lil fish studios

Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun

2012-01-28T09:44:00.001-06:00

We've had what feels like weeks of grey weather here. When it isn't snowing, it's been cloudy and grey. I bemoaned aloud this lack of sun yesterday and as soon as the words left my mouth I thought "we should make our own sun." So that's what we did.

I gathered up a thrifted teak bowl, some sticks, a few pieces of old yellow and orange bed sheets, yarn, and other fabric scraps.

I gave the bowl a face and drilled holes around the perimeter, slightly smaller in diameter than my sticks.

The tips of the sticks were whittled down and glued into the bowl. I made sure to have an odd number of "rays" so the kids could easily weave the strips of bed sheets over and under, over and under. I taught the boys how to rip strips of fabric, a task they found especially fun. In hindsight, I'm not sure I should have shared that tip with them, I forsee many torn bed sheets in our future.

I started the weaving out with some sheets that I had previously spun into yarn and as I started to wind, what should appear?

The sun! I couldn't believe it! His appearance was brief but oh so appreciated.

The boys took turns weaving from there. My youngest boy especially liked this project and told me, very excitedly, that he no longer wanted to be a "plane driver" when he grows up, but rather a weaver. And he wants to vacuum. I'm not sure why he's giving me that weird look. Or why he's apparently wearing an ascot. He's a funny guy.

Once our sun was suitably full I delighted the kids by wrapping a string of LED's around the back. Once plugged in, we had a glowing sun on our wall, long after the real one had gone down.

It kind of looks like an eclipse, no?

I hope the sun finds you this weekend, too. Have a good one, everyone.

answered

2012-01-27T08:05:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I offered to answer any questions you might have, and a few of you took me up on that.

Marilyn asked: "if we can shoot the arrow through the hole in said bagel...will you bake us a batch a week?"

Answer: Yes. I'll hold the bagel, you shoot from there. If you get it through the hole, bagels every week for at least two weeks. :D

*****

Glo asked: "I want to know how you became an artist. Are you self-educated, did you have technical training...?"

Answer: Both I guess. I studied under an amazing instructor at the local community college who was a terrific mentor and friend, and I also took classes at NIU. But, a lot of what I do now has been self-taught. The years of art training taught me a lot, but as I'm sure it is for most people, the learning continues.

*****

Rebekah asked (a couple): "what exactly DOES your husband do? I've been a little curious about the man who married the woman who can bake, corral children and use a band saw all while blogging on an insanely regular basis."

Answer: my husband works in IT but at home he is the fixer of anything and everything. From biscuits to tractors, hard drives to gardening, he can do it. He amazes me with his analytical mind and his creativity in problem-solving. He's like MacGyver without the mullet.

" Have you always lived in MN?"

Answer: No, I grew up in northern Illinois and we only moved here a little over 5 years ago. My husband grew up here though, and oddly enough, my family used to vacation here when I was a kid. When my husband's job ended at Motorola (in IL), we bought our little patch of poplar and pine and moved up.

"You always seem to be coming up with cool ideas, does it ever exhaust you? Some people say it's "natural" but honestly not even the most artsy artist can do it 24/7/365 imo."

Answer: the creativity itself doesn't exhaust me, but the struggle to find the time to bring my ideas to fruition, or often just the time to thoroughly explore an idea in my head, exhausts me.

"Aside from chickens have you ever killed anything else for it's meat? Like a cow, pig, deer, moose, giant fish of doom...etc. etc. "

Answer: We do raise some chickens and an occasional turkey for meat, and I grew up hunting and fishing with my father. The hunting I've done has been for food, mostly upland and small game - dove, pheasant, and rabbit, as well as duck and geese, but it's been a few years since I've gone. We all fish, but so far no fish of doom. And I don't ice fish because I don't enjoy being that cold. I think those people might be a little crazier than I am.

*****

Margie asked: "when are you coming to visit?"

Answer: a. not soon enough and b. we'll have to work on that.

*****

Lynn asked: "Do these jeans make my butt look big? "

Answer: I'm pretty sure it's not the jeans.

(don't worry, she knew I was going to say that)

*****

Sonia asked: "when on earth will we meet up ?
oxox"

Answer: also... a. not soon enough and b. we'll have to work on that and c. when I win the lottery we'll be having a giant international conference of craftiness. Everyone will be invited!

*****

Thanks for playing along, girls.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm off to buy a lottery ticket.

shoot

2012-01-26T08:27:00.002-06:00

You might have noticed from yesterday's post that the bagels are back. That muse of mine really likes the carbs. She did work on some projects yesterday too, so I'm not going to be too hard on her.

I had a chuckle at my friend Lynn's comment on my "wordless" Wednesday post:

"If it's a Wordless Wednesday, does that mean if I ask you a question, you make the 'pick a lock' finger twisty motion thing on your lips? Can I guess stuff like 20 Questions? If you make a sound like 'grrrrr', does that count?"

Then my friend Joanie asked if I use a bread machine or make bread the old fashioned way, and that got me thinking. Do you have a question you want to ask me? If so, go ahead and shoot. I'll answer them in tomorrow's post.

I'll reserve the right to make the finger twisty motion thing on my lips though, just in case.

Oh, and Joanie...'Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day'... fab. Makes everyday bread doable for me. No bread machine here.

wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T10:20:00.000-06:00

a tan toadstool twosome

2012-01-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post before I dash out the door for an appointment this morning. I'm running late but wanted to show you the little wool toadstool piece I finished up this morning. Two tan toadstools in a cedar stump.

I added sporophytes to the moss, of course.

I've put this little guy in my shop this morning and I hope to have more friends joining him soon.

Have a great day!

focusing the muse

2012-01-23T10:09:00.000-06:00

I mentioned in my last post that my muse is feeling a little unfocused. She's still feeling creative, just not in the way I'd like her to be. Not knowing exactly how to focus this side of me, I decided to revisit a project I had done in the past, the "mother nature's palette" brooch you see here. I thought maybe if I could work on a familiar project it might make the transition from bagels to brooches a little easier.

I sewed up one, reflected a while, then made another. It seems to have worked a little bit as there are the beginnings of a toadstool and a piece of cedar on my table today, signs of creativity returning...

I've put the two brooches in my shop this morning, along with the last two acorn ornaments I'll be making until I can gather more of the right caps this fall.

Speaking of caps, these teeny tiny acorn caps on the brooch just kill me. I find them on the French Rapids trail by the Mississippi river and make a trip there every fall just to gather them. The entire acorn, minus the stem, is only as big as my pinky fingernail. So cute!

Hope your week is off to a good start, everybody.

an unfocused muse

2012-01-21T10:04:00.001-06:00

I'm having a little trouble with my muse.

She hasn't wandered off or anything, it's that lately she's been really into making toys for the kids, planning woodworking projects for the house, and baking. That's all well and good, but as someone who makes their living, no matter how modest, from their work it would be nice if she could, oh I don't know, focus for a minute on that kind of work.

I'm going to do my best to get her to concentrate this weekend. If you could all send some "focus, muse" vibes my way, I'd appreciate it.

Ultimately, I think muse will appreciate it too...after she's made this last batch of bagels.

Happy weekend, everyone.

antlers + plants = plantlers?

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

With the day turning grey and a high of -4f forecasted for today (-30 to -40 with the windchill...what?), I decided to thumb my nose a bit at ma nature and bring a little green into my day.

My friend Karen, who is remarkably talented, sent me this awesome crocheted jute and antler pouch for Christmas. Jute and antler? You know how much I love this, right?

I had planned to (and might still) use this as a purse but I couldn't resist having it out where I can see it every day.

I snatched a few succulents from their pots and fashioned a liner out of plastic bags. I filled the bottom of the bag with charcoal and styrofoam peanuts (those awful ones that don't degrade...lighter than pebbles), and then filled it up with potting soil. In went the plants and just like that I had greenery hanging on my wall.

Isn't it lovely?

It really has brightened my day.

Now if we can just do something about warming it up.

Extra cocoa for everyone! Stay warm out there.

wordless wednesday

2012-01-18T06:52:00.000-06:00

leather mushrooms

2012-01-17T06:38:00.000-06:00

This past weekend the boys and I worked on a little project I found over at Elizabeth Abernathy's blog, leather mushrooms.

As I was bringing out the leather scraps and glue, the boys were throwing out random guesses about what kind of project we were doing, and then the teenager asked "are we making our own mittens?" (with a big sigh) which I thought was an AWESOME idea, and he's now really sorry he said that, because it's now on the list of things to do. (muahaha) When I asked, "what does momma loooove to look for?" they all shouted in unison... "MUSHROOMS!" They know me so well.

I get my leather scraps in the form of neglected leather coats found at the thrift store and put out several different pieces to choose from. I gave the boys jar lids to use as templates for the mushroom caps, and except for the gluing (I used hot glue), they really did much of this project themselves.

