spring – mamasbrush

To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate: St. Patrick’s Day

I’ve been very careful about what I teach our children from the beginning. In some things I’ve altered course as they have grown and I have matured as a mother. Spoiler alert: I’m still new at this mother thing… this stage of it that is. I’ve never before had 6 children in these specific stages and I’m making this up as I go. It may seem silly to you, but St. Patrick’s Day is something I have in limbo right now.

Christian St. Patrick's Day Cards bundle.

bookmarks, cards, stickers, clipart, cross, Jesus, four leaf clover, shamrock, luck

My kids have never been exposed to St. Patrick’s Day like I was growing up. As a homeschool family the only way they would have been is if I introduced it… and I didn’t. Just kinda skipped it. I have always taught the kids that there is no luck. So why would I focus on a holiday that highlights it.

Then when my forth was born March 18th, I figured it was perfect… why try to squeeze another “holiday” in such close quarters. Therefore, we’ve never done the whole green thing. I don’t decorate for it, we don’t wear special shirts or pinch if there isn’t green. As I mentioned, we strongly discourage the idea of luck!

Now I must admit to you that we have discussed the day over the years. I don’t think there is anything wrong with St. Patrick’s Day in general. And nothing wrong for those who choose to enjoy the fun of celebrating it. We’ve done our share of reading about who the actual man was (it comes up on world history after all). We learned about Ireland and even some about what leprechauns are.

In recent years I’ve started reconsidering St. Patrick’s Day and have been less of a stickler about luck in general. Don’t get me wrong, the children have all heard me ask them, “Is luck real?” They know that the idea of luck started with people who didn’t know God. Now that my youngest is 7 and can answer all the questions, I didn’t worry so much about showing them the movie Luck (super cute by the way! We used the free trial on AppleTV to see it.) So as Valentine’s Day was getting near, I started looking forward to what was next and I couldn’t help myself. I designed some cute cards for handing out on St. Patrick’s Day.

We still won’t do much, but how can I resist printing out these cute bookmarks and setting a cute green themed table for their breakfast??? I can’t!

My message hasn’t changed (much)… I’m just taking this opportunity to spread it even further! 🙂 And to bless my kids with bookmarks… something they are way into right now by the way! Now the only question I have to ask myself is what color background am I going to use??? I like them both!

Pop over to my shop for 30% off in the next 7 days if you want some! Use coupon code STPATTYS or click here.

New Chicken Coop Signs

I know I have a wide range of people who are readers here. Raise your hand if you are a chicken person (okay… leave a comment?). If you aren’t sure, you probably aren’t. A chicken person doesn’t necessarily have chickens themselves, but they want to. And not all people who have chickens are chicken people. (Am I right?)

Chicken coop signs | mamasbrush designs

chicken signs, farmhouse signs, chicken decor

And of course, among chicken people there is a wide variety as well. Some just love the birds and others make fancy coops and decorate them seasonally. (Someday I want that to be me.)

We have chickens in a quarter of our garden with a somewhat ugly but functional coop. I made it myself with the help of 3-12 year olds (6 of them). I guess you could say that I’m a kid person at this phase of my life. 🙂 Anyway, I digress.

While I dream of what I would do if homeschooling and gardening, laundry and occasional house cleaning didn’t take up all my time, I made some really cute (sorry, I’m biased) chicken coop signs for you to decorate your chicken spaces with!

They are in my Etsy shop now. Head over to grab the bundle for yourself for 30% off this week. Coupon code COOPSIGNS30 or click here.

Frame them and and hang them under shelter if you have it. I think they would be cute mounted to wood and sealed from the elements and hung on the outside. Your call. What would you do with them? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

2023 Mini Illustrated Old Truck Calendar

Did you see my Mini Chicken Calendar and love it, but not care so much about the chickens? I hear you. Chickens aren’t for everybody. And while trucks aren’t for everybody, I know that a bunch of you do love old trucks! I hope you love this little calendar with all their whimsical illustrations just as much!

I love to tie these little cuties (mini size) onto a package or plate of cookies for a Christmas gift. It’s what I’m doing for our pastors’ wives again this year. The first year I included a mini easel from Hobby Lobby. They make a great stocking stuffer too and fit perfectly. If you prefer the larger sizes, place them in a frame and switch them out, clip them to the fridge, or slide them in the front of your school binder! So many options!

