Goodbye 2013!!!

Helping my little sis get ready for the New Years Eve Festivities, I stitched her up some felt garland flags. Hope everyone enjoys the last evening of 2013!!!

To: the parents of the world

Nature and Books belong to all who see them~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Book dreams on firefly wings.

Some pics I took of the sweetest baby boy.

Books give you the wings to cosmos cruise to different lands far away,
where imagination and stars are handed to you in an assorted bouquet.
~BC

Hassan and Mya's Holiday Party

Christmas is such a magical time of year for children. Hassan and Mya have really become a part of our family. Their father does all he can to keep a roof over head with food on the table. He supports them with his gardening wages, a very physically intensive 6-days a week gig.

With their mother in a comma from a car accident 8 years ago, being a single dad is strenuous.

We do whatever we can to take the energy these two kiddos let off.

 So we called Santa a couple of days early... as we have a few more gatherings to attend, we wanted to celebrate with them first. 

We had them over for cookies and cream,

in exchange of some smiles that beam.

A simple little tree and a little gleam,

added to thier Christmas dream.

While picnicking with my little sis in the shade, we realized these ants didn't believe in fair trade!

Journeycycle

I painted this as a gift for Michael... 

Hoping to cure his desire for a motorcycle.

It symbolizes our love for travel,

Whether it's on paved roads, or gravel.

When floating along the coast in a wonderous ship,

or on a never-ending strenuous road trip

we always have our kitties attached at the hip.

Why travel in Trains and Planes.

when you can have a motorcycle to merge in and out of lanes?

Who needs a scarf when you can have a Snowman?

Have a few balls of yarn, but not in the mood to knit a scarf this year? 

Put that yarn to good use.

Recycle and reduce.

The colored pencil has been a long time friend of mine.

Shannon, Kelli and myself

My little sister Shannon was always the jokester clown, funny and wild.

Kelli, my oldest sister, was consumed with having her hair perfectly styled.

All the while, I went through a phase of showing off my bucks when I smiled.

Birthday Bliss

In celebration of my Birthday, my little sis, my husband, his little and myself took part in making a gingerbread house, although ours turned out being a pretzel log cabin instead!
So... who wins the golden ticket to the chocolate factory?

Such fun :)

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

While picking some lemons to make lemonade,

I met this little slug, he was so afraid!!!

The Snowman

So excited to go home to my family where it snows,

It's the time of year when we turn into eskimos.

 Icicles are the only thing that will grow, 

not one single strand of grass is left to mow.

Fields of crystal white,

where Snowmen take flight! ~BC

I would watch this short film every winter as a child, and still do.

Such a beautiful instrumental.

Sticks and Stripes is growing!

Sticks and Stripes started off as a Fashion Brand, 

but gradually broadened into a much larger land.

Children's Books has always been my Dharma.

While in Fashion School, at the age of 21, I wrote and Illustrated my first Book, "Sticks and Stripes".

Because I went to school for Fashion, my ego said, "it's not ok to do what you didn't get a degree in".

I listened to that voice for many years, enjoying the world of Fashion.

But these stories just wouldn't leave my soul. 

The story I have been working on, brewed inside for a good 5-6 years.

It is finally out and I have moved onto the continuing story that plays in my everyday life.

Don't die with your music still in you, release your inner song-

Your dreams are the children of your soul.

Don't stick to the status quo.

and let go of that EGO.

Paint your own world

We each create our own special potion,

I tend to float in a rainbow ocean.

When my paint dries, it is perfectly woven.

Thanks to the wonderful colors of emotion.~BC

As you can see, we are the flowers and the trees... we are made up of all of these.

We are very much like a tree, we even change our color of clothes like a tree does with Leaves.

Connected and grounded to our oneness of Roots, 

not a day goes by without touching Mother Earth with our boots

We create many beautiful flowers and Fruits

 Love, Art and Children are just a few things we produce

With our wondrous breath of Breeze,

we create songs and laughter to please

Showered with our Raining tears, 

it adds rings of wiser years

Letting go of the earlier Storm fears,

growing at least two flights of stairs

Like the Trees, we have to experience a Forest fire, 

by doing this we build up new fireproof bark attire 

See it as a blessing that we didn't grow much higher,

if you were to stay there, you would hit the Electric wire. ~BC

Oneness

Imagine that we’re free of all judgments about this world and the people in it, that's when you can begin to understand Oneness.  There’s no anger toward anyone or anything because everyone and everything is Spirit. This Spirit is God, our Source of being. We discover the meaning of life by being able to return to the Oneness while still in material form on earth. The closer we get to experiencing our original nature, the more peace and purpose flows through us like water... we are each a single wave, but that doesn't make us a separate ocean, 

we spin in this earth, an unstoppable motion
(1,038 miles per hour)!!!!

