Summer 2021 Inspire(d)!

Posted by Inspired in Current Issue, Print Magazine, Today

Summer 2021 Inspire(d) Cover

The Summer 2021 Inspire(d) is all about finding ways to make do with what you’ve got on hand – in your fridge and for your summer. Inside, you’ll find fun activities, inspiring people and organizations, and tips for self-care and working with what you’ve got. 

Work With What You’ve Got! Community Hunger Solutions • Little Free Libraries • This American House • Blue Fruit Farm • Mental Health + Self-Care • Hammered Flower Postcards • Community Builders: Lara & Neil Martinsen-Burrell • Driftless Tiny Towns Day Tripper • Sum of Your Biz: Big Driftless & More!

Read the whole thing online here!

A note from Aryn:

After a year that felt stocked to the brim with lemons, it’s time for some lemonade, don’t you think?

Many have been “working with what we’ve got” – i.e. making lemonade out of lemons – for a while, perhaps forever if you’re particularly skilled at that character strength. Others might still be honing those talents.

But either way, we’ve definitely all had some practice. We’ve become better at recognizing our ever-shifting comfort levels in this ever-shifting world, and have found new tools to better Work With What We’ve Got.

So we here at Inspire(d) say it’s time to squeeze the best out this summer! Let’s make some dang lemonade, friends!

This issue is filled with inspiration for just that: Stories of innovative folks who know how to make the most of, well, whatever.

In Sara Walter’s piece about Community Hunger Solutions (pg 16) in Viroqua, Wisconsin, find out how this organization takes seconds and surplus food and produce from farmers, factories, and more – food that would normally be heading for the bin – and gets it on local tables that need it.

Meet Jason Loper and Michael Schrieber – and their house, the Meier House in Monona, Iowa – in my story about their path from Chicago to the Driftless, and their new book about the history of their house, the only Frank Lloyd Wright American System-Built Home in Iowa (pg 22).

Read about the ever-enterprising farmers at Blue Fruit Farm (pg 48) in Winona, Minnesota, using MPR and lasers to keep pests away, plus how they helped to establish organics and a farmers market in their region in a story from new Inspire(d) contributor, Renee Brincks.

For our summer Sum of Your Business, Benji Nichols chats with Cody Whittle of Big Driftless about the ups and downs of running his hand-crafted (and amazing!) gear, pack, and apparel company (pg 54), and Kristine Jepsen features the Martinsen-Burrells – or the MB’s as they’re know around Decorah – in a Community Builder piece that highlights the family’s work with the local OWL program (pg 44).

As for your summer: are you planning some, ahem, smaller travel plans? Erin Dorbin takes readers on a Southeast Minnesota Tiny Town Day Tripper Adventure that’s full of fun, winding you through tiny towns and Driftless backroads (pg 60).

As you travel, keep an eye out for little house-like structures, filled with books and installed around towns across the U.S. These are Little Free Libraries, and they were founded in Hudson, Wisconsin. There are quite a few around the Driftless, and we learn about the history, and some of Decorah’s LFL, in Sara Friedl-Putnam’s story (pg 28).

Finally, make sure you take a stop mid-way through this magazine for the summer Mental Health piece by local mental health counselor Olivia Lynn Schnur. She walks us through tips that will help us Work With What We’ve Got – starting with self care (pg 37) – with an infographic introduction by me (pg 33).

Plus, there are a ton of fun summer things to add to your to-do list: live outdoor music (pg 14), flower pounding postcards (pg 43), and lots of super cool things around the region (pg 9). We hope you make the most of this fleeting season – it’s your summer, after all…and you’ve gotta work with that!

Looking forward,

Aryn Henning Nichols

Hammered Flower Postcards

Posted by Inspired in Current Issue, Projects, Today

Finding new ways to unleash your frustrations …er… creativity can be difficult! Look no further than these satisfying Hammered Flower Postcards! You can send a summer note to a friend or loved one, with a bit of your backyard included!

Supplies:

• Flowers (ones with delicate petals seem to work best, like pansies)
• Parchment Paper, cut into small sections (big enough to cover a postcard)
• Hammer
• Postcard template – print on card stock. Download here!
• Paper for flower pounding – you can experiment with what works best. We used card stock for this one, but tried regular paper for the ferns, and water color paper worked well too.
• Scissors
• Pens (for writing your postcard!)
• Glue or glue stick (not pictured)
• Cardboard for under project (so you don’t mess up your table or deck!)
• Pens for writing message and decorating your postcard

Select the flower or flowers you’re hammering (try a bunch of different options to see what you like best – but the ones we tried with delicate petals transferred the nicest!), then flip it so the flower is facing the paper. We found the flower colors bled through one sheet of paper, so it’s best to not do this directly on the back of the postcard template. You may use regular printer paper or art paper (like water color paper) that will later be glued to the back of the postcard template. Cut the paper into four even sections (the size of postcards).