Whether they are for you or for gift giving (both?), you can find them in my Etsy shop right now!

What do you think? Do you like them? Which month is your favorite. Tell me in the comments!

You can find me gathering here.

2023 Mini Illustrated Chicken Calendar

{My new 2024 calendars are now also available! Find them on the blog or in my Etsy store!}

Back by popular demand, I have illustrated new mini doodle calendars for 2023! I did a couple of them years ago (here too) to sell at our Christmas market. They take a lot of time to create, though, so it’s been a while since I’ve done one. This summer I took up the challenge with my mini illustrated chicken calendar.

While I am hoping to sell them at our Christmas market next month, I also have them in my shop as digital downloads. They are downloadable as a PDF with three different sizes: mini, 4×6, and 5×7.

The larger sizes can be framed for display or clipped up, but I love the mini size on easels and tucked on a shelf or in a windowsill above the sink or stove.

You can find them in my shop here.

I have dreams of posting a second design before the end of the year, but I haven’t decided what the design should be. Any ideas? Flip through some of my past content to see ideas of what sort of artwork I’ve done in the past and post your suggestions in the comments.

Reading Logs / Book List for Homeschool (or any school, really!)

I took my boring old books lists (reading logs) and I kicked them up a notch… mamasbrush style! If you are new here, that means changing things up seasonally… sometimes even monthly (as is the case here)!

Printable Illustrated Book Log | mamasbrush

AKA book list, reading log, reading list, reading record, book record. Great for evaluations or independant reading trackers.

If you’ve been around here long, you know that before I’m a blogger, designer, artist, or small business owner (check out my shops in the sidebar), I’m a mom… and a homeschool mom at that… to 6 kids. Any homeschool moms reading? Leave me a quick comment and tell me how many kiddos you have! 🙂

Where was I? Ah yes, homeschooling! Always homeschooling! (I know for most of you, school just ended, but we homeschool all year, so we are getting ready to kick off a new school year at the beginning of July.) As such, I have a number of tools I’ve developed over the years. With my younger set, the ones learning to read and practicing to be more fluent, I started using book lists several years ago. I make a list of the books I want my littles to read through in order to practice what they know and to push them just a bit out of their comfort zone. When they finish a book, they put a sticker or a check mark or a smiley face in one of the boxes after the title. I encourage them to read the shorter books (not the chapter books) multiple times for fluency, so there are several columns for stickers. When they finish a list, I pick books from the next level up and start a new book list.

All this said, while fully functional, they aren’t especially cute. That is to say they weren’t especially cute. Well, one of the reasons it’s been a little quiet around here lately (other than all the gardening and asparagus… oh, the asparagus!) is that I’ve been overhauling my book lists. They are now, officially, cute. — At least I think they are cute! 🙂

There is a different page for each month with unique artwork that fits the theme (northern hemisphere only, sorry if your seasons don’t match!), plus a few extras for holidays and good measure!

I also created a chart for older kids/ adults who would rather have a place to put the date finished instead of stickers.

These charts are great for summer reading logs, assigned or free reading records for school or homework, or homeschool families. I love how it helps me record what the kids were reading for our portolios and evaluations at the end of the school year.

Some of my kids use them in their binders, others on a clipboard or taped to the wall. Keep them handy for best use!

I’ve finally got these digital downloads in my etsy shop. You can print them as many times as you want for as many kids as you have.

Pop over and take a look, then come back here and let me know which month’s design is your favorite!

You can find me gathering here.

Cute Garden Harvest Journal Pages

This new Harvest Journal Bundle is just one of a few items I have listed recently in my shop. I love to keep track of how many pounds of this vegetable I bring in or how many pints of that fruit.

Garden Harvest Journal Pages | mamasbrush

Keep track of your harvest this spring, summer, and fall with cute seasonal record pages. Illustrated journal pages. Space for garden notes, columns for recording harvest amounts and dates.

Though I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks, I have been working when I can and have some new things in my shop. With the arrival of spring comes a lot more time working outside in the yard and garden. We’ve been digging, planting, raking, and even harvesting already! Asparagus is the plant that keeps giving year after year!!! (anyone with me?)

