Land scouts

I'm so looking forward to summer so I can start my garden.  John is busy with the house this summer,  so I'm taking charge of the garden - and I feel more than a little nervous about it to tell the truth.  I usually flake out.  You'll have to remind me to go take care of it.

The local wisdom around here says not to plant your garden until after Easter.  Unfortunately, the tornado weather has kept me from getting my seedlings out.  Maybe this weekend?

I've also been looking forward to summer because I want to earn Land Scout badges! Urban Land Scouts was started by Katie Ries and teaches and encourages people to be good stewards to the land where they live, especially barren or wasted land.  I love this idea, even though I definitely live in a rural area.  So I was thrilled to receive my first two badges, after I posted about our seed bombing! (one for the seed bombs, and one for blogging about it)  There's loads of information to get started on the website.  Check it out, and become a land scout!

Now any ideas where to put my badges?  I'm thinking, another messenger bag?

Messenger Bag of Awesome

 I was in a bit of a funk last week. After a frustrating few days without my sewing machine,  I picked it up from the place only to find out something else was wrong with it.  Follow that news with a sleepless night due to babies who won't sleep through a storm, and a late morning chasing a mouse out of the house (which may have involved some shrieking).

The next day I was still grumpy, and I decided its time to make this grump go away.

So I decided a little extra curricular sewing was in order.  Something just for me.  In a blur of morning and scissors, I combined ideas from two lovely tutorials (basic messenger bag and puffy pouch) to make a bag that met my current needs/whims.  I love messenger style bags and haven't had one in so long.  Combine that with these peekaboo pleats and some of my favorite vintage prints, and voila.  Grumpy begone!

It really made me think about how much I really enjoy sewing and making something.  And that I don't sew for fun enough.  Ha, well, maybe next year.  2012 - the year of sewing what I want?

Craft Hope: Bracelets for Orphans

I recently discovered Craft Hope.  What a beautiful project!

I think Craft Hope is everything I hoped my crown project would be, and much much more.  It combines craft with compassion, and the people at Craft Hope are truly helping people in need.  Please take a moment to check it out and get involved!  They just finished sending Delivery Kits to Haiti, and for the latest project they are sending handmade bracelets to orphaned children in Russia.  This is such an easy project to join in! 

This statistic really hit me:
* Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
* Every year 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system.

These older children who leave the system without families often lead very difficult lives.  They really need families, but we can also send them a little hope now.

I had hoped to have mine finished to show you before I blogged, but my sewing machine is in the shop again, which has lead to all kinds of ugh.  Nevertheless, here's a round-up of other lovely bracelet tutorials that would be great for this project.  I might try some of each!  Be sure to think of the boys, too!

Beaded Fabric Scrap Bracelets
Wrist Cuff
Felt Bracelet
Summer Braided Bracelet
Scrappy Button Bracelet
Elastic Flower Bracelet
Reversible Cuff Bracelets
Ribbon and Bead Bracelet
Friendship Bracelets
Wave Friendship Bracelet

Seed Bombs

This week the girls and I made seed bombs from Whip Up's latest Action Pack. The mini-mag is full of crafts to do with kids based around a theme. April focused on seeds, which was perfect for us. Many of the projects are more suited to kids older than mine, but they're so neatly organized and thematic, I think they'll be easy to file away for later.  We all enjoyed this one though.  What preschooler doesn't love tearing, throwing, and goopy mush?  I liked talking to my girls about seeds and flowers, especially since we've been collecting and identifying wildflowers lately. 

My friend Kat made seed bombs recently as a part of an Urban Land Scouts workshop, and had some beautiful thoughts on it.  When things slow down around here, I definitely want to become a land scout, too!

Good Gifts

I saw this great tutorial for a simple toddler back pack at Indietutes, and decided this would be great for the little birthdays we have coming up.  The pattern is quick and simple, and I imagine these will be very functional.  I used a grey corduroy I had in my stash and added a little color with some fun trims and pockets. 

I'm way ahead for birthday planning, but since our money is a little tight this year I've been trying to think of some inexpensive things I can make or buy.  That made me think about what makes a really good gift.  A good gift is more than just a cool object, it's something that promotes the kind of life you want to live.  With that in mind here's a list of what makes a good children's gift (with some clues about what we're doing this year):

a few precious items instead of a bunch of junk
things that encourage imagination
something they have to take care of
a fun outing
something you'll both love

What makes a good gift for your kids?

Printable Coloring Cards

"Hello" says the bull frog.
"Psst" whispers the squirrel, eager to tell his secret.
The bashful skunk beams with love.
A plucky duck shouts you "Hi!"

Four sweet animal cards for you to download and print, then fold the card in half, and color. (Update: Cards have been updated and can now be found in my shop.) Write notes on the inside and they are ready to be mailed to your grandma, teacher, uncle, and best friend.   I made these a long time ago, and I'm only just now getting around to sharing them.  I wanted to get the kids involved in sending thank you's and other letters.  Maybe I'll get around to do that soon, too.  :)

Weather Bag Tutorial

a little rain and a rainbow

Okay, the title is a bit misleading since there isn't very much tutelage in this post.  But I think just the pictures are enough for you to copy the idea.  It happened in a flash of inspiration and an hour playing on the floor with Ouise.  It wouldn't have taken so long, but I was working on a separate project at the same time.  If you already have a felt stash and some glue you can put it together in no time.

a rainy day

I wanted to make something for her to recreate the weather she sees outside.  We tried this with the little weather coloring zine, but it's kind of a one shot deal.  This can be reused over and over.  I didn't draw anything first, I just cut out shapes.  The sun, clouds, lighting bolt, and moon are just felt.  The rainbow is made of a large red strip of felt, with small blue and yellow strips glued on top.  The rain drops are little beads, and the snow is a bit of poly-fil.  At first I cut out tiny bits of felt for the rain and snow, and then I imagined them sticking to every surface in my house and I threw them out.

