The summer has ended abruptly, slamming shut the wide open spaces I had been using to create. This blip of a summer was my muse, and I loved every minute of envisioning and making. 

The last two weeks of July would find me in Maine, that distant place where the sea and stones talk much. The two weeks were filled with inspiratio...

Using creativity is hard work. It is challenging, frustrating, and sometimes feels lonely, doesn't it? We need encouragement to keep going. There are oodles of books and blogs (haha) and quotes and movies and videos that encourage creative people, but there is nothing like being encouraged by a creative friend.

Recently I took a few of the top students in my English class to a non-profit organization dedicated to papermaking, book binding, and letterpress. It was a trip of firsts. My first time leading a field trip, and my first time making paper. 

It seems fitting such firsts should bloom as the buds on trees and shrubs everywhere bu...