Writing

CPC #4: ~ t h e c l o u d j o u r n a l ~

| Allison

Heyyy, guys! I’m back with another CPC entry for Carol‘s writing challenge! I actually spent a rather long time on this (especially on the art and such) because I was determined to earn a lot of points for my team this time. XD SO YOU GUYS BETTER LIKE IT. Juuuust kidding. I do hope you enjoy, though! 🙂

Prompts used: 2

Photos submitted: 12

Art submitted: 6

Total points: 39

Callie’s Cloud Journal

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Purpose: To record my cloud dreaming, for further analyzation in case I’m a famous scientist some day.

Materials: Pen and paper.

Hypothesis: You can do things two ways: the art way or the science way. I am a science child. Most of the time.

Data/Observations: I guess I should do a little introduction since this is an autobiography. You have probably already concluded two things from the data given: my name is Callie and I am a very scientifically-minded child. I have concluded that if I have a choice of doing something with the left side of my brain or the right side, approximately 97% of the time I will choose the left side.

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Take baking for an example. Some people think of baking as a work of art: they can take a pinch of this and a dash of that and make a masterpiece. Art is not my strength. I excel in precision. I always weigh my ingredients to the tenth decimal place and make sure the cup of flour is perfectly level and the brownies are cut in exactly 2 inch by 2 inch squares. I follow instructions to the letter, and to the numbers and punctuation marks too.

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Perhaps you’re wondering where the other 3% of right-minded-ness comes from. Well, that’s the subject of this entry – this entire journal, in fact. This data is super secret – it may or may not make it into my actual autobiography when and if I publish it in the distant future. But I guess this paper won’t spill any secrets because it cannot speak. (I meant that as a joke, in case you were wondering. Sometimes people aren’t sure whether I’m joking or not because in addition to being a very scientifically-minded child, I am also very serious.)

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But back to the subject. Basically the only times I use my right brain for thinking involve clouds. I enjoy studying clouds – always have – but this is not studying. It is… well, daydreaming, as much as I hate to admit it.

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I close my eyes and focus on sending false messages to my mechanoreceptors. All I do is imagine what I wish clouds would feel like so hard and so long that my nerves are tricked, and when I stretch out my hand, I feel it. (Now, I know clouds are actually made of water droplets and that I have in reality felt them many times when I walk in fog, but I told you – this is the 3%. The other 97% of the time I send my brain such accurate information that it’s easily fooled for cloud dreaming.)

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I have a list of ten different clouds I choose from. If I’m really angry I’ll go with stratus or nimbostratus, and occasionally I’ll choose cirrus, but my favorite is cumulus.

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Today I chose my favorite, Cloud Nine – a cumulus cloud tinged with lavender and coral pink. Cumulus clouds feel warm and silky soft and puffy, like sitting in a pile of memory foam covered with the fuzziest blanket ever, or on a giant, lightly toasted marshmallow without the stickiness.

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What do I do on my cloud?

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Prompt picture. (Not mine.)

 

I look out the window and observe. I take notes.

 Miles. 16. Wearing a completely black suit. Independent, entrepreneurial.

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Jayne. 15. Wearing a hot pink and cyan jumpsuit. Fashion-obsessed, talkative.

CPC 3 (853x1280)I have no facts, no data about the people I see, only observations and the hypotheses I come up with myself. It’s a good exercise, and sitting on clouds helps with it somehow. My theory is that after my brain gets started by imagining clouds, it’s easier to imagine how old a person is, what their name might be, etcetera. I’m not certain of this, though, and that’s another reason I want to start this journal.

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Today after I observed those two aforementioned people, I heard a sound so loud it nearly vibrated the fluid in my cochlea right out of my ear.

I looked out the window again and nearly fell off Cloud Nine. Miles had met Jayne and I watched as he pulled his own cloud out of his briefcase and was offering it to her.

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I’m serious. And the loud sound? It was Jayne shrieking. This was going to be interesting.

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ISN’T THAT CLOUD SO CUTE? I’ll talk more about it in a minute, but hold on.

Anyway, heh heh, that was more of a character sketch than a short story – the plot never really got off the ground (pun intended). But it was quite interesting to write because Callie is basically the opposite of me in every way. I am definitely an art child, as you have probably picked up through my blog. 😉

Okay. Before you go, here are a few bonus pictures that I didn’t get to work into the story.

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Ugh this cloud painting didn’t exactly turn out how I imagined. I’ve never seen such strange, wobbly sun rays. Oh well… let’s call it artistic license. *Sigh* Except for that one pink “Cloud Nine” picture, I am terrible at drawing realistic clouds, so this was great practice!

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I got the gorgeous warm cumulus cloud pictures coming back from a vacation.

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And now for the fluzzy cloud. THIS LITTLE GUY IS WAY TOO CUTE. I simply bunched up a piece of felting wool in my hand, took these pictures, and then added the face on PicMonkey.

For some reason I LOVE IT. Also help, I need name suggestions. Yes I am going to name a blob of felting wool. I mean, I’m a teenage girl, what do you expect? 😛 XD

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♥♥♥ SO. SQUISHY.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures and art, dears. 🙂 Oh, and if you’re interested in reading more of my CPC entries, you can see my first entry here and my 2nd and 3rd entries here, on my CWWC page. I didn’t make a separate post for the two on the page, but I’d love to hear what you think!

Do you have a favorite photo/piece of art? Are you a science child or an art child? Any name suggestions for Mr. Fluzzy? (Hey, there’s an idea…)

***Allison***

P. S. Tomorrow I will announce the winner of my giveaway! I’M SO EXCITED. Also I apologize for all the outbursts in this post. O.o Heh.

CPC #1: ~ t i m e ~

| Allison

Hey, guys! I’m participating in Carol‘s lovely Cameras and Pens writing challenge, so I wanted to show you the first story I wrote for it. What makes this particular writing challenge special is that you can make art to illustrate your story or take photos that pertain to it for bonus points, as well as earning points by using the prompts! So I did all three.

***All photos are mine except the first one, which is a prompt photo. All artwork is mine period. ;)***

Prompts used: 2.

Photos submitted: 7

Artwork submitted: 3

Total points earned: 22

~ t i m e ~

Maybe it was just one minute. Or one second. Or one microsecond. It whipped past my memory WAY too fast.

I’d been looking forward to summer – the laughter, the friends, the pool, the freedom – for practically the whole year, and now here I was, sitting on the edge of the lake, absently spinning my bike pedals with my fingers and thinking about how school started in three days. Where had time gone?

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Prompt picture. (Not mine.)

Where had Time gone? I dangled my feet in the water and thought about it.

Maybe he was taking a vacation after all the hard work of making summer go by so fast. Maybe that’s why everything seemed to suddenly slow down – Time was tired.

