Getting Things Started

Not much finishing going on here, but I’m starting a few ventures that I’m excited about. So I thought I would share. Maybe you’ll be interested in playing along with some of them:

1. I’ve signed up for Scent of Water’s July photo swap. The theme is “In Motion”. I have to come up with at least one good photo depicting motion to send to my swap partner. Smoothpebble and I have been having fun coming up with potential photo ops for the theme. The last day to sign up for the swap is July 7th so there’s still time if you’re interested.
2. I’ve also joined Necessary Chocolate’s summer reading program. I mean really, kid’s shouldn’t have all the fun. It takes barely any commitment but I’m hoping it’s that little extra kick I need to read something other than blogs this summer (no offense). Go check out the great little chart she made. There are even stickers! Download and print to play along. If you want to be official leave a comment on her post as well, but not required. The chart is full of little reading suggestions, my favorite being “quit reading a book that you don’t like”. Silly, I know. But it’s like she’s just given me permission to stop reading this awful book that I’ve been half way through forever. See! It’s already working.
3. I’ve also started giving some serious though to my unofficial participation in My Cosmopolitan Diary’s Summer Sac Swap. You see, I joined up with overmilkwood after the official close to be swap partners. She’ll be in England and Ireland this summer and thinks the American midwest sounds “exotic”. Really a perfect match as I think anywhere in GB is romantic. They have castles over there for crying out loud! My current pondering has been on what kind of bag to make. So many possibilities: fused plastic, crocheted nylon or cotton, knitted plastic, sewn fabric…. The possibilities are endless. I could always felt another bag, but I’ve never been good with repeat projects no matter how much I like them. I usually have to try something new. Besides, it doesn’t seem very summery. Since I’ve been feeling a huge need for more bags around here I just may need to make some up as samples.
4. I’m also gearing up for a certain 4th birthday party, but more on that later.

Painting on a Picture

I just have to say I have one of the greatest friends EVER. Approximately 6 times a year this amazing woman not only has a party but a pARTy. Not only does she take the time to clean her house and pick up some nibbles to entertain us but she also organizes an art project for us to work on. I know this takes a tremendous amount of effort as I’ve thought through hosting one myself. She’s got to come up with a project, make samples, purchase and often prepare the materials and then patiently wait for us to catch on to whatever it is she’s showing us. This month it was painting with acrylics on a digital photo. We each supplied our own digital photos that she laser printed out for us. Then following her lead we created amazing pieces. Here are the two piece I did. On the left is the photo I used, the right is what I did with it, description beneath each piece.

This lovely penstemon sits in my native prairie garden like it’s been there forever when in fact I planted it last spring. Image mounted on wood block. Negative space painted out with green, flower petals left untouched. Strip of aspen added to side as an accent piece.

Image of an out building at my CSA farm. Image also mounted to a wood block. This time I painted over the teal and coral colors to make them pop. I liked how using the same color for the flowers, window boxes and door tied it all together.

I was a little nervous about working with acrylics as it was yet another new experience for me. But it was easier than I expected. See Jen’s fab tutorial to do one of your own or to check out what the others in the group did.

Pounded Flower Shirt

Following Jen’s fern printing tutorial and taking a cue from Spring Thinking I pounded out this shirt a couple weeks back. I had a bouquet that was past it’s prime just screaming for me try. Once I had exhausted the viable flowers from the bouquet I was hungry for more. So I raided the herb garden for some chives. I placed a paper towel covered board between the two layers of fabric and more paper towel on top of the flowers and bashed away to my hears content. Boy did my eyes water when I was pounding those chives! I had a lot of fun and even let Seth take a whack. I still want to try ferns but I think other plants in the garden warrant a try as well. Next time I’ll remember to place a towel under the whole thing a lot sooner. Luckily there were no holes but there was a bit of discoloration on the side facing the patio blocks. Oops!

Once all was said and done I actually liked the back of the shirt the best. Also, after washing, the chives held up the best. The flower portion has faded somewhat but not the blades. The Gerbia’s from the bouquet did fade a bit but still are recognizable. I wonder if the result would have been different had I used flowers that were fresher.