1/2 birthday crowns are the appropriate headgear when crafting, don't you know.

It was fun to see the boys choose their colors and textures, and I loved that they weren't afraid to experiment with using the back side of the leather pieces, which ended up looking kind of scruffy and really cool.

I'm leaving these out where we can all see them, and the kids can play with them. Best part, they've already asked when we can make more.

What kind of fun projects have you been working on?

snow stone giveaway winner

2012-01-16T07:25:00.001-06:00

Thank you to everyone who entered and gave me their feedback in my snow stone giveaway!

This morning I drew a name from the hat and the winner is...

Brenda from Pumpkin Hollow Primitives!

Congratulations Brenda!

I have to tell you all how incredible it is for me to have you all share this space with me. It feels amazing to know that we have this community of sorts, of like-minded people. Thank you.

Have a good start to the week everyone.

frost feathers

2012-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

The other morning Jack Frost had worked his magic on our kitchen window. I noticed it as I was pouring my coffee and thought, "hmm, frost". When my daughter noticed it she burst into laughter and said "silly chickens! feathers on the window!". She was certain that the chickens were having some shenanigans, and sure enough when I looked at it again, I saw feathers too.

"Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with eyes of a child, fresh with wonder."-- Joseph Cornell

Happy Sunday, everyone.

my very first toy society drop

2012-01-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last year I stumbled across The Toy Society's blog and knew it was something I wanted to take part in. It wasn't until this holiday season, when I made a sleepy baby for my niece, that I realized how I wanted to contribute.

The Toy Society is a group of people from around the world doing a small random act of kindness - they leave a handmade toy for someone to find. It's done anonymously and with no strings attached. It's simply done for the joy of bringing a bit of handmade happiness into someone's life.

It's my goal to do one drop a month this year, each a sleepy baby fitting the theme of the season. January's here is clutching a little snowball in her mittens and she has snowflakes at her feet.

Her (his?) shape is simple but easy for little ones to hold. I added embroidered details like a tuft of hair and little bitty eyelashes. She's made of all recycled wool, mostly from sweaters, and she's very soft. I stuffed her with wool and lavender so she smells lovely and is delightfully squishy.

I gave her the cuddle test and yup, perfectly squishy.

She was my very first drop, and I left her at a small park in town yesterday. I hope whoever finds her, loves her.

I think I'm going to enlist the help of my kids for the next drop. I think it will be good for them to take part in a random act of kindness, and it will make me feel less like a creeper when I'm skulking around a playground if they're with me.

I can't wait to get started on February's.

a snow stone giveaway

2012-01-13T09:09:00.000-06:00

To celebrate the falling snow, I'd like to have a little giveaway.

This is a larger textural stone, about 3" long, inspired by frost and the coming snows that cover the lumpy and odd bits in nature. For those of you new to my work, I cover real stones that I've gathered in wool, felt it, and stitch on the surface. In addition to stitches, this stone also boasts glass seed beads. The varying textures make this a fun piece to run your hands over.

***THIS GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED***

If you'd like to a chance to win this stone, you just need to leave me a comment on this post, but here's what I need from you...

I need your feedback.

I'd like to know what you would like to see from me this year, from this blog and in my shop.

More natural dyeing, more tutorials, more stones, more ornaments, more foraging...what would you like to see?

Leave a comment, and be sure to give me a way to contact you. I'll ship worldwide, so everyone is more than welcome to enter.

I'll close the comments and announce the winner on Monday morning, Jan.16th.

Thank you everyone!

Have a great weekend!

the girl's new goldfinch

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Early this week I took a little time to finish one of the unfinished pre-holiday projects on my workbench. I had this pretty but shrunken wool sweater on hand and have been meaning to make it into something wearable for my daughter.

It was nearly the right size for her already so using a shirt that currently fits her as a guide, I just trimmed a bit off of both sides of the body and the arms and sewed it up. I also cut some length from the sleeves, leaving them long enough to cuff.

Using the cut-off cuff from one arm, I made a pocket for the front. I also decided that the pre-finished neck looked a little too "finished" so I cut it off and made a more organic neckline. I also did an exaggerated running stitch around it and the pocket for the same reason. I wanted this to look handmade and the previous machine stitches weren't cutting it.

The color of the sweater reminded me of the thistles that grow in front of our house, and reminded me of the joy we get from watching the goldfinches hanging from them, eating seeds in the fall. I decided that would be my theme.

Using scraps of felted wool I stitched on some thistles and a goldfinch. The girl got a big kick out of having a bird on her belly.

She got an even bigger kick out of momma filling her new pocket with birdseed so she could feed the birds.

Naturally, the chickens love this new pocket too.

Have a good day, everyone. Extra points if you fill your pocket with birdseed and feed the birds today.

pretty pins and a clarification about the iron dye

2012-01-11T09:40:00.000-06:00

I've gotten a good start at organizing my embroidery floss. It's taking a bit longer than I thought, but I keep telling myself that it will be worth the effort.

At any rate, they look pretty lined up on my table.

A few of you had asked about the greying solution I used on the pins, so I thought I'd clarify just a bit.

I take an old jar and fill it with about 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar and add a pad of steel wool. I used 000 steel wool, but I suspect you could use any grade, or even other steel objects like nails. I let my solution sit for 24 hours, remove the steel wool, and use this solution to paint on the wood. The solution you saw in yesterday's post has been around a while and it is quite rusty. A new solution will still be clear, not rusty and scary like mine. Be sure to use a jar that you don't mind getting covered in rust.

I dunked the clothespins in the solution, shaking the jar until they were fully coated, then removed them to dry. After they dried, I rinsed them well with water and dried them again. You'll get different effects depending on the type of wood you use, and you can also choose to water down your solution for a more subtle effect. It's good fun.

Hope that helps. Happy Tuesday!

clothespins and neurosis

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

One of my goals for this new year is to organize myself better. Organization isn't my strong suit, it takes real effort for me, but I recognize that when I am organized it makes a significant impact on all aspects of my life.

One area that grew to monster-like proportions during the busy pre-holiday season was my case of floss.

Behold:

Not only is it less-than-delightful to try to find a certain color of thread in this mess but I've also jabbed myself with porcupine quills, more than once, that have nestled themselves in there. Also my ipod is in there somewhere but I'm reluctant to dig because of the aforementioned quills. (what? doesn't this happen to you?)

I needed to tame this beast but I don't like using the cardboard bobbins for floss. I liked the idea of clothespins though so I grabbed a handful of well-worn ones from the line and started winding.

It worked out rather nicely but since I had a limited supply of these perfectly greyed pins on hand, I fetched a couple of packages of new ones from the closet.

I looked at the new pins and thought "they're so... new." And it bothered me. They're perfectly functional of course, which is the point, but... and here's where I face the fact that I am, in fact, a freak.

Rather than wind the rest of my floss on those unsightly new pins, I decided to age them. I keep a jar of iron solution on hand for aging wood and for overdipping when I'm doing natural dyeing, so I grabbed it and got to work.

That's better. Some of them even look spalted, which is cool.

I'm still kind of shaking my head at myself for going through the (admittedly minimal) trouble of aging the pins. Why should that matter? It doesn't affect its function. I'm not sure why it mattered, but it did...

I'm not the only one, right?

a ready return

2012-01-09T06:50:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!

I hope you've all had a good and healthy start to the new year. I had a few days of "hermiting" after the busy-ness of the holidays, but now the cave door has been flung open and I'm ready to start this year in earnest.

Yesterday's mild weather beckoned me outside so I grabbed my camera, a brand new sketchbook, and Charlie and took a short walk around the yard.

It seemed that wherever I looked I saw something interesting; a strip of birch bark stuck on a twig, gem-like berries on a snowy stump, a grove of sporophytes, wrinkled mushrooms...

even a rainbow of fuzz, stuck on my clothesline.

I feel ready. I don't know how else to explain it. I feel ready to see things, do things, change things. I'm not sure if that's a symptom of a new calendar year or something deeper, but I'm embracing it.

How about you? Do you feel change stirring? What do you think this year holds for you? Do you have your baskets ready?

may your baskets be full

2011-12-23T08:34:00.001-06:00

As this year winds down and we look forward to the start of a new one, I want to wish you all something beyond a good year. I was thinking that I wish for all of us to have safety and security, adventure and curiosity, good food, good friends, belly laughs, shoulders to cry on, appreciation for nature, a sense of responsibility, freedom to relax... and I thought, "that's a pretty full basket".

So that's it. That's what I wish for all of us in the new year.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Holiday, or solstice, or if you choose to celebrate this time of year in your own way, (or not at all for that matter), I offer you my warmest wishes for a meaningful and heartfelt celebration.

From my woods to you, may your baskets be full.

See you in the new year, friends.

