tomboys

Were you a tomboy when you were little? I sure was! Nowadays I'm a little bit more of a lady, but there are times when I wish I was still an adventurous little kid, complete with scraped up knees, toting creepy crawly things and forever up in trees.

I still have a soft spot for rough and tumble little girls, and I've always loved the Ramona Quimbys and Trixie Beldens and Turtle Wexlers of the world. These kids were fiercely independent and stood up for their ideals, but beneath all that bravado you knew there was just a scared, uncertain little girl who was just desperately trying to find her way in the world. So for a swap I recently hosted, I invited participants to write a letter about their favorite tomboy heroine, and to send some small related trinket along with the note.

I received a letter yesterday which absolutely floored me. My partner Shandymink sent me a long letter about Harriet the Spy, who of course is one of my absolute favorites! She watermarked the letter with an image of a black and white composition book and wrote about her memories of the lending library she frequented during her family's camping trips, when she first discovered Harriet and her nefarious activities. It's so wonderful to read a letter like this, which is so full of love and remembrance for a very important part of childhood, especially when I happen to love the subject, too.

The "trinket" my partner sent was actually not a trinket at all, but an infinitely precious present. Shandymink drew a Harriet the Spy paper doll for me, which as you might guess, I just LOVE. Harriet comes complete with a spy belt, her favorite comfortably worn spy clothes, a pen, and of course, her all-important notebook. Love love love! I would never have imagined that something so special would come from a simple swap like this, and I'm so grateful to my partner for this wonderful present. I have to find a suitable way of displaying this, because it's much too wonderful to keep hidden away.

I can't share what I made my own partner quite yet, but I will as soon as she's received her package. I actually have quite a few days' worth of posts and photographs to share, which is good since I'll be away from home for a few days, likely without creating very many new things. But you never know...there's inspiration everywhere.