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everyday beauty

So I've been doing this thing where I take pictures. I won't say that I am a photographer, because I'm just another person with a digital SLR and there's no need to get uppity about it. But my point is that I'm not always, shall we say, a huge fan of my life. On the bad days (and there have been some bad days lately) it can be hard to see the value in what I do. And yeah, yeah, I know "Moms are important", and I'm sure if I google that phrase I'll get a bajillion heart-felt, uplifting stories about the unsung heroes of early childhood. But my point is that it feels like a bit of a boring slog sometimes. So I'm trying to do what I do and look for the beauty. Trying to make some art. Trying to see beyond the whining and the poop and the endless making of food and engage my eye and brain and heart. So I'm taking pictures of things in my life that are beautiful. They are mostly still-life-y things, and occasionally will involve my kids. But my rule for myself is no styling and no staging. No careful choosing of backgrounds. No wiping of dirty faces. No asking anyone to do anything again while I get a shot. Just pictures of things in my messy life as they are. Like this beautifully smeared plastic-plate paint palette, courtesy of my four year old. 

 Though I will allow myself slight repositioning, as in the image below.Those little boots were set on the balcony railing to dry after a good soaker, late last summer. I angled the little one on the right just a bit, to get a more pleasing angle. And I might move something into a bit of better light. 

But sometimes the light is just perfect, right where it is.

I'm going to try to put up a post like this once a week. Though I'm not committing to a particular day. You'll just have to wait and see. 

draw big!

I was at the grocery store the other day and they were having a sale on toilet paper. That, in and of itself, is not the point here. Sure, I bought a couple of packs of discount price yet high quality butt wipe and felt good about that. But no, the important thing was that since it was on sale, the grocery store had wheeled out a couple of skids of Cottonelle or Cashmere or whatever they call it these days and just set them directly on the floor. And each layer of toilet paper packages was stacked with these big, lovely sheets of cardboard between them. Luckily one layer was almost finished and so I was able to grab two big sheets of the stuff to hustle out to my car to be put to good and artful use someday at home.  And I don't know about you, but the toughest hours, parenting-wise, in my house are from 4:00 when the Little Dude gets off the bus till dinner at 6:00. There can be a lot of fighting, whining, and random angry outbursts over the smallest things. And I find it really, REALLY helps if I have an activity for the kids to do. And I don't mean an activity I have to preside over and walk them through (I have dinner to make y'all) but something they can engage with on their own. No multi-step, paint and glue mess-making extravaganzas (those are for the leisurely weekend mornings). Just something simple, like "Here's a giant piece of cardboard and some markers. Have fun!" And fun they did have! The Little Dude was very focused on making swords. First he traced a toy sword he already had, and then he decided to make his own. 

I had two sheets of cardboard, one for the Little Dude and one for the Little Guy, so as to avoid the inevitable conflict. But since the Little Dude is a much more competent drawer than the Little Guy (being nearly three years older) it quickly became a game of watching-your-big-brother-draw. Luckily L.D. likes to draw almost as much as L.G. likes to be drawn for, so it was a win-win situation. 

I particularly like this kitty cat that the Little Guy commissioned from his big brother. 

And he also incorporated the negative space of the ripped out corner of one of the sheets of cardboard as the chomped-out bite space of a "deep sea electric eel". Please note that is is transparent (as many deep sea creatures are) and antomically correct, featuring internal organs, intestines, a penis and a rectum. Because, science.

On a side note, this was a really fun exercise in the concept of scale. If you like drawing with your kids, you should totally get some sort of big paper or cardboard and give this a try. It really rejuvenates the experience for them, and you get some really great results. Also, it kept them busy for, like, an hour, which is awesome in my books. And think about the drawing supplies you give them too. I put out a box of standard crayola washable markers which got totally ignored in favour of some sharpies. They don't usually get to use the big sharpies (those are typically mom and dad territory) but I let them have them since they were outside and it couldn't bleed through onto my table top or anything, and they LOVED it. Its the whole forbidden fruit thing. Or in this case I should say forbidden markers.

When the Little Dude tired of entertaining his little brother (those swords are not going to draw themselves!) the Little Guy finally decided to do a bit of drawing himself. Not as elaborate or large scale as the Little Guy's...

...but very satisfying none-the-less. 

Now I've just got to find some more big cardboard. I'll be watching for the next toilet paper sale with a whole new agenda. 

arm knitting

ok, I know this is not exactly news to most knitters on the internet, I'm a little late on this trend, but did you know you can knit with your arms? You totally can. See? My neice, Ariana was up visiting the other day. Ever since she was little, we've done crafty things together. But now she's all grown up and we don't see each other as often as we used to, (because she's at University and I'm currently doing my degree in Nose and Butt Wiping with a minor in Lego Sorting) but when we do, we can still find something crafty to do.

