every day i think this is the day to catch up.
what does that mean?
is this the unattainable goal?
i am trying to set my goals more realistically so that i can meet them. i keep thinking after i pass this event that i will be able to catch up. it never seems to happen.
my latest thought (not the first time i have had it) is that if you have less; there is less to be responsible for. i have the habit of saving things because i may need it some time in the future.
i have 3 new goals
#1 to only make things with what i have for a while and if it requires something new i will need to modify the design.
#2 to start selling some things and/or giving them away.
#3 my plan is to produce at least one thing a day to either use in the house now, sell it or give it away.
my sweet was in the craft room with me when i was sewing on granny's purse strap and found some yarn the next thing i knew the big balls of yarn, well the mama ball anyhow, started to have some babies... this has been going on for 3 days now. the old yarn stash has come out and they have made several trips over to the neighbors in the sewing machine carrying cases aka the yarn family home.
love how they can find joy in the basics. love the imagination. makes me sit here and smile to think of it.
here is the sweet bag that helen made for granny for her birthday. this is the front.
this button was made by my grandfather who was a button molder. it has a horse head on it. sweet pea and her granny are huge horse fans so she wanted to make sure that granny had one of these buttons. there are only 6 left now.
here is the detail on the back. helen did all of the sewing and design.
i sewed the ribbons and button for her.
sweet pea has been wanting to learn to use the sewing machine. we decided to try and learn to sew with a project for granny's birthday gift.
granny has been doing all the sewing since she was born and my mother-in law is also the one who is teaching me to sew.
sweet pea chose a few fabric pieces of fabric from the fabric sample books that i received from a woman that works at an interior design library and posted on freecycle that she was getting rid of older fabric sample books that they no longer needed. i wasn't sure what i was going to use them for at the time but i knew that we would find something to do with them. i am hoping to use some to try to make my first quilt soon.
sweet pea chose some fabric to make a little bag for granny. i will post pictures when we finish. she cut off the bottom of the fabric samples with the paper on the back and used them to practice different stiches. then she realized that they would make very good bookmarks. can't wait until she makes me one.
sweet pea came up with a recipe for "raspberry essence" a few weeks ago and we decided to use it for our making strides for breast cancer "lemonade stand" this year at the park avenue festival. it was a really big hit. we used local homegrown raspberries and juiced and strained them with some filtered water and a touch of sugar. delicious, fresh and refreshing. so different too.
we also brought the bracelets to sell. we only sold a few of those but no worries we are having our making strides kickoff breakfast for the local walk on thursday morning when all the team leaders get together to be inspired to raised lots for research to FIND THE CURE. the event is mc'd by one of our very dynamic local newscasters and a personal friend of helen's (she is so proud of this), ginny ryan. we are so inspired every year.
my sunshine spoke at this event 2 years ago to over 500 people when she was 5. originally she did not want to speak, she was going to let me do the talking, not really my dream but anything for the cause. once we were up there, she was drunk with the power to hold the attention of so many and to bring them all to adoring response. it was a challenge to remove her from the microphone.
last year she did not speak but ginny let everyone know that she was selling her bracelets and asked her to stand on her chair so that everyone could see that for the past 3 years helen had raised over $2500. per year and they could do it too. i was so proud. helen was so thrilled just to be able to stand on the chair and to have everyone give her an unbelievable round of applause was almost more than she could stand!
i am hoping to get the bracelets out on etsy soon. i will include a link as soon as they are posted.
we are really busy making beads for the fundraiser on sunday. the kids are really enjoying it and working so hard. i am really proud of them. our neighbor is helping too. so wonderful. i think that these are going to be our best bracelets yet.
literally creating a rainbow bridge with the kids.
and my sister
almost complete
the compost bin is next!
the path to class
felting class
my first class was felting with another new creative friend and house mate betz white she has 2 books that you need to check out.
Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects
Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials
my felted project in process
i wish that i had taken more pictures in this class. everyone made very unique things. i was really feeling challenged with my design and my sewing skills. with so much support in this class i pushed on and ended up with a nearly finished bag, nothing short of a miracle. one of the big goals is to complete projects. this was the only class that i did not do some initial prep for.
creative characters
i did get to take one of mirsa's classes. yippee! as soon as i signed up for this class we started to discussing what types of charcters i could make. i asked helen if she would make some drawings that i could use to make some characters. in the end, i used a drawing that my husband and i love very much that she did before i even knew about squam.
meet shy horse.
this is the pattern that i made from helen's picture in the process of cutting the pieces.
this is the pattern all cut and pinned and ready to sew. it went just fine. marisa was so encouraging. i so enjoyed my day.
i stuffed it was some buckwheat that helen loves and sewed it up. i still need to work on the embellishments but shy horse is all together! helen loved her.
i am very excited. i can't wait to make more of these from her drawings. i think that this is going to be something very fun that we can do with her friends too. so much of this project the kids will be able to do. i think they will love picking out the fabric and embellishments.
here are most of the other creative characters from my class. again incredible creative.
block printing fabric
the last class that i took was block printing with incredible lizzy house
i don't want to seem redundant but she is yet another amazingly creative new fabulous friend from nirvana.
we really clicked. i am just sorry that i missed the first two days with her. but we had fun after that.
here is lizzy giving us the printing demonstration
i made blocks from helen's shy horse and another older picture that she had done called "baby bird in a tree"
here is the take home of my creations from my time at squam.
the second night that i was there when we were visiting in nirvana and sharing some wine i was able to make some bracelets for breast cancer. the other two night that i had left i was so exhausted from creating during the day, eating and the evening events that i didn't have any energy to make more bracelets.
i am very excited to be starting an online course called in the fish bowl with my friend marisa of creative thursday who was one of my amazing teachers at SQUAM. i feel so fortunate to be taking this course. i was also so fortunate to share a our wonderful house nirvava with her and so many other wonderful, talented and dynamic women.