Lisa

sleepy babies and nature blocks

2011-12-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

I'm still plugging away at the last few projects on my list. A small set of nature blocks is nearly completed, just a few more to paint and coat with beeswax.

And a sleepy baby doll is awaiting a few finishing touches before she gets her wool and lavender stuffing.

Tomorrow I'll be baking baking baking and I also promised my little boys that they could do some painting so I'll probably be doing some cleaning cleaning cleaning too.

It's been a big help to me that my daughter is still at the age that she doesn't pay much attention when momma's sewing something, as I've been able to work on her gifts right in front of her. Next year will be a bit trickier.

Maybe next year I won't let the holidays sneak up on me like this. Yeah, who am I kidding? I always think I have a good start on my projects by mid-year and then right before Christmas I'm scrambling to finish things or to start new projects that suddenly seem like great ideas. Silly.

I hope you're all doing well and getting some well-deserved peace.

wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T11:11:00.002-06:00

getting closer - bed linens completed

2011-12-20T10:59:00.000-06:00

My goal for yesterday was to make the linens for my daughter's doll bed and I'm pleased to report that I made my goal and then some!

I started pulling out fabrics to create the blanket and was preparing for a semi-complicated process. I had chosen some pieces, none that I was too gaga over but would do, when I pulled out a matching set of these sort of strange embroidered pillowcases I got a year or two ago at a garage sale. DING! A light went off in my head! I checked the size and yup, nearly perfect for the little bed with very little tweaking needed. I love that!

All I had to do was lay a piece of batting inside the pillowcase, fold over the decorative top, and stitch it down. Voila! Doll blanket!

Using half of the second pillowcase and a piece of leftover carpet pad, I made a mattress to fit the bed. That still left me enough material to make a little pillow, and I still have one whole panel of the embroidery to play with. (and what is up with the orange poodle and roses anyway?)

I saved so much time with this project I was able to finish a little friend to tuck in under the blanket.

My daughter loves owls so it seemed like a good choice. He's made of all recycled materials - wool from coats and sweaters, a scrap of upholstery fabric, and some corduroy pants. I stuffed him with wool and lavender so he smells nice too.

The paint on the bed is still drying so I'll post a pic of it with the linens tomorrow.

Today I'll be working on this...

My helper is enjoying this task because she gets to build castles while mom carves.

After this I have just one more project to finish and then presents to wrap and cookies to bake. After that? I'm taking a break. (and it is much needed)

'til tomorrow!

a bed on the bench

2011-12-19T06:51:00.000-06:00

An unusually warm December day. A few hours to myself in the barn. A few lengths of lumber, my saw, sander, and drill. Some instructions and a naughty dog who likes to steal from my scrap bin. He was sassy and ran off with one of my pieces of 1 x 3. I made do.

Eventually a doll bed stood on my workbench, heavy and sturdy, and ready to be puttied and painted and outfitted with linens.

This will be my goal for today. I'll need the little girl to nap so I can work and I need a chance to clear my head anyway, so I think a nice long walk in the woods is in order.

It's unlikely I'll finish everything on my holiday to-do list, but I'm going to have to be okay with that.

Have a good and peaceful start to the week, everybody.

fit for a woodland princess

2011-12-17T11:39:00.002-06:00

The holiday dress has been completed and I'm really happy with how it turned out. You might remember that the dress started as this little gem I picked up at the thrift store:

Some tweaking later and this is what we have:

a dress that's perfect for my woodland princess.

I took off the lace, plastic pearls, and roses and added some wood buttons I made, a bit of embroidery, and the top...

...painted.

I stitched around the painted area and it looks like leather. I doubt anyone would know it was painted unless I told them. This was a situation of "use what you have". I didn't trust my sewing skills to sew on a little bodice so I went with paint thinned with fabric medium. Hey, it works.

I love it, and so does the girl.

Have a happy Saturday, everyone.

almost done with the dress

2011-12-16T10:42:00.002-06:00

I'm almost done stitching up Nini's pattern for my daughter's holiday dress. I'll be finishing it up today and I'm slightly amazed that I've managed to do it before Christmas Eve. I'm feeling a little proud of myself, yes I am.

I still have several other projects to finish though, so I'm not getting too full of myself yet.

How about you? Have you finished your holiday to-do list or are you a last-minute person too?

I used to laugh at my Grandma for wrapping presents on Christmas morning, but you know what? I totally get it now. Sorry, Gram.

I'll have some photos of the finished dress here tomorrow. Right now I'd better get to work.

Have a good Friday everyone!

wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T05:58:00.003-06:00

dog corncob combo

2011-12-13T09:54:00.002-06:00

Today has started out as one of "those" kind of days. I woke up late and groggy from another night of interrupted sleep courtesy of my youngest. I realized I hadn't run the dryer so the boys didn't have dry pants for school. It's foggy and grey. The news is depressing. You know how it is.

I was sitting here in a half-funk, nursing a cup of coffee (my first of what will likely be many today) and looked out the window to see my dog running in circles around the yard. "Weirdo", I thought.

(he isn't blurry in real life, he's just running really fast)

I got up and went outside to see what he was so excited about. Turns out he had found a cob of field corn that we had put out for the squirrels. Apparently a cob of field corn is the best kind of toy in the whole world, if you're a dog. We played fetch with it for a few minutes and wouldn't you know, it made me feel a whole lot better too.

I think I'll have another cup of coffee, give Charlie a good scratch, and get to work. Since I had a number of emails from people asking for more acorn ornaments, I decided to make another batch. They will be in the shop shortly and it will be the last batch before the end of the year.

If your day is grey, I hope it turns around for you. Try the dog and corncob combo if necessary.

delicious little houses

2011-12-12T09:36:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was, in a word, delicious.

The weather was beautiful for a woods-walk and the kids and I had a lot of fun gathering materials for an upcoming project. When we returned to the house I roasted some chestnuts, made hot chocolate, and started whipping up some royal frosting for gingerbread houses. (It was already getting dark, so please excuse the quality of these photos.)

Instead of gingerbread, we made mini versions using graham crackers. I built the houses for my 3 youngest and myself and set out a buffet of candies for decorating them.

I let the kids decorate them however they wanted and we ended up with houses like this:

and this. (I love the gingerbread marshmallow man just squashed into the side)

My teenager got into the action and not only made his own house, but a house with a chicken coop, a flag, a sidewalk, and even a gingerbread man on a ladder with a hammer in his hand! Holy buckets!

I was so impressed, though we did tease him about his entrepreneurial chickens who seemed to have opened a co-op.

Best part, naturally, is that they got to eat their masterpieces afterwards.

Delicious.

Hope you have a fun start to the week!

shifting gears for the season

2011-12-11T09:36:00.001-06:00

This morning's shop update has gone wonderfully. Thanks so much to all of you that stopped in and had a look or who took something home with you, I truly appreciate it. I had a few last-minute additions to the shop including these two brooches that I finished yesterday and photographed mere moments before the update. I had hoped to get more finished but it doesn't always work out that way. Those unfinished projects still on my bench looking at me with big sad eyes will have to wait for a while.

This will likely be my last shop update of the year as I'll now be working on some holiday presents, baking, making jam, and the like. Today we'll be roasting chestnuts and making gingerbread houses (okay, graham cracker houses) with the kids and given the warm weather (30 already!) hope to get out in the woods for a while.

I hope you all have a cozy and relaxing Sunday.

shop update Dec 11th

2011-12-09T09:19:00.001-06:00

I'll be having a small shop update on Sunday, Dec. 11th at 9am central time. (here's my time zone on the world clock)

Some of the items are in the shop and viewable now but a few more will be added tomorrow or early Sunday. They'll all go live at 9am. I'd love it if you'd stop in and have a look.

There will be a dozen acorn ornaments.

A few simple clay necklaces. After playing with these beads, I decided that I liked them simply strung on leather.

I've also made available now, my Yellow Amanitas sculpture. This is a needle-felted scene made entirely of wool that I've fitted into a vintage 'Physiology of the Fungi' textbook.

lil fish studios shop

Thanks so much everyone! I hope you have a good (and warm...brrr it's chilly!) weekend.

acorn ornaments and crafting with squirrels

2011-12-08T09:38:00.001-06:00

Yesterday you caught a glimpse at what was on my work table and here today we have the end result, teeny tiny acorn huts for mushrooms. I like to think that if the pine squirrels came over for a crafting night, this is what they would make.

I've hollowed out some acorn bodies and after they were cleaned and dried, glued in a wool mushroom and moss. I sewed small french knots on the caps for their spots.

They're so tiny and they fill me with glee. I am gleeful when I look at them. This one with the extra nub on the cap is my favorite.

These little guys will be in my shop soon and will be available on Sunday morning, not Saturday as I said earlier, as I've had a couple of commitments come up since then.

