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Archive for free art + printables – Page 5

Welcome to a Wonder…full March [printable calendar]

Hey there, March! Here in Mississippi, the new month greeted us with a day full of rain and temperatures expected to shift from unseasonably spring-like to begrudgingly winter-like. That’s the usual fare for this fickle month, but the blooms know, and they always give us a welcome preview of warmer days ahead. This month, I had fun creating a new kind of printable calendar – a day planner for a “month of wonder…full times.” I’ve included some holidays we love to celebrate, and reminders of a few experiences that can help us embrace the wonder of days more fully.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been beginning to flesh out a few of the ideas I’ve had in my heart for 2018. I’m proud of myself for taking steps and putting pencil and brush to paper on some things I’m excited about, and I can’t wait to share some of the results. My Frog Tales series, a new calendar format, new paper craft projects and artwork ideas… I feel like the year is finally beginning to bloom. I guess that’s fitting for the start of this month when buds begin to break free, seeds are germinated, and new beginnings become more evident.

I’ve been stockpiling blog post ideas and photo collections for the last year, so I’m hoping to be able to share a lot of inspiration in the coming weeks and months. Spring and all its regeneration is on the way! I’m ready to embrace it!

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE CALENDAR

Hello, February [printable February calendar]

February is here, and I can hardly believe the first month of 2018 is already gone! I have to admit that I have not gotten very far on some of the creative pursuits and ideas I set out to explore this year. January was busier than I expected with juggling new projects, new clients, kid activities, unexpected schedule changes, and more. I’m even a day late in sharing my monthly calendar! Still, I keep reminding myself that all the hustle and bustle of new work is just evidence and fallout from a ton of new blessings that have landed in our lap for 2018.

SO, as we enter a new month, I’ve decided to give myself a little extra measure of love and grace. Ideas have no expiration date, and sometimes they even get better with age. My days in 2018 may have been full, but I’ve spent them with the ones I love most, celebrating milestones, and honors, and snow days, and family date nights. The start of February is an encouragement to stick with it! Stick with what I love. Stick with who I love. Stick with moving forward. Stick with trying new things.

I included a little cutaway Valentine in this month’s printable calendar. You can download here or by clicking the image below. Enjoy!

Dreaming of Snow Days [printable January calendar]

Happy New Year! We are starting 2018 with cold toes and warm fires. Temperatures are in the teens, and the cold weather has all of us dreaming for snow days! I don’t think any flakes and flurries will make it to Mississippi, but a girl and her blessings can dream, right?

Along with dreams of snow days, we’ve been doing some home-keeping and home-making, as we refresh and prepare for a new year, a new semester at school, and rocking out new opportunities in the Pond. I’ve been thinking and dreaming and conjuring ideas through these last weeks of holiday vacation, and I can’t wait to get all that out through the pages of The Frog Kisser blog this year. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll have fun dreaming of mittens and flakes with this month’s printable calendar! Just click the image below to download – and stay tuned… I’m working on a new calendar format for February that I think will be fun!

December . Celebrating the Start of the Season [printable calendar]

It’s hard to believe December is here! This fall has been filled with lots of projects and activities, fun travels, precious times with my little ones, and the beginning of some new opportunities. Now, we’re ushering in the Christmas season. It’s been a little bit of a busy week, and I’m already feeling the impact of lots to do and days flying by. I found myself struggling to keep stress at bay. But, I’m determined to keep a baseline of peace through this season celebrating Christ’s birth, the source of our ultimate peace.

I feel like the holidays are in full swing now! We took the weekend after Thanksgiving to deck our halls for the holidays. We called it the Christmas Kickoff weekend, and filled it with as much holiday cheer as we could fit. Everyone is always excited to pull all the boxes of decorations down from the attic and look through the evidence of our memories and traditions. We usually spread our decorating over two weekends, but because of some of our travel schedule this year, we decided to pack it all into one. I was sore from climbing up and down ladders, but I’m so glad we have everything in place now, with the whole month to enjoy so many of the things we love about the holiday season. I can’t wait for a lot of family time together with these traditions as the backdrop!

With the start of the new month, I’ve put together a printable calendar and some cutaway art to celebrate the season. You can click below to download, and also get a glimpse of some of our holiday decorations to get your in the season. Enjoy, and happy December!

celebrate . Thanksgiving Tree on the Farm [printable]

The Thanksgiving Tree has become a farm tradition. We have a branch, old and dry now, that stay’s standing in a crockery pitcher in the corner, waiting to be set at center stage on the table during our Thanksgiving holiday week. Held up by rocks collected from the road, the “tree” started as my effort to sow some seeds of gratitude when my children were young. That first year, we set up our tree at home using a branch we had found on the farm during October. Baby Girl was only a couple of months old — too young to offer her contributions, and the boys were at a stage when it wasn’t hard to get them to look for sticks! The idea was to add paper leaves or shapes to the tree each days with little “Today I’m thankful for…” messages written on them. We never did it every day. We weren’t that disciplined. But, it gave us a chance to talk about gratitude at the dinner table, and make note of our blessings.

Since then, we’ve spent every Thanksgiving at the farm, and the Thanksgiving Tree has become something we do during our week there. The first year we stayed at Busy Bee for the holiday, we found a branch, and we’ve kept it since. Some years, we’ve cut out our own leaf shapes. And, several years, I’ve created a printable for us to use and also share the tradition with others. I was looking back at a few “leaves” from the years, and it was such a blessing to see each of our hearts revealed in those few words. The treasured places, possessions, and people. It was sweet to see my loves’ handwriting change over time as they’ve grown. And, neat to see that some of our gratitude hasn’t changed. Through all the changes in our lives, what a blessing to count our blessings!

I’ve shared some of our memories here, and I’ve included another printable for 2017. You can download here or click the image below if you’re celebrating with your own Thanksgiving Tree. I’m looking forward to pulling that crockery to the forefront again next week, and adding these tags to it.

As I wrote about that very first Thanksgiving Tree…

I’m convinced that gratitude is an antidote to worry and complaint, and it’s the catalyst for kindness and generosity. In times of joy, in times of hardship, I need it. We need it.

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