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I used a long exposure (about 8 seconds) to show the second hand moving. 🙂
Or maybe he’s just contrary. When you’re bored, he creeps past you with an evil smirk on his face, an when you’re having fun, he flies past so quickly you can’t even catch a glimpse of him.
Perhaps he has rheumatism. I mean, he is pretty old after all. Maybe sunlight and happy times put a spring in his step and he races along with the best of them; but when it rains and everything is gloomy, his rheumatism holds him back from going at more than a painful crawl.
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Wherever he went and whatever the reason, I wished he would have taken a few steps backward before he took his vacation – or even just stopped altogether.
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But though he is ancient, he has not retired – nor will he until his Maker comes and sets Infinity in his place. He is so popular that that everyone plans their lives around his schedule, they beg for more of him as if he is a celebrity, and yet he is elusive, the hardest to grasp when you need him most.
But he is a good healer, binding up wounds and soothing them without any medicine. He takes a long time to do his healing, but he does it.
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Try as we might, no one except Time’s Creator has ever been able to stop him from marching on. Day after day, night after night, he passes by, faithfully following his schedule.
He is close friends with the sun and the moon and has seen their rise and fall countless times in his life.
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We have made many faces for Time – some square, some round, some oval, some hardly a shape at all, with skin imprinted with numbers and evenly creased with lines.

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But I think his real face is filled with thousands of wrinkles, one from each year he has seen.

Sometimes his eyes are greenish-yellow slits as they peer at you from the alarm clock on your bedside stand and wait, ready to shriek at you to get up, get up, to not waste anymore of him than you already have.

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If that doesn’t work, he uses the sharp cane he carries to jab those who think they can waste him away.

He has one long hand and one short hand. He was born with a sort of nervous tick that he can’t seem to get rid of.

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His clothing style is rather eccentric; a mish-mash of fashions picked up from many eras.

Fickle, wayward, unaccountable… and yet what would we do without him? You have to admit, he’s pretty diligent at his job, and there’s really no one that could replace him.

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Yes, I am aware that this is a SUPER creepy and kind of awful drawing, but I like the idea, so… Just don’t look at his face. XD

I sighed. I guess Time did deserve a break after all that work, and besides, summer would get old if that’s all we ever had. And how would I learn all of the stories Time has collected over the years without History class?

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I stretched and stood up. The sun was setting like an egg the moon had cracked for breakfast, the deep orange-yellow yolk spilling all over the sky. The moon ate it all up and then began its long night’s work.

It was right on Time.

_____________________________

The End. 😀

I had a lot of fun with that, as you can probably tell. 😉 I hope you had fun reading it!

What artwork or photo was your favorite? Would you like to read my future CPC entries or would you rather me post normal stuff? I’d love to hear your honest (but courteous) opinion!

Thank you for reading, dears, and have a lovely day filled with plenty of Time. 😉

***Allison***

P. S. Oh. My goodness. I ALMOST HAVE THREE THOUSAND FOLLOWERS?! Eeeee! I’d probably better start planning something, which will probably include a giveaway. Any suggestions?

The Color Box {A Story + A Surprise}

| Allison

GUYS. I AM SO EXCITED! I finally, FINALLY started an Etsy shop for my art, after working on it for quite a while! 😀 AHHH YAYAYAYAY!

Ahem. Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about it and why I’m so excited for it. Click on the picture or the link below it to visit my shop.

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The Color Box Studio

Story Behind the Shop // My Mission:

I’ve loved art my whole life and I’ve always dreamed of selling my art and crafts as a business. It was (and still is) my dream job. That’s why I’m so overjoyed to actually be doing it! I believe God gave me what talent I have to use it for his glory as well as to bring myself and others joy. 😀 I hope to build a collection of fun, beautiful prints that will brighten people’s homes and add unique, handmade pieces to their décor that you can’t buy just anywhere.

Behind the Name

After much deliberation, I named my shop The Color Box Studio because I love colors and have a box of 72 Prismacolor colored pencils that is among my most treasured art supplies. 😀 Plus I just think it’s a cute name. XD

What I Sell

Currently I’m just selling art prints, but I hope to add some original and custom pieces soon. (If you have a custom request, just let me know and I’ll be happy to work with you!)

I have four prints available so far and I can’t wait to add more soon! Here’s a peek at two of the listings, and you can see the rest here.

Click on the pictures to visit the listing.

Red Fox Art 2

Zentangle Elephant Art 2

What is Gicleé?

The type of prints I sell are called gicleé (pronounced jhee-CLAY). Gicleé uses a certain process and materials to create super high-quality prints with bright colors and fine detail. I decided on it after some research and trial-and-error, because it’s basically the best-quality art print you can get and looks almost exactly like the original. Each piece of art is printed on thick, white, archival-quality paper to ensure it will last a looong time – a minimum of 80 years! I use this printing company and I absolutely adore their products and customer service.

So yeah! That’s my announcement! 😀

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Also, since I realize the news is probably not as thrilling to you as it is to me (and this post would be way too short otherwise XD), I wrote a little story for you guys at Mercury‘s suggestion. 🙂 I hope you enjoy!

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The Color Box

The air was heavy that day, laying on her shoulders and sitting on her head like a great flock of birds. It was November, bleak and colorless, and Kira was wandering the streets as usual. Her long, gray-brown hair hung limp and forlorn in the miserable weather and she walked slowly, so she could notice everything.

Kira was an Observer. She collected things with her mind. She had a whole room in her brain filled with the small wonders she had seen: mist rolling in mysterious clouds along the street; a striped snail sliding over a little white mushroom; three cats following an old woman with an enormous straw hat…  She never took the things she saw; she just looked, and remembered.

Her favorite part about Observing was the colors. Her city had precious little color to brighten its weary streets, so whenever she found a yellow flower springing from a sidewalk crack or a bright bluebird flashing by, she smiled her soft, slow smile and closed her eyes to be extra sure she would remember it.

Today, a piece of color caught her eye and her heart leapt. It was a color box. She saw it flashing in the sunlight, peeking out from under a heap of dry leaves and crumpled papers, and she hurried toward it.

When she opened it, she breathed a shuddering breath of delight. She had never seen so many colors at once. All the colors of the rainbow, and even more besides! The pencils were lined up in an uneven row, some blunt and some sharp, some tall and some short, and they were all beautiful.

Kira looked at it thoughtfully, and made a decision. For once, Kira collected with her hands as well as her mind. She would use it to draw the best memories in her collection so she could never forget them.

