Making Things

I think it's important to always have a stash of good quality art/craft supplies around for whenever the mood strikes you to make something. Good quality supplies for my children, not just for me. Children are more free with their creativity, so why should they be relegated to the poor quality kid's art supplies? My husband and I met while in art school,  we still have a lot of our "real" art supplies. We are lucky now to only have to replace colors and brushes as they are used up. I have been collecting fabric, buttons and notions for a very long time, so I have a pretty good stash. I am blessed to have all of my grandmother's sewing, knitting and crocheting tools. If you don't have such collections already, it's best to buy decent quality items a little at a time, as you need them. I am not saying the top tier, but not junk. If it's good, it will last and you will not have to replace it quickly. With good materials a little can go a long way. One gorgeous bit of fabric can make more impact that yards of stuff that is not only unattractive, but no fun to work with. The fun of creating is the process. Handling quality supplies, from paints to yarn, not only feels good, but it also gives the finished product more worth.  

My daughter wanted to practice using decorative stitches on my sewing machine. She picked some golden wool felt and vintage pale green thread from my grandma's old stash. She made kind of a square spiral (if there is such a thing) of a delicate leaf pattern. She did it by eye with no guide lines and spaced it so nicely. She had to keep stopping to turn all those corners. I was proud of her and asked if I could have it.  I pinked the edges and now it is my special coaster. If I had only allowed her a junky old scrap to "practice" on, if I had denied her using the "good" thread, I probably wouldn't love the finished product as I do.

"First, the children would not be "employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats and the like." In other words, the work must not be accomplished in vain. It was not what we identify as macaroni-and-refrigerator art, but involved hands touching varied mediums in expressions of self. As always, it was "the book, the knowledge, the clay, the bird or blossom he thinks of, not his own place in the class or his own progress." Handwork was to be appreciated and useful, following lines of form, beauty and order."

-From When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper, regarding Charlotte Mason's philosophy.

Christmas Doings

Now that the doing is over, I can relax and look back on what was done.  Here is my latest advent wreath, I make a new one each year. Of course I  feel the need to sneak mushrooms and acorns into the  decor whenever possible. Sure the mushrooms are fake but they made it look much nicer, like a walk in the woods.

I was inspired by the The Complete Dickens Christmas issue of The Storybook Home Journal to make this Christmas pie. It is a puff pastry 'package' filled with beef, carrots and gravy. I enlisted my husband's help, an extra pair of hands made the process go smoothly. While he cut out the decorative shapes I worked quickly getting the filling to stay in the dough parcel. He came up with the idea to paint the "berries" before baking with beet juice to make them that pretty red.

My new fish and fungus apron. My friend Andrea, who always knows what I like, gifted me with this mushroom print dish towel. Much too crisp and nice to wipe up slops, I decided to make it into an apron adding an interesting fish print I love but so far have had no use for.

Who is that cutie in my apron pocket? Her name is Mei and she is our new guinea pig. Over the holidays we lost two of our beloved piggies, Penny and Pumpkin. Our remaining girl, Woogie has not been doing well finding herself alone for the first time in her life. She has lived with us and her two cage sisters for the last five years. Yesterday we brought lovable Mei into the family. Woogie has perked up and is acting like her old self again. 

Tea with Squirrel

I’ve never had a tea cozy of my own. Sure I’ve made them to sell and made them for gifts, but never made one for myself until today. Each year when the temperature drops and I have need of a cozy I grab a kitchen towel, wrap it around my teapot and that’s that. It works so well that the real need is gone so I figure why waste the time making one when there are so many other things pressing. This adorable squirrel pattern was so simple and quick that I couldn’t resist it. I whipped it up today from a piece of berry wool felt. It would have been done even faster but my sewing machine has issues with metallic thread and I wanted  gold stitching for this festive Christmas season. Tonight while the children were finally nestled all snug in their beds it was just me and the squirrel for tea. He did his job while I glanced through some of my inspirational Christmas books for more ideas of things to make and do.

