Last week’s in-person visit with a childhood friend was long in the planning, full of crafty activity ideas shared through our Instagram accounts. Still in tact after more than six decades is our shared love for the arts, making stuff by hand, and an appreciation for the carefree childhoods we experienced on the island, long before it evolved into the internationally famous place it is today. In fact, Susan has just published her memoir, Nearly Native A Nantucket Story of Adoption, Love, and Luck. If you’d like to read my Goodreads review, click here. The themes of adoption, childhood as foundation for adult life, and friendship make this a good book club pick.
For this occasion, I thought it would be fun to have special notebooks for the stamping project we had decided to try during our visit. Why not design and print one, right?! The notebook’s front cover image was taken years ago at Star Swept Cottage, the hand built home of another island friend. She was one of many young people who came for a summer job in the 1970s but fell so in love with Nantucket’s charms that they stayed and called it home.
(Above left) We made “stamps” using pliable erasers, pressing them into embossed surfaces around the patio garden. We then inked our ‘impressions’ using a standard stamp pad. (Above right) An iconic island view: Rounding Brant Point Lighthouse before entering Nantucket Harbor, with town in the distance.
After exhausting all impressionable surfaces, what could I do but draw a bit of the patio scenery? The cheerful sounds of chickadees, wrens, mocking birds, one tattered blue jay, and a hummingbird are the backdrop.
And for reference, below is the inspiration — my friend’s welcoming patio garden:
Taking the time to draw a piece of the garden was a wonderful way to slow down and be fully present. And now my drawing is also a special reminder of the conversations between two island girls who have been friends since the fourth grade.
Notebooks were designed and printed through the online service at Blurb.