Faux Glitter Name Art

Check out my glittery name art! I love it. So pretty, right?

 

I made this name art using plain, non-sparkly pens on ordinary printer paper. There is no glitter or anything shiny or shimmery at all. Read on to find out how to make your own- it's really easy! Affiliate links below. 

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Faux Glitter Name Art

Materials: 

• your name, printed or handwritten, in outlined letters (I used the Ossem Rounded font on PicMonkey)
• markers (I used Ohuhu's paper-friendly Pupe set)
• white Posca pen

Steps: 

Choose three markers for each letter of your name. They should be the same basic color, with one darker, one in the middle, and one lighter. Start with the darkest one. Draw dots along the outer edges of your first letter. (I worked from right to left, of course.) The dots should be concentrated along the edges, with an occasional dot in the middle of the letter. 

Use your medium color to make more dots, concentrating them just inside the darkest color. Again, allow a few dots to go in the middle and a few along the edges. 

Add dots with the lightest color, concentrating them in the middle of the letter. 

Finally, add white dots, concentrated at the very center of the letter. 

Then move on to the next letter. Obviously, you can use the same three markers or choose another set of three. I like the variety, so I did a modified rainbow. 

Here's a closer look at my completed yellow I and the start of my pink C. 

Here are all of the markers I used to color my name. They look so pretty together! And I love the way they perform on paper. If you haven't read my review of Ohuhu's Pupe paper-friendly markers, do that now. 

You can leave your artwork like this, but the letters don't POP until you put them on a black background. Color the background black or cut out the letters and glue them to black paper. 

Looking for more name art ideas? I have a few dozen for you to choose from. I love name art. 

Snake Crafts for Kids, Plus Thoughts on State Snakes

I put together a graphic highlighting some of my favorite snake crafts for kids, including my latest project, the rattlesnake. 

 

I mentioned in that post that two states have named a rattlesnake as their official State Reptile. I don't know nearly enough about reptiles to know if, out of every single reptile species native to Arizona and West Virginia, those two rattlesnake species best represent their state. So I did a little digging and found the delightful Life is Short But Snakes Are Long blog by Andrew Durso. It hasn't been updated since 2018, which is a shame because it's really interesting. Most interesting to me, and most relevant to my own blog, is Durso's 2-part series What the State Snakes Should Be.

You should read the entire article. But in case you don't, I'll give a few spoilers. First, Durso feels that both Arizona and West Virginia got it right - their respective State Reptile rattlesnakes are what he would choose as State Snake. Second, Durso thinks Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming should also have rattlesnake species as their State Snake. He names other harmful-to-humans  snakes for some of the other states. Third, Durso feels the racer is a good candidate for a National Snake. I'm not opposed. 

Here are some other articles from Durso's blog that I enjoyed reading:

• Basics of Snake Skulls
• How Many Snakes are Venomous and How Many Are Constrictors?
• What the Provincial Snakes of Canada Should Be
• Are There Any Countries Without Snakes?

Enjoy!

South Dakota 2023

South Dakota is one of the most underrated states in the US. There is so much to see and do and it is a beautiful place. We had a wonderful time exploring South Dakota back in August 2023. If you've never been, I definitely recommend a visit!

South Dakota 2023 (affiliate link)

For my layout, I chose 10 pictures representing the variety of things we did in South Dakota. I included photos of bison and pronghorns, since spotting wildlife was one of the highlights of the trip for us. I will never get tired of seeing prairie dog towns! I hope to return to the Mount Rushmore State someday to explore more of what is has to offer. 

Coloring Disney Villains: Evil Queen

I took a break from coloring state quarters to do a quick Disney villain. Here's my Evil Queen: 

The image is from Art of Coloring Disney Villains (affiliate link here and below). It's a fun book filled with lots of different evil characters to color. 

Overall, I like the coloring book. There is a good mix of designs, some more simple and others more detailed. They represent a wide range of Disney movies, both older and newer. However, some of the images span across two pages, meaning some of the design is lost in the binding. The designs are printed back-to-back, so you can't color all the images if you work with markers. Fortunately, the paper is fairly thick, so I didn't have an issue with the printed design on the back showing through to my colored side. 

I started by coloring a base coat with Ohuhu Kaala and Honolulu markers, which is what you see on the left. Then I used Prismacolor colored pencils to add the tonal variation and shadows you see on the right. 

