E is for ETSY

w is for WHiMSiMOBiLiA. Coming soon!

Want this!

http://stitchymcyarnpants.com/moks06/

This is what you find when you look up The Museum of Kitschy Stitches on Google. My pal AL showed me the book and I just about died laughing first with her, then with S, then K and then J...

Buzy Beehiving.

I'm kinda pooped. Have a ways to go though...

C isn't doing well. How could I have known 19 years ago that in 19 short years I'd be married to such an old miserable fellow? There isn't anything I can do for him. He is getting his hip resurfaced on the 18th of December. In the meantime...

His bouts with extreme misery usually coincide with my much anticipated, look forward to, well prepared for, kinda costly events... This week is no exception. Tomorrow is the Beehive Bazaar!

I might post some pics of what I've been beehiving. Probably won't. Go see what is cooking at the Bazaar Thursday night, Friday and Saturday.

Here is the spin room gnome, dressed as a turkey, for Thanksgiving. The waddle is paper clay with red glitter hot glue running down it. He is dressed in the traditional paper bag turkey garb of the holiday.

HBB = the Heather Bailey Blog

http://www.heatherbailey.typepad.com/

I've been a fan of Heather Bailey for a while ... though I didn't know it. I had the opportunity to hear her speak at the Princess Startup event 2 Fridays ago. She is brilliant, blessed, gorgeous and (!) inspiring.

D is for Dolls -- 1880's Victorian Paper Dolls

http://www.victorianornaments.com/Dresden%20pictures/MakeOrnament%20pix/3dollsheetlargeAcrobat.pdf

Wish I could show the picture...

Click on the link, print the page, cut out, fashion clothes, assemble and marvel that you took time away from your yicky dirty dishes, grocery buying/putting away/cooking, laundry washing, kid totting, podcast listening, FB reading/writing day to make something so lovely.

I've been cleaning up the entry way. Cleaning out the house. What a huge job. Found all sorts of important things that I've stashed away on those shelves since February. Lovely new discoveries.

More loud music and Boner of the Day (x96 radio) podcasts to help make it fun and get it (all) done.

Madmoiselle M ... magnifique!

M is for the newish word Maker. As in, "I'm a maker."

Found this idea via a random email that I get from CraftStylish. N's quilt top is nearing the final stages and as I sew it together I am also piecing a crazy quilt together. S wants to take her I-spy quilt to the Deca Nationals but that's a No. I do want to send her with something homemade. I think I'll take the crazy quilt scaps and sew them into a pillow case. I like this pin cushion -- one day.

As I've sewn N's quilt together I've seen that one row is ONE square short. Where did it go? Which fabric was it?! Ashley suggested that I take pictures. Glad that I have...the run away square appears to be a bright blue ducky pattern. Ah ha! See it? :o

Puppetree

Love this photo. C made the face. This is from Round Two. Round One is the painted face at the top. The hair is an entire ball of yarn.
Things/projects move slowly around here, eventually they get done.
Yesterday and today somehow I was able to make a mess with vintage wallpaper. Mmmm. It isn't quite there yet,the It-factor hasn't been reached.

N's baptism was yesterday. It was wonderful. Powerful spirit. Sweet sweet child.

At one point M came up to me and said, "I have something for you." She handed me a folded bill, of money. Hmmm...? I opened it and it was a $50.00 bill! Pretty cool find for a 4 year old. I gave it to the Bishop. It was lovely to hold for a moment though.

I is for I Spy quilts!

This is a picture of my very young and stylish mother blowing out the candles on her birthday cake almost a year ago. It was a significant birthday and seemed to call for a special token or gift to mark the occasion. With the exception of my grandmothers, she is the one of the best ever.

I had been thinking about what I/we could do for her for about 6 years, meanwhile I kept special but worn out clothing that she and my father had given the children... one day the idea came to me: an I-Spy quilt. Finally all the velour pjs, alligator swim trunks, torn elegant shirts for boys had a place to be.

My parents, like many others', are IMPOSSIBLE to give gifts to, for any reason. My mother puts up with handmade goodies but really hates it when I spend my time making stuff for her. Really. I knew this project wouldn't be a hit with her. Her idea of domestic abuse is crafts, canning, sewing, decorations-- anything not Idea related. She enjoys travel and that includes traveling light. She and I are on the same quest to rid our lives of clutter. However, I like to make cool significant/useful things (Duh.) and although I rarely give them to people (topic for another post) this one, even though it would be coolly received, is what I had to do.

