history embodied, embroidered

I love the quiet rhythm of embroidery. The sound of the needle piercing the cloth makes me entirely happy. I feel connected to mankind when I embroider. It is a craft that has lasted thousands of years. I may be using my light board to transfer my designs onto the fabric with my iPhone and laptop close by, but the fundamentals of the craft have been unchanged. My great-great grandmother threaded her needle the same way I thread mine.

And I have no doubt she sat near a window just the way I do, for optimum light. And she probably watched her babies toddle around the room and she probably rose every once in a while to stir the soup on the stove. In this we are the same.

"It is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorn

as promised...

Paper Wreath Tutorial

Supplies:
twenty-five to thirty sheets of really great printed craft paper (I LOVE this line)
twenty-five to thirty sheets of solid color paper
an old book
buttons (thirty or so)
floral wire
glitter(oh my I do love glitter)
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
foam wreath form
glue
scissors

Using your craft paper and old book, cut out "X" shapes in various sizes with rounded edges. The largest should be around 6-8 inches and the smallest should be about 3 inches. Cut four each from the printed paper, solid paper and old book pages. Do not worry about uniformity. It looks better if each petal is unique. Also cut out circles for the flower centers. I use a 1 1/2 inch die cut.

Cut a length of floral wire (I like to use heavy gauge wire for more stability). Thread a button onto one end and using your needle nose pliers, curve the wire so the it goes back through the button.

Follow with a circle.

If you want to glitter your flower, use some glue to coat your paper and sprinkle and tap off excess. Start to crumple and shape your petals. I like to curl mine inward. Stack the petals one by one on the wire.

After you have stacked all twelve petals, use your needle nose pliers to make a curl with the wire in the back to hold the petals tight.

My wreaths are fairly large and require twenty-five to thirty flowers. Yes, it does take me forever.

But.

It lasts forever. The flowers never die.

And you can always make a small one if you don't think you can handle hours of crumpling paper.


Poke the wire from each flower into the foam wreath. It may take a little tweaking to get them arranged just right.

Be patient.

Enjoy!

Oh, and send me a pic of your finished wreath!

*****Okay I'm writing this very small because I don't want to come across as a intellectual property freak, but I would like to say that you are welcome to use this tutorial for personal use, but please ask before you publish it somewhere. After all, It's the polite thing to do.

happiness is...

... a sleeping baby and glitter on my sewing machine. If you can't tell, I'm ruffling my glitter ribbon, cuz' every thing's better with ruffles.

And glitter for that matter.

I inherited my sewing machine from Sugar Daddy's grandma Hazel. It's older than I am and every now and then I consider getting a new one, by what the hey- they don't make things like they used to (or so says my mother).

I think I'll hold on to it. It has sentimental value even though I barely knew Ben's grandma before she died. Amelie was almost named Hazel. I love that name.

Here's to many more days of productive (and when I say productive I don't mean it in the household chores sense, just to clarify) nap times.

psst

It started last Wednesday. The little whisper in the back of my brain.

"Psst! Hey you. Yeah you. Don't you want to go out to your work bench? Don't you want to make some jewelry? Those great topaz stones are just sitting there collecting dust. Come on. The baby is sleeping. Come on out and work for a bit."

I told myself I was going to stay away. I wanted to give the baby my full attention. No working until August. The Fall collection could wait.

But I just can't seem to do it. I miss Joan. Joan of the Anahatna art. Joan my muse. She gives me such inspiration as I sit there contemplating beads and life.

I had to make Jenny some earrings for her birthday. That's what she asked for and well, she is my right hand girl and I like to take good care of my people.

So I fiddled a little and then I thought- what the hell?

And that is how I ended up, back at my work bench, pounding away, listening to Josh Ritter and talking to Joan on a very warm day in July, exactly eleven days before I said I would return.

And you know what? I'm happy about it.

while she sleeps

I am delighted to discover that because my daughter is such a mellow happy baby, I have plenty of time to continue crafting! I know that in a month or so she will be more alert and probably require more attention, but for now, she gives me time to create.

I carved a stamp with her initials to make some thank you cards. The gifts are rolling in and I want to stay on top of getting the cards out.

Because she is my little birdie, I carved a little bird in flight for the inside of the card. Then, of course, I busted out the glitter. That's all part of the fun of having a little girl. Glitter!