Place a small piece of parchment paper over the flower, and hold in place.

Now it’s time to hammer! Watch your fingers. Gently (or not so gently, although the flowers might splatter about a bit if you use a lot of force) pound the flowers through the parchment. Try to make sure you get all parts of the flower hammered – I suggest following a path along the flower around the edges, then to the inside.

Once you’ve peeled back the parchment, your hammered flower will look something like this. Carefully peel the plant debris off the paper and discard (or compost).

Here’s what our pansy looked like pounded! Farther down in this post, you’ll see a pansy done on water color paper.

This is how our small fern leaves turned out! This is on regular printer paper.

Allow the flower to dry before pasting the paper to the postcard back. You could write your message on your postcard template while you wait! If you haven’t printed the template yet, go ahead and do that – we’ll wait! Tip: Make sure to use card stock, and if you can, un-click the setting that says “fit to print area”. Cut the template into four even parts – you’ll have four postcard opportunities! Smear a fair amount of glue on the back of the postcard – you could certainly write your message and address before you do this, or after (just make sure your hammered flowers are dry before you write).

Then place the hammered flower project on the glue. Press down to make sure it sticks.

Pay attention to the corners, and add more glue if needed.

Once you’ve completed this, your project is done! Write your message, address, and stick a stamp on there, and you’ll send a bit of your backyard to someone you’re thinking of this summer! Enjoy!

Spring 2021 Inspire(d)!

Posted by Inspired in Current Issue, Driftless Stories, Today

Read the Spring 2021 Inspire(d) online!

The Spring 2021 Inspire(d) is all about getting out of ruts and finding ways to move forward. Life is full of ups and downs, and we are here to help you navigate those directions. Inside, you’ll find great inspiration that will help you decide where we go from here, and how you might get there!

Moving Forward: Strategies + Goals, Driftless Goat Company, greenpenny & Winneshiek Energy District, Community Builders – Brandon LaRue & Jeanene Thicke, the Artists Behind the Murals, Hummingbirds • Outdoor Adventures & More!

Read the whole thing online here!

A note from Aryn:

I’m turning 40 this spring! (May 20, woot!) When I turned 20, I started writing decade lists: 30 Before 30, 40 Before 40…you get the pattern. These lists have helped me accomplish goals – from learning to play chess to perfecting all the moves to the Thriller dance to swimming with manatees. The next list I’ll write is 50 Before 50. Wah?! How can this be?

Time just keeps on slipping (slipping, slipping) into the future… but at the same time, it can feel like we’re stuck in a rut. Especially after the year we’ve had. Where do we go from here? What’s the next step? Sometimes choosing a path or motivating ourselves forward can feel like the most difficult task in the world. And it CAN be really hard. But there’s never a better time than now. That’s the best time for anything, really. When should I shower? Now! When should I prune that tree? When the pruners are in your hand! When should I apply for that job? How about now? If you try to wait for the perfect moment, all the moments pass you by.

Moving forward starts with the next right decision. Get some tips on how to make that choice from our awesome mental health writer (and area counselor) Olivia Lynn Schnur (pg 22), and ideas for getting out of ruts in my infographic on page 20.

Something else that helps? Literally getting out of the house. We put together some fun, safe options. Outdoor adventures? Read Mary Hyland’s story on page 60. Up for a road trip? Check out some of the awesome murals popping up around the Driftless, and before you go, read the backstory behind a few of them in Sara Friedl-Putnam’s story on page 34.

I get huge smiles every time I read Craig Thompson’s pieces – the man just has a way with words, especially words about birds! Learn about the late spring return of hummingbirds – or hummers, as he called them – and enjoy his wife, Mary’s, accompanying artwork on page 56. What a pair!

Spring = tax time as well, and thinking about finances…but have you thought of making your finances green (beyond the color of money, that is)? Learn more about the locally run greenpenny and its relationship with the Winneshiek Energy District on page 28, and mark your calendar (and our checklist) for Earth Day April 22.

One thing I really love about publishing Inspire(d) is getting notes and story suggestions from readers. It always seems to result in the most inspiring tales – which was totally the case when a reader suggested we feature Driftless Goat Company. I so enjoyed hearing about the journey of Peter and Cynthia Ruen and their family as they made their way from New York to Lanesboro in this issue’s Sum of Your Business (pg. 14), and also the paths of our Community Builders Brandon LaRue of La Crescent, Minnesota (pg. 48), and Jeanene Thicke of Bangor, Wisconsin (pg. 52).

We thank you for reading, and hope this issue brings you inspiration – to get outside, to enjoy the earth, or explore the region – encourages you to get creative (learn to weave a paper basket from a grocery sack!), and helps you find a way to move forward.

We’ve got this.

Looking(and moving) forward,

Aryn Henning Nichols