Family Compound

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Our house is very quiet. I love having kids home for the holidays, but I really hate it when they leave. When they were little, I encouraged them to do things, to learn things, to experience things. I didn't really understand that this would mean that one would do a stint at ocean fishing, one would swim with sharks, one would bungee-jump in New Zealand, one would become a lawyer, and one would bike and ski like the wind. I didn't really understand that they might go to school or jobs far away. I also didn't understand that they would become smart, interesting adults whose company I love.

I've decided what I'd like is to have a family compound. Not one of those scary ones that has the cellar stocked with canned food and water in preparation for Armageddon. Or one that has stockpiles of guns to do battle with federal agents. I'm thinking more of the Kennedy compound on Cape Cod - a lovely place where the whole family could live, each with their own space, but still close enough to be part of each others lives on a regular basis.

Generations living together isn't a new idea, of course. It used to be the norm and still is in some cultures. Turns out there is a resurgence , now called "multigenerational living". There are many reasons for this - some of course economic, some because elderly parents need care, and some because families have realized that the "it takes a village" approach can make makes raising children easier. Working parents appreciate having parents that can fill in for day care, older parents appreciate the security of having people around and young children get to form strong bonds with grandparents. What's not to like?

I think we could all manage quite nicely in the house pictured above. I hope I don't get assigned to washing windows, though.

Summer Memory Book

 I've blogged about our far-flung family and how we try to stay connected.  My favorite idea is the family compound, but since that's not likely to happen, we try other ways to stay connected.  Google chat ( in our experience much better than Skype),  shared photo-streams, lots of calls, emails and packages mean we  get to share in their every day lives.

 I've been making memory books for our Montana granddaughter for several years and usually much sooner than this!   She visits us every summer and I want her to remember all those fun times.  This year I found these cute book covers at Pick Your Plum.  The covers are made of very thin wood with a name cut-out at the bottom - so sweet!

I forgot to take a "before" picture, but here is one from PYP:

I colored the covers with several shades of blue Distress Inks and paints.  I just happen to have a set of alphabet stamps that fit the letter cut-outs and like how the stamped letters make the letters easier for to read.   (Names with lots of letters are a bit harder to read than the ones with just a few).

I used plain white paper for the pages and let Washi tape do double duty - securing the pictures and adding some fun color.

Some stamped circles toned down all that  white space.

I like making flags with wash tape for some outside the page interest.

 Not surprising, this is my favorite picture.  Siobhan loves to spend time in my studio investigating all my stuff and making art.  This was her first experience with embossing .  Don't you just love how she's concentrating on the process?   She was pretty impressed with how embossing works - another convert is born!

 Heading out to Montana to deliver this book in person.