Here are the pieces on the dining room floor, not sewn yet...planning, arranging... (Late night photo shoot)

KISS principal in action. Keep It Simple Sister.
Each square is 6"x6". I'm not the most clever quilter...

Once the top was finished, a cool woman in Provo (Who taught me all about "Religionists" in the process! That was cool and helped me understand some men in my ward.) quilted this for me. She had a lot of fun and drew with the stitches things/patterns that supported the fabrics.

Voila, the finished product! What surprised me is that although my Mum left it in the apartment in SLC and my Dad didn't see it for maybe months, S, K, J, N and M LOVED it. Really. They loved watching me work on it, they all helped with it, they loved learning about the process and they adored the finished product. Gama didn't want to not take it and seem ungrateful (though she might not have really wanted to take it), but all the children wanted to keep it!

To make an I-spy quilt you need a lot of one or 2 squares of funky fabric. Gama's quilt is 12(6"squares) x 12 = 144 different fabrics. You are left with a lot extra... that's where the next idea hatched from... Christmas 2008 everyone gets their own quilt, that is it. No toys, no books, no clothes, no skies, no i-pods, no cash, no nuttin'. (I am filling their stockings with cool goodies from NYC!) This might not be what the economy needs but it is what we need. Less stuff, hopefully more meaning.

My bestest friend Ashley liked the idea and so we are making more together. We will make 9 quilts, plus possibly one for her beloved nephew and maybe the start of a few (smaller ones) to donate. Last night while the men went to priesthood meeting she and I snuck into my ward building, hung out in the primary room, turned the volume off and got to work. With laser like focus, we sorted all the fabric that we have cut so far, divvied it up for each child. We are short about 50 fabrics, although between the two of us I think we have them. They too need to be washed, pressed, cut, sorted.

The clock is ticking... These need to be assembled and quilted, and paid for (Gasp) and then the edges need to be bound. We meet every Wednesday and hopefully work on our own during the week.

I am also really excited about my idea for the Beehive Bazaar this year -- hope Noelle and Molly are too. Heidi and I want to have a space together, full of cool and a bit random things. More about that another time.

Right now I'm off to make Ratouille for Russell. Enjoying the rain and looking forward to Conference. Grateful for the time to write in a quiet house.

Did you hear Brother Anderson's talk Saturday morning? He spoke about Hadley, that is N's friend! He was riveted to the television listening to the Conference Talk!!! Whoa. At the end of the talk he said, "Hadley did a really cool thing!" She did. We had tears streaming down our cheeks at the end of the talk.

C is for Cool Cnitting -- why can a K be a C but not the other way around?!

http://blog.craftzine.com/KnitPicking.jpg

I just sat down at my computer... (a hard working dinosaur Apple PowerBook G4) and look what S left for me to see! Isn't that cool?

Craft magazine is one of my favorites.

A while ago I bought 2 combs, one was "travel size." It is about 4" x 5". Crazy huge. This could be a good use for it.

S, THS student of the week last week, is whopsy cool.

T is for Tissue, boo hoo hoo.

Yesterday was a day full of stories... left me in an odd mood to go and cavort with some way hep, way way hepper than I, chicks at Molly's Soiree Centrale. I was glad to go though. Thanks Molly! Thanks Steph for inviting me!

For the Beehive Bazaar I made some lovely wool felt tissue holders and felt needle books (May 07). They sold well and so I created a few sets of "pocket projects" to work on while waiting etc. for the children. Well, there wasn't a lot to show and sell at the December and the May show. Finally, I finished this one, only this one. I made it for my friend Sis. Lemone; she was recently called as the Stake Relief Society President. When I heard she was called I knew I had to make one for her. The only tangible requirement for her job is a shoulder to cry on and some tissue. She has phenomenal style and in an incredible gardener.

M is for Mosaic.

Came across this site... a designer turned mosaic artist. Does Petraits, portraits of animals on tile with glass and tile. The animal portraits are very lovely! I like the bees and the the variegated colors of the fur. Check it out here: http://www.newstoneagemosaics.com/customdesigns.html


For years I've been saving shards of broken plates, vases, mirrors, left over tile thinking someday I'll make something out of the beautiful unfortuneate Joe Bennion pottery and other pieces, recycling them into something that reflects a childhood full of spilled milk and meals together.

Something grand like this?:

It is from MacKenzie-Childs. Only $995.00...

