Tag: crafts

Rearview Fridays: laundry line card

I was going through some old patterns and came upon these 2 little dresses along with a paper pattern. I’m so glad I made a pattern for them so that they’re easy to replicate. I had also made and saved little shirt and pant patterns (sometimes I love myself and my packrat ways)! The small clothes pegs are worth picking up whenever you see them so you can make charming, tiny things whenever the mood strikes! I think I got these ones years ago at The Paper Place in Toronto (awesome store, worth a field trip if you haven’t been!).

For this card I stitch a line across a piece of card stock, I don’t even finish the ends, hot glue a couple of tiny clothes pegs on, cut out the wee dresses from a desirable fabric, clip ’em on and presto, charming card alert! I made a bunch of them a couple of years ago, didn’t retain one for posterity and forgot about them. I’ve recreated this one so I don’t forget that it’s a keeper. Great for babies, housewarmings, weddings, birthdays, just adjust what’s hanging on the line. I’ll do some more examples and a how-to one day soon.

Rearview Fridays: A Felted Marcel!

Here we are at Rearview Friday already! Today I present a recent project, my needle-felted Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Do you know Marcel? If not, you should check him out immediately as he’s charming beyond words! There’s also a sequel, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two, and a book Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Things About Me.

Rudi’s dance teacher is also a good friend of mine and in December at the end of his first term as a dance student, I made her a felt Marcel as a  thank you present (I’m a big believer in teacher gifting). I got a needle felting kit from a friend a while ago and I just love it! Needle felting is like painting and sculpting at the same time and it pays off quickly. Plus it’s fun to jam a barbed needle into a hunk of wool over and over til it’s felt, great for letting off frustrations.

This week kicked my behind a bit, strange weather, a family trip to the dentist (Rudi yelled so long and loud they decided to try again in 6 months!) and epic bodily function marathons that went something like this: baby Gene poops through his diaper, then vomits copiously across the space I sleep while I’m getting a wet cloth and a new diaper, now Rudi needs to poop in the toilet but he can’t get his pants undone, okay, Rudi’s pants are off, he’s taking care of business, Gene is now diapered, vomit wiped up, Gene poops again, I wipe him and leave him for 3 minutes of naked bum time thinking, “how much more poop could there be?” (error), Rudi, bless his heart, has peed on the seat and left the water running but at least that means he washed his hands, wipe up pee, turn off tap, back to Gene, he’s peed right over the waterproof mat onto the space where I sleep and pooped on the mat, soak up pee, toss mat in laundry, Gene is diapered again, Rudi is hollering from downstairs about a granola bar, Gene poops again, violently, straight out the back of the new diaper then immediately rolls (his new trick that I don’t yet anticipate) leaving baby-poo streaks where I sleep, now I need to pee, dream of a nap for a moment, remember I need to pump milk so I can teach dance on Saturday morning, open the granola bar, now I’ve forgotten to change the sheets, by the time it’s bed time I really don’t care, so I sleep in the traces of poop and pee and vomit. I probably need a shower.

Now that’s not a complaint, it’s a share that hopefully reminds me and maybe helps someone else to remember about the sometimes-madness of parenthood. There was a lot of laughing and sighing involved, I  just had to surrender to the ridiculousness of the moments and pretty much walked away from all blogging, business planning and actual sewing for the week. That’s part of being where I am right now, and so I laugh, sigh, occasionally cry (though not very often, there’s no time for drama folks!), lie on my back to stretch or “sleep” for 5 minutes when I can and am grateful that other people are honest in conversation and books and on blogs about the merciless pace that comes with young children. Plans, as well laid and measured and modest though they may be, often just go sideways. So I’m side-stepping, doing the grape vine through it all, and a plate or two may break, just sayin’.

Happy weekend, here’s to a cozy, calm weekend. Ha ha (about the calm part anyways).

Rain Day

It’s January and yet the Toronto weather has covered almost ALL of the currently available seasons, from relatively balmy to pouring freezing rain to snowing and back around. Rudi (who is 3) is deeply confused about what footwear to use as there is a smorgasbord of shoes and both snow and rain boots. Today it is a rain day, serious enough that we buckled down for a crafty, cozy, thoughtful day in.

I tend towards melancholy and sentimentality (in an Anne of Green Gables sort of a way) so a rainy day really cranks up my dramatic misty-eyed side! Lots of contemplating change and what my work means to me and how I do/will define myself as a crafter and/or business woman with my sewing, what I’ll choose to make for business and what I’ll reserve for simple creative pleasure, and so on. It’s all good thinking inspired by a conversation with a new friend made last week — a friend of a friend who’s a long-time, self-employed creative type.

Alongside the contemplating, there’s some good old fashioned Hotwheels and Cars 2 games going on throughout the house, just to balance things out!

Rudi agreed to help me create my first ever how-to for the blog while we made some rainy day juggling balls! So here we go, for a quick and easy craft, just follow along!

How to Make Balloon Juggling Balls:

THE CRAFT: layered balloon juggling balls
TO START: You'll need: lots of balloons (3 per juggling ball), scissors, lentils (or rice), thin plastic bags (we cut ours from the corners of kitchen garbage bags)
STEP 1: Pour 1/2-3/4 a cup of lentils (or rice) into your plastic bag
STEP 2: Tie a tight knot in the bag (or you can use a tiny elastic)
STEP 3: Cut off the excess bag above your knot
STEP 4: How your bag of lentils should look (pause for dramatic effect) yes, correct, sort of like drugs found in a suspected mule's esophagus or butt on a bad TV show. No need to read this step out to the kids in the house. And now continue on to step 5!
STEP 5: Cut the narrow bits off your balloons
STEP 6: Wrap 2 of the balloons around the bag of "lentils", one over the other, so that there is no plastic bag showing. I used the same colour for a consistent base (but you can get wild and go with 3 or more colours of course!)
STEP 7: Cut some extra holes in your 3rd balloon, 2 or 3 should do the trick
STEP 8: Wrap your 3rd, holey balloon over the first 2 balloons and you're there, 1 lovely, multi-coloured juggling ball done!
FINISHED! Ta-da! A variety of well weighted yet not too dangerous juggling balls.

And she begins …

Here I am, joining the  blogging world, sending my humble, ahem, brilliant (obviously!) musings and adventures into the ether. I’ve been excited, heartened and inspired by many blogs by other artists and women over the past few years and now have the impulse to add my own voice to the mix.

The plan (a.k.a. my challenge to myself) is to write 2 or 3 times per week so as to be consistent but not ruled by the blog. In particular I’ll be writing about my adventures as I create and launch my independent sewing business, formalizing and making professional something I’ve done for years as gifts friends and for the simple joy of it. I’m sure that my life and whatever’s in front of me will leak in as well and am excited to be starting this record.

I started 2012 with the delivery of my very own rubber stamps featuring my lovely logo (designed by my excellent friend Christa Couture — tangent: she’s not only a great designer, she’s also a fantastic musician!) that I’ll use for labeling my work. They were beautifully made in Canada by The Old Island Stamp Company.

If you’d like to read a little more about me, check out my bio.

I think that’ll do as a starting point, til next time!