Floating, Cheaters, and Tea Towels

I posted last year about the tea towels I was printing at Spoonflower. I only thought to snap a picture of them today, after a year of use. I also gave away some, so I only have two of the colors. But here they are, stains and wrinkles and all. I'm not usually a navy person, but I love how this blue has aged with much much use. I'm thinking of printing some new ones in gray...

I've been jamming our boxes in my studio so that our house doesn't get too crazy before the move. So I can't paint or sew now, which has lead me to fiddling around with Illustrator, imagining muted color schemes for my new house that I can only now see on Spoonflower.

I meant to make a cheater quilt for the girls using a flower garden pattern. I love flower garden quilts, but I would never have the patience to make one (much less two). So I put this cheater print together and my mom graciously offered to sew the girls' blankets. Unfortunately, I realized the fabric width won't work for a twin size blanket, and so my lovely cheater design is just floating around in digital land.

That is very much how I feel these days.

Floating.

My book is in the editing phase (!) - which is wonderful. My house is so close to being done, also wonderful. All of my sewing projects are on hold, as is our homeschooling, until we get settled in the move. We are suspended, waiting for our feet to hit the ground again.

In the meantime, I'm keeping myself entertained with A Google A Day (come play with me!), and google image searches to try to figure out what this flower is. My flower books are packed away, and I can't find a match for this pretty yellow flower growing in our driveway. Any ideas?

The Volcano Saved the Valley from the Sharp Teeth

L crawled into our bed one morning and said, "Daddy, today I want to do something exciting that we've never done before." And shouldn't we all?

John quickly came up with the idea to build a volcano. Ideas like this come quickly to daddies who don't mind messes.

We built our volcano around a glass with baking soda in it. I also put in food dye; and yes, my children were wearing Sunday dresses (although not for long); and no, I wouldn't do the food dye again, but thanks for asking. Also it made the lava pink.

Then we piled up big rocks, little rocks, dirt, beans, more beans, split peas, more dirt. until we finally made a mound that reached the top of the glass. It was a small glass, and I was genuinely surprised how much stuff it took to build this little volcano. Keep in mind the dirt is about to be mud, so don't use any beans you hope to eat later.



 


Then the girls arranged their dinosaurs and played for awhile. This was funny, and I made a darling video of them: arranging the dinosaurs; explaining how the sharp teeth were coming into the valley; then Mommy made it rain in the volcano (vinegar), and it erupted! and the sharp teeth ran away from the great valley; hooray! Do it again!

Only the video didn't take. Boo. So you'll just have to imagine little girls delighted by pink lava, and sharp teeth running for their lives.

I put quite a lot of baking soda in our glass, so each time it fizzled out I would just throw in a bit more vinegar and it would go again. I think it erupted about 7 times. Afterward, the girls played in the muddy pink mess for a long time before moving to the bath. It was really sort of awesome and dazzling in a-hey, let's build a volcano-kind of way.

Pesto, Pasta, and Kids

I've been making pesto with the fresh basil from our CSA this week. I used this recipe, which uses walnuts instead of pine nuts. I love pine nuts, but we're always out. I used sunflower seeds in pesto once, but the flavor was a little weird. The walnuts worked very well, and you get to feel good about all those Omega-3's.

But, also - have I mentioned my little 4-cup food processor? When John and I got married, he had a fancy food processor and I had a little blender. The blender had fewer parts, so it was fast and easy to use, but it only worked with a lot of liquid. A food processor is great of course - I grew up using my mom's - but it was so big and had so many parts, I found myself avoiding using it. Am I'm the only one who doesn't like appliances with too many parts?

Enter the 4-cup food processor. It works well for small portions, for blending soups, pureeing pesto (hummus, guacamole, baba ghanoush...). It does everything my blender did, and most things my big food processor did. It's small of course, but so far I haven't had a single recipe it was too small for. It only has four pieces, and the handy lid keeps the motor part from getting dirty. Plus you can just pull the blade out, put the lid on and put your pesto in the fridge. Anyway, this gadget has simplified my life and kitchen and I thought I'd pass it on. I found mine at my local Target.

What do you use?

Back to Pesto: It's oh so yummy. But my kids won't eat anything with specks and stuff. I don't want to make them their own separate meal, but I also get that they're picky and that's just normal at this age. 

Pasta is an easy compromise. After cooking the pasta, I put some in a separate pot for them. I add pesto and vegetables and nuts or whatever to ours. They get butter and parmesan. But, when I serve it they get nuts and raw veggies on their plate. Usually this means I don't have to do any extra prep work, and we're all eating mostly the same ingredients. 