N is for Non-Newtonian Fluid. 'Eh?

This is what is happening at our house this afternoon. AND ... putting away Christmas hullabaloo, finally.
This post was going to be called: S is for Silly Science Sunday. However, that doesn't sound as compelling and obfuscating as the above...
GLOOK
1 cup cornstarch, ½ cup water
Mix all ingredients. Great for squeezing through your hands. You can change the consistency by adding more water, then more cornstarch.

Meanwhile... I am recycling crayons. My class of 4 year-olds had to use broken, old crayons today. That just isn't right. I have an actual crayon making machine but it only makes a few crayons at a time and I want to clear out the bulk of my crayon drawer. I am using a mini-muffin tin. These crayons wind up chunky but are fun and look beautiful in the oven.

My yellow is too thin so I'm going to add more. This reminds me to mention to only use good crayons. Rose Art and other off-brands are mostly wax and don't reconstitute well. I throw those out and only salvage the Crayolas. Also, a while back crayons from China had lead in them, don't want that wafting about your house.



MUFFIN TIN CRAYONS
Makes about 6 crayons: about 3 cups of peeled crayon stubs in a variety of colors, old [NEW works better, mini muffin tins are nicer for little hands] nonstick muffin tin
Place peeled crayon stubs in the muffin tin, filling to ½ inch from the top of each muffin mold. Put muffin tin in 250 degree oven. Turn off heat when crayons have melted, but do not remove tin. Allow oven to cool completely before removing crayons. Tap bottom of tin to make the crayons pop out.


Cool site: http://www.allthedaze.com/science1.html

B is for Buttons & Buzzy.

Superbuzzy
Japanese fabrics and notions.
Sale.

C is for Conceptual Crap and Art.

C and I were just in California for the 100th year celebration for CCAC, now CCA.

CCAC used to stand for California College of Arts and Crafts. A few years ago the powers that were changed the name to the very generic and bland CCA, for California College of the Arts. Several people at the celebration had buttons created by the print-maker Jack Ford, that read, "Conceptual Crap and Art." Seemed fitting.

I really miss "Craft" in the name. Craft is so dang right and cool, not only the 70's macramé and scrap booking (all that is great too!) but the notion of craft, doing a skill so well it becomes art. The question remains, can graphic design, architecture, art education be a "craft?" Of course. All of it can be art as well. Dialog about a teapot or a blown glass vase can be just as valuable, deep and riveting, as that of a sky scrapper, or logo design or painting.

Them is fighting words ... to put that in writing makes artistes defensive and craft people repulsed. Don't compare my teapot with some lousy logo... Don't compare my use of clay with your use of steel or that %!™&#*¡?* computer! All the elements are the same though! Line, contrast, content, composition, materials, intent, use, location, climax, value, color, flow, the list goes on and on, happily. Embrace it all -- and GET TO WORK!

The place (CCAC's Treadwell Hall, the ceramics building, especially) is still so inspiring to me. Someday (strike up the soaring violins and moving cellos) I'd love to work/teach there, simply be more involved. Or ideally, create that environment in my family life, it is serious and committed while also being progressive and light.

The above art that I discovered in a bathroom at CCAC is an example of that last statement. :)

Wouldn't you just love to see this artistic combo at a bathroom at BYU? Within a day it would be sanitized, treated as vandalism. What a shame.

The contrasts between BYU and CCAC were staggering to me. One school (CCAC) celebrates and encourages creativity through any outlet necessary and the other tries to teach creativity through obedience to all sorts of ideas, religion, leaders, famous dead artists' rules, to craft. How ironic that CCAC had craft in the name and now doesn't celebrate craft and BYU was supposed to be spiritually based and had no spirit.

N is for Nuts, as in, "This place is nuts."

Check out this craft site: http://www.craftbits.com/

My favorite is the Shrinky Candy Jar gift? 'Eh. This is American ingenuity at its best: take a lovely bag of candy, put it in a hot oven, melt it, bag, candy and all. Take it out, shape it, put a ribbon on it and presto! you have a GREAT! gift. Ugh. No thanks. I am laughing as I type, "Oh, really, you shouldn't have! Really."

Sisters Skinny that is one for you! Great diet tool, gross out your friends with melted plastic in their favorite candy!

Today is C's 41st birthday. If you are reading this and you know where we live, drop by for a mini disco tonight, alright alright! 6:30 - 9:30 FHE lesson is on: man is that he might have joy.