To celebrate the acorn theme, I decided to make myself a cup of acorn tea. I poured boiling water over some of the acorn flour I made, allowed it to steep, then strained out the acorn. (a french press would be really handy for that) I added a bit of sugar, but next time I might not, it was really good on its own. The acorns have a caramel taste to me and this was like sipping warm, milky caramel.

I think the pine squirrels would approve.

Today I am ever so flattered to have been featured at re-nest, a gorgeous green home site. I was invited by the talented and charming Rikkianne to define "needle-felting" and offer a few thoughts on the process. I'd love it if you'd stop over and have a look.

On Needle-felting : Lisa Jordan of lil fish studios

Have a good day everyone.

wordless wednesday

2011-12-07T09:28:00.001-06:00

beads and meaning

2011-12-06T08:49:00.001-06:00

I'm fiddling with beads this morning, working them into necklaces. I just pulled a batch of clay beads from the woodstove that fired last night and I love their earthiness. So it was interesting timing that there was a lovely email in my inbox this morning from a dear reader in which she said "..to work with clay from the earth is to be in tune with this beautiful planet that is going through such drastic changes."

Those words have been running through my head all morning.

I do feel a sense of connection with these simple beads. I dug the clay myself, tempered it with shells that I crushed, and fired these in my woodstove. No strip mines, no machined perfection. These little gems are imperfect and rough and utterly one of a kind. Just like nature... just like you and I.

I value the process as much as the outcome.

I think a lot of you feel this way too and it startles me when I go out into the "real" world and see the racks and racks of cheaply made (read: disposable) costume jewelry. And see the people buying up all those trinkets without a thought as to how it was made and at what cost - and I don't mean monetarily.

Me, I'll be wearing the beautiful agate my friend Lynn cut for me, the hand-dyed silk sewn into a feather by Eva, the tiny acorn from Sonia, the dried lichen garden from Margie, the macaroni necklace my boys made me (yes, I wear it), and even these beads of mine. And while I realize that even handmade goods are not made without impact, each of these pieces is gentler and carry much more meaning than anything I could find in the mall. And that matters to me.

I'm curious, what kind of trends have you noticed in your community? Have you seen a shift towards more sustainable "stuff"? How do you feel about it? Do you think it matters? Am I being a soapboxing hippie? (you don't have to answer that one)

Happy Tuesday everyone.

a mad cap :: Project Upcycle by Betz White

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

I hadn't heard of Craftsy, a site dedicated to crafty online classes and tutorials, until Betz White asked if I might like to participate in her Blog Tour. You may already know that Betz is incredibly clever when it comes to creative re-use so how could I resist a chance to try my hand at one of her tutorials? In her 'Project Upcycle' course, Betz covers the basics of the hunt and deconstruct, as it relates to finding good second-hand materials to work with, and walks us through the step by steps of five different projects. I chose the "Mad Cap" project to work on, a versatile beret-type hat. I wanted to make one for a dear friend of mine who loves berets, but I also couldn't resist making a smaller version for my youngest, Princess Poplar.

Even though I chose a wildly uncooperative acrylic weave to work with for my daughter's hat (that nearly gave me fits), I think it turned out pretty well. She really likes it and I forsee many versions of this hat in her future. (with more cooperative fabric, of course)

I chose black wool coat fabric for my friend's hat and that was muuuuuch easier to work with. I used a vintage pillowcase for the lining; cute, right?

What I loved about the Craftsy course was that I could watch the video at my own pace, ask questions of Betz (and read others' questions and Betz's responses), and add notes to myself at various points in the tutorial that I could refer to later. The episode is really well-shot which I appreciated too. You get a great view of the process, eliminating any of the "now what is she doing there?" questions. What I loved about Betz was that she was completely down to earth and thorough in her teaching. Even though I am sadly lacking in the machine-sewing skill department, I was able to make something cute. That is no small feat, so thank you Betz, for making me a mad capper!

If you'd like to take the course yourself, Betz is offering my readers $10 off! Just click here.

Check out the rest of the Project Upcycle Blog Tour:

Week of Oct 17th: The Long Thread
Week of Oct 24: Inspire Co.
Week of Nov 28: Daisy Janie

Week of Dec 5th: Me!

Week of Dec 12th: While She Naps

when a tree falls

2011-12-04T08:07:00.001-06:00

There is an oak that has stood beside our house for the last few years, leafless and dead. The thing about oaks is that even when they've given up the ghost, they're still strong and will continue to stand. Until they don't. Unlike poplars that will fall at the slightest provocation, even when healthy. We've been playing roulette with this tree, banking on its ability to stand, for a while now. The time came yesterday for us to take it down.

This tree was encrusted with lichens and mushrooms and having it down on the ground gave me a chance to take a closer look at them. I find them endlessly fascinating and inspiring and took gobs of photos. (click on them to get a little closer look)

Aren't they fantastic? I feel very inspired by their shapes and colors.

Despite all of the fungal growth the heartwood was still in pretty good shape so I've pulled a pile aside that is headed to my own wood pile to become brooches and necklaces and buttons. My youngest was filling her pockets with lichen-covered twigs (her "special" sticks) and they will no doubt decorate our countertops and windowsills. The rest will be cut for firewood and will keep us warm in winters to come.

The toy truck that bore the brunt of the falling branches will be slightly less useful.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Friday randomness

2011-12-02T08:35:00.001-06:00

The past few days have been so busy that I've been feeling a little jumbled. This morning I woke up, and even though I'm low on sleep, feel focused. I have a number of projects on my workbench (and kitchen table, and couch) and I hope to have lots to show you in the next few days.

I've been working on some new frost stones (though these in the photo have already found a new home) and will be adding them to my shop next Saturday, Dec. 10th along with some other goodies.

Remember my tree-cutting expedition the other day when I was in search of green-stained wood? Well, wouldn't you know it that just a few days later my son would bring in firewood and there would be 3 logs with long streaks of green in it. I can't wait to cut into it.

The project that I'm working on right now involves a thrifted skirt and pillow case. It also involves my sewing machine, with whom I have a rather tumultuous relationship, so we'll see how this turns out. Wish me luck.

Also on my agenda for today is waking my dog up every time he dozes off. This is my way of saying "thanks" for waking me up at 2:00 this morning. I figure it's the least I can do to repay him. Conveniently, he likes to sleep right by my feet so I all have to do is stretch my leg out and nudge him. Oh look, he's dozing...nudge.

We've been having some gorgeous sunrises here lately with bands of color in the sky that are so bright it's almost unnatural. I'm feeling really inspired by them and feel a piece coming on in those colors.

Much to do, so with a raise of my ~~glass~~ coffee mug, I wish you all a great weekend.

wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

what I saw(ed)

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

The other day while looking into the woods on my way to the mailbox, I saw a dead poplar that had lost its top. I also saw woodpecker holes in the trunk of the tree.

I walked over to have a closer look and what should I see inside? My favorite green-staining fungus at work!

I've previously worked with fungus-stained wood and was excited at the prospect of finding another piece that wasn't completely degraded. This poplar was destined to become firewood so with the promise of green-stained wood before me, I grabbed the chainsaw and got to work.

Timberrrrr...

I cut the tree up into pieces and hauled the piece I wanted to the house and split it into a more usable size with the splitting maul.

I could see that the green was mostly in the degraded part of the wood and it was unlikely that I'd be getting any decent pieces out if it. Not like this small stick that I found just sitting on the firewood pile AFTER I cut down the poplar. Just sitting there. No cutting needed.

That figures.

It wasn't a loss though, while cutting the poplar on the band saw I noticed some interesting spalting and a mark that looks like an insect body on this piece.

It isn't sturdy enough to be a wearable piece, but I sanded and oiled it anyway, just to see what it would look like.

I love the spalting around the bug hole and the marks that look like petroglyphs. (is that a monkey?)

You never know what's hidden in the wood. Could be something, could be nothing, could be monkeys.

air Betty

2011-11-28T10:47:00.001-06:00

I recently moved the little teacup birdfeeder I made next to the porch. The Blue Jays have been visiting my feeders and I thought it would be nice to be able to watch them in the morning while I have my coffee. Naturally the chickens noticed that I was putting seed in the feeder and have started hanging around waiting for some of the extras to drop to the ground.

This waiting has been fine for all of the chickens. Except one.

One who is determined. One who rises above the rest.

Air Betty.

Look at the admiring faces of her peers. You can almost hear them chanting "Betty, Betty, Betty..."

I was most entertained this morning watching my little superstar, until this happened:

Okay, I found that pretty much hilarious.

On today's to-do list: find taller stick.

Hope you have a fun start to the week, everyone.

ornaments set sail

2011-11-27T10:27:00.001-06:00

This weekend I harvested some birch bark. Earlier this fall we had a large limb fall and I've been meaning to get out and pull the bark off of it but just hadn't gotten to it. When I went out there yesterday it became apparent that the mushrooms got a jump on the job. That'll teach me.