She began at once, smoothing out a crumpled piece of newspaper nearby to draw on. At first she tried a flower, one of her favorite finds. Kira chose a periwinkle blue for the petals and a bright green for the stem and leaves. Her pencil scratched and scraped on the paper. Her eyebrows drew together in concentration and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling with excitement. Finally Kira sat up and looked at it.

Her face fell. The colors were beautiful, but the flower did not look like the picture in her head. Kira was discouraged, but then she set her mouth firmly and promised herself that she would make a better one.

All day Kira worked. She drew flowers, she drew snails, she drew her fingertips with their broken nails. A little beetle crawled onto her paper and she drew it too. Twice a pencil got too worn down and she had to take a break to sharpen it with the dull sharpener inside the box. Finally, as the sun was setting, Kira drew the same periwinkle flower one more time. She smiled slowly in satisfaction. It still did not look like a perfect match, but it was much better than her first try.

She could hardly wait to try again tomorrow.

The next day she decided to try and draw the face of the old man who always sat on the weathered bench beside the curb. To her dismay, faces were much, much harder to draw than flowers. But as before, she took a breath, selected a new crumpled piece of paper, and started again. She stared at him for minutes at a time, taking in each wrinkle, each hair, the color of his eyes and skin and lips. And then she drew.

Day after day, she tried again. Sometimes she drew faces of passersby or people who looked out of the windows, but most of all she drew the old man who always stared ahead at nothing, rubbing a thumb over the a brown mark on the thin, wrinkled skin of his hand.

Finally, one day she was satisfied. She looked from her drawing to the old man’s face and grinned. Shyly, she stood up pushed the paper into his lap.

“I drew this for you,” she said quietly. The man blinked and looked down slowly. He stared at the drawing for a long time, and then looked up at the girl. He smiled.

The next day there was an old woman beside the man on the bench. When he saw Kira he beckoned her toward him and said, “Can you draw her too?” Kira could.

Thereafter Kira drew a new person every day. After a while she got tired of drawing with the same colors, so she chose different ones. Kira drew people not in the colors she saw with her eyes, but in the colors she saw inside of them – the colors they really were.

Her solemn gray-brown eyes looked at you unflinchingly, looked and looked until you felt she was pulling your secrets, good and bad, from your eyes, and you dropped your gaze. Kira found the secrets one by one and from those she could tell the color of the person. Some people were bright yellow and orange and pastel pink, and others were blue and gray and purple. One man was only black and white.

Every day Kira drew, on newspaper and scraps of cardboard and paper bags. When she was finished, she hung them on lampposts all over the city, so the people she had drawn could find them. Slowly the city grew more colorful. When people saw the drawings they would stop for a second look, and walk on with their inside colors shining more clearly on their faces. And Kira herself was no longer composed of grays and browns but of all the colors of her pencils, for they had bled into her fingers and crept into her heart, so that they were a part of her.

Nowadays Kira still collects things – the room in her mind is heaped to overflowing – but her favorite memory was and always will be, her color box.

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Hee hee, that was a fun little story. 🙂 I hope you liked it and my Etsy shop. What is your favorite listing I have so far? And what is your favorite “color box” – colored pencils, watercolors, markers, etc.?

Thanks for reading, my dears, and have a most wonderful day!

***Allison***

Thoughts on… {Beauty}

| Allison

Imagine I give you a gift. It’s huge and beautifully wrapped in your favorite color of wrapping paper and topped with a perfect bow. It promises to be wonderful, but when you shred the paper and tear open the box, there is nothing inside. The box is empty.

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Beauty is our wrapping paper. It can make a good present even better and add to our enjoyment, but beautiful wrapping paper alone is not worth anything.

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Sadly, our culture seems to focus on our wrapping paper almost to the exclusion of the gift inside. The world whispers that if you are beautiful, everyone will love you, you will feel great, and life will be perfect.

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And that’s certainly a handy way to get people to buy makeup, skin products, hair products, brand name clothes, and all the other things that the world says you simply must have in order to be beautiful.

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But that is a lie. You do not need to have the perfect face or figure or clothes to be happy, hard as that might be to believe. Your Creator made you beautiful from the first, and He is the only one who will bring you ultimate joy.

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My dear, you are beautiful even when you skip your makeup. Each and every one of us, boy or girl, man or woman, is beautiful because we are made in God’s image, and God is Beauty itself.

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Here’s another story. A boy was born blind. Eventually he grew into a man and fell in love with a woman who was always kind to him. Though he could not see her face, he felt her heart, and she was beautiful to him.

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One day, after they were married, the man was given a chance to get his vision back with a surgery. The surgery was successful, and at last the man could see! Everything was so bright and colorful it hurt his eyes. The first person he saw was his wife, who had been waiting for him all throughout the surgery.

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What would he have thought? He wouldn’t mind if she weighed too much or didn’t have makeup on or didn’t have clear skin. He had only known her for her heart and her actions. He would think her beautiful.

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Now I’m not saying beauty is a bad thing. In fact, God gave us a beautiful world to live in for our pleasure and his glory. Neither am I saying that you can only be either beautiful or good, because that’s not true. I’m just saying don’t lose the gift for the box. Don’t put so much store in your outward appearance that you don’t take care of your heart.

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Think about it. What would the world be like if everyone took the time they spent getting the wrapping paper perfect and instead focused it on touching up the gift inside?

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***Allison***

Gone Camping

| Allison

Last weekend we went on a camping trip with my Dad’s side of the family, and it was so much fun! My camera still isn’t working the best, but I did manage to get a few decent pictures.

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We got to the campground in the evening so we didn’t do much after that besides set up. Megan and I shared a really nice tent with our two cousins. Although we did play the most confusing game of Uno ever. XD We played the “interrupting” version where you can lay down a card that’s exactly the same (same number and color) as the one someone else just laid down even if it’s not your turn. Anyway, when we laid down several skips or draw-twos or reverses in a row it got quite complicated, XD Have you ever played Interrupting Uno?

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Unfortunately the ground under our tent was quite bumpy and rocky and sloping, and my sleeping bag didn’t provide much protection… so I didn’t sleep that well the first night. XD But oh well.

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The next morning we had a delicious breakfast of pancake and sausages and bacon cooked over a combination of a camp cookstove and a bonfire. YUM.

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The next day started out extremely hot until a huge rainstorm came in the afternoon. The kids rushed to a pavilion nearby and had fun playing games until it stopped raining. My little sister Carmen got scared of all the thunder though, poor girl. :/

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In the afternoon we went down to the pool which was huge and the perfect temperature, if a bit dirty. All of us except my uncle played a couple of exhilarating games of water polo. It was SO much fun and we all laughed so hard. XD (And my team won both times, heh heh.)

