Share Birthday

We decided to have one party for both girls this year, and the girls started calling it a "Share Birthday." They really latched onto the sharing idea in a way I hadn't anticipated. For all the effort of trying to teach them, beg them, force them to share... sometimes it just flows naturally - and isn't that beautiful? And maybe I should remember to stop lecturing and just spend more time baking with the kids, eh?

When we prepared the cakes, we baked  the batter in tuna cans, making two very small, very tall cakes. I thought this was a lot of fun, but I was also worried - how exactly do you slice and share a very skinny cake? My mom, my trusty baking guru who is always on the other end of the phone, suggested cutting each layer in half, height wise - making the layers shorter and making more layers. Enough so that each guest could have their own little cake.

I told the kids about this idea, and explained that they could pick what color layers each guest received - so it would be a little gift they gave their guests. They pretty much thought that idea was AWESOME, and immediately had me call everyone to find out what their favorite color was.

[A couple of side notes about the cake:
1.) Making the layers shorter also meant that the birthday girl cake layers were a little neater and straighter and made the cakes tidier all together. Nice.
2.) One cake mix made about 14 tuna can size cakes, which I cut in half, so we had 28 layers. Each birthday girl had 6 layers, and each of the 5 guest cakes had 3, except for Daddy who got an extra 4th layer. You could also make nine 3-layer cakes.
3.) Even the small 3 layer cakes were really too much for a guest to eat in one sitting - it would have been super cool to have a little take-out boxes for the guests to take their extra cake home. Alas, we kept the leftovers.]

After choosing the colors and arranging the layers, I finished icing the cakes on my own. But the girls wanted to do more. They wanted to make more surprises for their guests! As I was icing the cakes, I realized I was going to have trouble telling them apart - so I had the idea that the girls could make cake toppers. I drew a set of circles on cardstock and had them draw a picture of each guest (and themselves) in a circle. There was probably a neater way of assembling them than what we did - but with a little scotch tape, blue paper and some grilling skewers we ended up with these cute cake toppers.

Our guests were also super gracious when I required each of them, one by one, to carefully cut their cake in half and pose for a picture with their cake and cake topper. It was exciting for me and the girls to see them opened as well, since they were pretty messy looking pre-icing, and so lovely when cut neatly open. Each cake got some oohs and aahs.

The cake toppers made nice party favors for grandparents and aunts. I think they would be cute in a potted plant. I love the set of our family that each girl made, and will probably do something with those soon...

I had a lot of fun doing all of these things with the kids - baking and scheming, color matching and drawing.  It seems to be the best of parenting, the easiest and most fun part, and the part too easy to forget at times - the being together, sharing our days. This was so hard to grasp in the beginning, but its becoming clearer to me now. Here's to togetherness and the passing of time. Many years, my not-so-little ones!

Please, let me know if you have any cake questions. Although I wrote more about the cakes here and there are a million rainbow cake tutorials on the web. Much fun and great wow factor - I definitely recommend it!

Work at Home Mom

This winter, my littlest one discovered my sewing machine and all of its fancy knobs.  She pulled off two, and at first I thought it was just annoyingly cosmetic, but eventually I realized it had affected the stitch length function and it was getting worse.  Ack, another expensive tune up.

Enter the sewing machine cover, whipped up after reading the lovely tutorial at Art Nest.  I have a crush on anything patchwork, so this functional and patchy project was calling my name.  Although, it has occurred to me that this may actually attract the children...  I guess I should have made it ugly?

This little adventure reminded me of my efforts to find balance in motherhood and working at home not long after J was born.  Since then, sewing and designing have turned into part time employment which is exciting, fulfilling, and helps me maintain my sanity as a new mother.  I don't have it all figured out, but I feel much more confident than I did back in 2009.  So I thought I'd share a few things I've learned about being a work at home mom.  The first three are organizational, and the last one is more of a change in philosophy.