It was really fun to learn something new together. We used this tutorial, but you can also just go on pinterest and search "arm knitting" and you will find tons of options. Basically, your arms are the knitting needles, and you knit with three strands of bulky yarn held together to get a thick enough yarn. And after about an hour you end up with this: A beautiful hand knit (or should I say arm knit) infinity scarf. 

Gorgeous huh? And not just the scarf! (Can I just take a moment to gush and say that I remember when this smart beautiful woman was a newborn baby! Oh how the years fly!)

Speaking of adorable models, how 'bout this guy.  Yeah, maybe that's not the way your supposed ot wear it. Still, beautiful scarf, right?

I unravelled mine because I didn't love the colour combo I had chosen, but went out and got some new yarn the next day to make a cream coloured one. Because I'm feeling the light colours these days. Anyhow, I'll show you pictures of that one day when I get around to making it. But in the meantime, go try arm knitting! It is very satisfying and sort of meditative once you get the hang of it. You do't even need to be a knitter to do it. Give it a shot!

 

play dough time

Lookit. Wanna see something?This is a spider.

The Little Guy made is out of play dough and popsicle sticks all by himself. 

He was very proud. 

If you have little kids and have not given them some play dough to mess around with, what are you waiting for. They frickin' love this stuff, and it keeps them happy and quiet for up to an hour. Its the perfect "while I'm making dinner" activity. Most of the time. So long as there are two little rolling pins and two little plastic knives, (because if they have to share rolling pins all hell breaks loose, and its hard to make dinner when that kind of drama is going on). But usually its fine. I use this recipe where you make it with Jello. Its funny, we havent' eaten Jello in yeeeeaaaars (oddly enough, the kids don't like it) but I always have a couple of packs of the cheapest no-name version just to use for jello making. I'm not a big fan of food colouring and artificial flavours in the stuff that we eat, but I'm totally down with it for play dough purposes. It makes the play dough smell so good, and gives is great colour. Though I should add that after we had a batch go bad pretty quickly once, I upped the salt amount in the recipe to a quarter of a cup so that it would stay good longer. 

Anyhow, go make some play dough. You know, if you have time. Your kids will thank you by making odd things out of it that will make you laugh. 

A purse for L.D.

So as I said yesterday, the Little Dude was disappointed that all the purses I'd made were going to his cousins, and none to stay here at our house for him. So today, with his assistance, I made him a purse. A satchel. A man-bag. Call it what you will, we just call it handy. Oh, and by assistance, I mean he picked out the fabrics and motifs. So basically he was the designer this and I was just his humble crafts-person. I worked on it all morning, by telling him that if he wanted me to make this, he'd have to play nicely with his brother with no fighting and no crying, because if he wanted me to finish it today I could not be getting up every five minutes to  mediate a toy dispute. And I'm happy to say L.D. saw the reason of this and had a very pleasant morning with his brother with almost no fights (or at least none started by him) and I was able to finish his bag.

And here is the happy recipient now: He's not usually keen to stand and smile for a picture, but he was very co-operative in this instance. 

For behold the glory of his fabric choices. On this side, a Teeneage Mutant Ninja Turtle. (from 1980's bed sheets of course)

And on the other side, Skeletor! Again from 1980's bedsheets, this time staring He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He's quite taken with Skeletor. And funnily enough has no interest in He-Man at all. In fact, he even helped me frame the way I would cut the fabric, saying "From here to here Mom, with JUST Skeletor in it, and his sword. But not He-Man. I don't want any part of He-Man to show at all."

He even chose the lining, (he loves these rainbow stripes, as do I) and the strap colour. He wanted orange, so I had him choose between three different shades of orange, and he declared this one the best, as he felt it looked good with the green that he'd chosen for the TMNT background. Also, he requested a very loooong strap like this, though we have since knotted it a little higher, for practical reasons. 

And the final touch, and possibly his favourite part, the mushroom applique. We spent some time this afternoon drawning and colouring and cutting out paper mushrooms to decorate the Christmas tree with. Because you know, they are so festive. 

It is such fun to sew something for my little boy. And so sweet to be hugged and thanked for it repeatedly today. We even crammed in a quick trip to the library to use his new "book bag" and also so he could show it off to the librarians. Ach, it fills a crafty mother's heart with joy to hear him tell people "I picked out all the fabrics and my mom made this for me herself!". A good parenting moment to sock away and remember for when the bad parenting moments threaten to overwhelm me.

so proud

Because look what we did yesterday! We embroidered. 

