kitchen haiku

I started another project that I called Kitchen Haiku. I was trying to think up and idea to keep myself interested in doing the dishes. I really don't like doing the dishes. I was writing down haiku's to go with some photographs- I figured if i could make a photo project out of it maybe I would enjoy it a little bit more. Not much success yet but I do like how the pictures have come out. Working in black and white is a good change. I will probably start posting the pictures here every once in a while.

rug wip and a fleet

Ahh it's nice to be here again. We all have been busy doing our normal life things, like junk mail fleets. Eliot and I came home today and got right into our pj's and are having a good lounge. He even helped me with my slippers - what a guy.

I am just about done with the rug. I decided to leave it a little smaller than my original plan of 4'X5' but it will be about 3' across when it is totally assembled. This is about 40 rounds. I am going to start tying off the loose ends tonight and maybe even start sewing the rounds together!


It will be a little less wonky shaped when it is done. It will be more hexagonal with some little filled in spots. I already have a lot of ideas for my next one!

Happy Valentine's Day

It has been a busy week! Sorry for the lack of posting. When work gets busy it pretty much drains my evening energy. February always is a tired month for me too. But, hopefully, we have passed the apex of winter and will be slowly working our way towards spring. We have had no snow for several weeks while the rest of the country is getting slammed. It's cold but sunny.

Eliot and I went to the beach yesterday and wandered around on mudflats. we actually found a live clam and nearly froze my fingers trying to get it out of the mud to show him. An unexpected bonus of the trip was finding some great driftwood for the fish tank. I only wish I had a saw with me! And we have some fish now! Granted, they are cycling fish, so I hope they make it through these next few weeks - but it is nice to see them swimming around.

I'll try to post more this week...I am working on a tutorial for the rug, too.

memorable quotes

Before I forget to write them down:

In waking up this morning.. "Mom, what is thunder? I mean, what does thunder actually do?".

"You are the best Mom I ever made." Melt my heart!

"I'm not eating it! I'm just licking it!" In reference to play dough.

a boy and his bunny

Who said a boy needs a dog? They are good buds. Eliot loves to sneak him out of his cage and run to tell me Dexter got out. When Dexter goes down the back hall way we have exciting bunny hunts and try to sneak up on him. Those big ears give us away every time.

Eliot picks out stories and we read to the bunny when he is running around. He always comes over and listens. Eliot tells him all about his days and adventures. Dexter is a good listener.

weekending

It has been a mellow weekend so far. I have been gung-ho about finishing projects and I was able to scratch a couple off the list. I matted, framed and hung this print that I have had for many months. I found the wooden frame (about 5' X 4') at a yard sale last summer and I was planning to use it as a magnet board for Eliot. That didn't happen so it has been relocating around the house in various forms since. But, no longer! It is now hanging in the dining room where I think it is going to stay.

I received my piece of wood I ordered for the fish tank. It seems a little odd to order wood but it is extremely heavy and will look really cool once I get it in there. It needs to soak for about 2 weeks to leach out all of the tannins. I am so close to getting the plants in it!

And, of course, I have been busily working on my rug. I have 20 rounds made so far. I think I am going to need about ~60 more to make a rug the size I want...about 4 or 5 feet across. I would say about 5 more and I would have enough for a circular mat. I am thinking about selling these in my very empty Etsy shop. I am trying to work out pricing. That is always the tricky part.

Wintery Beach

Before we got all of the snow we have now, it has been snowing for 4 days, we had one really warm day. It was in the 40's with no wind and lots of snow. And, what do you do in Maine when it hits 40? Go to the beach! Eliot has been talking about the beach a lot lately and I have been missing the waves, so we took a family trip to Willard Beach. We ran and dug and played for a good long time. It felt good to be outside after so many frigid days stuck indoors.

Even found some interesting 'art' under the playground.

For the Grandparents

We had a surprise snowstorm today. I heard word of 3-5 inches and we woke up with about 10" that turned into a solid foot throughout the day. We managed to convince Eliot, who keeps looking out the window and saying "I miss spring.", to go outside and play. He ended up enjoying himself quite a bit. He tromped through the snow for a good hour while Kevin and I dug out my car - snow up to my windows from the plows - and re-parked for the snow ban.

Whenever someone would walk by he would fall over into the snowbank and make a big deal about pretending to be stuck. It's a great way to meet your neighbors.

Beaded Wool Rug

The beaded wool rug is starting to slowly come to life. I have been busily cutting up scraps and sweaters that I have had hanging around. It was exciting to have these little rounds come together exactly how I imagined. I love when an idea becomes reality - and then actually works.

I have been learning a lot as I go along, such as, using sweater wool is a lot easier than densely felted fabric. It is a little scary wielding a 6 inch needle so I filed it down. It was a challenge to actually find a 6 inch needle. If you are interested, they have them in the drapery section of craft stores. I am really disappointed in the book I mentioned as far as instructions and clarity go. There is a wide open market for a new one! It was a good starting point but the images are so blurry it is hard to tell what is going on.