1. Routine.  The children and I are both more pleasant, have more fun, and get more accomplished when we have a somewhat structured day.  Routine does not come naturally to me, so I've had to work at this, but it's worth it.  I'm especially able to enjoy play time more and focus during chore time, when I know I have work time slotted in later.  
2. Efficiency.  I work in small increments throughout the day: during naptime, movie time, daddy time, and bed time.  I work in batches, doing a bunch of cutting at once, machine sewing, and hand sewing.  I save hand sewing for long car rides or tv time.  When someone wakes up, gets hungry, or needs to pee, I'm prepared to walk away.
3.  Space.  I have a dedicated work space - it's not pretty, but it's organized and my work table is out of the children's reach (ahem, unlike the sewing machine).  I keep works in progress neatly laid out on the table, and organizational notes on a marker board above it.  My scanner and pattern files are stored under the table, and my fabrics, scissors, and trims are all in reach.  This is essential to making my short bursts of work really productive. 
4. I let my children see me work.  During movie time, daddy time or quiet time - when they are awake but occupied, I get out my stuff and work.  I cut fabric on the floor near them while they play with John, I hand sew on the couch during their movie, and sometimes L plays on the floor in my studio while I work on the machine.  Sometimes they ignore me, sometimes they get involved, and sometimes they steal my fabric.  Either way, I feel this is valuable for them because being creative and productive is a regular part of their day.  Handiwork skills are easily accessible to them, whenever they are ready to learn.  Not to mention they get a chance to see me being both domestic and professional.

I've begun to realize that when I can keep the first three in order (and that's the hard part) the fourth point proves to be beneficial for me and my children.  But, of course, the most helpful thing has been to find what works for me, and go with it confidently.  We all get there eventually, I guess.  :)

What works for you?

Happy New Year!

I'm a little late with my new year's post - but I was busy having fun with my family, so I think I'm exempt.

I wanted to take a look back at the last three months, at my attempt to balance designing and art making with being a full time mom. I originally though I would end up with a list of rules or a magic slogan that would help me manage my time perfectly.You probably already know there is no such thing.

But I did look back at the year and realized I'm actually doing a lot more designing than it feels like sometimes. I designed more than 10 patterns this year, some that I really adore.

Besides that, I had a baby this year! And I have spent every single day with my two precious girls.

I'm a really lucky woman.

So my new year's resolution?
I'm going to enjoy it all. I'm not going to put as much pressure on myself to design/blog/sell so intensely. I definitely plan to make fewer patterns this year, but hopefully they will be better for it. I also plan to just enjoy being at home a little more. Make more food from scratch, sit and color with my girls more, hang out with John. Just enjoy it.

Thanks to all of you who have been so encouraging to me this year. I love hearing your thoughts in comments, seeing your turtles and snack bags, and getting emails from new friends. I wish I had better words for saying, "Thank you," but right now this is all I've got. Thank you!

How are you making the new year better?

Pattern Roundup and some other little bits...

I love Christmas. I mean, who doesn't. But I love the season, I love getting a tree, and cooking, and traveling, the parade, the parties, and making little gifts for the girls. I'm feeling especially domestic today - cleaning house, and making turkey stock and turkey tortilla soup from our Thanksgiving leftovers.

I just want to enjoy this season, so I think I'm done with all my big crafting for the rest of the year - not because of any rules this time. I just feel like it. I will be at Holiday House on Tuesday, December 8. Come out if you're in town - it's always fun, and there will be lots of door prizes.

If you're making Christmas gift this year, I thought I'd round up a list of my tutorials for you. Making a list of all the stuff I've made reminds me that I actually get a lot done, and that makes me feel pretty good. Don't forget you can still add pictures to the wewilsons flickr pool of any of the projects below to get the Smile Crocodile pattern free.

Free Patterns:
Kangaroo Apron
Swatch Frog
Bear Bag (these would make great gift bags for kids!)
Reusable Snack Bag
Knitted Market Bag
Airplane Bag
Spring Cleaning Dust Mitt
Terrariums (fun gifts!)

In the Shop:
Turtle who comes out his shell!
Giraffe
Smile Crocodile
Bunny and Fox Flip Doll an advanced sewing pattern
When Pigs Fly
Secret Messages
Fat Quarter Sling Purse
Fat Quarter Hand Bag
Printable Coloring Book (great stocking stuffer)

Tip Jar

So, a week ago, I evaluated how I'm doing with balancing motherhood with making and designing. I saw that I wasn't doing well and tried to get back on track. Today, I realized I did it again. Suddenly, I've got three projects spread out on my work table again. sigh.

The first week, when this was the "no new projects" project, I felt relieved to take a little time off. Maybe there was something to that.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this. I gave myself three months to try to set some boundaries and bring a little peace and balance to my life. Somehow, I don't think three months is long enough.

I'm taking tips.

Let's evaluate

I've totally fallen off the balance wagon lately.

I'm making some flannel graph (I know!) animals for our Sunday school; I threw together two tiny Halloween costumes (see my little chicken and egg below); I stocked my shop with turtle kits for the holidays; I'm still trying to finish my new handbag pattern; and, in clear violation of the rules, I started a new alligator pattern (with which I'm currently in love).