Glitter Cards & Painted Canvas

Now that Father’s Day has come and gone I can post this with out ruining any surprises. I’ve been on a kick to de-emphasize the value we put on material things in our household. This is especially true when it comes to the kids. I think all of their toys scatter about the house pushed me over the edge. In the case of Father’s Day this meant no big store bought gifts for Papa. Something homemade by the kids sounded good and art even better. However, I wanted something more permanent than your average kids painting stuck up with a magnet on the fridge. I finally settle on painting canvases inspired by Jean at The Artful Parent. I bought a two pack of cheap 16×20 stretched canvases for 1/2 off at a discount craft store and set the kids up. However, after watching Eleanor’s reaction to painting with water I thought it best to allow the neighbor girl to paint the 2nd canvas instead of Eleanor. I let them each have a dollop of three different color paints at a time on a paper plate. I’ve finally smartened up about not letting Seth have access to all the paint colors he wants. The paper plate served as a pallet for them to mix colors. This was a suggestion from Seth’s teacher and it worked marvelously.

Then we needed a card to go along with the gift. Seeing a post by Kristen at Pepper Paints for a Weekly Unplugged Project I pulled out some supplies to make glitter cards.

Here’s the how to for our version:

Supplies:

• Cardstock - one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet per card
• Self laminating sheets - one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet per card (or you could easily use contact paper)
• Glue - any old kind will work
• Crayons
• Glitter - For the less coordinated I really liked these little squeeze bottles. I found a packet of 6 colors for $1.99 at a party supply store

Steps, best done out of doors:

1. Let the kids color on one side of the paper. This will be the inside of the card.
2. Cut a self laminating sheet in half and peel the backing off of one.
3. Let the kids sprinkle the sheet with glitter. The beauty is you don’t have to worry about glue and these little squeeze bottles really controlled the amount of glitter poured out. They also took a lot more time for the kids to apply, which in my book is good.
4. Meanwhile fold the card stock in half with the drawing on the inside.
5. Once the kids are satisfied with the glitter distribution, affix the other half of the laminate sheet on top.
6. Then trim down the glitter sheet and glue them to the outside of the card.

The kids, ages 22 months to 5 1/2 yrs in this case, really enjoyed doing this project and it was much more successful then my previous projects with glitter. Interestingly, the 22 month old was the hardest to get to stop. He would have gone for another 15 minutes minimum if he hadn’t been pulled away due to his bedtime. The best part? We were able to pull this off in relative secrecy. Rather unusual for us.

100th Post Giveaway

Miss me? I decided a 100th post deserved some reflection. You know, things like do I want to continue blogging and am I achieving the goals I set out to. In the end the answer is yes and so much more. What I need to do is find a better balance between reading other blogs and keeping up on my own posts. Not to mention flickr. I’m a flickr addict and need to control that a bit more. I’ve been rather surprised at the number of friendships that have resulted from joining this online community. I absolutely love it but I need to keep a grip or I’ll loose site of my original intent of creative motivation.

So, in honor of my 100th post and decision to keep moving forward - a giveaway! It’s not my best work and not my worst but I had fun making it. Ever since I saw Kathy’s post on Art Projects for Kids I was dying to try my hand at this. I love projects that combine digital photos with other media. Who cares if the original project was meant for kids? I want to try several more of these but I’ve decided to give this one away. It’s a digital pic of a float plane getting ready to take off from Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. I’ve altered/enhanced/added on top of and surrounding the pic with watercolor painting. I’m quite a novice when it comes to watercolor and in fact this is my first real go with watercolor pencils and sticks. So if you’re interested, leave a comment on this post by end of day Tuesday, the 24th of June and I will randomly select a winner. Your comment can be as simple as “pick me!” but what I’d really like to know is what do you want to see more of on this site? Projects, tutorials, kid stuff, recipes… you name it. Alternately, you could let me know what posts I’ve done that you like the most. I’m very intrigued. Let me know.

Still Life

Here she goes again…

Yep, I’ve joined another photo group. But this time I’m worried I’m not up for the challenge. It’s a still life week long challenge started by Martha. Critiquing is encourage, which is great but scares me a little. Also a good still life usually isn’t stumbled upon. Especially in my lego ridden, over crowded little home. As I walked around today looking for a suitable shot I realized I wasn’t at all happy with the state of my house. There wasn’t even a good clear area to create a still life. Every surface is covered in clutter and I had no desire to photograph clutter or the plethora of toys that make up much of the clutter. The macro challenge was easy because I was just focusing on the one element of a close up shot. The food group is a little harder because I have a limited subject and trust me when I say you don’t always want to see what I eat. But still life involves multiple techniques, larger areas and infinite subject matter. All making for a design traffic jam in my head.

