SouleMama

The Book! (almost)

Yay!!! I'm soooo excited to share this with you! Here it is: The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections. The cover is final and the book is on Amazon available for pre-order right now! (With a release date of March 11th, 2008). Amazon will probably have the description up in the next few days (do you think I could wait that long to tell you about this? Um, no), but until then, here's the deal, straight from the catalog of Trumpeter Books (an imprint of Shambhala):

Between work and school, music lessons, and sports practice, there is less and less time to connect as a family. Those few moments together are often spent making meals, doing homework, or watching TV. In this inspiring book, Amanda Soule, a young mother of three, presents simple ways to use arts and crafts and other forms of creativity to deepen family connections.
For parents of all backgrounds, The Creative Family offers unique creative activities for the whole family. The range of projects includes: imaginative play such as dress up, home theater and parlor games; arts and crafts such as family drawing time and knitting with children; nature explorations such as creating garden journals and making natural toys; and family celebrations that include making music and displaying children's art. These fun and engaging alternatives to television, video games, and the computer are meant to captivate children´s imaginations, celebrate their achievements, and express love and gratitude as a family.

So that's the book! I would add that whether or not you draw or sew or have never even identified yourself as someone 'creative', I do believe that we all have it in us - and finding that and nurturing it can be a wonderful experience for the whole family - child and parent.  My intent in writing the book was to fill it with activities, patterns, projects and ideas on how you can incorporate creativity into the lives of your family - in some small way - every single day. Throughout the book are my full-color photographs as well as beautiful illustrations by Portland, Maine friend and artist Betsy Thompson. The cover photograph is by the dear and talented Jessie Fields. 

Even after looking at this cover photo for a couple of months, it still gives me goosebumps. Could someone pinch me, please? Writing a book was always one of those silent dreams for me, and it rather blows my mind that it's really happening, and how it all happened to begin with. Looking at the cover fills me with immense gratitude for so very much - for the three amazing little people on it; for the bigger one just out of the shot; for the friends who contributed their art, love and support; for the people who made it happen to begin with (that would be you, dear readers...and a very lovely editor); and for those who will spend their precious time reading it. I'm very, very grateful.

And I'm sorry, but I think I'm also rambling...

{Have a lovely week, my friends. I'm going to slip quietly into vacation mode around here - some low-key local beaching and then to the woods we go. I might be on Flickr, but otherwise back here on Monday.}

from the other side of the camera

I learned a lot this weekend, in my grand attempt to shoot the cover photo for my book. I learned that you can make a HUGE mess in a very short period of time when staging a photo. I learned that our home is just that - a 'home,' and not a photo set, and that there isn't a square foot in the house that isn't 'marred' by imperfection (of course, we love it that way). I learned that blueberry muffins aren't the best idea if you don't want stained faces/fingers/clothes in the 'perfect' shot. I learned that lighting is a very, very, very, very tricky thing to figure out. I learned where my camera manual was (missing for a year). I learned a lot about my camera.

I learned that children - especially my adventuresome, curious, energetic, independent-thinking little ones - instantly lose any sense of 'creativity' once they're asked/told/begged/bribed exactly what to be doing by a desperate, directive Mama. And I learned that hours worth of planning for a shot can end up amounting to about one minute worth of photo-worthy attention span if you're under the age of 7. And that there's really nothing you can do to change that, except move on to something else.

Thankfully, I learned that it's important to know when you're in over you head, and when to ask for help. And I learned how lucky I am to have generous and talented friends who happen to be wonderful photographers, who will save me from myself. The kind of friend who'll answer, "yes we can and we will!" to my whining pleas of "i can't do this!"; who will quietly give up the first sunny weekend of the season with her own family to be with mine; who doesn't mind taking hundreds of pictures to get that one shot; and who does it all with a contagious smile on her face. A good friend, I tell you. A good friend, indeed.

And last, I think I learned a lot about what kind of photography I do best. Much like parenting, I think I work best not by being the planner and director, but by following the lead of the little ones around me. By engaging and encouraging, and quietly watching and waiting, and by letting things unfold in front of me, naturally and beautifully as they always do. Then, and only then do I get my shot. The planning thing? Doesn't work for me in this case. Really, it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.....and with the right people (Those four people above? My favorite subjects, naturally).

(What, you thought I'd show you the cover photo? Oh no...not even a tiny glimpse...I'm pretty sure it's like a wedding dress, you know. Bad luck, or something. I can hardly wait.)