So I thought now would be a good time to review the rules, grade myself, and hopefully get back on the balanced mommy/making track:

1. The original no new projects rule became: do one thing at a time - no starting a new project until the first one is completed. F (currently working on 3 projects)

2. Crafting shouldn't take time away from the kids - the time has to come from somewhere else (for me this means turning off the computer during the day). C (currently distracted by spoonflower)

3. Schedule time for my crafting - which means not crafting time is mommy time. B (thanks, John)

4. Make art for pleasure - not just for selling. A+ (okay, this is the easy one)


5. Learn to delegate, you don't have to do it all yourself - Let someone else do it. B (making kits instead of turtles was inspired, but I should have finished my other projects first)

So, I think I'm pulling a C.

How, to get back on track? Return to the first project I started, put everything else aside until I finish it (see you later, alligator). Be prepared to play with the little people all afternoon, and fold the laundry, already (seriously).

Are you on the balance wagon?

Craft for Craft's Sake

This year I've been gaining success in my etsy shop - it's been loads of fun, and always inciting new ideas. But sometimes its too many ideas. I don't just make for me very often.

I've been following Illustration Fridays for a few months, and I've decided to participate at my leisure to encourage art making that doesn't lead to sales. I think I need to remind myself why I like to make things, not just how cool it is to make money.

So, here's my first Illustration Friday. I've had this idea in my head awhile, and finally put it together. I like the idea of flying pig as a metaphor for transformation/transcendence This is my first time to use ink with watercolors together, so I'm still working out some of the technical stuff - but I really enjoyed it, and will continue to do this. It's a nice easy medium that I can work with quickly and walk away without much hassle.

Make It Work

Just a note: I've decided to change the name of my project since I've changed all the rules. Is it weird to change the name a month in? Nah, it's all about what works, right? Exactly.

I now dub you (and change all the old posts to match because that's just tidy) the Make It Work Project

There are a large number of women talking about balancing motherhood with art/craft/work pursuits, women also called momtrepeneurs or WAHMs. I suppose it is a pretty hot topic now. I love the way OffbeatMama puts it: "We support mothers integrating their pre-kid identities and lifestyles into their post-kid realities."

Make time

In the past, I just worked whenever I could find a spare moment. I think this is a mistake, but not only for the obvious reason. It's true that it's hard to find time to work if you don't make time. But what I also found true, is the time that should have been devoted to being a mommy, or cleaning house, or whatever was always diminished because I was looking for that spare moment.

I think this may be the single most detrimental thing that my crafting does to my mothering. It steals my attention.

So last week, we decided to schedule a specific time for my crafting. Not very much time, but it is time that I'm guaranteed to have. I also have nap time (and I'm a lucky mommy of two good nappers), but if nap time doesn't work out, I don't get so frustrated because I know later I will have one guilt-free, uninterrupted hour.

It's much better to live in the moment instead of in the spare moment. It leads to days like today, when I feel like a good mommy, a neat housekeeper, and a pretty clever designer - all in the same day.

Craft Sustainably

the referees

Sunday, I was telling John about my latest idea, and then, I remembered, oh yeah. I can't start any new projects. sigh.

John has been my referee of sorts. Every time I want to do something I ask him if it is allowed. He's a terrible referee because he pretty much lets me do everything I want. I know my sister is going to read this and think I totally punked out. Three months? What was I thinking? It's the holidays!

But I really want to follow through with this commitment to balance, slowing down, and putting the girls first. So we discussed compromises - something that would allow me to craft a little, without taking away time/focus from the kids. Here are the new rules:

1. I can only work on one thing at a time. No starting a new project until the first one is completed (or scrapped - that happens sometimes). This is important I think because too often I try to work on all 800 of my ideas at once, and I get all frenzied. So one thing at a time.

2. I have to do craft offsets (like carbon offsetting) - this was John's brilliant idea (although he did apologize for comparing crafting with polluting). In order to make sure that my crafting doesn't take time away from the kids, the time has to come from somewhere else. I volunteered to give up housework, but that idea was rejected. Instead, I'll be turning off the computer for most of the day - save nap time and bedtime, which, by the way, are also my craft times. That means, I'll need to be much more efficient with my time and computer use. Similarly, he suggested I could get Craft Credits by taking the girls to the park or something.

