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Tag: creating

{week of green} thanks enchantedmama

{week of green} thanks enchantedmama

enchantedmama was looking for us to "think green" this week to celebrate the coming of spring. this was more challenging than you would think. we have had a beautiful winter here in western new york mostly because it has been relatively cold and the snow has remained on the ground so even on the overcast days there has been more reflected light then usual because of the snow. i am not typically a fan of winter, i have trouble without the light, this year i have felt much happier, i have just been embracing it and hoping that it continues. we still have snow even though it has been warmer here. we went ice skating today it was in the 40s and my little sweet pea has a pink little face, i feel so bad that i did not sunscreen today, so out of practice (she says it does not hurt but this was really unexpected in our area not so common as out west).

so here we go with many photos from the week. i never found a bud and i looked hard and long for the entire week. i did have some fun though, thanks kellen.

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split peas and sunshine

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on the day you were born by debra frasier

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thoughts on being green

the creative family by amanda blake soule

made from scratch by jenna woginrich

animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver

the backyard homestead by carleen madigan

the handmade home by amanda blake soule

sewing green by betz white

how to design your own clothes and make your own patters by claudia ein

living on earth by alicia bay laurel

the art of sewing-restyling your wardrobe by time-life books

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ric rac love

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green love

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potential in green

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my mama made this sweet cookie jar for my grandmother in 1971, my grandma loved roosters.

my grandmother gave this to my sweet girl when she gave up her house. so sweet.

she loved my girl and my girl loved her. missing her so much. so luck that she had the chance to know grandma.

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green comes in all shapes...mostly man made these days.

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looking for buds...

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to the left too...

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green on a tree...not what i was looking for!

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feeling the joy...

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nurture and wonder...

sunshine and happiness!

putting myself out there...finding the right path

putting myself out there...finding the right path

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i've been waiting to share my blog until it is just so.

i still have so many things that i want to do and add and learn about how to lay this all out. also i have about 30 different things that i am working on...least of which what i want my main focus to be...maybe i should start there!

my husband was trying to help me sort out some of my technical challenges today and i realized that i already have over 100 posts. not to say that i procrastinate.

last summer i attended the squam art workshops and i have previously posted about this incredible experience. and took a class with the marvelous marisa from creative thursday. marisa suggested risks need to be taken, that if you wait for perfection you might just miss out. those are not her exact words but i hope that i have captured the meaning behind what she was saying. she is brilliant! so here i go.

i feel so fortunate that i have found so many wonderful creative women that i visit everyday and learn from and that i am inspired by everyday. i really want to share them with others that are in my life and share what i am learning that might be useful.

many of the blogs that i love have come to me from amanda blake soule - soulemama. she is also how i originally discovered squam. one of the blogs that i visit everyday (thanks to amanda) is juniper moon farm i was also lucky enough to meet susan gibbs (and amanda) at the squam art fair. susan is a shepherd and her farm had the first yarn and fiber csa. she had a post the other day about confronting your fears. she confronted her fear of dyeing some precious roving. let me say it is so incredibly beautiful i am so glad that she conquered that fear. she asked what we were fearing and my response was to put my blog out there. she was also looking for a date of commitment to conquer your fear. i chose march 1st 2010! i am a little late. technical difficulties today but coming very close anyhow.

i still would like to add all of the other wonderful woman that inspire me. i hope to figure this out soon. until then i will share a few here because i must. many of them i also met last year at squam and they really inspire me. i hope that you enjoy them as much as i do.

lizzy house

nelkin designs

enchantedmama

lavender and limes

shivaya naturals


thanks for visiting.

sunshine and happiness to you today.

Valentines for friends

Valentines for friends

my sweeetpea typing up valentines for her classmates.


image from http://sustainablesuburbanite.typepad.com/.a/6a01157117c6e8970b0120a88ccbad970b-pi

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Tags: creating, friends
sometimes you just need to take a break

sometimes you just need to take a break

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so this is not working how i had planned...looks like i will need to start over. tomorrow is another day. keep reminding myself this is how we learn sometimes, not exactly my favorite method.

looking forward to the morning.

Tags: creating
creating matching daughter's apron

creating matching daughter's apron

I made my first apron to bring to out neighborhood holiday auction for charity and this is an apron to match for a little girl. Loved the first one so much.

image from http://sustainablesuburbanite.typepad.com/.a/6a01157117c6e8970b0128773cb0fe970c-pi

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books to inspire creativity

we spend so much time at the library and on-line looking for new books. as i have mentioned before we love to read. lately we have been looking at books to help us find new things to create and some of our favorite books from the past. here are a few.

joseph had a little overcoat by simms tabak

our dear friends gave this book to helen for her 2nd or 3rd birthday. it has beautiful, colorful illustrations that make you want to find all the colored pencils and print intensive magazines and collage all day. the story also reminds to continue to reuse...one of my favorite lessons to share.

the quiltmaker's gift by jeff brumbeau and gail de marcken

also a christmas gift when she was very small. this book has beautiful illustrations a great story of a woman who makes the most beautiful quilts for those in need and how a king in his desire for the one possession that he cannot acquire learns where true happiness comes from.

the paper princess by elisa kleven

we found this book at the library it was our first introduction to elisa kleven. we have given this book for countless gifts. we love the illustrations and collage. the story is very sweet to. a girl creates a doll out of paper and it flies away and the paper princess tries through her adventures to return to the girl who created her.

the apple doll also by elisa kleven

story about a little girl who makes a doll out of an apple to come with her on her first day of school. the kids at school make fun of her, but in the end they all learn how to make the doll. very sweet story. directions to make the doll included.