Nature Table

I've been arranging furniture for our new house in my head. I've decided to use our old tv cabinet by the front door as a catch-all for bags and shoes that usually get left by the door. And the top will be a little nature table. In my excitement I told L about the nature table, and somehow in her excitement my side table turned in to a nature table right now.

baby pine trees, rocks with moss, honeysuckle, sticks, cork, dried worms, and oh so much more.

Half the fun was organizing everything into little pots and jars. We discussed how to group things together logically, but also which things were more valuable for keeping. L and I might disagree a bit on the curating.

organized

Cicada Shells

John and the girls pulled a bunch of cicada shells (skins?) off the trees last week and they've been shuffled around quite a bit before finding their home in our nature display. J calls them "monsters." I'm proud of them for not being squeamish of bugs, but that doesn't cure me of my squeamishness.

Our phone line was struck by lightning last week, and we've been picking up bits of the insulator for several days. L also found a spark plug, a moss covered rock, and some bumpy rocks that she's pretty sure are meteorites.

We also have a decent collection of sticks, bark, moth wings, and pine tree seedlings. We even have a dish just for toys found outside, and its interesting to see how being left outdoors has changed them. I haven't figured out what these burr like plants are yet, but I think they're my favorite.

Initially, I was afraid our nature table would be made of gravel from the driveway and smooshed pine cones. But now I see I underestimated my little archaeologists. We're still on the hunt for fossils. No telling what will turn up next!

And we haven't even set up our table yet!

Almost Moving

As our summer is coming to an end, I'm living among boxes and eagerly preparing to move. We're still a few weeks away, but my mind is already there, rearranging furniture and picking out paint colors. I've been wandering the aisles of antique shops and home stores for fixtures and antique furniture that will fit my budget and my space.

Mostly, I'm just ready to be in my own space. To walk on my own land, and to plant things in my own dirt. 

My studio is mostly packed up and overrun with tools and paints. I've been refinishing some furniture, and John is building a new chicken coop. All the sewing and drawing projects I was planning have sort of dissolved now. Although I'm expecting a frenzy of sewing after the move. Here are some plans:

from pinterest

• bed curtains for the girl's bunk bed (and curtains for the whole house)
• big flannel board and pieces for our school room
• a quilt for our bed  
• outdoor cushions for our porch furniture

I also have some building, painting, and decorating plans. Pinterest is making my head spin, so it seems like it may be time to retreat. Hang with me guys, there'll be plenty of fun, sewing, and learning this fall. 

Refrigerator Pickles

Our CSA has included a lot of cucumbers. I'm not really much of a cucumber person. John has made a valiant effort to eat them in salads and sandwiches, but I'd rather not.

I do like pickles though. I'd love to try canning them, and someday I will. But I don't have the time or equipment now.  Nevertheless, refrigerator pickles turned out pretty awesome and quick.  I used this recipe from Rachel Ray. Give it a try!

Vegetable Lasagna in Parmesan Cream Sauce

Isn't it funny how quickly the internet has changed, and how quickly it has changed us? When John and I first married, he had a folder where he kept recipes he printed from online. I kept craft ideas in three ring binder. Today we have pinterest. :)

John's vegetable lasagna recipe is outstanding. I grew up with a meaty lasagna, so his - with broccoli and carrots - seemed unlikely. But apparently, smothering anything in cheese guarantees tasty. And this recipe includes ricotta, a parmesan sauce, and a healthy dose of mozarella. I made it again this week - substituting the broccoli and carrots for vegetables included in our CSA basket: zuchinni, tomatoes, squash, fresh basil and swiss chard (plus a yellow bell pepper from the store). It was excellent!

I've never made a lasagna that slices perfectly with all the pretty layers. Fortunately, that hasn't affected the taste.

I had to do some digging, but I found John's recipe online. The url was on the recipe he printed, but that website was defunct. Google came to the rescue though, and I found it elsewhere. Bookmark it, pin it or print it - this one's a keeper!

Let's Draw Funny Faces: a little book

If you sat next to me in high school, or college, at the dmv or anytime when I was on the phone - you probably know I like to doodle silly faces.

They were like legos for me. I'd start with eyes, and then figure out where a nose would fit. Then you'd begin to see a personality, so I'd draw a mouth to match. The features would define the facial structure, so building the cheeks and chin around them was a natural next step. This was a lot of fun for me, addictive and endless. I never knew what the faces would look like when I started, and there were never two alike. 