We’ll see how it goes. I promise they won’t all be of food using my macro. This one just clicked for me. Check out the other participants photos here. There are some amazing shots.

Looky Looky Looky!

Look what I got! Yeah!!!! Beth over at Felting in Fibrespace sent me this absolutely fabulous little sewing kit for the Functional Felt Swap!!! Obviously, Beth did her homework and knew that I am trying to re-kick start my sewing habit. And what inspiration she’s given me. There’s an octopus pin cushion, a fish holder for a cloth tape measure and a needle case with a fish on one side and a crab button on the other. You can see WAY better pictures of the items on Beth’s post by clicking here. She included the tape measure and a couple needles and pins so it’s all ready to go. She even wrapped it all up very prettily with great attention to details - fancy star tape on the bubble wrap (which promptly decorated twigs in the yard, transforming them into magic wands) and a lovely box with a fish scene added to the inside lid! How fun is that?

I realize I’m using entirely too many exclamation points here but I really am that excited. She did a great job and I will really enjoy using them. My only worry is that I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to do battle with my son for the octopus pincushion.

I hope you all realize that Seth did the needles in the eye bit, not me.

Please take some time and check out Beth’s Fibrespace website. There you’ll find links to her etsy shops for both handmade items as well as felting supplies. I only wish I was even remotely near North Yorkshire so I could take one of her classes. That would be dreamy.

Thank you so much Beth!!! Now I’m all set to get started on my toadstool swap project!

Caterpillars!

Let me introduce you to our new house mates and my new dining table centerpiece. Seth’s not really into naming his buggy finds but his Papa and I call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. I believe they are both Forest Tent Caterpillars and will become rather common moths in due time if all goes well. I would prefer to be raising beautiful butterflies like Kristen but it wasn’t really up to me. Seth found these little guys over the weekend. One he carried home from a picnic at the park and the other was found on the walkway to our front door. He was very intent on keeping them so I immediately did a little internet research. I found that Discover Life has a great little caterpillar identification system for North America. (If you’re in Europe, try What’s This Caterpillar?) I found a large jar in the basement with a chipped lid and dried out rubber gasket. I tossed the lid as it had quite a potential for slicing open skin. However, I kept the metal wire hardware to use to secure cheese cloth over the opening once the little guys are in cocoons. I love how it turned out and feel it makes for a mighty fine centerpiece. Taking photos through glass is rather tricky but I hope you enjoy these shots.

Even if I didn’t have kids I think this would make for a cool conversation piece. It appears that there is quite a bit of concern brewing over reduced numbers of various butterflies. Seeing as the little caterpillars have a better chance of survival in captivity than the wild, raising butterflies may in fact be very beneficial to the environment. I for one, am going to keep my eye open for any caterpillars OTHER than the Forest Tent variety. Interested in making a Caterpillar house of your own? Here’s some details you might be interested in:

• Pay attention to where you find your caterpillar. They can be picky eaters caring for only one or two types of plants/tree leaves. Test out a leaf with your caterpillar and you’ll quickly know if he likes it. Our little guys like oak and choke cherry leaves. It’s amazing to watch them devour a leaf in a short period of time.
• Be very gentle while handling caterpillars. They bruise easily and even a broken whisker could do them in. It is beyond me how ours survived my son’s little fingers but they seem to be doing ok. I would recommend coaxing them onto a twig or leaf to transport them instead of just plucking them up.
• Find a jar that has good visibility and enough room for the butterfly or moth to spread their wings and fly out when the time comes. A box with mesh sides would work as well but that takes more effort. An old aquarium would work wonderfully if you have one sitting around.
  
• You will need a lid once the caterpillars go into cocoons unless you don’t mind butterflies or moths inside your house. Caterpillars can’t climb glass but if you have a stick going right up to the top you may want to consider a lid right from the start. Cheese cloth, wire mesh, tulle, a lid with holes cut into it, you name it.
• Place a layer of sand on the bottom of the jar. It doesn’t need to be too thick, just cover any bare ground. This will help keep the humidity steady.
• Add a stick or two or three for the caterpillars to rest on and possibly build their cocoons off of would be helpful. It also adds quite a bit to the look. Thing 1 and Thing 2 like to sleep up on the sticks and then come down to the bottom at feeding time.
  