It is time to break down your barrier wall,

join the spinning axle of our blue and green baseball.

The earth continues to dance and spin and has never yet come close to a fall

outer space is our worlds never ending dance hall.

So why do we find it so hard to live as One, and Love all?
Lets all join in this glamourous glitzy ball! ~BC

A pure heart open to the light, will be filled with the very essence of Truth~Rumi

A pic I took while home...

My cousins amazing little girl, she is so imaginative and pure.

May the truth be told

Enthusiasm: "Enthios" means God, and "iasm" means within... so the literal translation means the God within.

I met these fish of neon, and all colors of crayon!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Craft #1: Burlap, buttons and paper... with a leaf, oh my!

Craft #2: All-natural crafts are my favorite. I had to repurpose these beautiful fall colored leaves before they withered away.

All you need is:

~2 acorn tops for the eyes

~1 small pine cone half for the head

~1 larger pinecone for the turkey body

~pluck off 5 little pieces from the cone...

2 for the beak

1 for the red wattle (hanging thing off neck)

2 for the shoes!!

and last but not least, a handful of beautifully assorted leaves for the feathers!!

Our costumes from today.

Namaste

There is a Divine spark within each of us.

The light within me recognizes the light within you.

Enjoying this starry moonlit night,

little guides became my flashlight.

MORE reason to LOVE Seattle

Seattle is building the Nation’s First Food Forest!!

Forget meadows. Seattle's food forest will be filled with edible plants, and everything from pears to herbs will be free for the taking.

Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest.

Nobody should ever go hungry.

The concept of a food forest certainly pushes the envelope on urban agriculture and is grounded in the concept of permaculture, which means it will be perennial and self-sustaining, like a forest is in the wild. Not only is this forest Seattle’s first large-scale permaculture project, but it’s also believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.
“The concept means we consider the soils, companion plants, insects, bugs—everything will be mutually beneficial to each other,” says Harrison.
So just who gets to harvest all that low-hanging fruit when the time comes?
“Anyone and everyone,” says Harrison. “There was major discussion about it. People worried, ‘What if someone comes and takes all the blueberries?’ That could very well happen, but maybe someone needed those blueberries. We look at it this way—if we have none at the end of blueberry season, then it means we’re successful.”

In my eyes, every city should do this. Not only do the people in need benefit... but the ecosystem as well.

Source: vegfriend.com

Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is~Mark Twain

Plant Kindness and gather Love

Paths cross on a morning stroll

I met this little fellow,

walking by ever so slow!

California Fall

Cali doesn't usually feel like the Fall I grew up with in Illinois...

But this year, we had the leafiest yard in all the neighborhood blocks.

Surrounded with beautiful rainbow colors of shedding leaf frocks.

We were feeling uncontrollably blessed,

thankful our tree decided to get undressed.

The big generous tree opened natures magical treasure chest,

leaving Mya and me to enjoy a "jumping in the leaves fest."
~BC

Remember to celebrate your Unbirthday

Starting at birth, we are programmed to believe to be special on our birthday's. 

But what about the other 364 days? 

These are the days that we should praise.

Without them, you wouldn't make it to your next birthday.

Every day is an un-birthday gift,
 the "present" moment.

Feature Friday!!

While walking along my favorite path,

I met a creature in desperate need of a bath!

A few BBBS events...

We danced, crafted, met some new friends and had a spa treatment (manicure), all in one day.

What fun we had:-) Wish there was a Diva Day every month!

Fox Studios was kind enough to let us come over for the Screening of Epic. Entertainment, food and movie was outside on the lawn. Lovely time:-)

Cant go wrong with the BBBS holiday bowling party.

Rio 2 Screening,

followed by some bird mask crafting.

(Wurstkuche) the best!!

 Painted rocks,

tested out a few food trucks,

then took a sewing lesson.

Thanks Kidspace Children's Museum for the FREE, fun day!

So much gratitude for the Los Angeles Film School, they taught us all about animation. It was Amazing!!

Mya's Path

 Oct 2012

 May 2013

Nov 2013

Being a part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters non-profit organization has changed my life~ 

Mya is my best friend who loves to spend time with me in Nature.

Seeing her blossom, learn and mature,

has been my life's most purposeful tour.

Children should never leave the path of being pure.

~BC