Today I need to get out to my work bench and make her a bracelet. Can you believe I didn't already have one made? I can't. Anyway, I need to get some jewelry on my girl asap.

needling

Sugar Daddy was off with the Search and Rescue folk this weekend to climb rocks and practice hero work. Thom and I stayed behind to find fun to be had.

We kicked off our weekend on Friday by having Thom's blood drawn for a routine anemia check which, I'm sorry to report, lead to another trip to Mc Donalds.

After Thom was tucked in and sleeping soundly, I gathered up all my embroidery thread and headed to the fluffy comfort of my bed to watch Little Dorrit on the lap top and get organized for a rather ambitious embroidery project I am starting. I search the house for all errant needles and put them in the little wooden cylinders, ready to be used at a moments notice.

I love organization. I wish I was better at it.

On Sunday evening Thom and I headed over to Jenny's house for a casual bar-be-que. I found that I was feeling a little peevish after a weekend of single parenting and so I took out my angst on the Hurst family. I went from one child to the next, needling them and teasing until I got some kind of response. Andre and Jenny know me well enough to just let these moods take their course and they happily offered up their children and each other as victims.

Sugar Daddy returned home later that night, swooping in like good heros do, to save the day and play with Thom until he was tuckered out and reaching for his bed.

One weekend down, four more to go until B-day!

dispatches from cloud nine

My eyes fluttered open to the pink light of the rising sun. And then the happiness washed over me like a warm bubble bath. I'm going to have a baby. A baby girl.

And my son will get to have the sister he always wanted. I rolled out of bed and onto my knees. I really had to go, but first things first. I needed to thank the Lord. Again.

The crafting has begun. Emily taught me reverse applique yesterday. Why have plain onesies when you can embellish? Everything is better with pink. Don't you think?

I have a burning desire to share my happiness with everyone I know. I thought of taking lemon scones to all the neighbors but it seemed like too much work that might cut into my crafting time. I also thought about climbing to the top of our slope in the backyard and twirling around and singing "The Sound of Music", but I'm sure my neighbors already think I'm a little strange. And they wouldn't have dared eat any of my scones after a stunt like that.

So, I've settled on spreading a little joy to all my blog friends. I give you this.


This is how I feel today. I hope he infects your day with a little laughter and joy.

amour cliche'

Sugar Daddy and I aren't too much with the romance. Never have been. I don't mean to say that we don't try to seduce each other. We do. It's just a little more subtle than average.

For instance, I might say, "You know, you're a real smart ass." And he will respond, "Why thank you. You crafty little minx." Then, well, it's on.

So Valentine's day really isn't our "thing". We might exchange little token gifts, but for the most part, we don't make a big deal about it.

BUT- what I do love about Valentine's Day is the kitchyness. I relish the cheesy cards and the campy store bought goodies. I mean, who doesn't love conversation hearts? Really.

Is Valentine's a Hallmark holiday? Why yes it is! And that's what is so great about it! Elementary school would never have been the same without chintzy little cards made from red doilies and decorated shoebox mailboxes.

Thom and I are all over it, getting ready for the big day. We have all the Valentine's ready to take to school.

The hearts are hung in the window with care, in hopes that St. Valentine will show up and leave a couple hundred bucks on the counter.

The big pink sugar cookies are frosted with almond buttercream and ready to deliver. Scrumdillyumptious!

And the campy handmade Valentines are in the mail to their intended sweetheart.

Here's Cupid himself, lips pursed in concentration, crafting a card for his cousins. Notice the chocolate smears all over his shirt? We needed sustenance while we worked.

This is my mantra for today: Let. Love. Live. However you do it. Don't quash the vibe. If you are fancy pants lovey dovey, do that. If you are simple and sweet like Sugar Daddy and I, put the kids to bed, break out the Netflix and Ben and Jerry's and nestle in.

rainy days and mondays always get me thinking

One rainy weekend produced:

Letters to Grandma and Grandpa.

Passalong cards for our adoptive parent profile.

And two embroidered onesies for a friend having a baby girl in a week or so.

If you are willing to pass out a few passalong cards, please email me and I'll send some to you.

oh the wheels in her head went round and round

Sugar Daddy is out of town on business. He went to take the deposition of a dying woman. It's all very dramatic and makes for a very saucy story if you are into that kind of thing.

