Wordless Wednesday

Turning

The weather has turned here in Minnesota. The skies are blue, the air is crisp, and those horrific bugs we're known for, the ones that make me spew multiple hyphenated curse words, are thinning out. This is my time of year. I wish it would last longer, but I'll take what we're offered.

This weather turns my attention to the colors I love, those natural and deep, bright and strong, not the pale and hopeful colors of spring, but the mature colors of fall. I could roll in mossy green and chocolate brown, wrap myself in burnt orange, and eat deep red for breakfast with a little golden yellow on the side.

It's no wonder that my crafting has turned towards these colors, and I'm delighted to see similar color choices from others I admire. I'll be sharing some of these delights in the next few days. I hope you'll find them as inspiring as I do.

Wordless Wednesday

The challenge - completed

It's been a week since I challenged myself to make some quiet time for sewing. I'm pleased to announce that I consider my week a success. Not only did I make the 6 each day, but managed a few extra too. Granted, I didn't always get to sew in quiet but that's to be expected with three rowdy kids running around. It did feel really nice to accomplish a goal, however small. So here's a visual round-up of my efforts.

Wordless Wednesday

A challenge

I've decided to give myself a one-week crafting challenge. I will make 6 wool hearts every day for the next week and on next Sunday will post pictures of what I've completed. Why? Well, life has become a little hectic in my neck of the woods. What with kiddies and obligations and preparing for winter, there leaves little time to sit and relax. Since sewing is one of my favorite things to do to relax, I've vowed to myself to make more time for it. Whether or not I get my completed works listed in my Etsy shop is another matter. I'm hoping though to feel a little sense of accomplishment, get a chance to kick my feet up, and enjoy a little quiet creation time. Want to join me?

Wordless Wednesday

From start to finish

It seems lately that I haven't been able to finish much of anything. We've hit a busy spell in our lives and many things we love have hit the back burner. Our yard is unkempt, our veggie garden needs weeding, the house is all a-clutter, and my crafting has stagnated. A frustrating thing to be sure, as I am normally quite a prolific thing-maker. Projects that I would normally whip through in a day are taking me weeks to complete and I'm feeling out of sorts. I guess that's why today I let out a big sigh of relief when I *finally* completed a project.

I've been working on an order of felted wool brooches in the shape of apples and oranges and today I finished the last one. I nearly did a cartwheel but not being sure if I could still do cartwheels, I settled for a squeal instead.

What had started out as discarded wool sweaters has been transformed through felting, dyeing, and sewing into (if I dare say so myself) cute little oranges and apples. I found a few shipping tags in the studio on which to display the pins and added a bit of recycled paper and vintage seam binding, just to finish it off. I'm pretty happy with them and I hope the dear customer will be as well.

My to-do list is still ridiculously long, but I feel bolstered by this one small feat and am setting off to accomplish more. Wish me luck.

Wordless Wednesday

Back in the saddle

Oh my, it's been quite a while since I've written. The last few months have been spectacularly busy. Between crafting, kiddies, and life, I've been up to my gills. I'll do my best to pop in here more frequently, if only for a quick photo post or observation.

I am so excited to have been chosen to participate in a special exhibit at The Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, dedicated to recycled crafts. The exhibit is tomorrow, July 24th. Sadly I won't be able to make the drive down, but just knowing that my work is in any kind of museum is enough to make me giggle. The Bakken is supposed to be fun and interactive for the kids so if you're in the area, stop on in!

This leather bouquet is something I created for the exhibit. It's made of reclaimed leather from purses, coats, and clothing pieces with vintage button centers.

I also sent some recycled felted wool items made from felted sweaters including some bird pins, a mushroom, a wallet, and some heart ornaments. I haven't had much time to sew lately and it felt really good to take a few hours for the quiet retreat.

Speaking of recycled wool items, please do check out my friend, Woolly Fabulous' work on Etsy, you'll marvel at her feltwork. She uses felted wool sweaters and creates the most detailed, amazing pieces. You'll love it.

Whirlwind

Whew! It's been a while since I've checked in here on my little blog. Seems the past month has been a blur of activity. I've been busy preparing for my biggest craft show of the year, No Coast Craft-o-Rama in Minneapolis on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, as well as finishing up some custom orders, trying to keep my etsy shop decently stocked, chasing the kids...etc. Then wham! Sickness in the house and my efforts were thwarted. We're all healthy again and I'm sewing my little fingers off. Yay! I've been working on a large order of birds, but had also been asked to create some owl ornaments. I'm glad that request came up, because I think they turned out nicely. I have a few new ideas in my head that I'm looking forward to working on too once it quiets down a bit.

I'll check in here more often, I promise, so please check back.

Enjoy your day!

