Summer Fun With Kiddos From All Over The World

Admiral Giddy-up and the Seahorse Brigade to the Rescue,
protecting the mermaids and fish in the boat from hungry sharks.

Trash Talking Pirates and Their Parrots 

This summer I'm so happy to be back working/playing with kiddos from all over the world again as part of the English Language Learners program sponsored by the Delaware County Intermediate Unit. So many beautiful accents! Here are a couple of pictures at the stops along the way so far.....

I really wish there were more pictures, but I can't do these shows AND take pics myself. These are from some of the teachers, kind enough to email them to me. :) Still have more places to go over the next couple of weeks, and hoping for more photos. Lots of people are taking pictures. This is my second summer with this program and we are already planning for next year.

Yesterday I was with middle and high schoolers and we had a blast! There is nothing cuter than a teenage boy wearing a mermaid tail and holding a baby mermaid named Bald Beatrice, pretending to be her father.

Now back with elementary aged students, really having a ball with them at various locations.

Making Seahorse Puppets After the Show

Chinese Seahorses!

Laughing his head off Pirate!

Pirates, a Seahorse, Octupus and some Mermaids with Babies

Also had a sweet happy time at The Gingerbread House last week in Fairless Hills. This is my sixth visit there! It is so nice to travel around to familiar places and see some of the same kids year after year. They all remember which stories they have been in and which parts they played. Here are some of the colors in Come Joint the Rainbow, arguing about which one of them is the best! Of course each one is important, but you have to come together to make a rainbow........

Come Join the Rainbow in Phoenixville

I just cannot get over how incredibly CUTE and visually appealing Come Join the Rainbow is.
Here's some pics from a story in Phoenixville Patch about the event.

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Come Join the Rainbow at Lamott Library

Just came in from Lamott Library in Lamott PA where Come Join the Rainbow was performed by a really fantastic group of kids! many of them were older and it was just as good for them as for the younger ones.

Next, and last public show of the season is at the Phoenixville Library Monday at 10:00

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Come Join the Rainbow Open to the Public at Local Libraries

This is a busy week, as all summer weeks are. I will be traveling to a couple of Malvern Schools, and a couple of Kindercares for private shows.

But Come Join the Rainbow is open to the public at the Marple Public Library on Wednesday at 4:00 and at the Lamott Library on Thursday at 11:00.

and next Monday August 8th at the Phoenixville Public Library at 10:00!
(thanks to a grant from Phoenixville Sunday Soup)

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Come Join the Rainbow is the CUTEST show ever

It's official! Come Join the Rainbow is the CUTEST show ever. It's been done five times in the past few days with rave reviews from kids, teachers, parents, and librarians Wednesday at  Royersford Library, Thursday at Upper Perkiomen Library, both in Pennsylvania and two shows today at Bradley Elementary School in Asbury Park New Jersey. It's a hit!

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New Flyers for ArtyPantz!

Spent the past couple of days redesigning flyers for all the ArtyPantz Theatrical Storytelling Events. The idea is to have these on the ArtyPantz website so that my customers can print them and use them for publicity. The white spaces are there for them to customize. Just waiting for the web master to get them up on the website.

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Back in the Saddle

Ho hum.....As you all know I've been working towards getting the Come Join the Rainbow show up and running.  I had two shows this week and realized I need to work on it a little bit more, to make it as fabulous as the others. I was going for a really simple show but it's just too simple!

Now as I develop it further and am making props for all the kids to use to represent their colors, I have a feeling that this just might be the BEST show yet! So that is causing much happiness.

I was kind of knocked off the horse there for a day or two, but am back in the saddle today. Yee Ha!

Rainbow Skirt for Come Join the Rainbow

So happy that the skirt from Barefoot Modiste came in today, special delivery from Canada! Check out the colorful and creative store, full of beautiful skirts, dresses and more. Have been loving her beautiful clothes for some time now, and have had many of the skirts tagged as favorites.....then suddenly there it was. A rainbow skirt. Perfect costume for Come Join the Rainbow!. LOVE IT!

Come Join the Rainbow is being performed at various locations starting next week, most of them private schools but, as of today, will be in area libraries starting in June. The ArtyPantz Calendar is starting to fill up now, so it may be open to the public sooner than that.

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Big Rainbow Costume for Come Join the Rainbow

I have been busy remaking all the capelets for my most recent interactive theatrical storytelling event, 

Come Join the Rainbow.

The first show of the season is coming up next month.

I saw an interesting looking rainbow women's costume the other day while looking on ebay for a rainbow scarf to wear during the performances, and thought it would be fun to have it to give to a teacher to wear during the show. Kids always get a kick out of seeing their teachers dress up in funny costumes.

