S is for smelly.

Today I was at an all day conference (Startup Princess). Outside someone was smoking and the smoke was blowing in, meanwhile inside on a table in the back someone was selling DoTerra (essential oils). I  thought  I  was going  to die. I felt sorry for the smoker, and the rest of us too!

Some recent stress has taken shape in my gut, which seems connected to my sense of smell.

E is for ETSY

w is for WHiMSiMOBiLiA. Coming soon!

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.

N is for Nice I-spy! & N's unusual baptism pic.

Happy happy boy. I finished the top of N's quilt. He loves it and I am very happy that I made it. I started with S's and now have one to go. It is cut and splayed out on the dining room floor. A bout of insomnia will get it DONE. I don't know what I will create in the future but I don't know if my children will ever love anything so much as these quilts, for them. Each child takes pride in each square, choice, color, combination, pocket, stitch. When they are all finished, backed and bound I hope to enter the stack of 5 as ONE -- a tangible manifestation of my neurosis, I mean Love of creativity and SKJN&M.
I'm making a crazy quilt top for S to take to DECA Nationals and maybe a crazy quilt of sorts for Ginger.


This is funny. Last October at N's baptism, the primary president loaded up the Polaroid (remember those?) and fired off a shot. This was the first picture on the role! (Dos Equis is a brand of beer, in case you don't know.) "Stay thirsty" isn't a bad theme for a baptism talk... change the meaning a bit to suit a sweet 8 year old though!

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

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.

Went to CIRQUE DU SOLEIL!

In April we went to Las Vegas and while Gama the Greatest played with M, the big kids went to the show. Oh wow! What a show! If I didn't have 5 children, a great dog, a lovely home near the mountains and a heck of a great cleanhouse loving Sweetheart, I'd run off to Vegas and try to get a job as an usher (costumed!) just so I could watch this show over and over... hmmm, maybe that isn't such a bad idea?!
J and K look a bit pooped but they LOVED loved the entire production! Speakers in the seats, so that the volume was perfect, the costumes, the lighting, the theater, the lobby, the tricks and surprises.

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

S is for Star Mill Antiques fire.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7655704

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695233686,00.html

Last night my sister-in-law MVL told me that she saw on the news that there was a big fire the Star Mill Antique store in American Fork. My heart sank. Daniel Copper is a friend of ours, he has always been very kind to our children, us and very generous. What is he feeling? What will happen to his store? How is he doing?

I read that the main building, the mill itself was not harmed. Yet... smoke is an insidious neighbor. I will go visit today with some fruit and a note from all of us. K especially loves Daniel's place! It is a treasure trove of beautiful old things, lots of wonder and great combinations. In one corner of a warehouse he might but a collection of globes, hanging upside down from the ceiling. One room is white. Doors on doors on doors. Jars of old bottle caps, pennies, rubber balls, random mystery relics of past simple consumer goods.

Daniel Copper is an architect and a very nice man. He reminds me of a starling (the bird). Simple and practical on the outside and then with closer look you see all the colors and depth, talent and grace, strength, and the fragility of a bird. He has restored the mill and several of the surrounding houses. I was also saddened at the possible loss of another historic structure in Utah, especially one so cool. Old buildings are torn down here like the owners/cities are swatting flies... witness downtown Provo in 2007.

Another reason my heart sank: What about the 15th? A while ago I bounced into Daniel's store and told him that I was painting our living room purple! and our handrail red, and our entry green, a bathroom yellow, the kitchen gray, the outside blue... Without a pause he said, "Then you'll be on our Christmas home tour right?!" I said, "Sure!" before I knew what I was getting into. Every few years he hosts a home tour of/for friends of the store, of homes that decorate with antiques, or "junk" as he sometimes calls it -- especially "junk" from his store. I prefer Nanette's reference to my "authentic" style, a combination of Daniel's style of junk and my sense of humor & history. The house is shaping up into a glittery house of ORDER! Complete with cupcakes, and gingerbread, on the 15th.

For Daniel, who has told people if you only go to one house go to [ours]... I have been dolling (literally), lighting, glittering, gingerbreading this place up. My studio, with a large shelf from his store, is even scheduled to be cleaned up for the tour! And I'm serious about the cupcakes. Until he tells me otherwise I am still planning on an open door on the 15th, it might be a good way to help him out.

Since I don't know who is reading this blog, the good, the very good, the bad and the ugly, I'm not posting the details (addresses) here. The other homes are far flung about Utah County. If you want more information leave a comment or contact me.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to include Daniel Copper in your prayers.

C is for Creativity Contest from Chronicle Books.

On the day after Halloween, a creativity contest: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/doodles/?utm_source=ChroniclekidsOctober&utm_medium=email&utm_content=TaroGomi&utm_campaign=NewsltrKids_103107

Say what? you didn't get that? Chronicle Books is sponsoring a contest based on Taro Gomi, creator of free-spirited coloring books. Creative people are uniting...they are everywhere! Wonder if the winner will be cool and complicated or crazy simple. As in, "Why didn't I think of that?"

If you can't swing that, how about a Lego/Wal-Mart collaboration this Saturday for Lego Club members? Call your local stores for details -- since I don't know anything more about the pre-Christmas season shopping fol-de-rol. We are working on a TOY-FREE Christmas. Enough is enough. It won't be a fun-free season though.

Looking into sewing classes for the gang during the Holiday break. Wanna homemade quilt? Make it yourself kiddo! >:|

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.

B is for BOX. Ah-Ha.

Earlier today I turned to C and declared that the word "only" is an idea killer. Meaning, whenever I hear "only" I automatically do one of two things:
1) Turn off. Then I sigh and think, "Oh, o.k. I guess that is the only way to do that..."
2) Turn on. Then I think, "Oh yeah?! I'll show you!" and proceed to dig in and find a way around the Only way.

The point? If someone says they want to "think outside the box" and then they follow that with "Only..." you know they are full of BS. (A certain government agency (USDB) comes to mind.)

C will post more about this on his funky and fun new blog for Dialect Inc. Brandthropology.