Round and round we go

My oh my, has it really been a month since I've loved thee, my little blog? What a crazy month it's been. The kids and I made a trip "home" to Illinois for a trunk show I hosted with work from Kathryn from jewelrybytiki, Sheryl from shayster61, my son, Riley, myself, and the incomparable Charlene from Skin and Tonic. It was a fabulous time. I'll have to post all the details later, but let me tell you all you crafters out there, if you haven't done a home show, you should consider it. We served some wine and cheese, had some music playing, tons of product out, Charlene was demonstrating her bath and body products, and people were mingling and shopping. We all made a little money, but beside that it was a really nice time. No pressure, just a comfortable situation in which to show and talk about our work.

Other happenings of note lately would be the two big totes of wool sweaters I scored that are just waiting to be felted, and the multiple dabblings in new projects. One of which is shown here. Remember making newspaper bowls in school? Well, I sacrificed a couple of National Geographics and made one. I'm not sure if I'll put it in my etsy shop or not, but I do love how the inside looks. Maybe I'll just keep it on a shelf, tilted so I an enjoy the round and round.

'Til next time!

Making the time

Ah, summertime. I remember summertime as a kid, sleeping in, running around unsupervised, causing minor mayhem, kissing boys, and growing freckles. I remember feeling so free and eventually tiring of the freedom and wishing for school to start again. These days the option to sleep in and run around unsupervised isnt' one I'm afforded. I have, however, been MAKING the time to take some time for me each day. I need my creative time, it's my vitamin.

I sat down to paint the other night, and as always, didn't have a plan for my painting. As I started to manipulate the paint, I began to see a meadow and remembered a time when driving down a country road, we had pulled over so we could run through a field of grass, just like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. We took the time to be goofy, destination be damned. I miss that sort of detour. It seems now that it's just priority one to get to where we need to go. Stopping to run through tall grass would throw off the schedule horribly, would dirty our knees, and cover us with bugs. Or would it? Perhaps we need more silliness and simple pleasures in our lives. Let's all stop the car and run through the meadow and share a good laugh. Hold my hand, here we go.

You just can't beat Mother Nature

When it comes to texture, Mother nature wins. Hands down. We all know it, but sometimes it can take you off guard, like it did me today. I was walking around our property and went to survey a pine that had fallen. Beneath the bark were the tracks that worms had made while eating away at the piney flesh of the tree. In the rough spot where the tree had hit the ground, the bark had chipped off and it looked like tooled leather or hieroglyphics or something...amazing. The more I looked, the more I saw, and realized that maybe if I took more time in life to look, really look, I could see more. So, I plan to do just that. When the tedium starts to sneak into my day or I'm stressed out and had enough, I vow to take a walk and look for beauty in the rough spots.

a change in the weather

Finally! It feels like summer has finally arrived in my neck of the woods. Gone is the melting snow and misty mornings and here are the chirping birds and green leaves. Each morning I sit by the window, sipping my coffee, and watch the hummingbirds fight over prime real estate at the feeder. Rabbits nibble at the tiny bit of green in our yard, and deer drink out of the pond. Life is everywhere! What a difference a little sunshine makes. The boys are happy to be running around and jumping in the pool. I'm busy hanging out the laundry which smells divine, helped in no small part by the most wonderful laundry soap ever, found at MugwortMaggies on etsy. Though free time is still not overly abundant, I make my walks to the mailbox, and my laundry-hanging my time away from the chaos that is 3 rowdy boys and 2 naughty dogs. The only downside that I can see is that instead of creating, I want to be outside. I guess I'll just need to do some plein air painting or something. I'm not complaining, by any stretch. It's warm, it's green, and I'm happy.

The scariest animatronic guy ever

Have you ever been to Brainerd, Minnesota? If so, chances are good you've heard of "Paul Bunyan Land". It was once located in the heart of Brainerd, which happens to be the gateway to a gazillion lakes and therefore a big tourist area. A few years ago, the land upon which PBLand sat was purchased to house a Kohl's department store. Poor Paul Bunyan was evicted. The story goes that the entire park and all the rickety rides and entertainment were free as long as the new owners moved everything and operated the park as a non-profit. So everything was packed up and moved outside of town and reassembled.

The giant Paul sits right inside the entrance of the park. While the parents are paying, they write down their childrens names so that once inside, Paul booms out (through a loudspeaker) HELLLOOOOO, RILEY! (or whatever your kids' names might be). There is generally a log jam of crying kids who refuse to budge past the door. Paul's big arm raises noisly in a mechanical wave and his eyes blink, further terrorizing the kiddies. All the parents laugh and laugh....until the therapy bills start rolling in.

