Quiet Monday-SoCal Day 4 already

The kids are in school, so Curt and I made jam. Specifically, strawberry. And we have a small pot of cinnamon apple pear butter bubbling on the stove, nearly ready for jars too. Super yummy.

 In the evenings, we've been putting together monsters from the Papertoy Monsters book.

 They're absolutely and totally wonderful, and I recommend the book highly.

Only caveat- go with tape, rather than trying to glue the teeny little tabs. And even older kids might need help with some of the constructions. On the other hand, that's part of the fun.

Tonight, we're going to make some jewelry from the cool rocks and beach glass that we picked up on the beach at Santa Barbara.

Tomorrow, I have a booksigning at Loop and Leaf (again, in Santa Barbara). Such fun!

Papertoy Monsters

When I saw this trailer


for Papertoy Monsters, I knew immediately that I had to buy the book for my Grands. In fact, I ordered two copies: one for the SD branch, and one for the SoCal contingent. I ordered the books from an old friend, who just happens to own Mysterious Galaxy, in San Diego. My copy arrived yesterday, and boy oh boy, am I glad I ordered it. It's a huge, heavy book, with 50 die-cut, assemble-your-own monsters, that are as amusing as they are clever and inventive.

Not only are the monsters beautifully drawn, they each have a backstory.

And as an added bonus, there are 10 blank monster die-cuts in the back of the book, so the kids can decorate their own monsters. I suspect the youngest of the bunch will need some help with both punching and assembling, but they're all (ages 6-11) going to love these. Gramma too.

I can't wait to put that theory to the test next week- and I'll post pics.