Monday, November 26, 2018

Inktober

Last month I to part in Inktober, where artists all over the world do a drawing every day. It was great fun and quite a challenge.

If you would like to see the full set they are all posted on Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/thetoymakers/

Wishing you a creative week,

Marilyn.











Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Alice

I am missing Alice Provensen, who would have been 100 years old today. She was an amazing illustrator of children's books and my friend,



Sunday, July 29, 2018

Midsummer Paint

I've been painting a lot this summer here and there. I think I need a tropical vacation. :-)






I can't seem to be able to reply to blog posts for some reason. I hope your summer is going well,

Marilyn.

---

If we give ourselves half an hour a day
with our creativity,
our dreams, our music,
the soul becomes quiet.
We are in our body
and we feel nourished. 


Marion Woodman

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Summer is a coming in...

It's June and summer is rolling in. Just one more day and the hub is on vacation. WoOt!

I painted a couple of little boxes for my growing Tiny Book collection.




 
And I baked a loaf of rye bread for my yoga potluck.


Last Sunday I had a lovely day visiting my friend Karen Provensen along with 25 other artists and fans of her parents Martin and Alice. Karen had covered every table in her house with wonderful piles of art from the hundreds of children's books that they illustrated. It was glory.

Mister Mischief got into the attic through a vent on the roof. It took me an hour to get him out and there was much howling and crying from both parties.


 I drove the boy to summer school because his car was in the shop. He was looking rather rockstar.

 

Here's the lid to one of the Tiny Book boxes....

Hope you are having a creative week!

Best thoughts,

Marilyn.

---

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.
~ Vera Nazarian


Thursday, May 17, 2018

Tiny Sketchbooks

I’ve been listening to audio books while obsessively making tiny books out of scrap paper and painting little pictures inside. 

Here’s instructions on how to make your own…
http://www.thetoymaker.com/Toypages2/101TinyBooks/101TinyBooks.html
 


Wishing you a creative week, Marilyn.

I want you to promise me that you will pick one small, seemingly insignificant thing in your life that you will care about passionately as a craft. It doesn’t matter what it is, but I want [you] to promise that you’ll pick one thing. Whenever you are feeling uninspired about your own life, you will turn to this art that you’ve chosen and do it with as much passion as you can muster ~ Jan Guenther Brau

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Happy Mother's Day!


 To this little weirdo.... 




Joel – age 12

1. What is something mom always says to you?
How was school?

2. What makes mom happy?
When I raid with her.

3. What makes mom mad?
When I don’t do what she says

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Holding the cat.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don’t know, I don’t have a time machine.

6. How old is your mom?
Fifty

7. How tall is your mom?
Five feet something

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play WoW

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Drawing

11. What is your mom really good at?
Drawing

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Running

13. What does your mom do for a job?
She doesn’t have a job, she’s an artist.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Stuff without meat.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
She’s nice.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Velma from Scoobie Doo

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play WoW

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We love each other.

19. How are you and your mom different?
I eat meat, she doesn’t.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Cause she says so.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He’s smart and other stuff.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
She doesn’t go anywhere.


He's all grown up now, ten years later... but I'm still a mom. I still ask about school, don't eat meat or run unless wild tigers are chasing me. I don't play World of Warcraft anymore. Most of all I still love this kid because I say so.

 

Monday, May 7, 2018

City of Angels

Sunday we took the train up to LA with our friends to see the sights and celebrate my birthday. It was the best! 


We started out at the Santa Ana Train Station. It was built in 1985 but looks older.

 My adventure buddies! Aren't we pretty? 


An all day pass for the metro link is only ten dollars. 

 Once up in Los Angeles we found all kinds of interesting things. Art by the MOCA.


We had lunch at the Central Market. It's a huge building with every kind of food you can imagine. We all took off in different directions to find lunch. The guys found slow cooked BBQ. I had a delicious avocado sandwich from Clark Street Bread. We also had champagne and birthday cake. Super fancy! 



I bought some mole verde and dulces here. 

After lunch we rolled over to the Bradbury Building. It is very beautiful.
Parts of of the movie Blade Runner were filmed there.


Then we took the Angel's Flight up to Grand Street. I'm not sure if it is the world's shortest railway but it claimed to be the most ridden. 50 cents to ride to the top of the hill.... totally worth it.  

 We were going to check out the new Broad museum but the lines were long so we sauntered over to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was air conditioned so we hung out in the gift shop for a while before touring the rooftop gardens.

For the last hour we wandered over to Olvera Street and drank margaritas. I didn't take any photos but we had a good time. 

A few picts of inside Union Station. This part was fenced off for a private event. It is a vast and beautiful place.



Goodbye, LA! We'll be back soon!

Marilyn.

---

"To travel is to take a journey into yourself.”  ~ Dena Kaye

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Idea Notebook

I was looking through some old sketchbooks and stumbled across this little idea book that I did a long time ago.






Thank you to all who sent birthday wishes. It was a lovely day.

Wishing you a creative week,

Marilyn.

---

I want to raise up the magic world all round me and live strongly and quietly there. ~ Virginia Woolf

Monday, April 23, 2018

Yoga Night

Once a week we get together with friends for a Yoga Potluck. It is always a fun time and it's pretty much the best meal of the week. We pick a theme and after last week's  "Recipes that your mom used to make" Carb-a-thon, we ate a little healthier with "Spa Night"


The menu included the hub's rosemary grilled chicken, a Papaya salad, lemon pasta. a huge fruit salad, delicious beet soup and a veggie tray. 

In keeping with the spa theme I made everyone a little jar of Sugar Scrub.



The recipe is super simple. It's great for making your lips all soft and smooth.

1/2 cup of coconut oil
3T of brown Sugar
1tsp of honey
and essential oil of your choice. I used Bergamot for the ladies and Orange Bitters for the guys.

The little glass jars came from Daiso and you can print the tags here...

http://www.thetoymaker.com/Toypages2/105CardsofKindness/105CardsofKindness.html


Wishing you a creative and healthy week,

Marilyn.

---

"And say my glory was I had such friends.”

~ William Butler Yeats




Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Mr. Darcy and Lavender Morning

How much fun can one lady have in a week? Lots! Let me tell you...

 I like big books and I cannot lie...


These two lovely ladies are my adventure buddies, Diana and Dana. We got all foofooed up to go to the Heritage House Museum for "Tea With Jane"



It was about 150 ladies in hats drinking tea and talking about Jane Austin.

 We rode in style in Diana's neighbor's vintage Plymoth, "Penelope"


It was delicious.

 I'd recovered by Tuesday enough to meet the lovely Annie Rugyt at "Lavender Morning" a super flowery tea shop in downtown Tustin. We both like to write and it was a good chance to catch up on what we have been working on and to supplement our diets with dried rose petals.



My 60th birthday is coming up next month so I'm starting the party early.

Wishing you a creative week!

Marilyn.

--