Totally enamored by these bright-colored leaves as the sun was shining in through my dining room window the other day! Not sure what kind of plant his is… but I’m diggin’ it!

For this week’s LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class project, I decided to kick it off with a little visual inspiration! Only Mother Nature can create this amazing collection of shapes, colors & textures! But my students were going to give it a try too!!!

Looks like my pals Allison & Terry were back at Illinois Beach State Park yesterday to continue their scavenger hunt for the “elusive” hidden fortune cookies… for their third time! Looks like they found three more “cookies” this time… which makes up for their second trip where they found none! Looks like it was a beautiful day for hunting… and much easier to find them before last night’s snowfall.

A bit more color peeking through… but still plenty of clouds!

Such cool leaves with great cuts, lobes & holes through the leaves…
and they’re HUGE! These leaves are almost three feet long!!!

And another one finds it’s way out of the frozen cold… and into a warm home! This little fortune cookie was found sitting right on top of the entrance sign to south unit of Illinois Beach State Park.

More fortune cookies still out there…
in both the north & south units of the park!!!

Looks like one of my pottery students weathered the elements today for a little “fortune cookie scavenger hunt” up at Illinois Beach State Park. Good find Ashley… and thanks for sharing your wintery adventure with us!

Think you might need a little help finding some of the fortune cookies at Illinois Beach State Park? Well, here are a few visual clues… one for each of the fortune cookies! Located in both the north & south areas of the park, my textured fortune cookie rattles are waiting to be found to bring “good fortune” to those who can spot them!

Happy New Year 2022… celebrating with 22 fortune cookies!

Yesterday my adventure took me out to Illinois Beach State Park… about an hour north of Chicago, just a smidge south of the Wisconsin border. I enjoyed the fresh snow, the blue skies & just playing out in nature. It was so weird to practically have the entire state park to myself?! I think I saw less than a dozen people all day long!

So I had free run of the place to enjoy the magic & majesty of it all… no random people in my photos! And along with the freezing temperatures came some amazing ice sculptures… windblown & gravity-defying. So much fun to experience these magical moments all around. Such a great day. Such a wonderful adventure.

Waiting for a delayed “L” train… getting the blues?!