When Ben is gone, I like to create. Art, jewelry, sewing, you name it. I get the bug. However, since he's been gone, I haven't done a single thing. I started to embroider a onesie for a baby shower I am going to on Saturday (heaven help me), but I abandoned that project. I pulled out my fabric stash and looked at it for a really long time before putting it back in the closet. I even did about twelve stitches on a blanket I'm crocheting. Nothing was doing it for me. The nervous energy was killing me.

So I spent some time just looking. This is what I found:

Sometimes, just looking is enough.

Sometimes it calms me down.

But not last night.

I felt even more creative angst than before.

So I bathed the boy in almond and cherry blossom bubble bath. I can get away with stuff like that when his dad is gone. I made a frozen pizza for dinner and we sat on the couch while the boy watched cartoons. He started to nod off so I cuddled him close and smelled his flowery skin and all the nervous energy melted away. Just. Like. That.

for the love of pom poms

What is it about pom poms that I love so much?

There is something inherently happy about a pom pom don't you think?

by gourmet fiber

Last night as I watched Spongebob with the boy, I decided to make some large pom poms for Valentines. Making pom poms is super fast and fun. I cut a pattern from an old cereal box and starting wrapping. I used fabric scraps and yarn. This pom pom is about 6 inches in diameter, but you can make them as large or as small as you need. If you want more details, email me and I'll send you my pattern.

I've been eyeing this delightful little gnome cap on Etsy. I really think it needs a pom pom and a little person to put it on.

by pumpkinhaus

*****************************************************************

A little later on. . .

I'm getting enough requests that I think it would be better to just post directions.

All you need is a circle to wrap around. I cut my own from a cereal box, but for this small pom pom I used the ends of a ribbon spool. Cut a hole in the center. If you want a really full pom pom your hole will need to be bigger. I am going to use this pom pom on top of a gift and I didn't want it to be too full so I didn't cut the hole larger. Place a piece of string between the two circles. This will be the string that you use to tie off the pom pom so make it fairly long. Wrap, wrap, wrap your material or yarn around the circle. When you think you have the pom pom as full as you want, take very sharp scissors, slip one blade between the circles and start to cut around the edge. Once all the strings are cut, tie the ends of your center string together tightly. You will have varying lengths of yarn so give your pom pom a hair cut to even it all out. Fluff and go.

thailand awaits

I am in such a crafty mood lately. Strangely enough, it may be the weather. The mornings here in our little beach town have turned cold. I'm looking longingly at my long sleeve shirts. I'm drinking peppermint tea. This makes me want to stay in my pajamas all day and paint or sew or play at my workbench.

Alas, what I should be doing is getting ready for my big trip next week. It is hard to think about packing up my swim suit and flip flops when I am in such a cold weather mood. I need to figure out who is taking the boy to school on what day. I should make sure all the underwear is washed and folded, ready for the boys while I am gone. I have to get the luggage situation figured out. Thailand awaits.

But today, today I think I will just sip my peppermint tea and think up projects that involve pom pom trim and whimsical papers.

By the way, if you miss tomorrow's giveaway, you'll be kicking yourself for weeks to come.

kraken n' coffee

Can anyone out there tell me why I am so incredibly fascinated by Jacque Cousteau? I mean really, I have never even been diving. I do, however, narrate to myself with a French accent when I snorkel. It seems more exotic that way. I love to find old publications of Cousteau's books. The colors in them are so bright, so unreal. He fancied himself a serious biologist, but he interpreted things the way he wanted to see them. I guess I'm a little that way as well.

Jump with me now from Cousteu to just plain crazy. What's with sailors and their legends and superstitions? They're worse than baseball players. Did you know that Scottish law once required fishermen to wear a gold earring, which was used to pay for funeral expenses if they were drowned and washed ashore? Sailors gave us mermaids and kraken, that oh so mythical octopus like creature that attacks ships apparently to devour the people aboard. Now that's just silly. But I couldn't leave something like that alone. I had to immortalize it in jewelry as I have a tendency to do.

So there's all that swarthy sea business, and then there's Fin. My mocha cappuccino cutie pie. He's irresistible.