Making me happy...

Really, it doesn't take much to make me happy. A front row seat at the in-house jousting performance. Ending the day with some Green and Blacks. Making it through an entire day without anyone breaking a glass or dish (which I really only mind because it means i need to vacuum. ugh.).  But there was even more yesterday that has me in good spirits:

This vintage dress. Thrifted yesterday for $2. A vintage 'Alice In Wonderland Frock', with the adorably illustrated tag still attached, and the crisp tissue paper and pins on the inside. It will fit Adelaide this spring and I can hardly wait. I think we might need some patent leather shoes. And ruffle-bum tights? Alright, alright. I'll stop at that.

You. Not only did the shop sell out, but more importantly, you showered me with kind words. It feels *so* amazing to put yourself out there, sometimes a bit vulnerably, and to be met in return with kindness, and generosity. Really now, that's just wonderful. Thank you.

Baby Steps. And giving cause for one more celebratory dinner, a title for the book was finalized yesterday. I'm slowly beginning to believe that at the end of all of this (January '08!), there's going to be a book - MY book - that I can actually see, and hold, and read (well, I'll probably be too freaked out to actually read it - I'm anticipating it to be like hearing your voice on an answering machine.oy). So, without further adieu -
The Creative Family:
Simple projects and activities for you and your children that encourage imagination and nurture family connections
A title! Hooray!

Who knew that such a random Tuesday in January could be full of such goodness.

breathe

The edited manuscript is due today (sort of my 'last chance'). And the perfectionist in me (ugh) is having a minor freak-out, stomping her feet and whining those dreaded, evil words, "it's not good enough yet!".  I do think my kind and very gentle editor is going to need to come and pry this thing out of my hands, against my pleas for More Time (which I've already had). Either that, or I'm going to get a quick lesson in letting go. Um, Today.

So! Rather than talk about the ugliness that was me and the manuscript at 2 am this morning (oy), let's look at something pretty, shall we? Yes, let's.
My sweet, in her vintage smock I found this weekend while flea marketing with the lovely Meg and Brandie. The digging and rummaging and chatting with these two ladies was just the welcome break and escape I needed. And this smock on miss sweet cheeks makes me very happy, as do those sweet cheeks themselves, of course.

Ah. That's better. Return to the breath. Return to the breath. (Yeah, yeah.)

so long, 2006!

I'm finishing up some of the artwork for the book this week, and just found this photo buried in the folders upon folders of photos on my hard drive. It's an outtake from a shot I was trying to get for the book. It was in October, on a very cold and windy day. We had just left a friends birthday party, and everyone was tired and sugared out, and I know my babes just wanted to go home. I had been working every day on the book, and everyone was void of the Mama time they really needed. Steve was working triple duty - job, babes, house, and 'editor' to me. While it was hard (but good) work for me, it was really hard work for everyone around me. And while we were all a little haggard at times, and some moments were prettier than others, the point is that they trudged through it with me. No, they didn't trudge - they soared. That day on the beach was one of those moments when they soared for me - forgetting about being cold and tired, and going along with my crazy plan. And even having fun along the way.

It turns out that I didn't get quite what I wanted for the book photo on this day. But I certainly got something else of more significant value to me. When I saw this photo today, a flood of gratitude came over me and filled me up. While it seems terribly inadequate, as I think back upon this year, I will say over and over again to them- Thank You, my loves.

And thank you to YOU, too. For continuing to check in here and read each and everyday, for your lovely words, gifts, and thoughts, for your inspiration, and for your support. And mostly, for joining me along for the ride.

It's been a really good year.

Thank you!!

Wow. I am touched and humbled. I was choked up more than a few times reading your comments yesterday. Thank you SO much. At each of the steps along the way in this process have been many amazing moments of realization and then rejoicing (Steve asks 'how many celebratory dinners exactly does one book require?' Um, a few more, honey.). Sharing the news here with you is one of those steps that I've been excited about. Thanks for meeting it with such energy! Yay! I will keep you posted as things move along.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I must back up to give a big 'Three Cheers for Steve' for guest blogging for the past two weeks. After he agreed to be SoulePapa (he's such a good sport), I had a moment of panic, realizing that usually the first time someone blogs there's time to get a bit of a voice, or 'practice' before anyone generally even reads it (which is generally a good thing.I cringe when I read my first few posts). And there I was essentially throwing him out to the wolves on his first try. But you were all very nice wolves, so thank you. And he stepped up to the plate in a big way, so thank YOU, Steve! And oh, how much fun it was to see him become a blogger  - taking bizarre photos, writing posts in his head, reading comments and visiting your blogs, etc. And he promises that he'll come back for guest appearances from time to time. hooray!