  

After coloring 42 pages using 12 different art materials, it is telling that I chose Ohuhu markers and Prismacolor pencils to do this page just for fun. Using the two combines the best of both worlds for me - the speed, color choice, and coverage of the Ohuhus along with the precision and ease of blending of the Prismacolors. 

I'm looking forward to coloring my next villain!

Thoughts on Fairfield

I have lived in Fairfield, California since 1997. I like Fairfield. We're a large and diverse city (population: 119,881) with a small-town feel. We're located equidistant between Sacramento and San Francisco; it's just 45 miles to either one. Napa is 20 miles away. We can be at the ocean in an hour or skiing in the mountains in just over two hours. We have great weather, with year-round sun and cooling breezes during our hot summers. We're home to Travis Air Force Base and Jelly Belly Candy Company, as well as a bunch of wineries. There's a large regional park in town. Fairfield is home to International Bird Rescue and the future home of Pacific Flyway Center. 

(Our sign has been there since 1925.)

My grandmother was from Fairfield, Washington. The current population is 589, and I don't think it was much different when she lived there. I haven't been there in decades, but I have fond memories of visiting my mom's cousins on their wheat farm just out of town. Fairfield, WA has a library, a community center, three churches, a single restaurant, and not much more. 

The most well-known Fairfield in the US, and the one for which my Fairfield is named, is Fairfield, Connecticut. With a population of 61,512, it is half the size of my Fairfield. Fairfield, Connecticut is located along the north shore of the Long Island Sound and has some nice looking beaches. At least as far as I can tell from photos online - I've never actually been there. It is also home to Fairfield University 

I'm aware of three Fairfields, which led me to wonder... how many other states have a Fairfield? Answer: It depends. Do unincorporated towns count? Townships? How about a census designated place (CDP) called Fairfield? What about a Fairfield County? According to 24/7 Wall Street, there are 20 Fairfields in the US, making it the 22nd most common city name in the country. GeoTarget says there are 35 Fairfields. Wikipedia lists Fairfields in 25 different states. Most of them are tiny. It would be an interesting project to visit all the Fairfields in the US, but not one I intend to do. Although Fairfield, Iowa is tempting. 

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While researching this post, I came across an interesting article by Ken Jennings you might enjoy. I'm a huge fan of Ken Jennings. If you haven't read Maphead yet (affiliate link), drop what you're doing and go read it. You're welcome. 

Chickasaw Molasses Bread

Visiting the Chickasaw Cultural Center was one of the highlights of our time in Oklahoma and a must-see if you will be in the Sooner State. The large campus is beautiful and has so much to see and do. One of the many things you don't want to miss is the Aaimpa Cafe. We loved trying traditional Chickasaw foods that we'd never had before. 

If you can't make it to Oklahoma, you can taste what you're missing with Ilimpac'chi': We're Gonna Eat! (affiliate link). This Chickasaw cookbook is packed with interesting recipes, as well as a lot of interesting cultural information, photos, and personal stories. The recipes are a mix of newer and more traditional Chickasaw recipes. 

Ilimpa'chi' Chickasaw Cookbook

Chickasaw language lessons are scattered throughout the cookbook. Bread ("paska") is my favorite food, so these are the most important phrases for me. 

I recently made Molasses Bread ("Paska Champoli'"), which is both in the cookbook and on their website. I was mystified by the instructions to bake it in an "oblong" pan - no size given. There wasn't enough batter for a 9x13, but an 8x8 seemed reasonable (even though it's square and not oblong!). But that's part of the fun of traditional recipes, right?! The bread was delicious.  

If you are interested in the cuisine of other Native cultures, there are a lot of indigenous cookbooks available on Amazon. If cooking isn't your thing but eating is, be sure to check out my article about the best indigenous restaurants in the US. And let me know if you have any to add. I'd love to check them out. 

Future Survivor - Documenting Breast Cancer Surgery

I had surgery for breast cancer on June 10, 2024. This is the layout I made to document it.  

 

Future Survivor (affiliate link)

I wanted a stark look - it would feel weird to me to use pretty, colorful papers and lots of photos and embellishments for a page about cancer surgery. I paired a photo Steve took after I woke up after surgery with the graphics I made when I announced my breast cancer here on the blog. That's all I was going to include, but at the last minute I added the journaling on the left that includes my diagnosis and surgery date. I opted against including more information; everything about the surgery is documented on the blog for anyone who wants to read it. 

