by Naomi | Jan 4, 2013 | Creative Life
To me, the start of a New Year always feels untouched, like a stretch of newly fallen snow. I love the way the days between Christmas and New Years Day seem to hold their breath, allowing even someone like me, who seems constantly in motion, to stop and rest. I feel refreshed and excited about the adventures to come.
Over the break, I visited Bend and went snowshoeing with my husband, Dave, and our dog, Turley. It was so much fun, I can’t tell you. Turley LOVES snow even more than he loves water, and he’s a Portuguese Water Dog, so you can imagine how much he loves water. He galloped around through snowdrifts and reminded me how magnificent it feels to laugh so hard you can hardly catch your breath.
And now, I’m back from the vacation and ready to dig back into creative work. The From Sadie’s Sketchbook Read Along took a little hiatus over Christmas, but we’re back and raring to go with the third book in the series, Waves of Light. Come join us at www.sadies-sketchbook.com for lively discussion, creative activities and lots of fun! We want to hear from readers like you.
by Naomi | Nov 30, 2012 | Creative Life
Holiday Scavenger Hunt:
The Sadie’s Sketchbook Scavenger hunt is not your traditional scavenger hunt… but if you accept the challenge, you’ll turn the Christmas season on it’s head. What if you spent the month looking for ways to gift others in over-the-top ways, spending little to no money at all? It’s December, Sadie-style. Join us, and create some Christmas miracles of your own.
Here’s the scoop:
Complete four of the following six challenges, and then post a paragraph about your experience on the Naomi Kinsman Facebook fan page. People who complete the challenge and post on Facebook will qualify for the opportunity to Award-a-Friend. See below for details on this very special Award-a-Friend gift opportunity.
Challenges:
1. Look for five-ten items in your room that you can donate to a good cause–either Salvation Army, Goodwill, or otherwise, depending on what you’re giving away!
2. Watch for someone in your life who has a task or tasks that they do all of the time for you. Surprise them by taking care of this task once, twice, or even for a whole week.
3. Keep your ears open for an organization in your community that is doing something special for people in need. Give in an over-the-top way by gathering a group of friends donating together: either items or food or even a little money. It’s amazing how much more a group can accomplish than one person by him or herself.
4. Listen carefully. Is there someone in your life who needs a little more time? Time is a valuable commodity because there’s just only so much of it. But you could give someone time in a few ways. You could help someone complete a task in half the time by helping them with it. Or, you could watch your younger siblings for an afternoon to give one of your parents a few hours all to themselves. Or you could even help a parent carve out some creative or get-things-done time by designating a time during the day when you will not interrupt them.
5. Give creatively, Sadie-style. Use your special gifts to create something for a friend or family member. Do you draw, paint, write poetry? Do you have a specialty item that you like to bake? These are the types of gifts that could never be bought in a store.
6. Look for an experience you can give to someone you love. Instead of wrapping up something you buy at a store, can you give a picnic in the park, a scavenger hunt in a museum, or a snow-adventure, complete with a hike, a snowman and hot cocoa. Have the adventure now, or wrap up a description of what you will do after Christmas and put it under the tree.
Award-a-Friend:
If you complete at least four of the six challenges, and post about it online, Naomi will contact you directly about Awarding-a-Friend. You will nominate a friend (or two or three!) for a special award, such as “Chef Extraordinaire!” or “Generous Genius!” You will email a two-three sentence description of why this friend has earned this award, and Naomi will post the accomplishment on naomikinsman.com. Also, she will send you an electronic pdf certificate that you can print out and give to your friend for Christmas. The deadline to finish the challenges and nominate a friend is December 22. All awards will be posted online on Christmas eve.
by Naomi | Nov 19, 2012 | Creative Life
The From Sadie’s Sketchbook Read Along is in full swing! This week, we’ll be finishing up our read of Shades of Truth, and starting on Flickering Hope just in time for the holiday season. Don’t miss the From Sadie’s Sketchbook Scavenger Hunt which launches soon! Join in for holiday fun. Check it out at www.sadies-sketchbook.com.
by Naomi | Oct 24, 2012 | Creative Life
Join me at sadies-sketchbook.com for a read-along of the From Sadie’s Sketchbook series this holiday season. Starting November 1, 2012, I will be hosting a book club, blogging about the themes of the books, answering reader questions and sharing behind the scenes stories about my writing process. Stay tuned for surprises such as featured reader interviews, autographed book give-aways, and even a Twitter Q&A! The book club will run through February 2013.
In the books, Sadie Douglas, a spunky seventh grader, moves from the Bay Area to a small town in upper Michigan. Her dad’s job is to mediate between the hunters, community members, and a researcher about their conflicts over the black bears in their town. Sadie arrives in town expecting fun and adventure, but quickly finds herself on the outside. Sadie does make friends with Ruth, and the researcher’s son, and also meets Vivian, an artist. Vivian becomes a mentor for Sadie and encourages her to explore her questions through drawing and record her thoughts in her sketchbook. The four books follow Sadie through the seasons as she comes to love the bears and worries about their plight, faces the ups and downs of friendship, and learns to see the world differently as she works through her growing need to understand what she believes.
Just like the Sadie books, which raise deep questions and yet bubble over with fun, readers can expect the read-along to challenge them to think deeply and laugh out loud, too. Creative activities, fun Advent suggestions, and prompts to spark ideas for stories, poems and sketches will pop up throughout the three months. Bookmark the blog and join in on the fun!
