Well, first of all…I kind of have a doer type of personality. I like to stay busy, and whether I like it or not, my brain is always thinking up ideas, concepts, etc., etc., etc. So writing is actually a great outlet for me because there’s always something to write, create, revise and so on.

Next, I’ve been doing this for a while. It all started when I took a children’s writing class about 10 years ago with one of those community education program. Since then, I’ve written dozens of stories, so it’s really become part of my regular to-do list.

I’m pretty creative when it comes to how I find my writing time. While I don’t usually write until evening (and after my kids go to bed), I’ve learned that life sometimes gets in the way. The photo of me here is of me working on a story holding my sleeping peanut when she was just a few weeks old.

I also do a lot of what I call “mind writing.” When I sit down to write, I can usually hammer it out pretty good because I’ve been thinking about the story or concept in the car, in the shower, in bed, while making dinner, etc.

Of course, I should probably all say that I’m not Super Woman. As any busy person can attest, sometimes you just have to say no. Do I have the cleanest house in the world? No. Do I make gourmet meals every night? Of course…not.

Above all, though…writing is now part of who I am. It’s a hobby that I love, and I make the time. While it can be really isolating, hard, frustrating and thankless at times, I love creating something from start to finish. I know I’ll never make big bucks off of writing, but I feel very blessed that I’ve had a tiny bit of success at something I love. Mind you, I’ve had hundreds (yes, hundreds) of rejections along the way, too. But that’s another post for another time.

One of those ways is to use them to make your own book marks. You can cut out your favorite flowers and make a collage-like  bookmark by covering a piece of cardboard. (Use an old cereal box; just cut a rectangle.)

It’s an easy way to make a colorful bookmark, and it makes a nice little gift for a mom, teacher or friend. Have fun using those seed catalogs this season, and look for more ideas on how to re-use them in my book. (Don’t forget to make sure you’re actually DONE with those catalogs before cutting them up!)

Today, we found a solution…pipe cleaners! Yep, it’s pretty much the perfect child accessory for making snowpeople. It has a strong center, so you can stick it into the snow without too much trouble. And then it bends, twists and adjusts to your beck and call. The kids loved it, and it kept us all from getting frustrated.

For the record, we did expand on the bigger snowperson by adding buttons, yard (for the hair) and lemons (for the eyes). It was fun looking around the house to see what we could recycle to make our snow person.

Kids working on the tennis racket garden art project at the book party.

The big involved book party came. The big involved book party went.

Ummm…now what am I supposed to do? After consulting the author kit I got from my publisher, I’m a little overwhelmed. I need to be scheduling events, pimping out my book to everyone I know and organizing a virtual book tour. Yes, virtual book tour…apparently that’s all the rage these days. You’re supposed to line up several blogs to feature and review your book, and have them schedule the posts over several days or weeks. I had no idea what it was, but I’m intrigued.

So wish me luck as I embark on this endeavor. I shall be looking for botanical gardens, bookstores and other places to visit this spring. The requirements are that it’s cheap for me to get there, I can get people to attend and they’ll carry my book after the event. Let the weekend filling for 2012 begin.

Tina, Ashley, myself and Amber at the book party.

If you would’ve asked me a week ago, I would’ve said that all surprises are bad ideas. Steve and my mom snuck in a surprise for me years ago when she flew to Milwaukee for a quick visit…I think it’s sufficient to say they learned their lesson.

I don’t know why I hate surprises so much, but I do. So last Friday when my mom showed up unexpectedly with Tina at the airport, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Then later that night when I walked into the local Mexican restaurant for dinner, I was shocked to see Tina’s parents. Then we go into the bathroom, and I find my other two best friends, Amber and Ashley, peeking over the door of the stall, singing a song from The Brady Bunch movie.

Once I got over the annoyance of not having every little detail planned, I was blissfully happy. My book party never would have happened if it weren’t for my wonderful mother, completing all the details and helping with thekids  project. And it wouldn’t have been seamless without the help from all of those girls. So even though I hate to admit it, I guess there can be some good surprises after all.

• I hope that it speaks to the people who want to be spoken to.
• I hope to inspire others to get outside more with their kids, whether it’s through gardening, watching butterflies or just exploring.
• I hope to continue developing gardening curriculum for kids. I already get to do this through my Master Gardener volunteering with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. It’s great to see kids get excited about growing their own.
• I hope to show kids that you really can grow and eat your own food.
• I hope to inspire people to look at everyday objects and figure out how to give them a second life.
• I hope parents will want to try a couple of these projects with their own kids. It’s amazing what 15 minutes can do. I know this from experience. In a world that is filled with activities and commitments, we owe it to our kids to make an appointment with nature as well. After all, it’ll still be here after those dance skills fade and those video games break.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from the two busy days of photoshoots. They were taken in my own backyard.

I absolutely love this “I Dig Flowers” picture among purple coneflower. It was taken by my brother-in-law, Scott Tornio. You can see more of his work here. 

My friend, Tina Lanae, is one of the most talented “people” photographers I know. Her niece, Jersey, was our model for this picture. If you’re ever looking for someone to take family pics or need a wedding photographer, you should check her out. 

When you write a book, you sometimes have to make some compromises. And while I don’t think I had to compromise on any of the material itself, I didn’t get to use as many photos as I wanted. There just wasn’t enough room! The one photo I really wish we could have squeezed in is this one. Frankly, I think “kitchen faucet birdbath” sounds a little hard and a lot crazy. But when you see the photo, it all comes together, right? (Don’t worry if this isn’t your thing. There are lots of other projects and ideas in the book, organized by month.)

So from page 29 of the book, here’s the picture to go along with the project…

For my party, I wanted a fun way to add color to the tables. So I decided to make flower pens. They turned out great, especially placed in terra cotta pots. Here’s how to make them yourself:

Materials

• Pens
• Artificial flowers
• Flower tape
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Flowerpot or vase

1. Take everything apart. Remove the lids and ends of the pen. You should also remove the ink from the barrel to make it easier for wrapping. Some people like to just wrap the entire artificial flower stem down the barrel of the pen, but this makes gripping a bit uncomfortable. This way, you’ll have a smooth finish.
2. Using floral tape, carefully wrap the barrel of the pen. The tape will feel a bit sticky, but don’t worry, it will dry.
3. Place a tiny dab of glue on the end of the flowers. Hold securely in place at the end of the pen for 20-30 seconds. Set aside and let dry as you repeat with other pen barrels and flowers. Once dry, it’s time to put the ink back in. Before you do, snip a little bit of the plastic away from the far end of the ink barrel. (Not too much or you’ll get a mess!) You just want to leave plenty of room between the ink and the flower, so the air still flows. Put the ink back through the tip, and secure in place. 
4. Find a vase or terra cotta pot to display your new flower pens.