When I was ten, one summer night,
The baby stars that leapt
Among the trees like dimes of light,
I cupped, and capped, and kept.
—Firefly July by J. Patrick Lewis
We don’t have fireflies here in the Pacific Northwest but I loved them when I lived in Tennessee for college. The fact that these little lights floated in the night air was magical to me. In July I decided to slow down my posting schedule a bit on Little Girl Designs. My personal life has become really busy and though I love this job of creating projects and sharing them with my readers, family comes first. So I’ve been posting twice a week rather than 3-4 times, and it has been the perfect fit for us right now. If time permits, I’ll sneak in an extra post here and there. 🙂 (I say this with a smile because this week I’m posting three times—hmmm . . .)
Anyway, here’s my monthly recap of all the fun that happened in July…
- Reading – My reading selections this month have been so random but maybe that’s how it always is. A friend of mine gave my daughter Taro Gomi’s whimsical book, My Friends
which is such a visual treat. Speaking of children’s books, I have to mention one of my favorite sites here—The Design of the Picture Book. She reviews picture books, and I’m constantly adding to our reading list from her site. Along with my love for children’s books, I started checking out gluten-free cookbooks left and right at the library (see below for why.) If you have any that you recommend, let me know. I can’t eat dairy so we’re moving into a gluten free/dairy free existence here in our home.
- Making – With summer in full swing, I continued my summer crafts series each Friday of the month. This has been a fun way to make crafts for my daughter this year. So far, her favorites are the matching game and the bead bracelet. 🙂
- Make a Watermelon Note Card – How to make a simple watermelon card. A set of these would be a sweet gift (no pun intended!)
- Clay Matching Game – A favorite at our home. You can use these clay pieces as a tic-tac-toe game if you have older kids.
- Doll Tutu – This no-sew tutu was so easy to make I regret not making them for the nieces when they were younger.
- Decorated T-shirt – Have you ever decorated a t-shirt with paint pens? They are so much easier to use than traditional fabric paint because you have more control when you’re laying down the color. I really like the twinkly paint I used for this shirt. 🙂
- Wooden Bead Bracelet – This is a project that has been on The List for a while now. I’m so glad I made it, and it always makes my daughter smile to see it on my wrist.
- Sharing – This month meant sharing the link to pre-order my new Creative Retreat workbook. If you’re like many of my readers, you have a million projects that you’d like to work on but don’t have the time to work on them. I’ve even talked to women who own creative businesses who don’t have time for their personal projects. Taking creative retreats has been my key to rejuvenating creativity and finishing projects that are meaningful to me. Honestly, once you start taking these, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner! You can learn more about how to make your own personalized retreat here (and read what other bloggers and creatives are saying about this resource too!)
- The Benefits of Creative Prompts – I have been using creative prompts for years and LOVE them!
- 9 Mistakes Creatives Make – Are you making these mistakes? I’ve pretty much made all of them. 🙂 This creativity thing takes a lot of practice.
- Eating – Ah, July. You will go down in history, that’s for sure. This was the month that we realized that we needed to cut out gluten from our daughter’s diet, and since there are only three of us in this family, gluten going out the window for her means it’s pretty much gone for us too. I also got the wild idea to cut out sugar from my own diet which has been an interesting experiment. I have to admit I’ve felt a lot better physically which is wonderful but there is still a part of me that is quietly crying because I miss it.
Well, that’s a glimpse of what’s been going on here at Little Girl Designs. On to August we go!
How was your July?
One response to “Monthly Recap: This Was July”
I wish I could give up sugar but, unfortunately , I have not been able to do it. I get super grumpy without it. Then I weep if I cannot get a pop. I have, however, increased my drinking of water and I hate the taste of water, bleh…
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I have to give up Cow’s milk but I am finding I can still do 2 slices of Cheddar Cheese and Ice Cream.
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I also have the feeling that I have Lymphocytic Colitis again. Have not been able to get the test done due to not having a ride. Family will not loan one of their cars to do it and my Gastroenterologist wants a person who is medically trained to watch me after the test so that leaves out People for People or Hopesource. Our van will not make the distance as the CVC Joint is getting ready to break any day now.
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In other news, I, too, am in the Pacific Northwest. An original Kansas Transplant, lol. So Howdy Neighbor *waves*