Unfortunately, the floor of the pool was rough concrete and almost all of us skinned our toes and feet up pretty badly what with pushing off hard and running through the water. We had to break out the Band-Aids and gauze when we got back to the campsite and even then we were limping around. XD It would have been pretty hilarious if it wasn’t so painful… well actually, it was still pretty hilarious. 😛 Kind of a strange way to injure yourself, huh?

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In the evening we had a bonfire and hot dog roast – and s’mores, of course. My uncle also popped some popcorn over the fire and it was AMAZING! It was some of the best popcorn I have ever tasted! His recipe was 1/3 cup of popcorn to 1/4 cup of oil, I think, with a pinch of salt.

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The cicadas and/or tree frogs were really loud, but in a peaceful kind of way. It was so nice just to be sitting around the fire with family and talking and eating popcorn. 🙂

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We bought air mattresses for the second night which felt luxurious compared to sleeping bags. XD I know, I need to toughen up – but I have like NO extra padding on my body which doesn’t help anything. XD

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We had scrambled eggs and chocolate muffins and bacon for the last breakfast. YUM AGAIN. (Hmm, this post seems to feature a lot of food, doesn’t it? XD )

We then went down and played around at the Gaga pit and swings and rock climbing wall and stuff, but it was so hot we didn’t do it for long.

Before we left we went to the pool one last time and tried not to scrape open our blisters. Eheh heh… dear me.

And then we left! All in all it was a pretty fun time. 😀

Have you gone camping this summer? What is some of your favorite campfire food? What do you like to do best while camping?

***Allison***

Poems

| Allison

I used to despise most poetry, especially unrhyming poetry. But now… now I actually kind of like it! It lets you look at the world in a different way. And I have to admit, it’s pretty fun to write. 😀 I decided to share a few of my poems today, which I hope you enjoy. I’m not very experienced with poem-writing so any tips or constructive criticism is welcome. 🙂

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This book is “all the small poems and fourteen more,” which I highly recommend, by the way. 🙂

poems

poems slip on tinted glasses

and make you look at everything

upside down and sideways

until you don’t know where you started

and even the plainest, dullest things

are something new and wonderful.

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bonfire

warm, nimble fingers

grabbing for a hold

on slippery branches, paper, sticks

then giving up

and sliding down again,

but leaving black scars

to mark their path.

hungry flames

licking with soft strokes

melting the wood

with warm tongues.

a burning sunset in a ring of stones.

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art

the language of imagination.

art is spoken not

with verbs and nouns

but with brushstrokes

and colors

and lines.

art is spoken not

with the mouth,

but with the fingertips;

not only with the mind,

but with the soul.

some people are fluent from birth

and some must work

to master it,

but like all languages,

anyone can learn.

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pool

there is nothing quite like

a pool, with its

liquid burden of blue

which wraps around you

like an cool blanket

and holds you up

on its strong, soft back.

when you plunge beneath

the surface, you enter another world:

still, silent,

save for the whisper of

your body as it

glides through

the water.

pools are

freckles and brown arms

and pink shoulders

where the sunscreen was too thin;

bubbles swimming to the surface

like fragile jellyfish;

sunbeams dancing together

in intricate patterns,

a web of yellow light

shifting and shimmering

in the cool blue water;

a place where everything

moves in slow motion.

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vacation

a few days of

condensed work

for a few days of

condensed memories.

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piano

a funny language

with an alphabet

of dots and lines.

its sentences are

spoken not with

the tongue, but

with the fingers;

not with the mind,

but with the soul.

playing piano is

reading a beautiful

story out loud with

your fingertips, a

story sung by the

heart of the composer

and captured forever

on a white paper page.

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little things

a dew drop hanging

from a blade of grass,

poised for a dive.

a perfect blossom,

opening it’s shy face

to the world.

a set of brilliant colored pencils,

lined up like colorful soldiers

in their square tin.

a sunset burning up the sky

one flaming cloud at a time.

a basket of vegetables

sun-warmed and fresh picked.

i sometimes think

the best things come in

small packages.

don’t you?

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the sound of summer

the deep bass of bullfrogs,

the cymbal clash of thunder,

the low roar of a lawn mower,

the staccato pop of canning jars sealing,

the juicy crunch of a watermelon slice,

the splash of a rock thrown into water,

the buzzing crescendo of cicadas,

the shrill soprano chirp of crickets,

the sweet melody of birdsong,

all weave together,

into a beautiful symphony:

the sound of summer.

 

That was fun! And yes, I am aware that the “art” and “piano” poems are very similar – almost exactly the same in some parts. But I couldn’t bear to change those parts out and I wanted to share both of them. XD

Which poem was your favorite? Do you like non-rhyming poetry?

***Allison***

P. S. Guys, you should really check out Hayley’s ATC trade! She needs a few more people to sign up before the trade is worthwhile to do, so if you like art, you should definitely look into it! 😀 And in case you’re wondering, I’ll be doing the trade too. 😉

The Dust Pixies, Part 9 – The Finale

| Allison

Goodness gracious, it has been far too long since I added to this story! (I always say that about my writing posts, don’t I? XD )  Well anyway, here I am now! I hope you enjoy this last chapter of The Dust Pixies.

If you’d like to read the previous chapters, click here. And here’s a refresher from the last part:

Reuven was silent a moment, considering the advice. “Fine,” he said in a low voice. “I agree. Being the man who killed the Princess’s husband is probably not the best tactic. So maybe he’ll just suffer an ‘accident.’ ” He lifted his chin, dark eyes glinting.

Rosalind gasped, then shut her mouth tightly. We all looked at each other with panic in our faces.

It was time to put our plan into action.

Part 9

I reached into the burlap bag and scooped out the dust bunny. I looked into its bright little eyes and whispered, “This is it, little guy. Time to pay me back for all the trouble you’ve caused.” The bunny cocked its head and looked at me curiously, its small nose wiggling. At last it caught the scent of freedom and raced straight into the midst of the fairies’ camp.

The fairies exploded in a flurry of wings and shouts.

“Eww, it’s all dusty.”

“Well of course it is, Karina – it’s a dustbunny.”

“EEK! You mean from the dust pixies? Gross! Shoo, get away from here!”

“IT TRIED TO BITE ME!”

“What if it has rabies?”

“AHHHH!”

I grinned. Perfect – everyone was distracted. Time for Stage Two.

Lyri and I fluttered nonchalantly  past the tents, looking for any sign of Finn or Anabelle Rose. A couple of fairies glanced at us but we ducked our heads and they flew back to the uproar. Our disguises – or more like our baths – had done the job.

We finally found Eli peering between the tents at the ruckus. He jumped when I touched him.

“Psst, Eli, it’s us! The dust pixies! We’ve come to rescue our friends, like we promised.”