I've been wanting to make a little book like this for a long time, ever since I woke up in the middle of the night with the memory of that funny cartoon book from the 80's with different eyes, noses and hairstyles, that you trace to make a million different characters? Remember that? I forgot the title. 

Anyway, after making L's drawing book, I was on a roll. I made this book in an afternoon. It's by no means exhaustive, but a handy little reference, let's say. It's not necessarily meant for kids like the last one, it has more words and more complex shapes. Mostly, this was just fun to make, and I hope it will be fun to draw from!

Like the other drawing book, it only includes minimal space for drawing, so it's best if paired with a blank book. Download your copy here, available until July 25th. The book is available in the shop. See my tips for making books in the previous post.

What do you doodle?

Make a book

Since I make several printable coloring books, and hope to do more, I thought I'd show you how I put them together. It's super easy.

First, you need to print the pages front and back. This is easy/hard depending on how familiar you are with your printer, or how awesome your library is. I've got connections at the library, so no big.

You have several options for assembling the books:

1. Our library has a long arm stapler which I use to put two staples along the center fold - make sure the spiky points are on the inside of the book.

2. A regular stapler won't reach the center fold. (Is there a size between regular and long arm? I don't know.)  You can fold the book closed, and put two staples along the folded edge, very close to the edge. I don't like this as much because you lose space on the inside, and it just doesn't fold as nicely. But if you crease your fold nicely after stapling, it works out okay.

3. My favorite method is to sew the spine. I use regular sewing thread, set my stitch length to 5 and just sew straight down the fold. Okay, sometimes I sew a little wiggly - but I'm not a perfectionist, people. I don't back stitch on the ends because that puts too many holes in the paper.

Trim the threads and add a dab of elmer's glue on each end to keep the thread from unraveling. Ta da! You can only do this through 5 or 6 sheets of paper, much more will break your needle so use a stapler!

I make blank books this way often to throw in my bag for the kids or to use when I'm out of sketchbooks. I use a different color thread for each kid - which helps tell them apart, but also just makes them seem a little more exciting.

I originally learned the sewing method here, where she makes really lovely journals using fancy papers.

Let's Draw!: a book for kids

I like to draw. I doodle all the time. I just jump in and do it.

But when L wants to draw, she's afraid to try. "I'll mess it up! It won't look right."

I worry this is my fault. Because she sees how quickly and easily I draw something and it looks like the thing (not to say it's an amazing drawing, just, you know - a horse with four legs and a head). I don't want her to be so afraid that it won't look right that she doesn't try.

Because honestly, drawings that don't look right, can still be full of so many good things that are so easily lost when you are pursuing a correct drawing.

Top: Mommy and Daddy 
kissing at their wedding
Bottom: Untitled

Because art is about so much more that representation. It's about play and process, looking and seeing and interacting, taking risks, moving things with your hands. It's a way of learning and engaging the world.

So what can you do?

I don't know if this is the right way to approach this only-sort-of-important-(but-really-maybe-very-important) matter of creativity to my kids. I was an art major, but I skipped all the art for children classes, so seriously - I don't know how to teach. But here's what I'm doing:

I made L a little art book with few words, and step by step pictures of how to draw basic things: a house, a dog, a bird, a girl, a giraffe, etc. I tried to keep the drawings simple and not at all fancy. I am hoping she'll see that simple shapes go together to make pictures, and that if she can draw these simple shapes (and she can), she can draw anything.

Of course, I also don't want her to think this is the "right way to draw a dog" and just copy it over and over. But I hope - hope - instead it will give her the confidence to put shapes together and make up her own pictures.

The book is more of a reference than a coloring book, so I also made her a blank book to go with it. I showed her how to follow the steps first, but then she did most of these drawings by herself while I chased her sister around the room. She added stairs to her house (so you can get from the door to the window), and connected the sidewalk to the road. She really took it as a prompt, and then didn't worry that it looked a little different from the book, which made me really proud (relieved). So far, I'd say it's going pretty well.

So tell me, (seriously, tell me!) are your kids afraid to draw?
How do you encourage pressure-free creativity?
Check out my book Let's Draw, and tell me if your kids like it.
(It'll be here until July 25th before moving to the shop, so get it now!)
You can find this book in the shop.
Stay tuned for a post on how I assemble my books. I appreciate your comments!

I've started sketching a few more drawing books to come over the next few weeks. Some animals, dinosaurs, and silly faces. Let me know if you have any requests!