handmade holidays 2011: handmade gifts from my little workshop, day 2

Continuing to stitch my way through the hours.  Here's what I've got in store for all the good little boys... patchwork snakes!  My boys have picked up stuffed snakes from the zoo and just love them.  I like them a whole lot better than the rubber snakes - which, in a certain light, can look too much like the real thing.  Apparently, when I was maybe 6 or so, I ran out into the backyard screaming to my parents, "There's a snake in the bathtub!!!"  They amused me and followed me into the house only to discover that there was, indeed, a snake in the tub.  So maybe this is why I'm slightly fearful of snakes in the house.  But bright, colorful, fat and sleepy snakes?  No problem.

In other handmade holiday news, I'm finding that laying out the Christmas quilt to align with the back is going to be tough. Every time I try to position my pieces a little someone thinks I'm setting up a special holiday nap spot. I'm beginning to think that seasoned quilters must not have cats.

handmade holidays 2011: handmade gifts from my little workshop, day 1

 This weekend kicked off the start of my handmade holiday.  My work room is becoming quite the little workshop with piles of fabric stacked for making toys and bags, pretty beads ready to become jewelery, crochet yarn in the process of being whipped into cute coin purses and an enormous Christmas quilt that is ready to sandwich.  There's also THE LIST... my to-do list, with all my projects parceled out over the next 12 days.  Christmas Eve is going to be busy visiting with Family and friends, so my 12-day countdown to December 24th has begun.  Lot's to do!  

I'm making several of these adorable Molly Monkey dolls from a pattern provided by Larissa Holland on her blog mmmcrafts.  My boys have even begged for pirate monkeys, so I hope to have time to be able to finish those in time to put under the Christmas tree.  Like I said, lot's to do.  Aren't the little shoes precious?

before thanksgiving there was a birthday: a clone trooper party!

Every year becomes especially busy for me right after Halloween when I go into birthday party planning mode.  This year, our growing boy turned 8.  And it seems like the fascination with Star Wars (and with the Clone Wars, in particular) may be something that actually sticks around a little longer than did the obsessions with trains, then dinosaurs, followed by Lego.  So this year we had ourselves a little Star Wars the Clone Wars Clone Trooper party.  Early on in the planning process I was quickly schooled by the Birthday Boy that the trooper I was drawing was actually a Storm Trooper, not a Clone Trooper. I responded sarcastically with something like, "Oh yeah, like anyone knows the difference... they're both black and white and carry blasters, right???"  No.  So upon further examination and explanation, I saw the difference.  It's all in the helmet.  So the Storm Trooper cookie cutter I had would require some alterations.  Nothing some icing couldn't fix.

[A Star Wars lesson for other confused Moms out there: Check out the cookies in the photo above. Storm Trooper is on the left and Clone Trooper is on the right.  Clone Troopers are good - they fought the bad guys BEFORE Annikin fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Storm Troopers are bad - they fought for Darth Vader.  Isn't is clear now?]

 For party favors I silkscreened Clone Troopers onto wood for stand-up cutouts and onto fabric for some Clone Trooper plush.  These were both customizable by the kids.  We put out some sharpies and the kids could color and design their troopers.  This is something my son loves to do with his Star Wars figures.  I love watching him hunched over a figure with his paints, creating new designs.  So I thought this activity would be a perfect way for him to share his hobby with the friends at his party.  And, it's something the kids could take home... something that wouldn't find itself on the floor of the car or between the couch cushions.

The party was a success.  Robbie and his fellow troopers all seemed to have a pretty good time.  And we were so lucky to squeak by without the rain that was in the forecast.  All week before the party I was constantly checking the weather forecast, excited when "Rain Likely" was reduced to "Chance of Rain" and finally down to "20% Chance of Showers".  And as my optimistic husband reminded me, that simply meant we had an 80% chance of no rain. 

discovering california with a thanksgiving in the kern river valley

This year we began what I'm sure will become a tradition for years to come.  We loaded up the minivan with Legos and Star Wars Toys and trekked up North about two hundred and fifty miles to my parents' new vacation home deep in the hills of Lake Isabella and the Kern River Valley.  It was great to explore an area of California that was completely new to me.  The kids were ecstatic that snow was only another twenty minutes up the mountain in the outer edges of the Sequoia National Forest.   We did some hiking in the BLM (land protected by the Bureau of Land Management) and climbed the river-polished boulders of the Slippery Rock Picnic Area.  I loved studying the Oak Trees, Manzanitas and pine cones.  Our drive up took us through Los Angeles, over the "Grapevine" and into the San Juaquin Valley before making our way up the mountain East of Bakersfield.  Coming home, however, we decided to go down the Eastern side of the Sierras and drive through the Mojave Desert on Old Highway 395.  It was such a beautiful drive.  I think we'll always go up and down that way from now on.  The Joshua Trees were spectacular and I always love seeing those long, long freight trains that travel through the desert.  I feel like we really took in the full scope of California's landscapes- golden hills spotted by burly California Oak Trees, green river valleys accented with bright yellow Fall foliage and desolate desert pierced by lonely highways and railroad tracks.  I'm very thankful to have had such a beautiful week with my Family and I'm inspired to discover more of California's secret pockets.

getting ready for easter

 Used stickers to put all the kids names on these goofy sippies.