His big black eyes widened, taking in our costumes, the absence of dust, and then our faces. He gave us a nod and a tiny smile. We tiptoed past the fairies’ tents, each one different from the others. Some were made of bright flower petals or rich green leaves, others of twigs bound together with vines. We stopped at one of the biggest tents, an enormous orange tiger lily.

“This is my house,” Eli whispered to us shyly.

“It’s very pretty,” Lyri whispered back with a smile.

Eli blushed and looked at the ground.

When he led us around to the back I had to clap my hand over my mouth to keep from shouting. There sat Anabelle Rose and Finn, bound with a thick brown vine, mouths stuffed with its leaves… I gulped: poison ivy.

When Anabelle and Finn saw us, their tired faces lighted up for a moment, but then their eyes widened and they shook their heads violently, gesturing to something behind us.

I turned and all the breath rushed out of me. Oh no. Two tall fairymen were standing behind us with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces.

“FLY!” Eli yelled.

Lyri and I took off, flying high up into the trees. Unfortunately, the fairies were right behind us. We had a head start but the fairymen were much more adept at maneuvering through the branches.

Suddenly, a bird appeared out of nowhere, shrieking and divebombing us. I could see a nest of scruffy little babies with their yellow mouths wide open behind her. I flapped my wings backward as hard as possible but it was too late. The bird slammed into me and I started spiraling to the ground.

“Mae!” Lyri screamed, following me down.

I managed to slow my fall a bit with my wings, but they hurt too much to do anything more than flap feebly. I thudded to the ground and groaned. Ouch. Everything hurt.

“Mae, are you okay?” Lyri asked, trembling.

“Uh… maybe,” I mumbled. Well at least we had lost the two fairymen.

But then I heard voices, and footsteps.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to curl into a ball, but my body protested. Why am I here? We didn’t even help anything, just made everything a bigger mess than when we started. I heard my name shouted over and over.

“Mae, wake up! Mae, it’s us! Mae, Mae, Mae!”

I slowly opened my eyes, then snapped them open the rest of the way.

“WHAT?! How did you guys escape?” I scrambled to my feet – or tried to, but only managed to sit up. There stood Eli, Petre, and Anabelle Rose and Finn, a little weak and haggard maybe, but standing. Free.

Anabelle smiled. “While you and Lyri were distracting the fairymen, Eli and Petre freed us. Than you ever so much, boys,” she told them gratefully. Eli blushed again and Petre grinned proudly.

Finn took my hand. “And thank you for coming back to save us.” He gave me a warm smile, and I was glad I’d come, despite the pain. I could see why Anabelle had been so heartbroken about losing him.

Then a thought struck me. We were all together… except Fiona. “Where’s Fiona?”

“Well, the dustbunny situation got a little out of hand, so Fiona went to go catch him.”

“Wait, Fiona just waltzed into the middle of all those fairies?”

They all nodded. “Pretty much.”

I swallowed hard. Better hope her disguise held up. I turned my head to look for Fiona, but all I saw was a cacophony of wings and fairies and noise. Suddenly the commotion quieted and I could hear a shrill, familiar voice saying, “I got him!” The fairies parted a bit and I could see Fiona triumphantly holding up a wriggling ball of fluff. She glanced around until her eyes rested on us.

“Okay, well, I’m going to go, um… dispose of this little rascal now,” she said to the crowd, and started moving toward us. Uh-oh. As she came closer I took in her messy hair, bedraggled clothes, and the dirt and dust covering her all over. This was not good. She looked way to much like a dust pixie again.

Some of the fairies must have thought so too because a few of them turned toward us with odd expressions, like they were trying to place our faces. Suddenly, Reuven leapt into the air.

“After them,” he bellowed, “they’re dust pixies!” Unfortunately, Anabelle chose this time to peek out from behind the small bush where she was hiding. Reuven’s face turned even darker with anger. “And they’re trying to kidnap the princess!” Oh really? I thought. Who’s the one talking?

Once again, Eli yelled, “FLY!”

His father turned on him fiercely. “Oh, so now you’re against us, are you?”

I thought Eli would be too shy to speak up for us, but I was wrong. “No, father,” he said quietly. “I’m not against you – I’m just for them. They’re really not as bad as we think-”

“ENOUGH,” Reuven roared. “We will discuss your choice of friends later. For now, CAPTURE THEM.”

I gulped. An army of fairies surged toward us. I tried to lift off, but pain shot through my right wing. I crumpled to the ground, my friends gathering around me. There was no escape now.

Unless…

If we could just start Stage Three of our plan, immediately, but I couldn’t do it by myself. The fairies were coming closer and closer. Please, please, please. Suddenly the fairies halted.

“Watch out, it’s a human!” All at once the fairies turned and scattered into the bushes.

Yesssss! I could feel Rosalind’s thunderous footsteps crunching through the dry leaves.

“We’ve got to get out of here. Now,” Finn whispered. “Can you make it, Mae?” I struggled to my feet, feeling fine, but when I fluttered my wings I collapsed again and tears spilled down my cheeks.

I shook my head, “I think my wing is broken.”

Finn pulled me up. “It’s okay, Mae, we’ll help you. Do you think you could let me carry you?”

I nodded. I felt small and humiliated. Only little dust pixies, even younger than Petre, were flown piggyback, when they were too young to fly fast enough on their own, but there was no other choice. I climbed onto Finn’s strong back and we sped off. Just when it seemed we were finally clear of the fairies, I heard a shout and something whistled through the air.

Finn gasped and fell to the ground. A long, thin arrow was stuck in his back, just below where I sat.

“Nooooo,” I wailed. Anabelle swooped to the ground. “Finn! FINN! Are you okay?” Not again. We were so close. We had come to the end of our plan. What more could we do? Suddenly I felt a gust of wind and Rosalind’s huge hand scooped us up.

Somehow, we were going to get home.

*******************

I leaped from step to step up the attic staircase. I wanted to fly – needed to fly, but my wing wasn’t healed yet. I sighed, then scolded myself. I should be thankful I wasn’t worse off. Anabelle Rose and Finn were both covered in hundreds of red, itchy sores from the poison ivy vines, and Finn was bedridden from the terrible wound where the arrow had pierced him almost all the way through.

I still hadn’t seen him since we came back since after all the explanations and crushing hugs and panicked scoldings from my parents, we had been stuck inside the house for several days as punishment – which, I had to admit, was more than fair, seeing as we broke two of the most major laws of the dust pixies: Don’t Associate With Fairies; and Don’t Ever, EVER, Under Any Circumstances, Let Yourself Be Seen By Humans. However, after telling our parents all about it, they relaxed a bit and even became curious to see this human and the fairy and dust pixie whom we had rescued.

