veggie tales

what to do with those excessively large zucchinis and bulbous carrots from your garden? sure you could make bread or cakes, but you could also make.... PUPPETS!

Pirate Captian and his creator

put a bird on it

okay, so before i saw this hilarious clip from portlandia, i loved little bird icons. now, it feels utterly cliche, but i still like it. reed and i stenciled today and it was the perfect project for a toddler and crafty mom. he chose a gorilla, i chose, you guessed it! a bird. but there's two, so that's what makes it so cutting edge and unique. ;)
before i ruined a bunch of clothes, we started with some old flour sack dish towels lying around. now, i want to go crazy and stencil the walls, all our clothes, tablecloths, and toilet paper.

happy birthday lilie!

my friend had a baby. now adelaide has a friend named lilie. so we made her a little banner. (actually I  made it, but Addy slept for me so i could make it)
such an easy task, but easy to personalize and embelish- with glitter in this case.

 

 

my little mari

as a little girl, i called a flower a mari. not sure why, but the childlike name seems fitting for these fun little guys that you can attach to ANYTHING- headbands, cardigans, purses, little baby heads (warning, they won't stay on if you hope for them to daintily sit on top)... etc. I know they are everywhere lately, but i can't help but fawn over the girliness of these. i can't wait to make more!

p.s., sorry for the quality, i finished at night, so the pics are grainy

i am a bunny and i live in a hollow tree...

 there is a season for everything and that especially means all things in the art and creative realm. my wonderful husband helped me realize this inclination that i had, and now it removes the "creative guilt" that sometimes overtakes me when i have left one endeavor for another. it also reminds me of my favorite book growing up as a kid, where the bunny basks in each picturesque setting of the seasons and describes each activity. i mirrored that style in regards to my creating seasons...

• in the summer i spend time sketching plans for the garden, getting my fingers in the soil and letting them be stained by the green of the grass and letting them dance over the grill or skillet as i saute fresh green beans or swiss chard. this season i let my inside passions go and walk barefoot.

• in the fall my mood changes to an energetic melancholy- what this looks like i can't explain. only that suddenly i want to read milan kundera, wear a skirt with a tweed blazer and walk the 'quad'. my canvas starts to look more like a real canvas with acrylic paint and charcoal on it. there is also a bounty of harvest and that leads me to milk all i can with the season's highlights. (i also learned to crochet and began to write more.)                        

• in the winter, for some odd reason becomes my deepest longing and need to experience a serious rendering of art. less in this time to i reach out for inspiration, but instead i dig deep and pour out. if i chronicle the past 5 years i see a history of this. standing out in my garage/studio with fingerless gloves huddling over the heat lamp, watching my breath as i sing at the top of my lungs a Bon Iver song (aptly named, too as it means 'Good Winter') and step back and sigh. it is in this season i received my first easel, showed my first pieces at a gallery and a festival, i sought out an amazingly talented encaustic mentor, and framed one of my biggest pieces to date. in this season, i come alive, i am ready- the cold brings out something in me. it affirms my hunch that cold cities produce true art and artists. (think Russia and Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Nabokov, think Seattle and all the amazing musicians, think Paris and A Movable Feast, painters and musicians alike, etc, etc, etc) this also becomes a cozy and perfect time to sew and create functional pieces for myself and loved ones.

• i like to lump spring in with winter somewhat in that we have a very non-distinct break from the storms and wet gray. but this is okay as the symbol of spring matters more to me and my art in that the birth and renewal of foliage reminds me of this life and how i am most alive when i have put to death the things of this world. ("for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." romans 8:13)

as always, here's some music that is inspiring me at the moment: the National

Crafts for Poor People

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

For someone who cracks me up, yet leaves me wondering just how off her rocker she is, her new book, “Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People,”  seems to hit home more than i'd like to admit. She did a little interview on PBS where she is asked what rich people craft like- while she didn't come up with a solid answer, she was full of hokey ideas for "poor people". Although its a little (or lot, you judge) satirical it also has much truth in it. Why else would there be such an inundation of "craft blogs" out there? Well, it resonated with me all too much this Christmas as there is less than a week left before D-Day and I still have 5 projects left to finish. New ones keep popping in my head every minute. (Including making a linen closet door before the guests arrive on Saturday. That brainstorm resulted in a google search: "painting plywood")

My final point on this subject of humble creativity? How do you know you are a poor crafter? Answer: The finished "vintage inspired" result bought at Target is just too expensive.

put the lights on the tree

as i mentioned in a previous post, i promised homemade ornaments. i (sparingly) delivered. we will be vacuuming glitter from the carpets, walls and kids' hair for years to come, but the tree is sparkly and that is all that matters.

from some old book pages, clip art stencils, silver glitter and oyster shells, we fashioned the objects to hang on our homegrown tree from the backyard by the ckn coop. what a unique christmas tree year this has been.

i have included a video of Sufjan Steven's "Put the Lights on the Tree"- a funny little whimsical video.

adelaide's 1st birthday

  since everyone says that the first birthday is mostly for the mom, as the kid is so overwhelmed and tired by such an event, i decided to devote my time and energy to details that i liked. call me selfish, but when she's old enough to talk, she can tell me her favorite colors, but until then, i will let her borrow mine- of course turquoise.

