I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! It was definitely one of my favorites so far this year. Warm weather and cold river water are the perfect combination.
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! It was definitely one of my favorites so far this year. Warm weather and cold river water are the perfect combination.
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My mom came for a visit this past weekend from Southern California. She was here with my dad and adopted brothers and sister for Goen's party last month, but this time was all about doing grandma stuff with Goen and mom stuff with me. She taught me how to make three of my favorite dishes from when I was a kid: lasagna, sweet and sour chicken, and potato salad (that last one handed down for generations, and changed just a bit each time). The other big thing we did together was start a sewing project. A quilt seemed like the classic mother/daughter project. We started with a charm pack of Rhoda Ruth I had in my fabric collection from a swap last year. Since a charm pack by itself isn't nearly enough to make a quilt, we made them larger by making on-point-star blocks (inspired by Blair Stocker's beautiful scrappy version). We only had a few short hours to get it started, but we did make some great progress. And now I have a simple project I can do on my machine whenever I have a few minutes to spare, which I love because there is something very satisfying about machine-sewing a few blocks and seeing so much progress. I haven't laid it out yet, though, so I don't know if I'll need to buy another charm pack to get the look I want. But it's all about the process on this one, and I can't wait to see how it turns out. But best of all is that it will always hold the memory of sewing with my mom. Several weeks ago, in my newsletter, I mentioned wanting to make my own watercolor paints using this recipe, but using a custom-made box for a travel set. Well, I did it. I bought a couple different plastic hinge-lidded containers, the kind that click shut. One was a bobbin case and the other a pencil box. I made additional dividers by hot gluing in pieces of plastic from washed-out food containers. Then I mixed the paint base and poured it into the compartments. Right away I could tell that I should have spent more time gluing because the paint base was getting through. I kept going anyway. I added the food coloring to each compartment and mixed it with a plastic stick. The clear containers made it easy to see where I needed to keep stirring. I filled each compartment to within a millimeter or two of the top, and I'm so glad I did. By the time the paints were set and the excess liquid on the top soaked up with paper towels (a fun art project in itself), it was actually much lower. There was a little color mixing because of the gaps, but it wasn't too bad. Goen and I did a test of the paints yesterday. They look pretty good. A couple of the colors weren't as dark as I would have liked, so next time I will add more food coloring to those. It's really trial and error with this if you're not measuring precisely and keeping notes (which I'm not). The pencil box set is our at-home set and holds several paintbrushes. The bobbin case is my travel set to take to the park or wherever. I'm still trying to figure out how to make my own paintbrushes that can unscrew to go in the case and then screw back together and be long enough to use. I'll let you know what I come up with. In the meantime, definitely give this watercolor activity a try. You know how there are some projects that your kid likes to do, but that you find boring, and vice versa? Well, I found an art activity that my 2 1/2-year-old and I can do together and both enjoy. Stamp-making! It's nothing fancy, just some wood blocks, glue, and foam pieces, but it made for hours of fun and art. One of the benefits of being married to a teacher is that fellow teachers are always getting rid of interesting things. One of those was a bag of 2 x 2 blocks that had been cut from a strip of lumber (yay for free stuff!). None of them were exactly square, but that didn't matter much. In fact, almost any wood scraps will work, so check your garage or the scrap bin at your local hardware store. Then I bought a package of large foam tangrams from the dollar bin at Target. I like the smaller pieces rather than a sheet of foam since they can be held and cut more easily. After opening the package, I let Goen loose on the shapes with a pair of scissors (setting aside a couple for myself to cut more specific designs). He happily cut away while I used plain white glue to attach the shapes he cut onto the wood blocks. Most of the pieces he cut were completely random triangles and quadrilaterals, but I placed them on the blocks to make interesting patterns. I even pulled out my hole punches and punched holes in the foam to make dots and "negative space" dots. Cutting stripes and curves created interesting designs, but my favorite was cutting spikes and chevrons. I will say that the foam is hard to cut in a curve with regular scissors, so don't expect to make intricate designs. Another fun thing is to use a pointed tool to etch into the surface of the foam. You can get way more detailed here than with cutting. I did two stamps on each block to maximize the number we could make, though you could probably do them on more sides if you don't go all the way to the edges like I did on many of them. There were so many foam pieces that it actually took us several days to glue them all (in fact, we ran out of blocks before we used all the foam). By the third day of stamp-making, Goen was actually gluing pieces right alongside me. After the glue was dry, we used do-a-dot paint markers to ink the stamps. There are pros and cons to the paint markers, of course. Lots of paint comes out so it inks the foam quicker than an ink pad, but it can also glob around the edges and prevent perfect impressions. Also, rubbing the paint marker across the foam shapes roughed up the sponge tip quite a bit. However, considering that I was doing this as a kid-friendly craft, I think I would still go with paint markers and get out the ink pads when the kid is in bed. The toughest part for me was staying "hands off" and letting him do the inking and stamping (and gluing) by himself. It's not about making it "perfect." Lay a sheet or towel down if you're worried about a mess. But, really, the best thing is to just make sure you use washable paint or ink. Oh, and one other tip. Don't tell your kid not to paint on themselves. I tried that and it just caused him to "hide" on the carpet next to his chair where he was far more likely to make a mess on the floor and walls than if he was at the table painting his hands. Tables are easy to clean, walls and carpet are not. I had so much fun making and using these stamps. I made repeating patterns by rotating the blocks to see how they would look. Some of them were so interesting that I want to digitize them and design some fabric through Spoonflower. I've already got my impressions made. I'll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, get stamping! Halloween was a pretty restful day for us. We avoided the crowds of trick-or-treaters by going to a small party in the afternoon and then hanging out at the (completely empty) park until dusk. Goen fell asleep on the car-ride home. All in all, we saw very few people in costume, which was fine with me since the little one doesn't really understand it all yet. He was pretty clingy with the few costumed people we saw.