You see, this may not seem like a big deal to you, but if you've been reading here for any length of time, or if you know me personally, you know that textiles are my thing. I love needlework. I knit, I crochet, I embroider, I quilt, I sew etc, etc. If it is made of fabric (or sometimes even if it is not) I like to stitch on it. I cannot look around me and not see opportunities for stitching, or things that really should be quilts (I have a whole pinterest board dedicated to thing that could become quilt patterns). And here's one of the fun things about parenting; getting to share the things you love with your children. For years before I had kids I'd been stock piling vintage craft books, fantastic cuts of fabric, yards or rick rack and boxes full of vintage buttons. I had such big plans for the things I'd make with my daughter. We'd sew funny little monster dolls, clothes for her kitty cat, aprons, hair bows, book bags and dresses. I'd teach her to embroider. We'd make a quilt together for her to sleep under. I'd imagine the pride she got dressed in an outfit she'd made herself. I couldn't wait to teach her everything I knew. 

And then I had a boy. And another one. Hm. 

Now I am a card carrying feminist. I've done my women's studies courses and read my Naomi Wolf and Judith Butler. I stood ready to empower my daughter to do and be anything she wanted. We'd sew banners for protests. We'd make clothes that did not have to scream pink and pretty just because she was a girl. We'd celebrate and use the skills that women have perfected over the centuries. We'd honour the quilters of the past while re-imagining the future in fabric. 

Did I mention I had two boys. 

So obviously I don't believe that the textile arts are only for girls. There are many talented male quilters and sewers out there. But no matter how you slice it (and you can slice it for aaaages, trust me) there are still more women involved in needlework than men. My quilt guild is entirely made up of women. And its not because men aren't allowed. So of course I planned to show my boys how to sew and knit and stitch. These are valuable skills for all people to have, not just women. 

But I still worried. What if he did not like to stitch? Or worse yet, what if he did not even want to try? I've done my best to create an envoirment where there are not "boy" activities and "girl" activites. Hubs and I both cook and do our best to care for them equally. We do not avoid pink. And the boys seem interested in the sewing machine, and the pins and the scissors, but they don't seem that interested in actually making something with them. 

The other day I was at the craft store though, and I saw these little plastic canvas stars. Yeah, plastic canvas. This is soooo far from where I am aesthetically right now (plastic! ew.) but it occurred to me that this might be the perfect place to start. They are rigid, which helps as you first learn to negotiate needle and thread. They are small, so easily finished. And they are kind of cool, in a angles and segments kind of way. And when I actually thought about it for a minute, I realized that the first thing I ever stitched was a little plastic canvas coaster set (yellow with butterflies on them, and my big sister taught me how). So I bought them and brought them home and waited for the right moment. 

The Little Dude came home from school yesterday and said, "Lets make a craft." Which usually means "lets draw". But I saw my window. "How about we make a Christmas ornament?" I said. "Yeah!" he shouted. Ok, so far so good. He was on board. 

So I pulled out these cool little stars. And my big box of craft yarn and a blunt needle. I made a knot in one end, and then showed him how to go in and out. I didn't stress about a stitch or a patttern plan or anything. I just gave him the yarn and showed him how to go in and out with the needle. He just did a running stitch and followed the edges of the star. It took him a few moments to get a hang of it, but then he was off and running.  there he was perched on top of the coffee table, hardly my first choice of a good seating arrangement, but I did not want to break the spell, so I didn't even suggest he move. Occasionally he needed my help "Which side do I go in on now? Is it over or under this time?" And at one point, after tangling his yarn he sighed and said, "I'm tired of this." And then put it down and walked away. But I just said "ok, you can finish it later if you want." And in a matter of minutes he was back over to where I was sitting asking for a new colour or yarn. "Yellow this time, because its a star." So I got him hooked up with some more yarn and he was at it again. And this time he stuck with it. 
I did my best not to hover or pressure him about it. If he's going to do it, I want him to do it because he wants to, not because I want him to. I don't want to be the hockey dad of embroidery, if you know what I mean. But I must admit that watching him do this made me ridiculously happy. Watching his concentration, seeing him almost make a mistake and then realize it and right himself. Watching him using his fine motor skills and his brain and his hands all at once. The happy absorbed struggle of acquiring a skill. 

And best of all, seeing how pleased he was with the final result. "I made the whole thing Mom! Now we can put it on our Christmas tree!"

Oh, and you may wonder what Mr. Baby was doing this whole time.  Yep, his favourite thing in the world lately. Cuttin'. No wait, his favourite thing is probably "Choppin'" with his sword. But cuttin' with scissors is probably a close second. 