 The bag is dark on one side and light on the other (that was Ouise's good idea), and it's made of fleece, so I didn't hem it. Just sewed two 5 inch-ish squares together leaving one end open, and turned it right side out.  You can keep all the pieces in the bag and then use it as the sky when you get the pieces out.  A sticky closure would be a good idea so all the little pieces don't fall out.  Maybe the stick on kind so you don't see a bunch of stitching in your sky?   I'll have to look and see if I have any...

snowy day

I asked L to make me a rainy day, and a stormy day, and then she'd suggest a snowy day.  We just kept mixing it up.   It's so neat to see how her brain works.  She dropped the rain from high above like it was raining.  Also, she thought the storm should have a dark sky even though it wasn't night.

a dark and stormy night

a cloudy day

Also, it got covered in cat hair within minutes of playing on the floor with it.  I'm just going to pretend you can't see that in the pictures.  This was too quick and fun to make complicated.  :)

Updated to Add:   I decided to go ahead and make a zipper pouch (here's a good tutorial).  The beads kept falling out, and otherwise L was going to make me tie a bow around it.   And while we were at it, we threw in a few extra squares in different blues and creams for different sky colors.  I'm surprised how much play this little thing has already gotten.  I'm going to keep it on our school bookshelf, and we'll get it out a couple times a week, especially when we have some unusual weather.  
 

There are 7 Days, There are 7 Days...

..There are 7 days in a week.

Sunday, Monday,

Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

I've been meaning to make something like this for awhile, but just kept putting it off. Yesterday, when Ouise was talking about Twosday and Foursday, I thought it was time.  So we're using this chart and learning the little 7 days a week song (to the tune of "Oh, My Darling") in hopes of also learning that her birthday was not, in fact, yesterday.

I don't have much experience with flannel boards, aside from Sunday school many years ago, so this was all figure it out as you go.  I only found flannel boards when I googled, but I made this felt quilt-y thing that just hangs on the wall.  It seems to work fine, and I was able to put it together with stuff I already have (always a win).

I made little pieces to represent things we do during the week: a book for storytime, a grocery bag for shopping day, a little church for church, a bath tub for bath time... you get the picture.  I'll probably make more pieces as new things come up, or multiples if necessary.  Like fun numbers for upcoming birthdays, holiday symbols, maybe something for the zoo trip we're planning this summer.  The car is supposed to represent the days Daddy goes to work - I'm not sure that's making sense to L though. 

I used felt for both the board and the pieces, and I just cut everything out free hand - which is why all the columns are different sizes and all the shapes are wonky.  I'm cool with that.

 I sewed the little pieces together by hand, although you could use fabric glue (I didn't have any) or the sewing machine (I was watching a movie).  The letters are stitched onto the board, but all of the other pieces just stick on, and can be moved around.  I did iron fusible interfacing to the back, which seems to make them stick much better. You can see the back of the car here.  Because some of the pieces are bulky, it helped to iron each piece individually. 

There's a little pocket on the back for pieces we aren't using.  L wanted to use all the pieces, and did not like the pocket, but I'm hoping that's just because it's new.  She doesn't get the concept of the days of the week yet, but I think this will give her a way to put together all the information we're giving her.   Seems like just a few days of moving the circle will make a big impression.  We'll see.  :)

Crowns

There is one month left for the crown project (and subsequently, until my 30th birthday).  I've been busy with my other projects, so I've gotten a bit behind on sewing crowns.  I'm spending today catching up, so if you've requested one recently, it's coming!  I promise.  :)

If you haven't seen the gallery lately, go check it out.  How fun are all those crowns together? And if you'd still like to request one, please do!

Rarr - the Creative Process (and another give away!)

Whew, two new patterns within a week?  Crazy right?

I've been giving myself a number of projects to do for my book each month, and when I finish, then I can do any other sewing for the rest of the month. It's a great motivator, and I'm getting so much more done than I ever realized I could.  So below, I want to share two things: a bit about my creative process, and a giveaway (300 400 downloads - first come, first serve) of my new Dino pattern.

Creative Process

1.  Sketch out pattern.  Think, "this is perfect.  I'll go ahead and cut out enough to make 4 dinosaurs in crazy cute fabrics!" Assemble two and realize there are all kinds of flaws (won't stand, skinny arms, puckering).  Oops.

2.  Adjust pattern.  Cut out just one, but optimistically use the cute fabric again.  It's better, but still needs work (still skinny arms, still puckering, still won't stand up).  Give this prototype to the kids: they love misfits.

3.  Draft version 3.  Send it to husband to print at work.  In the meantime, browse Abby's Elements of Soft Toy Design series at While She Naps.  (If you want to try drafting your own patterns, you should definitely check this out!)

4.  Slap head.  See great idea on While She Naps, and decide to try something different.  Forget version 3, enter Dinosaur 4.1.  Huge improvement, very excited, but needs a little more work (stands up! nice arms, no puckering - whoa those legs are huge). Give Dino 4.1 to the kids.

5.  Dinosaur 4.2 complete (with eyes).  Put Dinos and pattern in the shop, smile a lot, and begin give away:  click here to download! 
UPDATE:thanks everyone!  We gave away 421 patterns.  Enjoy, and be sure to let me know how it works for you!