• If you so desire you could add additional elements as well, a nice rock, some star wars figurines. You get the picture.
• A caterpillar can devour a leaf in a very short period of time, so make sure to keep a steady fresh supply at the ready. In other words don’t try to raise a caterpillar that has a craving for leaves you can’t find within 50 feet of your door.
• You will need to clean out the leaf remains and caterpillar poop every couple of days at a minimum. Simply lift out the twig the little guys tend to rest on and replace the sand with fresh stuff. Trust me, you WILL see the poop.
• If you’re lucky after a few weeks and some hardy feeding your caterpillars will go into the chrysalis stage and a week or two later emerge with wings! What an amazing transformation. Nothing seems to compare to the magic of a caterpillar change to a butterfly or moth.

I can’t wait to see how our little guys go though the circle of life. It’s been fun just having them hang out with us. For more information and other methods check out:

• How to Raise a Caterpillar
• Butterfly School
• Caterpillar Nursery

For those of you doing this with kids, don’t forget the best caterpillar book of all time - Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We have a giant board book version that I just adore.

Felted Bag

Ta dah! Here it is. I finally finished my Functional Felt Swap item. It’s boxed up and ready to go. As you can see it’s a bag. I knitted it from a pattern in One Skein by Leigh Radford. Although most patterns in the book call for only one skein of yarn, this one called for one skein plus left over yarn in your stash. As my wool stash is practically non-existent I went out and bought some yummy Malabrigo worsted weight merino wool for it. Little did I realize I would need a total of three skeins. The pattern also calls for stripes for the top half but I decided on a more subtle mottled look. Besides, changing yarn every few rows tends to drive me wiggy. For the most part the pattern was easy to follow. The only exception was sewing the gussets. I really didn’t get the directions and needed to put a call in to my sis to figure it out. Thanks Ellie! The bag is a nice size for either a large purse or a small book bag. Would even make a lovely bag to tote around a knitting project. The top edge rolled during the felting process. I liked the effect so much I left it to dry that way and found that it gives a nice firm edge. I wish I had gotten a picture of the sides for you but I’m not willing to pull the tape off the box. They fold in so that the bag can expand by about 4 inches deep.

As I can never leave well enough alone and I had a bit of leftover yarn I decided to make a coordinating key chain. I really wanted to make a matching coin purse but I didn’t have THAT much left over. The key chain is a knitted i-cord and I attached the hardware prior to felting. On the inside of the bag I added a d-ring (pre-felting as well) for attaching the key chain. I like to add as much hardware prior to felting as possible because I believe it gives it more strength and a seamless appearance.

I love it so much I want to make a second one for myself. (Although Leigh’s Circle Tote is looking awfully tempting.) But first, I really must use up all this yarn I succumbed to at the last sale at my LYS. I tried to hide the 2nd bag from the husband but he got home too early.

I really hope my swap partner likes her new bag and isn’t too miffed at it being late. Sometimes life just gets in the way. We don’t always hit our deadlines and that’s ok. If you’re part of the swap and haven’t sent your item out yet just drop us a line to let us know how it’s going a functionalfeltswap {at} gmail {dot} com. Obviously, I will understand. Jen wrote a great post on things to keep in mind as we try to wrap up this swap, please take a moment to check it out if you haven’t already. And keep posting those pictures to the flickr group. We just love seeing everyone’s work.

The Food Group

Chickpea Sewing Studio has started a little foodie photo challenge that I’ve decided to participate in as an effort to get to know my new camera. We’ve really stepped it up a notch with this new camera as not only does it have a macro setting, but also super-macro and super-macro with LED. Not to mention a whole kit ‘n caboodle of other features. I thought this photo share seemed like a fun way to learn about all those new facets and improve my general photo skills as well. So without further adieu, here’s my first submission, the cranberry orange bread my son and I made for breakfast this morning from a box mix. It was quite tasty.

I probably won’t post here everyday as I can’t imagine you’d be that interested in what I eat, but you can always check out my flickr set or the photo pool for all of the participants.