by Shonna | Apr 8, 2014 | Gold Mine History
Ever since I was a child I’ve been interested in gold mines. Not just gold mines, but the culture surrounding them. The history, the people, the towns. As such, I’m a sucker for a gold mine tour. No matter how many times I’ve gone deep into a dark mountain cave, I...
by Shonna | Apr 7, 2014 | Cinderella's Dress, Fairy tales, Favorite Books and Authors
In the midst of this A to Z Blogging Challenge I have been tagged on another blog challenge from one of my new writing friends for the “My Writing Process Blog Tour,” which, I suppose would be the title of my blog post today, were it not for the fact it...
by Shonna | Apr 5, 2014 | Crafting
I first saw Ukrainian or Pysanky Easter Eggs at the mall when I was probably 10 or 11. My mom said “no” to buying me the kit, so my best friend and I pooled our money and split the starter kit. We each got one kistka, the tool to draw on the eggs....
by Shonna | Apr 4, 2014 | Cinderella's Dress
Dress for Success is an international organization that helps disadvantaged women find, and keep jobs, by providing them with career-appropriate clothing, support, and career guidance. They have helped over 700,000 women enter the workforce since 1997. This is such a...
by Shonna | Apr 3, 2014 | Gardening
Day 3 of the A to Z challenge! It’s been a lot of fun going to everyone else’s blogs and seeing all the different themes bloggers are coming up with. Fun, fun. For my C day I’m posting pictures I took a couple weeks ago when I stumbled across a...
by Shonna | Apr 2, 2014 | Teens Doing Cool Things
Day 2 in the #atozchallenge! Over the past few years we’ve seen a rash of Photoshop backlash. You can search on YouTube for “Photoshop model before and after” and find almost 50,000 videos: a mix of how-tos and fails and calling out the practice of making real humans...
by Shonna | Apr 1, 2014 | Book Art, Cinderella's Dress, Favorite Books and Authors
With my book launch looming (T minus 2 months, 2 days) for Cinderella’s Dress, I’m analyzing what other authors do for book signings. One of my favorite fan-girl moments is seeing the unique ways in which authors autograph their books. Some have specific...
by Shonna | Mar 23, 2014 | Cinderella's Dress, Fairy tales, Favorite Books and Authors
Cinderella has always been one of my favorite fairy-tales. It’s not so much the rags-to-riches for me, or the romance, but the prevailing sense of justice when the girl who was treated so cruelly rises above, and takes the very place her tormentors were vying for. The...
by Shonna | Mar 19, 2014 | School Stuff, status update
We studied Egypt earlier this school year so a trip to Memphis, Tennessee was a nice alternative to traveling to the real Egypt. Just think: a pyramid (overlooking the Mississippi instead of the Nile), and hieroglyphs, and an obelisk all in one handy spot! ...
by Shonna | Feb 18, 2014 | Cinderella's Dress, Teaching Writing
For months I’ve been living in relative bliss, with thoughts of the infamous EDIT LETTER looming over my head…but far above my head, like a distant storm I knew was coming but was a ways off yet. And then…it came: (Thanks Theresa and...