Snip, snip, snippet. The living room carpet is now covered with a fine sprinkling of one-inch-long yarn bits. In a variety of colours. I gave him a chance to embroider too, but after pulling the needle through the star once or twice, he was pretty much done. After all, that yarn was not going to cut itself! And at a basic level its still fibres, so I feel like he was at the same yarn-y party that his brother and I were. 

And the Little Dude tells me that we will be making more of these. "And Mom, you should go back to the store tonight and see if they have other shapes too. Because we need circles. Circles make good ornaments. And then I can do more of that cross-stitch with them." Sigh. My heart is full. 

sigil

I had to run a few late afternoon errands after Hubs came home the other day. Its so much easier to make a few quick trips without having to snap a few kids in and out of car seats. I felt a little bad leaving him alone with the kids at "the witching hour". (Everyone knows that that the pre-dinner hour is the single worst time of day to be a parent) But not too bad. I know he can manage. And sure enough, when I came home they had made themselves some new toys!

Woohoo! Swords and shields for everybody! And since we've been watching all that "Game of Thrones" lately, (and by "we" I mean just the adults around here, don't worry)  Hubs felt that the boys needed their sigil emblazoned on their sheilds. So he asked The Baby what animal he should have drawn on there. 

And he said "A bunny and a kitty."

So basically we've decided his house motto is "Cuteness is my strength". 

The Little Dude of course was perfectly capable of drawing and writing on his own shield. 

And he was happy to tell me all about it. 

Basically its him versus the dragon. It makes more sense when he explains it. 

And oh! The running, the gesturing, the menace, the swashbuckling stances! It was a very fun and action filled half hour previous to dinner. And quite surprsingly no one was injured. And though they are made of cardboard, I have a feeling those weapons are going to be with us for awhile and see a LOT of action.

finished quilt: riley blake challenge

I've blogged about it before, so I won't go into it in too much detail here, but here is my finished quilt! Made with the fabrics from the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge.  

And here is the back. Its a pieced back, which I don't usually do. I basically made two quilts in one. It's because it was a fabric challenge, and you had to use certain frabrics, and I did not have a big enough piece left over, so I just did a very loose strip pieced back. Which was so fun really. I love the unstructured-ness and no planning. You just sort of go with it and do whatever. 
A little close-up. I'm very happy with the pattern. But really, the very best thing about this quilt....
Is that it makes a great back-drop. 
 There was really no way to keep them off this quilt.

And I promise you I did not dress them to co-ordinate with the quilt. That just happens. 

This one loves to smile for a picture. 

And this guy got very pose-y for someone who lately does not like to stand still long enough for the shutter to click.

Thought of course, this is his idea of a "picture face".

I put him to work eventually with all his energy.
He was my quilt holder upper.

Which he seemed to enjoy.

But quilt or no quilt, this was the best shot of the day. Seriously. I don't need to say another word.

quilt progress

So I've finished my quilt top for the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge from The Modern Quilt Guild. But now, I need a quilt back. And since its a fabric challenge you're supposed to use the fabric they give you, right? So I didn't want to buy any more of that fabric (since I'm cheap) and you are allowed to use solids, so I thought I'd do a quick colour blocked quilt back made of chunks of the last two patterned fabrics I had left, and then some solids to fill it out. But then I got carried away, and started cutting strips instead of chunks and before I knew it, I'd basically pieced another quilt top. Though of course, this one will go on the back. Sorry for the gross photo with all the studio mess and the flash (ugh, I hate flash) but you know how it goes, not much natural light at 10:30 in the evening. Anyhow, its basically two strip pieced halves sewn together to make a whole. It was all improvisational piecing, with no measuring and no pinning. Which is really so much fun. I've done it a bit before, but I really enjoyed making this biggish piece with very little plan, just making decisions on the fly. 

Here's how it will look when I cut it to fit the back.  I just need to add one more strip to the top or bottom because of course I made it just slightly too small. But no matter. I'll get that done soon and then be on my way to getting it all quilted together. Wheee!

finished quilt top

ok, just a quick post tonight. Finished piecing the blocks of my new quit for the Riley Blake fabric challenge from the Modern Quilt Guild. Here it is with the blocks all done and lined up ready to be sewn together. 

And here it is with them all sewn together, quilt top completed:

Hard to tell the difference in these photos. But wait a second..... 

Here's a side by side image, with the one on the left being only completed blocks the one on the right being blocks sewn all together into a complete quilt top. Aside from the fact that it got smaller obviously (because of the seam allowances, right) something is different about them. The top rows are no longer the same. I don't know how I did that? But no matter, it still looks nice and I have absolutely no plans to take the stitch ripper to it. Now I've just got to get to quilting.... And pick a back for it. Decisions, decisions.