farm instead of more mundane crops. The narrator, a little girl, spies on him and discovers he does this with the help of a magic "conjurer stick" in the middle of the night. The story is quirky and fun and Luke absolutely adores the illustrations by Mark Buehner -- we had to spend quite some time on the pages devoted to the fields of balloons.

According to the publication date of the book on Amazon, it came out in 1994.  J. K. Rowling didn't finish the first Harry Potter book until 1995, according to Wikipedia at least, and it wasn't published until 1997. How weird. The books are completely different except for their central, similarly-named  characters who also happen to be magic. Imagine Jerdine Nolen's surprise at the stratospheric success of the Harry Potter books. If I were her, I might entertain the notion that Rowling had seen the book and perhaps inadvertently borrowed the name for her own character, but I'd be more likely to chalk it up to coincidence. Or I just might think I was psychic!

You can see more of Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm here.

Shadow Paintings

Gorgeous shadow paintings by Rashad Alakbarov.

Polly Gaillard's Reframing: Motherhood, Memory and Loss

Photographs by Polly Gaillard that seem to capture those gorgeous or funny moments you think you'll remember about your children but probably will not. I love this kind of family photography -- not saccharine or posed.

Lighted Cardboard Tower of Crooked Houses

This is one of artist Annalise Rees's cardboard cities. It's on our list to reproduce -- it may be a good activity for Boxing Day!

Being Elmo

Can't wait to see the well-reviewed documentary Being Elmo. Whatever you think of him, Elmo's hypnotic appeal to toddlers is remarkable and his inventor (alter ego?) Kevin Clash is a kind of genius.

Moss Graffiti

Moss graffiti -- a brilliant and beautiful idea. Go here for the recipe for the moss "paint." Now to find some suitable surfaces and come up with some suitable quotations. What words would you paint in moss?

Another Child Art Prodigy?

I hope that paint is non-toxic. Four-year-old Aelita Andre is about to have her first solo show in New York. Reminds me of Marla Olmstead. Via boingboing.

Strange New Rash

I was momentarily terrified by the red marks all over Sylvie's legs, until I realized they weren't scratches or some strange new rash. This child is going to become either an artist or a writer because she can't leave pens of any kind alone. I've had to resort to locking away the children's crayons and markers but that's only made things worse. She's started stealing my non-washable pens. She knows she shouldn't write on the walls or the floor (the wood! floor!) or the kitchen island but she just can't help herself. Blank surfaces, even her own legs, are just too tantalizing.

Bulbs On a Bare Bush

Saw this house while doing some errands in Lunenburg yesterday and took these bad photos with my iPhone. Love how the colours of the Christmas bulbs on the bush go so well with the house and the surrounding vegetation.