It worked out alright though, I was able to harvest what I needed, and got to hang out with the fungus in the meantime.

A whole fleet of tiny canoes are headed off to Bookhou where they will be in the most excellent company. If you're in the Toronto area, stop by and have a look, won't you?

I've been up to some other woodsy shenanigans this weekend that I'll share with you soon.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend and having some shenanigans of your own.

bawk friday

2011-11-25T09:15:00.001-06:00

This morning 8 of the girls lined up on the step outside my sliding glass doors, pruning their feathers and tapping on the glass. Yesterday we gave them a plate of cranberries, stuffing, and pie crust leftover from our Thanksgiving dinner and they enjoyed it immensely. I'm pretty sure they thinking that if they looked pathetic enough I'd emerge with another serving.

Instead of black Friday, we're having bawk Friday perhaps.

Have a good start to the weekend, everyone!

wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:01:00.001-06:00

dress-making or dress-tweaking maybe

2011-11-22T08:27:00.001-06:00

A new project landed in my lap yesterday.

My daughter and I were in one of the thrift shops in town looking for her holiday dress. When she saw this one she gasped and declared this dress her "faaaavorite" and hugged it. As luck would have it, it fit her perfectly, and the overall shape is cute. The velvet is bright red and the top is white with a little line of faux pearls at the neck. With a little tweaking it will be super sweet (I'm hoping anyway). I'll be working on this in the next few weeks and I'll be back to show you more later. A hint at what I'll be doing though, involves one of Nini's embroidery patterns (and btw, aren't her patterns adorable? You can have any one of them with your choice of donation on her site, so check it out).

Last year I re-fashioned her dress from a garage sale find and an antique lace collar. This too was velvet. The girl has a thing for velvet.

Now I'm thinking that I need to make her a black Elvis on velvet dress. I'll save that project for another day though. Thank ya, uh thank ya very much.

What's on your plate today?

not quite chaos

2011-11-21T08:41:00.001-06:00

Oh sure it might look like chaos around here but I'm not going to call it that.

I might be a plate-spinner.

It might just be the season.

Whatever the label, things are certainly busy around here.

One of the many projects in th eworks is related to the bowl of natural dyeing you see here.

I'm eager to get this one finished up and show you. I do so love the experimentation of playing with natural dyes. All of the colors in this bowl came from only two dyestuffs, both left over from my snacks last week, combined with a little tinkering. So much fun.

I know where each of these colors came from and though it may look like chaos, it's not quite.

Much to do, much to do. I'd better get to it.

Have a good and non-chaotic start to the week.

wood(stove) fired pottery

2011-11-18T09:17:00.001-06:00

I was staring out the window the other day, looking at the fire pit in the backyard and thinking about how I'd like to get some pottery fired before it got too cold out. The woodstove plinked in the background, chugging away on this chilly day. The plinking means the fire is especially hot and the plink, plink, plinks, eventually got my attention. I turned around and looked at my woodstove in a new way. (cue the romantic music)

Some of the clay beads I made were dry and ready to be fired so I figured I'd just pop one or two in the stove and see what happened. They popped like popcorn. Hmm. Um, that's not what I wanted. Not to be deterred, I took a couple more and let them warm up above the fire for an hour before I placed them in the stove. This time I put them away from the direct flame and built a fire on top of them. A few hours later after the fire had died down I pulled out two fired beads. Hooray!

I was so excited I had to try again, this time putting in more beads, and the smallest of my little pinch pots. I was a little nervous about the pot, thinking that if it were to explode and break the glass on the stove, my husband would find my shenanigans far from amusing.

Once again I let the pieces warm up before carefully placing them in the stove. I built a good hot fire over them, and continued to add wood while this batch fired. A few hours later I dug the pot, beads, and a few small pieces from the ashes.

I don't know how hot my woodstove gets so I can't say for certain, but the beads didn't soften when left in water so I'm going to call them bisque-fired. The black parts aren't soot, they're reduction marks from the firing process and are permanent. I love them! I made these as stringing beads for my daughter but now I don't know. I might like to string them and wear them.

I decided to use the tiny pinch pot as a planter for one of my succulent cuttings.

I think I'll fire the rest of the pinch pots out in the fire pit, but there's a good chance there will be more beads in the woodstove soon. Plink, plink, plink...

Have a good and warm weekend everyone.

wordle...ah who am I kidding? Wednesday

2011-11-16T08:39:00.001-06:00

If I keep talking through my "wordless Wednesday" posts I'm going to have to come up with a new name for them.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who stopped by yesterday's post. You were so thoughtful and insightful with your comments and emails and it completely made my day. I loved reading the varying points of view. Thank you for having the conversation with me.

truth in the happy place

2011-11-15T06:52:00.001-06:00

I've been thinking about Julie's post from the other day. In it she takes aim at a blog world that shows only the rosiest of views, day in and day out. She calls for more honesty from ourselves and directed at ourselves, and she's posting truths on her blog this week in response.

Her post made me think for a while about what I share here. I'm not afraid to share my failures alongside my successes; recipes that don't turn out as planned, projects gone wrong, stories of unruly children... I don't share all the realities of my life, but choose to show the moments that I find happy, inspiring, or at least entertaining. This blog is my happy place and my honest place, just maybe not my brutally honest place.

I have noticed the prevailing "life is perfect" vibe, it's definitely out there, but I mostly don't care. I don't assume that everyone else's lives are non-stop joy, that everyone else's lives are perfectly manicured, even if they're trying hard to portray it that way. For the most part this perfection doesn't make me feel inadequate, though the occasional twinge... maybe. If you want to show me your happy, that's fine with me. If you want to show me your mess, that's fine too. A healthy mix of the two is probably just right.

You know, that said, I will confess that I do cluck and shake my head at some of the design blogs that show meticulously arranged rooms, especially nurseries. Whenever I see a nursery with a delicate paper mobile hanging just inches from the crib, a fluffy white rug on the floor, a modern cube side table with a single perfectly retro tin toy atop, sitting next to a book case with all of the books arranged by color...I laugh and assume that whoever owns this room hasn't actually had that child yet. I chuckle, imagining how swiftly a seemingly immobile baby can learn to stand and shred that delicate paper mobile. I imagine the moment when the child scales the bookcase, pours their grape juice into the white fluffy rug, or demands the plastic battery-operated farting dinosaur take center stage instead of the hip retro tin toy that matches the decor.

I want those of you who share time with me here to find it a comfortable place to hang out. It's really satisfying to me when someone says "hey I learned something today" or just that they enjoyed a project I've shared. I like making people happy. Maybe Spilling-Ink has a point, perhaps we do have an "inner Oprah" who wants to cheer people on to a happier, better life. When I wish everyone a good day at the end of my posts, I'm being sincere. If I could surprise you with new cars and goodies hidden under your chairs, I totally would.

While I attempt to write this post I am sleep-deprived from tending to 3 sick children throughout the night. The smell of bleach still on my hands. The children who were vomiting like Linda Blair last night have regained all of their vigor and pep and I, working on less than 2 hours of sleep and feeling like a sedated sloth, just threatened to throttle one said child if he hit me with that Nerf ball one more time!!! The irony is not lost on me that this is information I would not normally share, but today I feel compelled to. Truth.

Have a great day everyone. I mean it.

apple and pear ornament tutorial

2011-11-14T07:07:00.001-06:00

I'm trying something new, friends.

I've begun writing some pdf tutorials, starting with my little apple and pear ornaments, and am offering them for sale in my Etsy shop. This one is geared towards the beginner and intermediate sewist. For those of you that may not have easy access to felted garment wool, or who want to be spared the trouble of felting and preparing this yummy wool, I'll soon be offering a materials kit as well.

(apple and pear ornaments - make us!)

While writing tutorials is not new to me, (I've written several for various books and offer some free here on my blog), writing them to sell is new to me. I'm hoping that by sharing my techniques I'll help more people fall in love with making things by hand, appreciate the beauty of using repurposed materials, and compensate myself (even if modestly) in the process.

As I mentioned the tutorials and kits will be found in my etsy shop, however my other completed works will continue to be in my big cartel shop.

Speaking of which... I have a few new pieces nearing completion and I'll be having my next shop update sometime in the last week of November, after the whole Black Friday craziness is over, and blood pressures return to normal. Normalish? I hope you'll find something for the art-lover on your list.

Have a good start to the week, everyone.

clay play

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

I had the clay out and did some playing yesterday. Tinkering, if you will. Just for fun, just for me. The sun even made an appearance.

It was just what I needed.

wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T08:35:00.002-06:00

overdyeing clay-dyed cotton

2011-11-08T09:58:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's clay dyeing post, I decided to overdye my clay-dyed t-shirt using black walnut skins. It deepened the color a bit but left the mottled look, which I like. It's more towards a mocha color now instead of the beige/pink and I think it suits me better. I really wasn't sure if it would work since the clay acts as a pigment, laying on top of the fibers instead of a dye that penetrates the fibers, but it did!