So far I have 7 rounds completed with many more to go to make the full rug I envision. I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We are all getting back to our daily routines now that the holidays are over. We had a nice Christmas at my mother's house with Great Grandma and 'regular' Grandma. We were lucky to see Kevin's family several times through the holidays as well. Eliot is enjoying his new toys and I am still trying to figure out how to rearrange things.

This was the tree at our house Christmas morning. Eliot did his stocking here and then we packed everything up and brought it to Gram's. Unfortunately, he was really sick that day but managed to pull through. Christmas eve, when I was putting him to bed, he kept telling me he didn't want Santa to come, and to make sure the doors and windows were locked. I think the reality that Santa was actually going to come to his house really freaked him out. He was really into the Polar Express this year, too. Now he vacillates between being upset that he is going to miss it and worried that it is actually going to show up.


We have been drinking a lot of hot chocolate lately, too. With the highs in the teens this weekend we will probably drink several more rounds. Time to make some more marshmallows!


Eliot loves reading his new Dahlov Ipcar book, Hardscrabble Harvest. She is an awesome children's writer/illustrator local to Maine. She is in her 90's now and still writing and painting. Check her out if you haven't seen her work. They are so well done and pleasant to read aloud.

The fish tank is up off the ground and clean. It took me a while to get the stand painted, but it's in the house and ready. I just ordered the hardware and substrate. I am looking for some interesting bog wood and stones for it, too. Then the fun part - plants and fish!

I made a new year's resolution/goals list this week, too. It was made in a free form spirit but I thought I should put it here for reference as I ease into 2010:

Be in a craft fair.
Have a photography show.
Make a rug.
Work on a photography website.
Make cheese.
Make wine.
Send Christmas letters.
Work on Christmas all year.
Balsam Pillows.
Keep working on species identification/nature journaling.
Keep working on home school ideas.
Leaf printing on fabric.
Wooden blocks from natural (bark on) wood.
Leaf printing in general, ferns, etc.
Sew from the vintage patterns.
Make coasters.
Fabric mural on Eliot's wall.
Develop fish tank.
Finish Alphabet quilt.

recap

A brief catch up of our last week or so...

Marshmallows...

The weird ornaments I promised...


Fabric wreath finished...
I have been working on a gag calendar for my boss at work. I took head shots of everyone and have been turning them into classic paintings. Luckily, I work with my mother, so I made her into the Girl with the Pearl Earring. She will kill me if she knows I posted this (Pam!).

And me as Frida. I re-did mine as Nefretiti because no one knew this painting. I'll share the other one soon. Kevin didn't know who I was in this one! He said "who is that guy?". Hum...

sequins and stockings

This is our Maine themed advent calendar. Eliot has been getting different rubber stamps each day so far with a few marshmallows mixed in. We made our own marshmallows this weekend flavored with vanilla beans..yum! Next will be peppermint. I am experimenting with some flavored sugars.

Eliot's Christmas stocking is now hanging up on our mantle where there used to be a fireplace and now is a radiator- close enough, ay? We got our tree up this weekend and it smells so good. We decorated it with the cast offs and childhood ornaments of my youth. Some are pretty funny, ie Santa in a track suit. I will have to share some photos.

I am trying to find ways to incorporate sequins into everything. I may have to make myself a sequin winter hat.

shes got legs

If I have to live through a Maine winter I might as well do it in style. Really, it's because it feels like I am wearing pj's all day. Heavy leggings with full leg length wool legwarmers are my new uniform under a cute skirt and boots. It is warm and comfy, highly recommended. This is the best sock site I have found.

This Christmas craft I haven't quite decided if I like or not. I made this from a Martha Stewart recipe and templates. I like the shape of the birds but not the texture of the dough. I am going to try lightly sanding them and then adding glitter. I think they may stay on our tree instead of being given as gifts. I may try this again with salt dough and see if it comes out any better. Or, maybe with a mod-podged mixed media look? It has potential.

Rainbow

We took a walk through the Audubon last weekend and I noticed a rainbow in my pictures. I guess in winter we still have color I just need to look a little harder.

Snowing and Making

Here are the pine cones I mentioned previously. They are opening up nicely and will soon be glittered.

This is another Christmas project Eliot and I are working on together. I hate to only give you half the story but I don't want to post finished products just yet...

Watching the first 'real' snow fall. Nice and snug between couch cushions.

We went and visited Santa. Eliot was so excited. He lit the Christmas tree via the bucket of a fire engine, ladder truck. That cemented Santa as the coolest guy ever. Santa asked what he wanted - a car. What kind of car? - a convertible that goes fast. That's my boy. Make it baby blue with white wall tires and I'll drive him to preschool in style.