the wheat doll by alison l. randall ; illustrated by bill farnsworth

we found this book at the library. sweet story about a pioneer girl that loses her best friend, a doll made from wheat in a storm. the mud near where she lost the doll begins to sprout wheat, she cares for the wheat and makes another doll. we read this over the summer and plan to use some of the cedar chip stash that we have from the addition to make a doll. we have also been wanting to make some sachets for valentine's day (given that the moth's think my sweaters are the tastiest in the house) the cedar just smells so yummy and looks so pretty most of it was from the plainer so it is shaved post to follow soon.

plaidypus lost by janet stevens and susan stevens crummel

this is one of those books that we read endlessly when helen was very small and i did not mind. the cadence still continues in my head whenever i hear platypus. this story was one of the reasons that i really wanted to take the create a character class from marisa haedike creator of creative thursday last year at the squam art workshop. we have wanted to create a sweet "plaidpus" from a few of the many plaid shirts that belonged to my father-in-law who helen sadly never had the chance to meet, but shares a birthday with.

mirabelle by astrid lindgren and pija lindenbaum

i feel so redundant but here is another great book about doll, this one grows from a seed (scary that the seed came to the little girl from a stranger when her parents were not home, i have always altered this while reading the book).

quick crochet huge hooks by sally harding - i have been taking this book out of the library every few months for over a year; i really want to make the rag rug out of fulled (the word used for repurposed wool sweaters that have been "felted" per my class at squam last year with the amazing betz white). i have been putting off the rug because i wanted to make it round and i was having trouble finding a book with good instructions on how to crochet in the round...i think that i finally found a few...details in another post. i decided to try to just crochet a rectangle or square rug for the first try.

a few cooking books too.

sweet pea loves her historic american girl dolls...i try not to do things that are typically so commercially driven, but i have found these dolls have much to offer in peaking greater interest in handmade and history. we now have molly from 1944 and kirsten from 1854, she is also fond of felicity from 1774. we have been getting many books from the library and the bookstore on these three characters. the most fun i think are the cookbooks, they offer recipes and history of how these girls would have cooked, what they would have cooked and how the family would share in the meal together.

last week we made a recipe from felicity's cookbook: a peek at dining in the past with meals you can cook today (american girls pastimes) we made almond tarts. it was fun to make, we both think that the recipe would be better with almond paste instead of the chopped almonds. also overload on the butter and i am typically with julia child when it comes to butter.

for christmas helen received molly's cooking studio. i think that we are going to try the applesauce cupcakes, the victory garden soup and the nut and raisin bread which seems similar to a recipe that my mother made at christmas time when i was a kid. she backed them in coffee cans then wrapped them in colored cellophane. i just always remembered how tasty they were and how pretty they looked.

she also received salad people by mollie katzen for her birthday and we did not have a kitchen at the time and now we do so we need to start some recipes from there. we have tried the recipe for chewy energy circles a few years ago when she took a food science course. they are quite yummy.

sun bread another book by elisa kleven i think that santa brought this book a year ago, but we did not have an oven, there were many gray days last winter when i thought a little sunshine bread would brighten up our day...we will be trying this on the next gray day. recipe for bread included.

one last book for today is everything on a waffle by polly horvath.

this is about a girl named primrose whose parents are lost at sea and everyone thinks that they have perished but primrose is certain they are trying to return to her. she befriends a women who owns the local restaurant called the girl in the swing (is that the greatest name for a restaurant) and she serves all of her meals on a waffle. very fun story with recipes interspersed in the story.

soulemama had a great post a few days ago about books her family loves to read in the winter, i am going to be spending some time looking them up tonight and i am sure having some that i cannot find at my library transferred over.

creative time and timing

creative time and timing




image from http://sustainablesuburbanite.typepad.com/.a/6a01157117c6e8970b0120a833ce2a970b-pi

why is't that night time seems to be when i feel most creative? i'd think the sunshine and the light that i love so much would bring more inspiration to me...i am guessing it's because i'm not feeling the pressure of the time constraints and family obligations (which i love).

maybe it's just the wine and lack of sleep because i'm now on the late night create spiral. hoping good things are coming out of it.

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procrastination/fear

i have been wanting to do this daily blog for over a year.

everyday i plan to post and go through the day planning each post to the point of taking the photos and writing the post in my head.

i came to a realization the other day after getting upset with myself once again. i had promised myself that in the new year that i would do a post every day. needless to say this is not happening.

here is the realization:

i have a fear that i will fail...i know that many people have this fear. i have just let it win. i can accomplish goals if i think that something is not permanent, or out there to be judged on a grand scale. i have been like this for as long as i can remember. i am committing to this as the beginning of the end of the fear. i promise myself to move forward and to stop wasting time with fear...to push on and make mistakes! i have put it out there. let's see if that does it.

thank you to all who inspire, support and have patience with me. i hope to have today be the beginning of a new adventure.

SQUAM Art Workshop

SQUAM Art Workshop

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SQUAM Art Workshop is online today. what an amazing offering this year. 5 options...how to choose? i had such an amazing time last year and met so many creative, warm and nurturing women. i can't wait to return this year.

my first apron!!!

my first apron!!!

i have been wanting to make an apron for a very long time. i wear them a lot, but have had other priorities since i learned to sew.

i'm going to an auction tomorrow night and needed to bring something to auction. so i thought this was the perfect excuse to try.

this apron is made from re-purposed fabric. the base is a sheet, the bottom embellishment is a curtain valance, the waistband is the top of the fabric that holds the rod from the valance, the pockets are fabric samples from a design center, the rick rack i did purchase last year, just because i've always loved rick-rack. my grandmother used it often when she made us clothes. rick-rack and that ball fringe reminds me so much of the 70's as does this apron, the colors and the fringe.

sorry the picture is so dark. i couldn't wait to upload it. helen would like to model it again tomorrow when it is lighter out.

Apron for auction