That’s why we had all come to the attic – my whole family as well as Lyri’s. The adults paled as they saw the giant form of Rosalind laying stretched out on the dusty floor beside Finn’s house, but they made it through the introductions remarkably well, and seemed grateful to meet the one who had saved their children. Then Anabelle came out and we introduced everyone once again. I could tell my mother was impressed with Anabelle’s grace and beauty. Finally we all crowded into Anabelle’s lovely house with the beautiful evergreen forest wallpaper to see Finn. He was laying on the overstuffed couch made from green felt scraps and matchsticks. He looked very, very tired and his shirt bulged in the back with his bandage, but his smile was bigger than ever.

It was then that I knew everything would be alright. We had shown the fairies that we weren’t afraid of them, that though we had a human on our side, we were strong and brave ourselves. Despite their hostility and all the injuries they had given us, I was confident that one day soon, the dust pixies and the fairies would make peace. I remembered Eli with his big, dark eyes and knew for certain that, like humans, the fairies weren’t all bad. They were really more like us than we had ever imagined.

I looked over the mix of dust pixies and fairies and humans, and heaved a happy sigh. It had all been worth it. All the pain and panic, broken bones and baths, had most definitely been worth it.

And as I sat there listening to Finn recount his adventures, I was very grateful to that mischievous little dustbunny on Round Up Day who had unknowingly changed my life forever.

____________________

There! Ahh, it feels so good to be able to finish a series like this. 🙂 I do hope you enjoyed it, my dear readers! Thanks for your encouragement and kind comments on this story. ♥

Until next time!

***Allison***

WordCrafters 3!

| Allison

IT’S HERE, GUYS! YAYAYAYAY! I am so looking forward to reading your lovely chapters this go ’round. 😀

Here is the list of participants and their order. Please let me know if those weeks absolutely will NOT work for you, and I’ll do my best to change it.

  1. Allison/Josie
  2. Silver Wisp
  3. Nicole
  4. Lainey
  5. K. A.
  6. Mukta
  7. Megan
  8. Zielle
  9. Mahriya
  10. Hope
  11. Mercury Vivian Eliza
  12. Anika Joy
  13. Chloe
  14. Charis (Grace)
  15. Mirra
  16. Sarah
  17. LydiaFinn
  18. EnniMorgan
  19. Allison/Josie

For a quick review of the rules, I’ll show you the first chapter here shortly, and then the next person, will write the second chapter based on where it ends and the loose plot outline I’ll give you. After a maximum of one week, it’s the next person’s turn. If you finish your story before one week, that would be great too! It will make WordCrafters move forward a little more quickly.

I decided to put the pictures of the characters and their descriptions on the WordCrafters 3 page so this post wouldn’t get insanely long. XD

 

Now for the first chapter. Eeeee, I’m so excited! I hope you enjoy!

__________________________

Esme was having a wonderful day. Little waves nibbled at her toes, sun rays warmed her back, and the seashell she had found felt cool and smooth in her palm. Vivi was sunbathing on her beach towel a few feet away, and Pippin… Esme shook her head and smiled. Pippin was sneaking up to Vivi with a pail of freezing ocean water. He beamed Esme a mischievous grin and dumped the bucket over Vivi’s head.

Esme had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Vivi scrambled to her feet, spluttering with rage and surprise, and ran after Pippin, yelling and threatening to dunk him in the water if he so much as touched her again.

She heaved a happy sigh. Life was good.

Esme settled back into the sand and took another fond look at her seashell. It was perfect, spiraling around and around, each spiral smaller than the last. It reminded her of a giant, periwinkle snail shell. She turned the shell over to gaze into the pearly opening. Suddenly, she gasped. Her eyes widened. She shook the shell, tapped it gently on the ground, and finally reached inside with her slender fingers and pulled out a scrap of paper.

“Pippin, Vivi, come quick! Look what I found!” she called excitedly.

They halted the chase and trotted obediently over to Esme.

“What is it, Esme?” asked Pippin. In answer, she handed him the scrap.

Pippin frowned and read aloud, “‘Item 7: fourteen mermaid scales.’ What on earth?”

Vivi snatched it from him, “Wait, and there’s something on the back: ‘Operation Portal Icxylwocig, property of P. Charming.’”

The three friends looked at each other with wide eyes. Was it time to go back?

*****************

Alalia was having a wonderful day. She and her cousin Jacob were testing out his new boat, the “Captain Hook,” at the beach. A stiff breeze filled the sail and they skimmed gracefully through the water. She leaned over the side, trailing her hands in the cool water, and…

“JACOB! Come look!”

Jacob started in surprise. “What on earth, Alalia? You nearly knocked me overboard!” Jacob rolled his eyes, but grinned good-naturedly. He made his way over to her side of the boat. “What-“ He left the word hanging as a flash of green and red flew under their boat. He rubbed his eyes. Alalia blinked.

There it was again – a long, green, fish-like tail, with red hair was streaming out above it.

“A mermaid,” Alalia whispered.

They looked at each other. Could this mean what they thought it did?

*****************

The next day Pippin, Vivi, and Esme all hurried back to the beach. They scoured the shore for more notes, leaving no shell unturned.

Nothing.

Finally the three of them plopped down on a rock, discouraged. Two other teenagers were walking in their direction, chatting intently about something.

“I’m just sure it was a mermaid,” the girl was saying. “What if it was Ariel?”

The boy shook his head. “I dunno. I mean, if it’s really her, why is she in the human world and not in Fairyland? I realize we didn’t see her when we visited but-“

They both stopped short when they noticed the three children listening to them with wide eyes and open mouths.

Vivi spoke first. “Are you guys talking about… mermaids?”

The two teenagers looked embarrassed. “Oh… um, we were just…”

“And something about Fairyland?”

“Well, we-“

“So we aren’t the only ones!”

The boy looked startled. “Wait, what?”

Pippin hopped off the rock and held out the mysterious note. “Have a look at this. We found it yesterday in a shell.”

A look of recognition flitted over the girl’s face. “Icxylwocig. I saw that on a sign in the forest, when I first came through the portal.” Then she caught herself. “Oh, I mean…”

“Really? You guys went through a portal?!” Vivi was excited now. “So did we! Well, kind of. See, one day we found this huge, weird-looking egg…”

And with that, everyone started talking at once, racing each other to tell their wonderful adventures.

After many words and tales and names were exchanged, the five children felt like they had been friends for years. It was easy to become friends with the only other people in the world who understand your biggest secret.

“But now we need to figure out what this note means,” Pippin said, getting back to business. “It could be some sort of portal instrument or something, to take us back.”

“Or maybe it has something to do with our mermaid sighting? You know, the part about the mermaid scales?” Jacob suggested.