knitting glasses

There's something new in my knitting basket. Is it that great book, 'Vintage Knits'? Or my first ever intarsia project? Besides those things you also see...my knitting glasses. For a few months now I have been needing more distance between my eyes and whatever I am reading, sewing, or knitting. Well, I finally went to get my eyes checked out. After the initial eye chart reading the doctor said , "You have impeccable eyesight', she wrote 20/20 on my licsence renewal card. "O.k.", I said, "If they're so perfect, how come I can't see when I'm knitting?".  "You're a knitter?!", she exclaimed. "Yes", I replied. "Obssesive?", she asked. "Can be", I said. Her reply? "Oh, we've got to get you some knitting glasses!"  When she checked my eyes with that very close up magnifying device she said, "Oh, yes, you're a knitter. I can see a lot of fibers stuck in your eyelashes.". That was strange to hear. Maybe my knitting glasses will work as a shield to protect my eyes from all those fibers!

Fall & Mushroom Hunting

With summer activities over we are getting back to a quieter rythm of learning. Lots of nature walks and collecting things to study. Mushrooms pop out of the green, soon to be brown landscape, surprising us with their unique colors and shapes. Mushrooms add a freshness to the same well known paths. We never know what we will see from one week to the next. From the minuscule to the monsterous. Letting my younger daughter lead me down a path we’d never been, we found these adorable lemon yellow spotted mushrooms. 

We usually take a few mushrooms home to look up in the field guides. But sometimes if there is only one and it looks really perfect where it is, we'll take a picture so it can remain there to delight the next passerby.  I can’t  believe these colors! My first really purple mushrooms. Of course I automatically think, “How can I wear this?”. The softness of this purple needs to be a sweater or shawl to wrap me up in.

O.k., this bunch was not hunted, but bought. You never know where cute inspiration will pop up. These happened to be at an asian grocery store where I regularly go for my nori and condiments. I couldn’t pass by this pure white bunch of cuteness. They are all connected, growing out of one base. I wanted them to keep their shape and texture, so I cut them apart and dipped them in an eggy batter. I shallow fried them so they were crunchy, while keeping their natural chewy texture.

Of course field guides are the best for identifying mushrooms, but the book ‘Katya’s Book of Mushrooms' is a very good way to introduce children to the fun of mushroom hunting. Katya’s love of mushrooms, whimsical drawings, and overall joyous spirit make it one of my favorites, even as an adult.

Ripples

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  I opened up my e-mail and read a prayer request from a good friend who is scared because her brother is to be deployed to Afghanistan today. Here we are ten years after and I am struck by the fact that this is not and cannot be over. I think about repercussions. I picture a rock being thrown into a river and how the ripples keep going and going and going. We went out for a walk yesterday and it’s funny while I was thinking about these ripples that I happened on this picture. There were many birds in the water, all being kept in captivity because they were broken in some way and couldn’t survive in the wild. They caused constant ripples to occur everywhere in the water, coming from all directions. No deliberate act stands alone without consequences. The ripples of one unselfish brave act or kind word spoken at just the right time can also cause eternal rippling. I’m thinking about the ripples I’m causing and the potential they have to effect generations after me. 

My New Black Tee Shirt

A black tee shirt goes with everything, right? It's cozy and comfortable. The only problem is that I don't like to wear t-shirts anymore. Maybe I'm getting too old for them. I like something a bit more crisp, more like 'real' clothes (Whatever that means!).  I still want to FEEL like I am just wearing a t-shirt though. Here's what I came up with. It's made from jersey that looks like black denim. I cut out a regular ladies t-shirt body and then I began to play around. I made a few different neckbands before I came up to this nifty thing. Kind of jaunty and sailor-ish. For the sleeves I ended up with something quite short and wide, so it's a bit flouncy. I really like it. The bad thing is that there is no pattern and I want more! Unfortunately, I will have to trace it off to make a pattern. This always happens when I "wing it". The best things happen when you are just playing around. With sewing and with food. I know when my kids really like something I've cooked. They ask with trepidation, "Is there a recipe for this?". They groan when I say "no". I know how they feel now because I really wish I had the 'recipe' for this one.