Hey, #watercolor painters, are you compelled to finish all colors in the pan around the same time? I painted this just to use up remaining pink and purple, my least fav colors. #IsThisArt #Relaxing

When you start the day with a #moth on your hand… it’s gonna be a good day. #InsectLife #ChooseKindness

When the #painting instructor didn’t show, the #librarian pointed out that we may as well stay since we’d already set time aside to focus on our creative selves. I stayed and drew stuff from online tutorials to #watercolor later. Would you have stayed or gone home? ✍️ vs 🏠 #MentalHealthMatters #relax

Excited to be dropping off material at the fairgrounds for my Labor Day stint as the featured #author at the MN State Fair’s Alphabet Forest! #WritingCommunity #SCBWI #KidLit

First time growing garlic 🧄 and I learned that if you plant in the spring instead of the fall, the so-called “harvest” comes out looking like tiny onion bulbs, not like the giant garlic heads with multiple cloves that overwinter. I harvested less than I planted. #OrganicGardening #LiveAndLearn

Another #author first! 😃 📕 #WritingCommunity #SCBWI

I came across buckthorn control goats at the park this morning, so that must mean it’s going to be a superb day! #OrganicGardening #GoatLife

Free mini tapestry weaving class from my #library. If I squint really hard I can imagine it’s a beach scene. 😆 #IsThisArt #SummerVibes #Relaxation

I spy with my author’s eye… my #PictureBook in the background of the ALA conference pics! #WritingCommunity #SCBWI #ALA

A friend asked me to post more of my Bad Art pics. Let this encourage you to enjoy the process without worrying about the product. 😌 #MentalHealthMatters #IsThisArt

A new first in my #author’s journey: I got heckled by a 3-year-old in the front row during my story time at Niche Books: He threw his head back and pretended to snore loudly in the middle of my reading as his mom did nothing. So now I can cross THAT off my potential anxiety list! 😂 #WritingCommunity

Got kids? Bring ‘em to story time, Saturday 10:30, at Niche Books! Face paints, temp tattoos, and a simple craft to follow the reading. Hope to see you there! @esckeyes.bsky.social #WritingCommunity #SCBWI

Another first! Representing the Red Balloon Bookshop at the Grand Old Days parade in St. Paul. So fun! 📕 💜 🎈 #KidLit #writingcommunity #SCBWI #AstraBooks

This Saturday! 📕 🌲 🔥 🌼 💜 @emilykeyes.bsky.social @wildrumpusbookstore.bsky.social #writingcommunity #PictureBook #scbwi

T-minus one day to launch!! 🚀 (St. Paul, MN) #writingcommunity #scbwi #kidlit

That moment you realize your outfit makes you look like a certain #celebrity…

Sick day today. 🤮 Trying to make the best of it with a little 🎨 #art play.

Great workshop today by @kfjbooks.bsky.social! We created collage art related to specific manuscripts in progress. Mine motivated me to power through a tricky spot. Onward! ✂️ ✍️ 📚 #WritingCommunity #KidLit

How’s a #writer supposed to get anything done with the first TICKS of the season making their debut? 😟

Can anybody identify these creatures that lie in the thousands under my garden’s leaf litter? Hoping they’re harmless detritivores! #Organic #Gardening

Spotted in the wild: Pickles and Paradise by local author Kristin Johnson, at a school book fair hosted by Red Balloon Bookshop. 🎈 📚 💜

Thank you, EXPO Elementary, for hosting my #author visit to kindergarten & grades 2, 3, & 5! The marvelous Mark Ceilley again coordinated everything like a pro. Astra Books for Young Readers #schoolvisits #WritingCommunity

Huge thanks to Mark Ceilley and Greenleaf Elementary for hosting my author visits with twelve fabulous classes! @markceilley.bsky.social #WritingCommunity #KidLit

I got to be a guest #author in St. Paul for curious 1st, 4th, and 5th graders! They had great questions and enthusiasm. #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Thanks so much, Jill Esbaum, for today’s feature on Picture Book Builders! Check it out here: picturebookbuilders.com/2026/03/a-da... #PictureBooks #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Great new #PictureBook by Abby Cooper at Niche Books today! Perfect gift for #BabyShowers and young families.

Would YOU walk under this roof overhang? ❄️ #Blizzard #SnowDay

Free #library class + bad #art = #relaxation

WARNING: Undignified babble ahead! 😂 Elly MacKay @AstraKidsBooks Emily Keyes Astra Books for Young Readers #KidLit #WritingCommunity