Silly me left it on the line to dry overnight and this morning it was frozen stiff. It sort of cracked me up so I carried it around for a while, leaning it against stumps and giving it a ride on the swing.

When it thaws I think I'll do a little embroidery on it.

Have a great day, everyone.

clay dyeing cotton

2011-11-07T07:51:00.002-06:00

A few weeks back, while I was busy slaking clay from the yard, I set aside a handful to use as a dye. My instructor Nancy from the Woodland Pottery class I took had mentioned that it could be used as such, and I figured I'd give it a whirl.

I had a plain white t-shirt of my own, and a pale yellow shirt for my daughter to play with. I found a how-to on Prairie Fibers' site, and I followed her instructions for immersion dyeing, mostly.

Much like any natural dye process, there was scouring and mordanting to be done. I didn't have the recommended soda ash for scouring so I used washing soda instead. The instructions called for tannin to mordant with and I used acorns since I had tons of those on hand. I simmered them in water for about an hour, strained them out, and added my shirts.

After prepping the fabric, the clay is dissolved in soy milk and the shirts are allowed to sit in the mixture for a week or more. Here's where I got a bit sloppy. I probably added a bit too much clay, and definitely didn't stir my fabric around enough (I had a pretty narrow vessel, next time I'll use a more open bucket), as evidenced by the blobs of clay and bare spots on the fabric.

I let my shirts cure for about a week out on the line then rinsed them well...really well...it took some effort to get the clay off. I brought them in and handwashed them, and I was left with a mottled pink/beige color. I wondered how it would wash up in the washing machine, so I tossed it in with a load of laundry. Since it was raining it also went through the dryer instead of being hung on the line. I thought for sure that I'd be back to a plain white t after that treatment, but surprisingly, the pigment held.

The result is pretty interesting. I really like the mottled look to it, but it's a little too close to my skin color for me. I'm wondering what would happen if I overdip it in a different dye color, maybe a black walnut, just to deepen it. I also thought of doing some Alabama Chanin-style applique work to it. I'm just not sure.

Any ideas?

At any rate, not bad for a handful of mud. I'd like to try this with again with a different color of clay.

Have a great start to the week, everyone.

new brooches and stones

2011-11-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

I snapped a few quick pics this morning of the work that will be in my shop soon. They're not the best shots but they'll give you an idea of what's coming. I'll be adding them to my shop later this afternoon and they'll be available for purchase tomorrow morning at 10am CST. (which would be 11am eastern time, 8am pacific, etc.)

my shop: lil fish studios

Thank you to all who chimed in on yesterday's post. It seems that announcing the shop update beforehand and giving you a preview works best so I'll continue doing that. Thanks again for the feedback, I knew you guys would help me.

In this update there will be these needlefelted brooches...

...and some stones inspired by frost on the windows and light snowfall...

...and some earthy stones as well, and possibly another set or two if I'm lucky.

The shop update after this one will have some different pieces including some necklaces and needle felted sculpture. I'm hoping to do a large shop update at the end of the month, just in time for holiday shopping, so please think of me as you plan for your shopping adventures. :D

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you have a great weekend.

new work coming soon and a question

2011-11-03T09:21:00.002-05:00

I've just finished a few of my needle felted landscape brooches and have decided that I'll be having a little shop update this Saturday morning at 10am CST.

my shop: lil fish studios

There will be a couple of brooches and a few sets of textural stones as well. I'll be putting the listings up as I get them photographed and then they'll be available for purchase when they go live on Saturday.

For those of you that purchase from me, is it helpful to know in advance when I'll be listing new work? Did the preview help last time? Just try to determine if I should continue this way or just put new work in as I finish it. I'd love your input.

Thanks everybody! Have a great day.

wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T07:11:00.002-05:00

on the workbench

2011-11-01T07:54:00.000-05:00

Work has finally begun on my holiday gifts.

These beads are from the clay I dug this fall and once fired will be stringing beads for my daughter. Okay, to be honest I might keep a few for me to play with too. I have a few other clay pieces worked up and I hope to have my first firing in the fire pit before we get any significant snowfall.(wish me luck)

Sonia did a nice post the other day about some simple and handmade gifts to consider giving this year, if you're looking for some inspiration. I firmly believe that gifts don't need to be expensive to be appreciated. A simple, thoughtful gift is much more meaningful and I'll take 10 minutes of thought over $100 spent any day. (but hey, if husband is reading, that Wustof knife combines both...)

I've also been working on some wool brooches and am just finishing up the wood bases. Each wool scene has to have a base that I feel goes with the scene, so it isn't quite as easy as just popping them in whatever I have on hand. They have to be the right color and shape so I've been out at the saw and sander tweaking away. (sometimes I drive myself crazy, but this is how I am)

The brooches, along with a few new stones, will be in my shop sometime this week. I'll post once I know when I'll be adding them.

I'm be back at the workbench today after I finish my coffee and shake off this Halloween candy hangover. (ohh Charleston chews, I both love and hate you) There is much to be done in the next few weeks; holiday gifts, book projects, en masse mitten-making... the list is endless. I'd better get to it.

Have a good day everyone!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

Today I'll take a small pink bear, a flappin' bat, a lumberjack, and a dinosaur out to beg candy from the neighbors.

I'll sneak candy from their bags for "inspection purposes".

We'll probably all have tummy aches.

The dog will cringe when I find that lobster hat, and shoot eye daggers at me when I put it on her, again. We'll roast those pumpkin seeds and snack on them the whole week.

In short, we'll have fun.

Hope you do too.

Happy Halloween!

random thoughts on a Friday

2011-10-28T10:50:00.004-05:00

Just a few random thoughts at the end of a busy week.

I love this idea of Julie's...for anyone wanting to have a handmade holiday but aren't sure where to start or just need a little motivation, this just might be the ticket. Knowing Julie, it will be amazing.

This guy and his talented feet kind of blew me away. I can barely walk with mine, and he's making chess pieces with his.

I miss the days when kids could bring homemade treats to school. Where are the sticky popcorn balls and pretty homemade cupcakes? Can we get back there please?

This article comes off as a little "you kids get off my lawn" but I enjoyed it anyway.

I can't decide what I want to add more to my ultimate christmas list, a foraging trip with Steve Brill, a new workshop, or a nap.

I've had four kids, so how did I forget how difficult the 2 year to 3 year old transition is? Shouldn't I be way more relaxed about it by now?

I've been (finally) playing with the clay that I slaked from the yard.

Snow is coming.

There are 57 days until christmas.

Yikes.

Have a great weekend everybody.

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T09:26:00.000-05:00

shop update today

2011-10-25T07:16:00.000-05:00

I'll be having a small shop update today. These textural stones, and others, will be available for purchase at noon cst in my shop. The stones are viewable now if you'd like to have a look, and will go live at noon.

lilfishstudios : shop

Next week there will be a brooch or two in the shop and maybe a few other things, if all goes as planned. I'm hoping to have shop updates more regularly over the next few weeks. If you haven't been able to grab a set of stones or a brooch, but have wanted to, hopefully this will give you more opportunity to do so.

Now off to work with me!

Have a great day everyone.

a Stash Happy: Winner!

2011-10-24T08:59:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway for a copy of Stash Happy: Felt. I loved reading your comments. Sounds like a lot of you have your hands in projects right now, and that's fun. I wish I had a copy of the book for each of you, but alas...

The book is available both in Lark's Bookstore (which you should check out, there are sooo many great looking books) and on other book sites like Amazon, if you'd like to pick up a copy for yourself.

Now, drumroll please....

The winner is

Laura A

Congratulations Laura! I hope you find some fun projects to work on!

In other news, there will be some new textural stones in my shop soon. I'll be putting previews up in my shop today and tomorrow and the stones will be available for purchase tomorrow at noon, cst. (You'll see the listing go from saying "Coming Soon" to a priced listing)

I hope you all have a great start to the week.

Happy Monday!

when life hands you green tomatoes

2011-10-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

With below-freezing temps headed our way it was time to pluck the last of the green tomatoes from the plants. I assigned the job to the wee ones and it was one they really enjoyed.

Especially when they found happy smiling green tomatoes.

They picked several pounds of tomatoes and I promised I'd make a pie. Because when life hands you green tomatoes, you make green tomato pie, right? And fried green tomatoes, and piccalilli, and green tomato bread, and and and... They're far too precious a commodity to toss to the chickens, though the little sneaks did manage to grab a couple.

The pie was quite good and was well-received. It tasted very much like an apple pie with a consistency that reminded me of rhubarb. A splash of apple cider vinegar lent a nice tartness to it and countered the sweet. I would (and am expected to, like asap) make this again.