As you can see from the photo, Paul's a pretty big guy so to a little one, he must seem impossibly huge. My son has just now gotten past his fear of Paul, three years after our first visit. My husband tells tales of being terrorized by Paul when he was wee and now he gets to share the night terrors with his own clan. The kids managed to shake it off though and we headed towards the more benign tic-tac-toe playing chickens, wooden "mine shaft", and bumper cars.

That's fun in central Minnesota, and it comes with a side of cheese curds.

Carving a new niche

If there's one thing that Minnesota has in abundance, it's sand and rock. And well, sandy rocks. And mosquitos, but that's besides the point. I've been picking up rocks since I was wee. I still have boxes of rocks that I collected as a kid and polished in my trusty Thumler's tumbler. Oh how my mother hated that tumbler. It mysteriously disappeared sometime during my adolescence and I have no doubt she tossed it in the dumpster when I wasn't looking.

Now that I'm a mom, and still a rock-picker, I was only too happy to buy my 8 year old a tumbler of his own. Together we gather rocks and polish them up. It's great fun. Probably more fun for me than for him though. We have found numerous agates in our "yard" and they are bumping noisily in the barrel as we speak. I say "yard" as we haven't laid down sod yet and our yard actually looks more like a beach with trees than a yard. Which (finally) brings me to my point. In our yard-beach, we have not only the aforementioned tumbling agates, but loads of river rocks worn smooth so many millions of years ago. With this plethora of natural material, I was moved to start creating with them.

And the carved stone magnet was born.

It's fun for me, and it keeps my husband from complaining about yet another box of supplies in the basement. So, I've been happily grinding down my diamond bits, filing the carvings to perfection or rather intentional imperfection, and sealing the stone with beeswax that I purchased from the very nice catsewg on etsy. Check her out for her great deal on beeswax and some other nifty items.

May flowers

I've been walking in the woods today. It does wonders for my mental state. It seems that all those thoughts and worries that are buzzing in my ears finally trail off after a while and slip down around my heels and get left there, in the woods. They'll be there when I get back, I know, but for a while it's nice to be without them. On my trek today I noticed that our woods are carpeted with these pretty little flowers called trilliums and I had to stop and snap a picture. the ferns are coming up too and they look like little green violin necks sticking out of the dirt. I realized today also, that I really like our little piece of land. I struggled so much with the move to Minnesota but I'm finally at a point where I can say there are things I like about living in the woods. I love checking out the new birds-I saw an Indigo Bunting today! I love the way the moon looks silhouetted by trees. I love the drumming noise of the grouse and the infinitely different songs of the birds I have yet to see. There is so much beauty here and I feel so inspired to create. It isn't the old push of anger and angst that used to drive my paintings, but a quieter appreciative feeling.

Working in circles

So, it occurs to me that I've become mildly obsessed with circles. I've kind of realized for a while now that I'm drawn to circular shapes in art, but lately it's moved past "interested" to "OK, back away from the compass". I doodle circles. I paint circles. I paint circular egg cups. I've also been crafting with eggs, which though not a true circular shape, close enough. All of this makes me wonder if this is a womanly trait. I recently received feedback on an item I sold in my Etsy shop in which my wonderful buyer (the fabulous girl behind Skin and Tonic, previously mentioned in this blog) mentioned that she too, is fascinated with circles. What gives? Is it the organic shape? Is it reminiscent of the roundness of our curves? Why do circles feel so comforting? I suppose it makes sense that we encircle someone with our arms when we hug and our mouths make little circles when we kiss. Do men prefer circles or the more geometric squares? Who knows.

But here's a circle-themed poem that I committed to memory so many years ago, for your enjoyment:

Outwitted

"He drew a circle to keep us out. Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win. We drew a circle that took him in." ~Edwin Markham

Clutter

Oh the disorganization. Oh! Since the move to the new house, it's been a struggle to find everything in the mounds of boxes, still to be unpacked. My studio is built, but filled with said boxes so I am forced to craft, paint, and serve dinner on the kitchen table. The aftermath is a scratched up, painted up, cluttered kitchen table. What's worse is that I've begun the "spread". Craft supplies are creeping into the computer room, to the foot of our bed, my dresser, the bathroom (no joke, I have paintbrushes in the bathroom). So, it forces me to wonder if this disorganization is widespread amongst the artsy types. I'm hoping for a good excuse.

On the upside, amid all the clutter I was able to find some time to make some odds and ends. I have a plethora of wooden egg cups for my candles so I decided to paint some up and turn them into pincushions. I had read that if you put a tiny layer of super fine steel wool in them, it will help keep your needles sharp, so I added that. I think they turned out to be pretty cute. If you want to check them out, visit my shop, Lil Fish Studios, on Etsy.