Last weekend we went on our first-ever family pumpkin picking. We went to a nearby farm that was nestled in rolling golden hills. It was dry and dusty and hot. But it was nice, especially since winter will follow along soon enough and the cold weather will have me begging for summer heat. Pumpkin patches have become something of a mini amusement park, so the tickets and rides were impossible to avoid. The bouncy houses sure are a fun place to take pictures, though. After looking and looking for the perfect pumpkin, we chanced on a small one that was perfect for Goen to carry. I think that is the perfect size pumpkin to buy, one that your kid can carry. That's a tradition I'd like to continue. I hope you had a fun Halloween, whatever it looked like. I spend a lot of time with a needle and thread in my hands. Either at the park while Goen plays or stealing a few minutes at home when I think no one is watching. But I am being watched, of course. Goen sees me at the park as he runs by and he comes looking for me when I sneak away. For the past several months he has been especially interested in what I do. When I pull out my box of pins, he joins in and sticks all the pins in my pincushion. When I thread my needle, he wants to feel how sharp it is. When I'm at my sewing machine, he wants to sit on my lap while I try to maneuver the fabric around him.
Sewing with my child can be a very slow process, but at least I'm getting some sewing time, right? Having him involved has, in a way, actually increased my productivity. Before, he would have been more interested in pulling things apart and grabbing my scissors. Now that he's used to seeing my sewing things around, they are not so novel anymore and I'm not as worried about letting him be with me when I sew, by hand or machine. In fact, lately I've been putting some of the same tools I use in his hands. I started off small with a bit of burlap in an embroidery hoop, along with a tapestry needle and yarn. I used my hoop to show him how to put the needle up through the fabric, then pull the yarn through, then put the needle down and pull again. It took several reminders of the process (and I'll probably have to remind him again next time), but he started to understand. He sat in my lap with his hoop, needle, and yarn as I listed off the next step. "Up...Okay, pull...Now down...Nope, down from the top...Good!" And over again until, a few minutes later, he was able to do one (almost) all by himself. He tends to forget the "pull" step, and his stitches are reeeaaalllly looooong, but I'll keep working on it with him A few days ago I even pulled out my old Kenmore sewing machine and let him "sew" with it. There's no needle in it, but he can press the pedal to make it go and the feed dogs will pull the fabric through just like he sees my new machine do. Luckily, he doesn't care so much about the fabric getting pulled through, otherwise I'd be reloading his machine ever term seconds. He really just wants to see the "needle" go up and down really fast and hear the sound it makes. It's an exciting thing, actually. He's getting used to these tools, understanding how they work, and learning how to use them safely. I can't wait to see what's in store for him (and the two of us) as we continue our creative journey...together. Spring has taken hold in my part of the world. With warmer days and gentle breezes, the outdoors is calling. And my little one and I have been answering that call. Hardly a day goes by without at least a brief visit to one of the parks nearby. Some days we are there for hours. On those days, every so often I ask Goen if he is ready to leave and go home. His answer, usually in the form of inaction, tells me he wants to stay. And so I keep working on whatever project I have brought along, or sketch in my notebook. Some days I get a lot done and others I don't, but days at the park are generally so enjoyable, sitting on a blanket between the shade and the sun, soaking in the brilliant weather. Of course, as I write this, a chilly wind is blowing and rain poured all last night. As soon as the sunshine returns, I will take advantage of every sunny day there is between now and fall. I hope you have a bit of sunshine to enjoy as well. If not, it will come soon and the park will call.
My little guy turned two yesterday. We started the morning with a few rounds of "Happy Birthday" and then slowly went on with our usual weekend tasks. Every once in a while, my husband would initiate another happy birthday song, which, of course, Goen loved and kept asking for "more, more, more." I stitched a second leaf onto his birthday crown and he wore it for, hmmm, about thirty seconds. That's ten times longer than he wore it last year. At the end of the day, we went to our favorite Thai food restaurant for dinner (which Goen also loves). When we got home I let him open the gift I made for him. He got right to work moving the chalk across the surface of the chalkboard fabric, just experiencing and living in the moment. Such a joy to watch! I can hardly believe it, how quickly his second birthday crept up on me. He is active, energetic, and, well, opinionated. And, as hard as it is sometimes, I don't think I would want him to be any other way. He keeps me on my toes and makes sure I'm practicing patience and taking deep breaths, and, oh my, it can be hard at times. But he's perfect and I love him. I can't wait to celebrate another year with him. |
Carley Biblin
Hi. My name is Carley. I love to sew, craft, and create. As a Jane-of all-crafts so to speak, I enjoy sewing, writing, cooking, drawing, photographing. But the constant thread (if you'll excuse the pun) throughout my weeks is needle arts. Archives
January 2017
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