 Eggs all ready to be dyed!

Attempting to avoid excessive candy-filled eggs in our egg hunt, so I used this idea from Martha to wrap larger goodies (small markers and tubes of glitter glue) to look like carrots.

new look for strawberry baskets

 

Here is a quick little Easter project I put together for the Parentella blog.

Have a lovely Easter weekend!

pacific blue: surf boy fabric

Got my test swatch back for Surf Boy from Spoonflower.  Needless to say, I didn't make it to one of the final ten spots in the Project Selvage Competition.  But, it's not all that upsetting because the competition was TOUGH.  So many awesome designs!  Looking forward to seeing the finalists' collections come together and I'm also motivated to continue designing my collection, Pacific Blue.  Why not?  Reading the e-book, How to Enter the World of Textile Design, by Lizzy House to get some guidance.  Dream job.

hour of happy

 

Back from a great camping trip on the beach with the kids.  It's a lot of work to camp!  Laundry that smells like campfire is still piled in front of the washer and the tent needs to be set up in the patio to dry out since we were rained on during our last night.  I'll get to all of that - all in good time. (Yesterday was National No Housework Day, afterall!)  A post about all the camping fun is soon to come... but last night's happy hour with Tom was much needed.  Long Island Iced Tea, appetizers, chips and the best salsa this side of the border at Coyote Bar and Grill. 

I could use your vote!

The design I submitted to the Spoonflower & Michael Miller Project Selvage fabric contest is one of 75 semi-finalists.  Would you mind voting?  Look for "Surf Boy" by OUToftheBOX.  Thank you!

sunday morning slow cooking

 My husband suggested that he run out to pick up some breakfast.
 

But I felt like cooking.
  

Something new.

Not Pancakes, again.

So I opened up the cookbook and looked for something with eggs and potatoes.

(Had plenty of both.)

A frittata!

The kind of breakfast that will stick to your bones till dinner.
  

Well, an early dinner, that is.

print making tutorial

Tutorial for making potato stamps is up on the Parentella Blog. 
Check it out!

print making with potato stamps

I had fun making some prints with potato stamps with my son this morning.  I might have even had a little more fun than he did!  This makes me want try carving some blocks for print making.  (Like I really need something else to do.)   I'll have a tutorial for this project up on Parentella soon.

a new project

I haven't been very active here on my little blog because I've been busy with a my new project for 2011: Me!  Something has finally clicked (I've grown up!) and I've been making healthier food choices.  It all started with Whole Living Magazine's 28-Day Action Plan.  I've cut out artificial sweeteners, processed food, excessive dairy and gluten, preservatives and soda.

It's been extremely enlightening to discover some of my food sensitives and then shape my menu around those.  I'm feeling better than I've ever felt in my adult life - and, surprise surprise surprise, I'm even exercising!  My goal was to get healthy.  And I really do feel healthier.  My weight is going down slowly... slow and steady wins the race!  After over 2 months of maintaining awareness of what I put in my body I'm happy to say I'm still motivated and encouraged to continue.  Sure I could lose weight faster by popping pills, starving myself or handing over all my money to a weight loss center... but I'm looking for a lifestyle change I can incorporate for the rest of my life.

And that's what I've achieved with the Whole Living Action Plan.  I've been trying new recipes, blogging about my experiences and really enjoying being part of the Whole Living Community.  If this interests you at all, check out my journey.

Hoping to get back to sharing some of my craft/sewing/building/gardening projects again.  Maybe now that I have more energy I'll get better at it.  :)

loaves of fun

 

Click through to read my post for Parentella about making cute bread creatures for holiday giving.

cleaning out the fridge

I cleaned out the fridge last week and a lot of good stuff went into the stockpot to make a rich broth.  The recipe I used for baking my Thanksgiving ham suggested keeping the ham bone for making soup.  It always feels so good when I'm able to use something and avoid throwing it away.

The house smelled like home cookin' when I had this simmering on the stovetop.  That night we had a delicious risotto for dinner, enhanced by all the flavors from this stock.  And there was quite a lot of stock leftover, so that has been frozen into small batches in the freezer for adding flavor to future dinners.  

Is it too early for resolutions?  I won't make any official proclamations... but, I do want to make a promise to myself to make more of our meals from scratch using whole food ingredients.  Here are some of my favorite cookbooks including both editions of the Gourmet cookbooks and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.  The morning I spent preparing this stock was so satisfying on several levels.  I was using up all the vegetables that would have otherwise gone out with the trash, I was cooking the base for a delicious dinner and, as with everything I make, build or create, I had the satisfaction of making something from almost nothing.  (Like Stone Soup!)  Maybe next week I'll have to try making a batch of Corn Chowder with this rich, almost smoky (from that ham bone), stock.  Mmmmmmm!