This is the recipe I used for the pie, and I always use Martha Stewart's instructions for the crust. (though I don't have a food processor so I do that bit by hand). A note about the recipe, even though I used roma tomatoes, which aren't very juicy, I did add extra flour as suggested by the recipe reviews. The filling turned out great, not too runny, just right.

Delish!

Do you have any tips for using up the remains of the summer garden?

dyeing (and drying) the rainbow

2011-10-22T08:24:00.002-05:00

I found two bottles of dye in my workspace this week that I had forgotten about completely. (you do this too, right?) There was a turquoise blue and a yellow and I really needed some more yellows in my arsenal so I grabbed some wool and did some dyeing. I have just a bit of undyed wool left, but by dyeing over some dyed wool that I had on hand already, and had too much of in some cases, I was able to get a pretty wide spectrum of colors. It was a good way for me to use up the two bottles of dye and to get some mileage from my existing stash o' wool.

Some day I hope to use only naturally dyed wool in my work, I think it's part of my path, but I have to admit I love seeing these bright colors hanging on the line.

Have a colorful day!

behold the chokecherry

2011-10-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Before I moved to Minnesota, I had only a vague notion of what a chokecherry was and never had I tried one. My husband, who grew up here, talked of having chokecherry jelly and recounted popping the astringent cherries in his mouth as a kid and trying not to pucker.

We had been here almost two years before I discovered that our woods held a number of these trees and another year still before I tried my hand at making anything with the cherries. My first batch of jelly wasn't much more than sweet, not what I expected from these notorious little fruits.

This year I was able to pick a good amount of cherries before the birds or bugs got to them, and made a chokecherry syrup. To counteract the astrigency of the cherry, it's important to wait until they're black without a trace of red, and to add lots and lots of sugar. Now, I did both but my syrup still had a rather medicinal taste. Not unlike Nyquil, actually.

I tried making a bubbly drink by adding some club soda and got something akin to um, bubbly Nyquil. I figure my only recourse at this point is to make an alcholic drink of it. Enough vodka in there and I probably won't notice the taste at all. Or anything else for that matter...

I was a little more successful with my other chokecherry experiment.

I look pretty dangerous here, don't I? You may think I'm all sweet mushrooms and soft wool but I have a darker side. And a knife. And mom gym shoes.

Yeah, I'm scary.

One of our chokecherry trees had fallen this summer and I finally got around to hauling the wood into the barn for drying. I cut off some of the smaller limbs and thought I'd try dyeing with the bark.

I used one of my old kitchen knives to strip the bark (a draw knife is on my list of wants, but what I have are old kitchen knives) from the limbs. I tore the strips of bark into pieces and simmered it in some water for about an hour. The water had taken on an orangey color and the house smelled like earth and cherries, which I didn't mind.

I drained the dye and added a piece of unmordanted, scoured silk and wool. The resulting color is a warm tan, sort of like buckskin on the silk and a pale tan on the wool.

It's tan, which isn't hard to come by with natural dyeing, but it is quite lovely, a nice shade for autumn.

How about you? Have you tried chokecherries? Did you pucker?

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Stash Happy: Felt - a giveaway!

2011-10-20T06:30:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I contributed a couple of projects to Lark's new book, Stash Happy: Felt. I love the concept of this book, as it looks for ways to use up some of the scraps we as crafters inevitably end up with,and if you're anything like me, hold on to because there just has to be a project out there for them...

I show how to make a penny rug bouquet and a felted mushroom terrarium using scraps, but there are so many adorable projects in this book! It's really such a delightful book to flip through and many of these projects are on my list to make for the holidays this year.

I think you all would enjoy it too, and the kind folks at Lark have given me an extra copy to share!

~~If you'd like a chance to win, just leave me a comment on this post.~~

~~Tell me what handmade gifts you have in the works, or tell me what kind of craft book you'd like to see written, or just say hello.~~

~~Please be sure I have some way to contact you, should you win. One entry per person, please.~~

~~I'll ship worldwide and will announce the winner on Monday, October 24.~~

~~Good luck!~~

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, not so wordless...

Last night the setting sun seemed to light the last remaining leaves on fire. Faded green and tan leaves were suddenly golden orange. It was beautiful.

from this vantage point

2011-10-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

I snuck a walk out in the woods this weekend, amongst the blowing leaves and chill of late autumn. The change in seasons here seems so abrupt, and the colorful and beautiful days of fall seem especially brief. The few mushrooms I saw, looking like spots of snow against the brown, kept reminding me that winter is coming and I don't feel ready for it.

White, white, everywhere white...

...that is until I changed my vantage point...

...and then, purple.

Which was just the reminder I needed to change my vantage point more often.

Have a great start to the week, everyone.

lobster mushroom-dyed scarf

2011-10-14T11:02:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday I gave you a glimpse at a piece I had just finished and today I'll show you what those folded layers of edible-looking pink were. You might remember that back in September I had been dyeing wool and silk with lobster mushrooms, well this scarf is what came of that lovely fiber.

I nuno-felted that soft merino wool into a layer of silk. The resulting texture is nubby and mottled, and oh-so-interesting. It's soft enough to be worn next to the skin.

The color varies and runs from mauve to fuschia. In the spots where the silk bubbles up through the wool, you'll see a pale ballerina pink.

This is a shorter scarf but because it has some give, it can be tied once around the neck. I've made a wool pebble brooch as a closure for it as well which allows the wearer to tie it in different ways.

I used all of my lobster mushroom-dyed fiber on this piece so there will be no others like it.

It amazes me what is possible with natural materials. Granted, doing work this way is far more labor-intensive than grabbing a box of Rit and some polyester, but the results are so rewarding for me. I have a piece that is unique and easy on the earth, but I also got to have the experience, the learning experience, from making it.

This is why I do what I do, and oh how I love it.

This scarf will be in my shop shortly and I'd be grateful if you'd check it out, or share it with someone who might like it (any pink-loving mycologist/nature lovers out there?), because I'd love to be able to continue to do what I do.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

dyeing with dog's nose fungus - Peridoxylon petersii

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

I found this unusual fungus back in August while out in the woods. I had never seen one before but it looked remarkably similar to Charlie's nose, hence the term "dog nose fungus". Funny enough when I googled that very term, I quickly identified this fungus as the Peridoxylon petersii. It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought they bore a resemblance...

There were several growing on a highly decayed oak log so I pried a few off and took them home to identify them and see if I could dye with them.

Charlie saw it in my hand and gave me a "say what?" look. I had to reassure him that it was just a fungus and not an actual dog nose. That would just be wrong.

It had a very woody feel to it and while the top was a shiny black, the sides had a hint of very dark green in them. I was eager to see if I could coax any color from it but since I didn't have time to dye with it right away I popped it in the freezer inside a resealable bag.

I recently pulled it out and made dye with it by chopping it into bits and simmering it in water. It quickly began turning the water into a brownish color so I was hopeful. I mordanted two strands of wool yarn, one in alum and one in ammonia, and left a third without mordant. I was surprised to see that the yarns picked up a green color from the dye, since the dye itself looked brown, and that the unmordanted yarn held the color the best.

I put my unmordanted merino wool in the dye bath and simmered it for about an hour. It came out an olive green, more green than what this image is showing, and I couldn't have been more excited. I did a second batch in the same dye and only came up with a tiny bit of color. I did notice with this that the color really developed with heat. The yarn that touched the bottom of the pot was more green than the middle, and the same was true with the roving.

I have another mushroom in the deep-freeze that I'm eager to try out, and I'm crossing my fingers it's as exciting as this one was for me.

Have you had any happy experiments lately?

wishes for Monday

2011-10-10T10:03:00.000-05:00

I'm running a bit behind today but wanted to wish you all a happy Monday.

After enjoying these past sun-filled weeks, we've gotten a bit of rain, just enough to make the plants happy and raise my hopes for mushrooms.

Tomatoes are ripening on my windowsill and I've been drying them in batches. The kids have been gobbling them up as quickly as I pull them from the dehydrator.

I did some felting this weekend and am excited to show you.

I also have a couple of dyeing experiments that I haven't shared yet, that I'll be sharing soon.

The oak leaves have turned to brown and the change in palette alone makes me feel the approach of winter, even though it's still quite warm.

I feel like a squirrel, running from task to task, preparing.

Hope you have a good start to the week.

a rainbow in the kitchen

2011-10-06T07:31:00.002-05:00

Wool problem? What wool problem?

A snapshot of my working time.

While I have a small workspace in the basement, I do most of my work at the kitchen table. There are boxes of wool and various supplies lingering in corners throughout the house. One day I will have them all corraled in the workshop I hope to build (oh I have some plans, yes I do) but for now my working time is spent mostly here. Lest you think I spend all of my time frolicking in the woods...