It just so happened that an online store and I were on the psychic hotline because that very day I recieved an email asking if I'd review any product they had, in exchange for them sending it to me. It was a costume store! I was tempted by some of the other stuff they had such as a fog machine, but came upon that very same costume I wanted!

It's actually called a Unisex Adult Rainbow Costume, although I can't really imagine a guy parading around in this. Oh wait, maybe I can......Haha!

Anyway, it's a bit wrinkled from being folded, stuffed into a bag and then mailed in an envelope, so I'm trying to steam those wrinkles out according to the directions that came in the package.

After trying it on once the neck seam came out a bit. It's going to get a lot of use so I reinforced the neck edge with extra sewing, and now good to go.

It may be more comfortable, hold it's shape and look  interesting to wear it on your back but haven't tried that yet.

I like it because it's nice and lightweight so will be easy to transport.

There's always at least one adult wherever I go who is a ham so will have no trouble getting somebody to put this thing on. It would be sweet to have them leave the room and then come in at the end with some kind of Ta Da moment.

They could be holding up the giant painted cardboard smiling faced sun that ends every ArtyPantz story, and shout out the words that go along with it "And then the sun came out and everyone was SO, SO happy!"

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Thinking Spring and Summer

The sun is shining through the windows this morning and I long to be outside. But there is alot of sewing to do today in preparation for Come Join the Rainbow show. Still working on remaking the costumes. The first one was originally designed with felt but switched over to fleece because it was softer. But in action, the little hoods keep drooping, so remaking them all in felt now.......12 capes per color...YIKES!

I didn't get to enjoy last summer due to excessive traveling from place to place doing storytelling events. It was great to have so many shows but summer is my favorite time of year. We live in such a beautiful setting on lots of land with a swimming pool. So this year only taking bookings for the mornings and early afternoons and trying to keep the traveling closer to home.  

Because I want to have a big garden this year. Have been eating mostly organic veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds lately. Making sprouts and learning how to dehydrate foods....basically a predominately raw diet!

Every year my family asks me to paint a mermaid on the bottom of the pool. 

This year there will be one in the garden for sure.

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Accessing ArtyPantz Productions LLC at Tax Time

Oh my. This is the time of year to prepare for the annual meeting with our accountant. It is amazing that every year I have no idea how much was made or how much was spent until this moment. One thing for sure is that its never any where near what I used to make in the field of sales. Leaving that for ART and KIDS was one of those defining moments that I don't regret. However I did choose the two most undervalued areas of society. The dollars and sense of it can be sobering.

Every year, despite the intention of having all my receipts organized by category and month, the reality is that they are stuffed into drawers, in the overhead compartment of my car, in a basket here and a vase there......also had to go online to print receipts and bank statements, etc.

Soooo, here I sit with a big mound of  them, separating them into piles, stapling them together, adding them up, etc......Got all that done!

Now moving on to figuring out how much money came through the door. I'm happy to report that in  spite of the economy, it was the best year ever.

Also looking at what has been accomplished/accumulated since the beginning of all of this, encompassing ArtyPantz and the WrapADoodle Swaddle Blanket.

• Two established websites and two blogs, plus guest blogging on other sites
• Five original, fun stories with positive, meaningful content
• Many happy customers
• Hundreds of beautiful handmade puppets, props, costumes, etc.
• Everything needed to turn these stories into unique children's books....a plan for the not too distant future
• a fully stocked art studio including EVERYTHING one would need to create ANYTHING! 
• a fully stocked office including an amazing commercial printer
• a fully stocked sewing studio including sewing machines, fabric, sewing tables, etc
• inventory of original collage art paper dolls, coloring  books and more
• a comprehensive library of art reference books
• designed my own fabrics for WrapADoodles to be printed on organic cotton

This was the best year ever and feeling  very positive about what the future holds.

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ArtyPantz Productions presents Come Join the Rainbow Show

Oh my, people are starting to call to book shows for the summer. And I wanted to go outside and  make a  snowman today. It's hard to think of summer when there is over a foot of snow outside, but decided to get a flyer together for the new show (in addition to all the other shows) to send to libraries and preschools.
This show has only happened once so don't even have any pictures for it yet. But the place where it happened has already called to book it again so that's a good sign!

 

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Come Join The Rainbow Debuts at Bright Horizons SEI

So happy that Come Join the Rainbow, the latest in the series of interactive theatrical storytelling events is making it's debut this coming Wednesday at Bright Horizons at SEI Corporation.

Just finished making a cute batch of capelets with hoods and pom pom hoods, and the rainbow accordion book activity for after the show. Next step is to make a flyer for it, get it on the ArtyPantz website and spread the word.....hmmmmm!

So busy! Sending thank you notes out for the past few days, to all the places that have hosted ArtyPantz shows this summer. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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