With the addition of outside projects, there is not much time left over for blogging… especially with my new Etsy shop. So it isn’t hard to understand that I’ve gotten behind in the blogging department. I do want to share with you, though, some of the new things in my shop.

From the beginning, this blog has been about sharing the things I am creating, putting myself out there for you all to see. I want to keep doing that, and if you should want to purchase something… well, I won’t complain about that either. 🙂 (wink, wink) So I’m going to try get some posts written up to share what I’ve been doing, all while continuing to create some more. 🙂 Thank you all for your support on this creative journey! (Coupon codes to come!)

I designed most of these pages to coordinate with my Chicken Egg Counting Sheets. They will fit nicely in the same journal or binder. The artwork on some of the pages are specific to one crop (like this strawberry page), but really, you could use any page for any crop.

Others have room for several crops on one page (as seen at the top).

Pop over to my Etsy shop to see the rest of the pages. Use coupon code HARVEST33 for 30% off for the next 7 days, or use this link to have it taken automatically!

You can find me gathering here.

Farmhouse Bridal Shower

This is one of three bridal showers I did last spring for ladies in our church. This bride is the one I designed wedding invitations for (I shared those here.)

The bride is one of the adopted daughters of our pastor and his wife and I was delighted to have the opportunity to do something special for her. She loves farmhouse decor (as do I, so it was perfect!), so it just seemed natural to use that as her theme.

The invitation was designed to be emailed to the church. (I’ve changed all names and numbers to protect privacy.)

Would anyone be interested if I were to list invitations in my Etsy store? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

I used my trusty chalkboard (love this thing!) and a pennant banner my oldest daughter and I made for her 11th birthday (several years ago now). I just love using it when I get the chance!

The center pieces were fun. I ordered a bunch of mini rolling pins (I’d wanted them forever and found a great place to buy them on Etsy!) for this event and my own use. For the party, I used fabric to cover them and taped it on. This was a great way to temporarily dress them up, but leave them for me to do something else with later. I also decoupaged and added vinyl we cut on my cricut to the wood wood pieces for fast and easy signs.

The jars were painted with chalk paint. We made three of them and I gifted one to the bride. I took the idea right off her registry. She had registered for one exactly like it, so I just DIY’d it for her. (Thanks mom for your help in that project! We all know you did all the work!)

No two tables were exactly the same. Many other elements used for the center pieces were taken directly from my house. That’s my cake plate, my cute blue truck from Hobby Lobby, my “abide” wood block (part of my home spring decor), and those beads were something I wanted to make for myself anyway… just used the party to get it done. 🙂

Oh, and that’s my cute little tiered plate piece. (More beads I made for myself… these were part of my Valentine’s decor.) I keep the church party budget down by using decor and making decor that I want for myself anyway. 🙂

These pallets really make this dessert table, if you ask me. They are painted grey and fit perfectly with the pink. Of course more of our pennant garland to finish it off.

The tiered tray is from home also, as well as all the decor on it. My son made the “LOVE” blocks for me years ago (it actually spells “SNOW” on the other side. The little houses, the cupcake stand, the Rae Dunn mug I styled re-styled myself in this fashion, the mason jar plate and all the hydrangeas were right out of my kitchen.

All the little details were so fun to pull together, right down to the gingham ribbon on the rice krispie treats and the “R” I placed on the drink table as a nod to her new last name.

Was the event perfect? No. No event ever comes together just as it is in my head, but we enjoyed a time of fellowship, ate some goodies, watched the bride and her fiance open gifts, and bowed in a time of prayer for the couple and their coming marriage. The couple and their families felt the love of God poured through the church family… that makes the event a success.

Gathering here.

Whimsical Art Prints for Children

These dandelion prints make me smile. You’ve seen the artwork before here, but I wasn’t done. Before long I began working on these prints that would be fitting in any child’s space.

Whimsical Dandelion Art Prints for Children's Rooms | mamasbrush designs

Use these downloadable art prints in your homeschool room, children's bedrooms, nursery, or even preschool!

I love whimsy in my home decor, but especially in my children’s rooms. I don’t know how much of my home decor taste is because I have so many children in my home (six kids age 15 and under) and have for so many years, but I can’t help myself. I love making spaces that my family can enjoy. And they make me smile too.