I haul my stuff out to work and then I put it all back when I'm done. Kind of a pain, but it is what it is. I have a small workshop downstairs in the basement but it is a pile of boxes and craziness from the unending battle with flooding this year. I just haven't had the energy to get it straightened out yet. I think that will be a winter project.

I have most of my wool colors in these shoe organizers but not all. I need to buy one more and then I think I'll have it covered. Pretty much.

My crafting time is punctuated with sips of coffee. Oh coffee, my confidante, giver of life, sweet friend...

There's room at the table and I have a fresh pot of coffee on, so pull up a chair and craft with me, won't you?

rolling in the leaves

2011-10-04T08:19:00.001-05:00

I have been so thoroughly enjoying our transition into fall. I feel somewhat desperate to hold on to the colors, the smell, the comfort of jeans and t-shirt weather. The trees turn brown then leafless really quickly here and I'm not quite ready for the "W" word.

So if I'm a bit quiet, it's because I'm out rolling in the leaves.

And enjoying my woods in color.

Have a great start to the week, friends.

the fire pit

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Still giddy from last weekend's pottery class, yesterday I set about building a fire pit in which to fire my soon-to-be clay pots.

I picked a spot that wasn't beneath any tree branches and dug a pit about 5 feet across. While digging, I hit clay, go figure.

I laid some flat rocks in the center of the pit, to put my pots on, and lined the outside of the pit with larger stones that I gathered from throughout the yard.

I brought my compass out and placed larger stones at north, south, east, and west. Just because it seemed like the thing to do. Charlie supervised from due east.

We christened the fire pit with a small fire and a couple of marshmallows, the kids and I. I thought it would be meaningful to make some kind of offering in the first fire but what can be more meaningful than a bunch of happy, sticky, marshmallow-encrusted kids? So, a burnt marshmallow was our offering.

All in all, a nice way to spend an autumn afternoon.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend too.

woodland pottery class

2011-09-30T09:42:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was amazing. I had signed up for a woodland pottery class offered by the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and had such a wonderful time. I learned to dig clay, gather tempering agents, and fire pots in an open pit but I learned more than that too, more than I can squeeze into a blog post. If we ever get together for coffee I'll tell you all about it. For now, a condensed version.

While in class we worked on small pottery pieces and learned about the history of pottery in our area and how it was used by the Ojibwe. Really there isn't as much information about this pottery as there is about southwestern pottery. A wet climate and harsh winters probably play a part in that as the pots would be exposed to some pretty harsh conditions. It is assumed that the tribes didn't take their pottery with them when traveling, rather they would find a source of clay at their new locations and build anew. The pots would have been heavy to carry and clay is plentiful here so that makes sense. I wondered if there were designated potters in each group or if pot-making was a skill that each family had and when the time came, pot-making was just as much a part of their day as gathering food was. I wondered how they cooked in these earthenware pots and marveled at their ingenuity for slaking, shaping, and finishing the clay.

I made a couple of small pots and a few tiny decorative pieces. This is local clay that our amazing instructor Nancy dug and provided us. We shaped our pieces and added decoration using natural materials like sticks and shells. The texture on the outside of this small smudge pot (above) was made with a bumpy seashell as was the neck design of the small unfired pot below.

I used the end point of a stick to texture the inside of the smudge pot and when the piece was dried to leather-hard I burnished it with a smooth stone.

You can see that the clay started off a grey color like the unfired piece on the left below, and once fired the earthenware took on a rusty color with black reduction marks.

My little bird turned a lovely orange color, very much like terra cotta, even though he's made of the exact same clay. Interesting, isn't it?

Sitting in a room making pinch pots and talking about native american culture and history, eating some wild rice soup, digging clay, standing in front of a fire on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs on a crisp autumn morning, mingling with people with similar interests...well that's just about heaven for me. I enjoyed it so much that I've already started slaking a batch of clay from my yard and tinkering with the clay we dug while in class.

Come on, you knew there would be mushrooms popping up, right? The clay from my yard is a dark red color so I'm really curious to see how it will look once fired.

If you're in the area you should make a stop at the museum. They offer a number of classes throughout the year including birch bark basket-making, beading, mitten-making, and much more. Check out their website for a list of upcoming events:

Mille Lacs Indian Museum

they're on facebook too:

Mille Lacs Indian Museum on facebook

Have a great weekend everyone!

a small shop update tomorrow

2011-09-29T09:09:00.001-05:00

There will be just a few new textural stones in my shop tomorrow morning at 9am CST but I'm hoping to get several more sets finished soon, along with some other projects I have in the works.

If you'd like to stop by, I'd be delighted.

Thank you!

Woolly Aphids

2011-09-29T06:57:00.001-05:00

Woolly Aphids? No, not my latest installation piece, something even cooler.

Yesterday as I was ambling towards the Alder to pick some cones for dyeing, I noticed a mass of white on one of the branches. I thought at first it was some kind of fungus but when I looked closer I saw that this mass of "fungus" was moving ever so slightly. Ants were walking to and fro and at first I thought they were eating these things, whatever they were, but as I watched for a while it seemed they were acting like little sheep herders instead.

(be sure to click on the pictures to see them a bit larger)

I pulled the branch down a little lower so I could get a better look and one of the bigger ants ran towards my hand, clearly perturbed that I was messing with their flock. I noticed that the ants were kind of stroking the white mass with their antennae and the word that came to mind was that they were "tending" these things and the little black spots looked like aphids. When I came in and googled "ants tending aphids" I found my answer. (don't you love it when it happens like that? Sometimes I have the hardest time finding information but this just fell in my lap)

These ants were tending aphids. Woolly Alder Aphids. These aphids secrete a sweet substance called honeydew which the ants love. Some species of ants will tend a flock of aphids, gently stroking them to gather up the honeydew. It is said that some ants will eat so much their abdomen will become huge with the stuff. Easy on the sweets, boys. Everything in moderation...

This was my "man, nature is awesome" moment of the day and I wanted to share it with you.

I hope you're bumping into amazing things today too.

back soon

2011-09-27T07:14:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I've had an amazing weekend and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Right now though it seems a head cold is busy kicking my butt and I'm feeling a little run-down. As soon as I have just a bit more energy I'll be right back here to tell you of my adventures.

I hope you're all doing well and avoiding the back-to-school sniffles.
See you soon!

feeling connected

2011-09-23T10:01:00.001-05:00

As I was photographing the stones I made this week I couldn't help but notice how well they seemed to blend in to their surroundings.

When I make a stone I pick some wool colors that I like and that I'm "feeling" at that time. I'll hold the felted stone in my hand and decide what colors of thread seem to work with it, and then start to stitch. There isn't a plan, I just start to work. It's a very organic process and one that suits me best.

So it tickles me that while I'm snapping pics, a small oak leaf falls and lands near a rock that complements it, right down to the bumps on the underside, or when I notice the bug trails match those I've stitched in a stone.

It makes me feel more connected to my source of inspiration.

These stones will be headed to my shop but I think I'm going to have to make a set soon to leave out on my favorite bug-chewed log as a thank you of sorts.

In other news, I have a fun weekend ahead of me and I can't wait to share.

I hope you all have a great weekend too.

conversations with the residents

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday you may have caught a glimpse of something I've been working on. That spiky little guy is my latest textural stone and what I'm calling one of my "conversations with the residents".

Often when I'm out woods-wandering I'll find little mementos left by the woods-dwellers. Some of these are not things I want to bring home (ahem) but sometimes I can't help but wonder what I can make with some of these found treasures.

A tuft of deer hair, a turkey feather, a couple of porcupine quills...

I've been holding on to these and waiting for the right project. I like the mix of textures and the idea of combining found natural materials with cultivated natural materials.

I think I also like them because they're a little strange.

These little guys will be in my shop tomorrow, along with another set or two of textural stones.

lil fish studios : shop

Have a great day, everybody.

wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T08:29:00.003-05:00

my first nuno vest

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

I made a little something for my youngest the other day that I'm really loving. It's a little vest that I nuno-felted for her using some natural wool locks from a farm here in Minnesota, and some silk I hand-dyed using beans.

It's hard to tell from the photos, I just couldn't get a great picture of it, but the silk is a lovely tan color. I'd previously gotten blue from the beans but I must have done something differently and ended up with tan. No worries though, it worked out great for this project.

The wool locks were almost white with dark brown tips and I felted them in such a way that the tips were arranged in lines. The silk shows through in these areas and I kind of dig the effect.

The asymetrical collar closes with a button I made out of a deer antler that my father gave me. The vest has a "cavebaby" vibe to it so I figured the antler button would be perfect.

I really love the way it turned out and now that I have a little practice under my belt maybe eventually I'll be able to make something in my size. I give a big "hats off" to you nuno-felters out there, this was some hard work, but the results are so much fun.

You can bet I'll be trying this again soon.