as i posted before, i saw these adorable flags at a botique here in Port Orchard and then on this blog. since that, i've been obsessed and am finally satisfied now that i made them. i am pretty sure that i almost finished them while chatting on the phone with a friend. it was also nice to not have to pull out my tension-challenged sewing machine. all that was needed was tacky glue slapped between the flags. the letters were pulled from Martha Stewart's clip art. the scraps from the flags i was able to "tie" in on the tutu. (as the tulle and fabric are basically just tied onto the elastic- so easy)

a little turquoise frosting topping carrot cakes (she's my little red-headed carrot cake), some coordinating pink and blue candies from the local candy shop, and then a scrumptious family style chard &mushroom quiche (from none other than dec. '10 issue of martha) and voila! first birthday complete!

now, i am having a hard time comprehending that i no longer have a baby. i'll be ok.

glitterfy

this year i have resolved not to buy anymore ornaments that break and shatter- as pretty as they are. i plan to print out clip art and glitter the heck out of them. did i mention that i love glitter? i know that the house will be covered head-to-toe with the flecks of mica, but its a risk i am willing to take.

little banners

easy, no-sew fabric banners. love them. @ penny carnival blog

stay focused...

sometimes i tend to start projects, books and tasks simutaneously and not finish them. this is one i am determined to see through. a cozy cowl-like scarf that wraps around your neck. the colors are perfect for this time of year... now if i can just finish it before spring, that'd be great!

Ready Made

one of my vices is magazines. i feel like i can never have enough. i use them up, read them, cut them, file them... i pulled out a Sunset magazine the other day that was from Summer '04 and found a wonderful salmon recipe. when i was at the grocery store the other day, i walked down the long magazine isle and my eye browsed over all of the topics that i gravitate towards: crafts, gardening, fashion, organic living, cooking, chickens (yes, there are a few chicken publications that you can subscribe to via "Hobby Farms"), etc. i thought to myself, "i wish there was a cool version of Martha Stewart and Sunset combined..." maybe i should clarify to all you Martha & Sunset fans- i think those are actually cool, but some of the ideas, lets admit are for a little more 'well to do' or with much more time on their hands- say retirees. (Sunset, i don't necessarily need ideas for the chicest B&B to stay in Napa, or do i actually want to collect pricey china from around the world, Martha) SO! just as i was thinking this to myself, i came across Ready Made: "Instructions for Everyday Life". it was pretty on the cover with a picture of a Strawberry Rhubarb Ricotta Tart on a cute little antique dish.

here were some of the other topics they cover:

• interior design
• home design
• art
• food
• diy
• bedroom ideas
• home and garden
• lighting
• home organization
• sewing
• crafts
• hobbies

 basically everything i love! Kendall and Brittany, this seems like you, too... ;)

girly tulle

i pulled out the sewing machine the other day and a few pieces of whimsical prints that i had intended for making little girly things... i made this easy little skirt for adelaide. what would go perfect with it is a nondescript little tee- i will have to try and find one at thrift stores, as i am sure she will grow out of it before i even put it on her.

another adelaide inspiration..

these paper flowers have been in my mind for over a year, but with the birth of my daughter and thoughts of how to accentuate the whimsical nature of her room, i finally made my first boquet of paper flowers...
there will be more to come. hopefully i will improve and enhance them with each boquet that is made.

i call them adelaide's flowers (how original, i know)

getting the goods

while my nearest supplier (I thought i'd use drug terms sometimes to draw the parallel between the addictions that one can have...

mine? paints, fabrics, wire, paper, yarn, wax, wood, thread, ribbon, sequins, ric rac, glue- hot, mod podge, yes paste, etc…) of fabrics would be the universal JoAnn Fabrics. while the locality and generality of it’s chain store conveniences are nice, where I could lose the house at is a little fabric store in Bainbridge. I made dirk miss a movie one day when I told him I’d be “right back” and in so doing, came back waaay to late to still make our movie. (New York, I Love You was showing. when we finally did see it, it was fabulous) this little fabric store has it all- the vintage calico prints, hip patterns (I hate using the word hip, by the way.), and an expert waiting in the wings to give you advice and lessons on the sewing machine they have handy for just such occasions. the store is called Esther’s Fabrics. check it out- along with a movie and a bite at the vegetarian noodle place on the corner.

i want to make some skirts for adelaide with this fabric:

adelaide, you inspire me

for some reason, having a girl brings out all of these crazy ideas in me. maybe because with a boy, i wouldn't expect him to like a book filled with glitter, or twirling skirts.don't get me wrong,  reed gives me a fare share of that sort of joie de vivre, but i know adelaide will bring something different to the table. a whimsicality of girliness that each woman has at heart. no matter how old we are, we still love to play dress up in baubles and shiny shoes, eat petit fours like Alice in Wonderland, and have the imagination to hope for a life more... well, more colorful and fanciful.

So, i have started sewing (kind of)

just because i bought an old vintage Kenmore doesn't mean i know what i am doing. nor does that mean i will improve over a reasonable amount of time. what it does mean, however, is that i will be all the more tempted to nickel and dime away my small budget on textiles of any sort. fabric, i have found, can be irresistible and frivolous even when you don’t have an idea on how to put it to use. yards of fabric can be gathered while you mumble in your head “ooh, this would make a perfect skirt…” “OH! this would make a perfect throw pillow…” “this fabric is so unique and vintage, surely I could do something with it!”