And I love white space. This is something my husband and I don’t always agree on. I show him something I’ve created and he wants me to make a background. “NO!” I reply, calmly. (ahem) I just love how the focus is brought to all the right places with plenty of “negative” (that’s the fancy way to say white) space.

I included all the phrases, the dandelion fuzz blowing in the breeze, the little boy gifting a dandelion to his sister or friend because I think they carry the whimsy of the whole set. I really love the “D is for Dandelion” print. I was aiming for the simplicity of the outlined flower and the yellow “D” just sitting in the corner. I picture this set in a homeschool room, or even a preschool. On the bathroom walls or one or two of them sitting on the dresser in a nursery.

I finally got them added to my shop today. Your coupon code for 33% off is DANDELION33. Or you can click this link to have it taken automatically. Discount is only for a week, so head over quick! (I usually offer a discount for new products in the shop to my readers, so if you don’t want to miss a discount, sign up to follow and receive notifications in the sidebar!)

You can find me gathering here.

What if they had been silent? (Free Printable)

Easter / Resurrection Bible Verse Sign for Palm Sunday | by mamasbrush

If the people were silent, the rocks would cry out. Luke 19:40

Easter is often a much smaller affair than Christmas. This bothers me, yet, I struggle with how to make it different. Because everyone makes a big deal of Christmas for a whole month, maybe even because Christmas is so commercialized, it is easy to make the time for it… to spend the energy… to get carried away.

Every year I’ve said that I want to make a bigger deal of celebrating Easter… beyond the day. Some years we do more, some years it passes before we know what’s happening.

This year, having Christ centered artwork like this one and this one (shameless plug for my store) to decorate our home has helped me to anticipate the approach of Easter.

lI continue to work to figure out how to celebrate the sacrifice God made for us when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins in meaningful, celebratory and deliberate ways. I strive again to make time for it as Holy Week begins.

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. Our pastor preached on the triumphal entry and I knew I wanted to spend some more time thinking about and meditating on it. I love Luke 19:40 where Jesus says that if the people were not praising Him, the rocks themselves would cry out in praise! What a great picture that is in my mind. Last night, I designed a sign to help us remember that this week and I wanted to share it with you.

Print it out and frame it or tack it up or put it on the fridge. Let it help you remember to praise Him this week as we remember what He did to save us from our sins! All we have to do is believe that He is who he says He is and that He did what he said He did and follow Him with our lives! I praise Him for that and I believe!

Download the 8×10 Praise Him sign!

Would you share this post so others can have the opportunity to print this sign for themselves? Thanks for helping me get the word out!

You can find me gathering here.

Anna’s Wedding Bouquet: Digital Planner Stickers

Anna's Wedding Bouquet Inspiration | Wedding Invitation | from mamasbrush designs

Last year I had the joy and privilege to design the wedding invitation for a sweet couple in our church. I brought out my paints and paper and went to work. It was so fun! With some back and forth between us, I think the end result was beautiful! Shown here are the two options for the RSVP/Registry card. She picked the back one, but I wanted to share both with you.

In the last 5-6 months I’ve been working on a big project. One of my biggest so far, in fact. I’ve turned Anna’s wedding invitation into an entire design collection, complete with a second colorway. I’m working on the finishing touches to the collection for fabric, but while I’m waiting for that, I’ve followed this line of inspiration to some new places.

Today I would like to introduce…

Digital Planner Stickers | Anna's Wedding Bouquet from mamasbrush designs

Add a romantic and beautiful feel to your everyday digital world.

Anna’s Wedding Bouquet Digital Planner Stickers by mamasbrush designs.

These stickers are designed for use on your tablet’s digital planner/calendar/bullet journal in your note taking app, but they can also be used on any computer where PNG files can be used (not suitable for printing). They aren’t just for weddings, but add a romantic and beautiful feel to your everyday digital world.

As always, I want to offer my readers an opportunity to get these stickers at 33% off for the first week I have them in my Etsy shop. Enter coupon code ANNASTICKERS33 or click this link to have the discount taken automatically through April 15, 2022.

Like it? Please pin the image below! Thanks for your support!

You can find me gathering here.