“Maybe…”

Esme had been listening quietly to everyone else’s talk, until at last she spoke up shyly, in her soft voice: “I-I have an idea.” Everyone turned toward her expectantly.

“Well, you know how it says, ‘Operation Portal Icxylwocig? And the mermaid scales section sounds like part of a recipe. Maybe P. Charming, whoever that is, was trying to make a sort of recipe for a portal to get to Fairyland?”

Everyone nodded their heads thoughtfully.

“Yeah, and you need mermaid scales to make it!” Alalia jumped in. “And maybe the ‘Item 7’ part means it’s the 7th ingredient or something.”

Vivi jumped up suddenly. “Guys, wait. What if we found all the ingredients and made the portal ourselves? Then if that really was Ariel that Jacob and Alalia saw, we could take her back to Fairyland, and everything would be perfect!”

At that, everyone started talking excitedly.

“HOLD IT!” yelled Jacob. “Does anyone know a P. Charming? If we could find him, maybe he’d give us the rest of the notes.”

“But if he knows all the ingredients, maybe he’s already made the portal… maybe that’s how I got to Fairyland in the first place,” Alalia pointed out.

Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking.

Suddenly Esme’s face brightened. “Oh, I just remembered! We have Katri’s diary! Maybe there’s something in there about portals!”

“Brilliant!” Pippin shouted in delight. “Let’s go check!”

*****************

Precious minutes ticked away as Pippin, Vivi, and Esme introduced their new friends to their parents, but finally the five children were safely in the girls’ bedroom at the beach house. Esme held out a violet leather journal studded with glittering stones.

Jacob wrinkled his nose, “Ew, you can tell that’s a fairy’s diary. Look at all that purple sparkly stuff.” Everyone laughed. “So are we going to read the whole thing or what?”

Vivi frowned. “Nah, that would take way too long. Here, I’ve read the first entry already, so I can just give you a summary while Esme looks for the entry about portals.”

Vivi cleared her throat with a mock-serious expression, and began. “So Snow White got banished from her home in Fairyland after she herself banished Ariel, Katri’s sister, out of jealousy.”

Jacob snorted. “Number one, how can a mermaid be sisters with a fairy? And number two, she banished her out of jealousy?”

Vivi sighed impatiently. “Number one, I am not an expert on family relations in Fairyland. I don’t know, maybe one of them was adopted or something. If Katri wrote in her diary that Ariel’s her sister, I’ll go with that. And number two, yes, she did. Because Ariel had married her prince while Snow White’s prince, Prince Charming, had suddenly disappeared one day and never returned. No one knows why. Snow White was so heartbroken and jealous of Ariel’s happiness that she banished her – she only meant to move her to a different province, but her plans went awry. Now Katri, her father, and Snow White all want Ariel back, but the problem is, they don’t know where to find her. They think she might be in the human world, but if so, they can’t go and get her. Residents of Fairyland are too obvious in the human world, and plus, there are other physical complications of adjusting to a different world. That’s why we all went to Fairyland – they wanted to force us to find Ariel, but we escaped before they could make us do it.”

“So do you think they sent us the note on purpose, to take us back? No one else but us could figure out what the note meant,” Alalia said.

Pippin shook his head. “Nah, because how could they know we would find that specific shell?”

Jacob nodded. “Good point. It’s still a little weird, though.” He looked over at Esme. “Did you ind anything yet, Esme?”

“Actually, yes!” Esme smiled. “Here, Vivi, you can read it.”

Vivi cleared her throat and read…

Dad says portals to other worlds must be made with resources native to that world. For instance, if I wanted to make a portal to the human world, I would need wood, nails, and other human things to make it. So for Prince Charming’s portal to work, he has to take some ingredients from Fairyland to the human world and build it there. I don’t know why he thinks it’s worth the risk – what if he gets an ingredient wrong and gets stuck in the human world forever? I personally never liked Flynn Rider that much anyway, but I guess he and Charming were pretty close friends. Rapunzel just isn’t the same since he’s gone missing, and I’ll admit it’s quite heroic of Prince Charming to try to rescue her dear husband.

“Woah, now everything is starting to make sense,” Vivi said. “So Prince Charming must have been making a portal to get his friend back to Fairyland, but he messed up his recipe and the portal didn’t work.”

“GUYS! I have it!” Alalia shouted. “Why didn’t we think of this sooner: P. Charming is Prince Charming!”

Everyone blinked. Oh, duh.

Jacob got to his feet, rubbing his hands together. “Well, now that we’ve got all this figured out, let’s go make the portal and save everyone!”

Vivi looked at him scornfully. “You can’t just do that, Jacob. What about our parents? And how are we going to find the other notes? We don’t even know if there ARE other notes. We need to get prepared, first. We’ll need food, and water, and some way to make shelter, and-”

“That’s our girl,” grinned Pippin, poking Vivi. “Always prepared.” She glared at him.

Esme, who was still leafing through the diary pages, suddenly jumped up and shouted, “EUREKA!” Then she blushed and lowered her voice. “Oops. I mean, look what I found!” She had opened the journal to a page with a list of ingredients.

Prince Charming’s portal is coming along pretty well. He even told me what he has so far. (But it’s top secret, so don’t tell anyone, diary. Ha ha.)

  • Item One: Oak wood
  • Item Two: Generous amount of fairy dust
  • Item Three: Stepping stones
  • Item Four: ???
  • Item Five: ???
  • Item Six: ???
  • Item Seven: ???

I sure hope Prince Charming’s expedition goes well, because if he can’t find the right ingredients, he might never return.

__________________________

Ooooohhhhh! 😀 And lastly but not leastly, here’s the revised plot summary, to aid you in your writing:

It all starts with a mysterious note tucked inside a seashell. What could it mean? Who could it be from? And could it be time to go back? Five friends, Pippin, Jacob, Vivi, Alalia, and Esme work together to solve the mystery, and come up with a surprising solution: What if Snow White’s prince, Prince Charming, was working on constructing a portal between the human and fairytale world, but he got stranded in the human world and couldn’t get back to Snow White? If the five friends could find the rest of the notes, perhaps they could build their own portal to bring Ariel back to Fairyland – and maybe even Prince Charming with her.

Thus begins the biggest adventure so far as the children track down pieces of Fairyland hidden in the human world. But unbeknownst to them, there is danger lurking in the shadows – banished convicts from Fairyland that will do almost anything to get their hands on those mysterious notes. If this is a fairy tale, where is the happily ever after?

Exciting? I think so! I cannot wait to see how the story turns out! If you have any questions about the story or the participant list or WordCrafters in general, please just drop me a comment.

Thank you all so much for participating, and have fun!