He told you about our little house heartbreak, didn't he? I must admit that it still stings a bit (Calvin told me to stop driving by it the other day. Oops. Did I go that way again?).  Oh, I had big, big dreams about that house - and the 'studio' space? Oh my, oh my.  But now, we're finding some peace with it all, and settling into staying here a bit longer. And now that I've got a bit more time to play, I've been puttering around in my studio - getting organized, and just generally sinking back in. (It may appear to you that I've been sewing with regularity, but it's all been small projects snuck in frantically so I didn't get too withdrawal/twitchy!) I'm sooo eager to sink into something slow and big. I'll leave you with a few snapshots of around the room as I've been tidying. (A few notes on the Flickr pages.) Enjoy! {Phew! Shorter posts coming soon!}

The Whole Story (or most of it, anyway)

Hello, Hello!! Oh my, there is so much to say. But you've all waited so patiently for my promised 'reveal' and so I'll get right to that, and save the rest for tomorrow. Go ahead and grab yourself some tea/wine (you choose), as this is destined to be a long, rambly, spewy sort of post. My apologies.

This has been a frequent scene in my life in the past six months. I've been spending far less time in my studio, and more time in my local library and favorite coffee shops. I've been spending less time with my Bernina love, and more time with my Mac love. Have you figured it out yet? Yes, my friends, I've been writing a book.

The story begins like this (you did know you were getting the whole story, right?): Last February, Steve and I were having one of those 'where are we going?' kind of life discussions. You know the ones. Dreams. Plans. Goals. And we hatched this idea of a project geared towards families wanting to live a more creative, connected life with their children. Like us, and all of you, and so many more people out there doing the best we can and wanting to do more. We made a plan and set aside some time for me to figure out where to go with this idea - another blog? a zine? newsletter? a book? And then amazingly, as life seems to do, just two days later I received an inquiry from an editor about a book project on creative family living, asking if I had any interest. Um, yes. Yes, yes, yes.

So the spring was spent working on a book proposal, getting an agent, and a contract with Shambhala Publications (a perfect fit for me if there ever was one). Then, the summer was spent writing, creating and photographing projects for the book, and writing some more (all in between many a trip to the beach. But you already knew that part). My deadline for the manuscript was, well, yesterday. Yesterday! This whole experience has been a huge long-time dream come true, and at the same time, surely one of the hardest things I've ever done. I've still got a bit of photography and editing ahead of me, but I'm really really relieved to have this big part done. A lot of things in our lives have had to slide to the back burner to make this happen, and I'm very very happy to return my attention there. And speaking of things that have had to 'slide', I must say now (and I'll say it again and again), as completely dorky as this sounds, this would never have happened without the help of sooo very many people. Helpful Friends. Loving Family. Patient and Forgiving Children. And most of all an amazing husband, partner and friend all rolled into one (seriously. he's kick-ass).

But I'm getting ahead of myself. You want to know about the book! The book! Which has yet to have a confirmed title (you'll be among the first to know), is about creative and inspired family living. It's full of over 50 projects, activities and ideas for leading a more full and creative life with our children. Not just 'another kids craft book', I hope it goes deeper - to emphasize the meaningful connections that happen when we create together as a family; and the importance of nurturing the creative spirits of our children and ourselves. There's a focus on nature and celebrating the seasons, resourceful living, and mindfulness as a parent, as well as creating beyond our homes and into our communities. There will be my full-color photography throughout the book, as well as illustrations by a wonderful Portland (Maine) artist, Betsy Thompson. The book will be published in January '08 (yes, '08, it's really not that far away).

To wrap this up, I want to say Thank You to YOU. This book partly came about because of this little blog, and so I have yet another reason to be grateful for it, and for you, for reading each and every day. I'll be glad to share here some of the more exciting steps towards the publication of the book.  But I also hope you know that nothing will really change around here - this blog isn't going to suddenly be about selling my book. It's just another piece of my life at the moment that I'm honored to now be able to share with you!