Rattlesnake Craft for Kids

When you live in rattlesnake country, you learn early on how to recognize the characteristics of a venomous snake. In California, the only venomous snakes we have are rattlers, so the most obvious sign that a snake is venomous here is a rattle. That said, rattles can break off. Or, in the case of a baby, there's only a single non-rattly rattle at the end of their tiny tails. Of course, the intact, adult-sized rattle end of a snake can be hidden from your view. When you're looking at the business end of a snake, a wide triangular head is a good indication that you should get away. 

I’ve seen (and made) many snake crafts during my time as a craft blogger, but never one that is specifically a rattlesnake. Since we're about to welcome in the Year of the Snake, I thought it would be the perfect time to add a rattlesnake to my collection of reptile crafts. Interestingly, both Arizona and West Virginia have named a rattlesnake species as its official State Reptile. Though much more common in the Southwest, rattlesnakes are found throughout the continental United States, so go ahead and make this no matter where you live. Affiliate links below. 

Rattlesnake Craft for Kids

Materials: 

• chipboard
• scissors
• craft glue
• colored pencil (brown, black)
• inks (earth tones: forest green, brown, black, cream)
• blending brushes

Steps: 

Starting at the center of the chipboard, draw a spiral that is the size you want your finished rattlesnake to be. Draw a triangle-shaped head at the end of the spiral. (Just like for this craft, but with a different head shape.)

Cut out the snake’s head, then continue following the spiral with your scissors. When you get to the inside of the spiral, taper the end. This is where you'll be gluing the rattles. 

Use the scraps to make rattles. Cut a tapered piece of chipboard. The longer you cut it, the more rattles you can have. (A rattlesnake typically has anywhere from 1-13 rattles, depending on how many times its shed and whether any have broken off.) Snip the piece you cut at 1/2" intervals, then glue it back together, overlapping each rattle on top of the previous one.

Use the scraps to cut a forked tongue and two eyes (which aren't in the photo below).  

Use a brown colored pencil to draw scales on the snake. No need to be fancy - just diagonal lines in opposite directions in order to give the illusion of scales. (Notice that I updated my rattle?)

Put the snake on a piece of newspaper or other protective surface, then add ink. I used large blending brushes to give the whole snake a brown and green background, then darkened the tail. Then I used the mini blending brushes to add the stripes. I used the timber rattlesnake as inspiration, but you can customize yours however you want. 

Glue the tongue beneath the head, the eyes on the head, and the rattle on the end of the tail. Bend the chipboard gently so that the rattle is raised up a bit. Use a black colored pencil to add pupils to the eyes and two nostrils on either side of the forked tongue.  

Napa Lighted Art Festival 2025

We had such a good time at the Napa Lighted Art Festival last year that we made it a priority to return in 2025. This time, we started with dinner at Norman Rose Tavern, which was fabulous. Then we strolled through downtown, admiring the gorgeous lighted artwork that is part of this free, outdoors festival.  

We started at the projections onto the beautiful First Presbyterian Church. The five minute show of coordinated music and lights is completely different from last year, but the experience is just as magical. 

  

  

The second building project features break dancers. As they dance near the top of the screen, their limbs extend down to the bottom like a waterfall. It is so unique and positively captivating. 

  

The projection onto the Hall of Justice is a fantasy about dreams. The colors are so vivid and the movement mesmerizing as one design transforms into the next. 

In addition to the 3 building projections, there are 11 lighted art sculptures. Two of them are interactive. Here, visitors use moist sponges to 'draw' light onto the surface. 

Here, the movement of the visitors influences the designs along the wall. I watched when it was more crowded without taking pictures, not realizing that when most of the people left, there wouldn't be much to photograph! Duh. 

These light tunnels are cool. 

Can you make out the rabbit at the end? 

The Barrel Boy family is made from recycled plastic barrels. 

A photo doesn't properly capture the experience because the light moves and the colors change. The movement is so interesting. 

  

I love these peonies so much. There are a bunch of them all along the Riverwalk. 

They look so pretty from underneath. 

  

This robot is super cool. 

This enormous lamp is just one of many. 

I didn't count, but I think there are eight. 

This enormous poppy is absolutely stunning. 

  

This campfire was our favorite installation. You can see the people off to the right for scale. The colors flickered and flowed, just like real flames. No heat though!

The Napa Lighted Art Festival runs through February 16, so there is still time for you to visit. However, I recommend you try to make it there before Sunday, as that's the final day of the projection artwork. Enjoy!