***Allison***

Introducing… WordCrafters 3!

| Allison

WordCrafters 3 (1280x1280) (800x800)

*Dances around throwing confetti* YIPPEE IT’S HERE! Guys, I am super excited for this round of WordCrafters! It feels like forever since I started the last one. And I’m especially excited for this one because Josie and I have some special plans for WordCrafters 3. 😀 AHHH I can’t wait to tell you guys about them! 😀

But first…

What Is WordCrafters?

Basically, WordCrafters is a story-chain where you collaborate with other writers to create a unique book. At the kick-off of WordCrafters, my blogger friend Josie and I will start the story by writing the first chapter, and then you guys take it from there. Each participant picks up where the last left off and writes just one chapter, and then Josie and I will conclude the book. Chapter by chapter, writer by writer, we’ve written a whole story!

I created WordCrafters last year with the excellent help and advice of the lovely Josie (otherwise known as Été), and since then we have successfully completed two WordCrafters stories, here and here. You should definitely check them out – all of the participants did an AMAZING job! 😀

How to Enter

*IMPORTANT* Please finish reading this post before entering. 🙂

  • If you are 10-18 and have a parent’s permission, just enter by commenting on this post!
  • Also, before entering, please take time to consider not just whether you want to enter, but whether you will realistically be able to participate when your turn comes. We would absolutely love to have you, but please don’t just sign up thinking, “Huh, this might be fun,” but then decide you don’t feel like doing it after all when it comes to your turn. It not only complicates things for Josie and me, it’s also not very considerate of the other participants. Of course, this is just a writing challenge! It’s not going to be the end of the world if you can’t write your chapter, and no one’s going to be outraged or anything, but we would greatly appreciate if you at least make an honest effort to fulfill your commitment, as small as it is. 🙂 And if you really wanted to write your chapter but had something come up, we will be happy to rework your turn if possible. Thanks, guys! ♥

Rules for Content

  • PLEASE keep your writing squeaky clean. Especially because this challenge is for kids, please don’t use any inappropriate content, which includes bad language, extreme violence, etc. It’s perfectly all right to use fairytale magic (think Narnia and Cinderella) and even to kill a character (as long as it’s not a main character), but just don’t make it overly gruesome. If you have questions about what can and can’t be allowed, please just ask! We reserve the right to refuse or edit out any offensive content.

Guidelines for Writing Your Chapter

  • I will notify you when it’s your turn to write a chapter. Please try to respond as soon as possible so I know my notification went through. 🙂
  • Please try to complete your chapter within one week. I know this is a change from the previous WordCrafters, but Josie and I both though we should set some limit this time. Last WordCrafters took a looong time to complete, and it didn’t seem very considerate to the other people who were waiting for a chance to enter the next one. Plus, it works best if we can mostly finish up WordCrafters over the summer when everyone has more time to write. 😉
  • When your chapter is finished, post it on your blog and link back to this post. I’ll read your chapter and then add it to the WordCrafters 3 page up there at the top of my blog. (Or you can click here.)
  • After you submit your chapter, I will let the next participant know it’s their turn. And there we go! That’s the pattern until all of the participants have had a chance to write their chapter.

What If I Don’t Have a Blog?

If you want to enter this challenge but you don’t have a blog, that’s fine! Just comment below saying that you’d like to enter and you’re not a blogger. I’ll notify you of your turn by email, and you can send your chapter to Josie or me via our contact forms.

What Will the Story Be About?

Ooh, this is the fun part. 😀 I’ll give you guys more details and pictures of the characters on the starting day, but here are the basics:

Characters: OOH guess what? In this story, all of the main characters from the previous two WordCrafters are going to meet each other and go on an adventure together! In case you need a refresher, here are the characters:

  • Alalia: For Alalia, books are her life. Most of the time Alalia is quiet, but her mind is always observing things, imagining things. She is shy, stubborn, tender-hearted, creative, and loves reading and writing. Alalia is of average height and weight, with straight brown hair blue eyes, and olive skin. She is thirteen years old.
  • Jacob: Jacob is always up for an adventure. He loves any activity that gets your heart racing. Jacob is helpful, caring, and kind, especially to younger kids. Jacob is a bit over six feet tall, has messy black hair, dark brown eyes, and medium skin. He is sixteen years old.
  • Pippin: Pippin is always ready with a grin and a laugh. He is easy-going, funny, and loyal, but he sometimes unintentionally hurts people with his frank comments, and is always accidentally getting himself and others into trouble with his lighthearted pranks. Pippin is tall and lanky, with curly red hair; twinkling hazel eyes; and freckled skin. He is sixteen, almost seventeen years old.
  • Vivi: Vivi is always on the go. She is athletic, outgoing, and very smart, but sometimes her strong nature gets the better of her and she becomes bossy and overbearing. Vivi also has a short temper; she very rarely cries, but easily gets angry. Vivi is short and wiry, with shoulder-length, wavy blond hair; gray-blue eyes; and tanned skin. She is thirteen years old.
  • Esme: Esme is gentle soul. She is kind, tender, and affectionate, but also a bit fragile and proud of her beauty – she doesn’t like getting her hands dirty or her dress torn. Although she is easily frightened and often cries about small things, in true trials she is amazingly strong. Esme is small and slender, with long, straight black hair; dark brown eyes; and creamy skin. She is eleven years old.

Plot: This is another thing we’re doing a bit different this time. Josie and I are going to give you guys a bit more of an outline than we usually do because… well, I’ll talk about that at the end of the post. 😉 We’re still working out the details of the plot, but here’s a short synopsis, subject to change:

The five kids meet each other on a vacation and discover that they share a secret: they are the only humans to have ever traveled to the hidden world of Fairyland. One day they find a stack of envelopes in the mail, labeled “From Ariel. To Whom It May Concern.” Upon opening the letters, they find that the envelopes contain a series of mysteries, along with clues that just might lead them to the solutions. Is the sender of the letters really Snow White’s sister? Why did she disappear and where did she go? And who is that mysterious stranger that appears to be following them? The clues lead the five friends to a surprising solution… and into big trouble. If this is a fairytale, where’s the happy ending?

When Will WordCrafters 3 Start?

Josie and I will post the first chapter of WordCrafters 3 on June 15. That means you have about 20 days to sign up. O.o

One More Thing…

Okay, guys, I know this is getting rather long but I have one more really exciting thing to tell you! After this round of WordCrafters is completed, if all goes well we’re hoping to make all three WordCrafters so far into a book! That’s why Josie and I are giving you guys a bit more of a plot outline, because this round is going to be the last book in the “series” if you want to call it that. What do you guys think about self-publishing it? Would you be interested in helping us edit it?

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AHHH I’M SO EXCITED! Are you? If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to Josie or me.

Thanks for reading, my friends! ♥

***Allison***