I feel a bit guilty about changing the rules after only two weeks, but really making and crafting is a good thing. And I believe it can be compatible with being a mother - and that's what this project is really about - figuring out how to make it work.

Anyway, I've gotta go - it's nap time and I've got some sewing to do.

Mild Mannered Super Hero Flip Doll

Here he is.

Years ago, I drew a doodle of John as super-librarian, so I like to think of this guy as a mild mannered librarian rather than reporter. Although, with the mustard shirt he kind of has a Dwight Shrute thing going. He can be whoever you like. But, if duty calls, with a quick change (or flip) he'll be a super hero!

He is made mostly of new linen. The librarian's pants are made of a re-purposed wool blend, and Super guy's cape is made of re-purposed cotton knit (super heroes have no time for ironing - he needed something to accommodate his active lifestyle). He is stuffed with new sheep's wool, and his face is hand embroidered. He's got blue eyes and sort of big ears (some of us do, you know). I think he's much cuter in person - I was having a weird photo day.

He flips a little more snugly than my other flips, and I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not. Frankly, I had to take him apart so many times, I'm glad to be done with him! It's time for him to fly on. He's in the shop now.

Someone mentioned wanting a pattern for him - if there is enough interest, I may try to put one together - although, I didn't take process pictures... let me know what you think.

Let someone else do it

Since I began my project of not starting any new projects, I have had no fewer than 800 brilliant ideas. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But it is definitely hard to turn it off. I love making things. But, I have also been so much more relaxed the last week. L and I have been doing some hardcore playing. Plus, I just feel happier. I think I needed some down time.

I didn't sew at all last week - and I was thrilled not to work on that flip doll. It was stressing me out. I'm working on it today though, and it's ALMOST done.

So, what I've learned thus far? I need to make things, but I need to take on smaller projects, rather than huge stressful ones. At least for now. So I've learned my lesson, do I still have to wait three months to start something new? Hmm... maybe so.


In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to let someone else do a project for me. Eva from AppleandEve is doing a hedgehog project right now. Send her your vintage fabric, and she'll make two hedgehogs from it - one for you, one for her. What a fun idea! Eva has embroidered hedgehogs in her shop. Her embroidery is all by hand - and it's stunning. Be sure to check her out.

Nature Walk Coloring Book

Eek! My first drawing project in quite some time. I've really enjoyed playing around and making these little drawings. This is a collection of 18 line drawings of things you might find on a nature walk like caterpillars, acorns, rainbows, and fireflies; each with a little fact. I've put it together into a 24 page coloring book, that measures 6.5 x 5.5" It is printed on 100% recycled paper, except for the cover, which is 80 or 30% - I already forgot! I thought this would be a fun project for me to make, and a nice stocking stuffer for all the kids we're related to.

I'll be putting a few books in the shop, and also a printable coloring book which includes the pages of coloring book, along with instructions for assembly, as well as 18 full page coloring sheets, which would be great for class settings.

I'm thinking of making a larger size book, if there is any interest. It may be around soon. But not in any rush, since this is the first of two in the No New Projects Project. :)

The No New Projects Project

J is 3 months old. I look at the last 3 months, especially at all of the crafting I've done and I realize I've gotten out of balance again lately. I was supposed to be taking a break - but I've currently got 4 projects going, and a list of 8 new ones I'd like to start. I keep finding myself frustrated that I don't have more time to work on them.

But these are precious months when my baby is learning to laugh and sit up, and my little girl is learning her ABC's. These are happy times, and I don't want to miss them.

It seems like the right time to start a new project:

The No New Projects Project.
Silly, yes. But I am so much more on task when I have set rules. So here goes:
1. I will finish the two bigger projects I am currently working on within 2 weeks, and let the other two go for awhile.

2. I will start no new projects for 3 months (until December 14).

3. Any drawing or sewing I do during the 3 months will be solely because I have down time and I feel like drawing or sewing.

I need to get back in balance. Making used to be fun and not stressful. Mothering used to be my primary job. I need to get back there for awhile. I'm actually not sure if this is a commitment I can keep. But I need to try, I think. Then reassess when the three months are over.

I'll post about the two projects I'm completing when I get them done. One is the flip doll I've hinted about - and the other is a drawing project that makes me very happy. I can't wait to show you.

Tell me, how do you balance the many aspects of your life?

*October 8, 2009: After, a few weeks, I remembered making and crafting is a good thing. And since I believe it can be compatible with being a mother - and that's what this is really about - I renamed the project the Make It Work project. Just so you know.