The blues

Can you tell how I'm feeling today?

It's a chilly, overcast day here. I'm low on sleep, feeling a bit out of sorts, and well, a little blue. Painting usually helps me feel better, but the toddlers are so busy that it's not practical for me to spend any time with that pursuit. I think I'll go sew a few hearts. That will help.

Wordless Wednesday

Adventures in mommying take 554

Saturday night I experienced a new adventure in mommying. My youngest, the terrific two-year old, decided to sample some wild berries. We had been outside, taking a leisurely stroll through the woods and stopped by our garden to pick some tomatoes. While hubby and I were putting the tomatoes in the wagon, we looked up to see said terrific two-year old (TTYO) stuffing his mouth with purple berries. I yelped "NOOOO" and leapt over to him, squashing plants in the process, and tried to pry them out of his mouth. He was at the same time, trying to stuff more in. So, not knowing what he had eaten or how many, I scooped him up and ran inside with a plant sample. Hubby and I were on dueling computers, frantically trying to identify this plant and its berries. We kept coming up with a variety of nightshade, striking terror in my heart, but couldn't identify which one. Not wanting to risk spending too much time on it, I wisked TTYO and the plant sample to the ER, using my finest former-Chicago-commuter driving/speeding/passing skills in the process.

I should mention, that all the while, TTYO was completely calm and was perfectly content going out for a drive.



At the ER they checked his vitals and tried also to identify the plant. With the help of poison control and the internet, they determined that the type of nightshade that he had eaten was not the deadly nightshade (whew!). Given the length of time that had passed since he had ingested the berries, it was clear that he was going to be just fine. He was offered some stickers and a stuffed animal (although he asked for a horse instead), and we were on our way home.



Hubby did identify the plant as the Eastern Black Nightshade and it is not as toxic as some of its relatives. The green fruits are more toxic than the ripe ones, and TTYO would have had to have eaten 20 or so to get sick. Nevertheless, if you see this common plant in your yard, you may want to remove it if you have kiddos that eat anything and everything, just as a precaution.



TTYO is just fine. Mom has 17 new grey hairs.

A new road

I've been wanting to try my hand at wet-felting scarves for quite some time. I've gathered the rovings, pictured my pieces in my head (no, I don't keep a sketchbook, just ask my old prof. Used to drive her crazy), and just waited for the right time. That time came last night and although my first attempt had some flaws, I'm downright tickled with it.

My inspiration has been the calico-like patterns of the fall leaves. My friends and I used to go on a road trip to Devil's Lake in WI hiking each fall and sit on the bluffs admiring the foliage. It looked like someone had thrown a quilt over the rolling hills, and I loved it.

I attempted to capture this feeling with the scarf and it is a mish-mosh of a fall colored calico. Sure, this one has some holes and my technique needs some tweaking, but I must admit I really like it, holes and all. It was a road worth traveling and one I'm sure to be trying again soon.

Vintage button bouquets in action

As a crafter, I think there are few things more satisfying than knowing that one of your objects has been appreciated. Sure, the creating is fun, the sense of accomplishment when you complete a project is great, but knowing that you've made someone happy is just the best. I was lucky enough to feel that surge of satisfaction today when I received an email from one of my customers for whom I had created wedding bouquets and bouttonieres out of vintage buttons. She was sweet enough to send me photos of my work "in action" and I just had to share them with you.

The couple had chosen ivory, pool blue, and yellow as their colors and the end result is such a happy combo. How can you help but smile when you see it?

Here you see the bridesmaids' and the bride's bouquets. The bride had chosen a mix of ivory with touches of her accent colors, and mostly yellow with touches of blue and ivory for the bridesmaids.

The bridesmaids each carried a bouquet of 12 stems while the bride's bouquet had 28.

The groom and his groomsmen each had coordinating bouttonieres with reclaimed tan leather leaves.

Thank you, Carlee and Ryan, for allowing me to be a part of your special day. Congratulations!

*All photographs courtesy - Drew Wilson http://photography.drewwilson.com/

Wordless Wednesday

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.