lemonade sandwich

2008-12-22T15:36:00.003-05:00

Ack, my sister meme'd me.
Since we're in pre-holiday mode, I guess I'll answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Working at the same place as now, although I liked my co-workers more. I had no child, so theoretically I went out more, but we all know that isn't really true. I had my looms set up and weaving.

2)What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
My turn to put Michelle to bed
Wrap those presents that I can't ask Charley to wrap.
Finish sewing Mom and Dad's presents
Dodge the poker players in the dining room
Search on-line for a new bathroom mirror.

3) Snacks I enjoy: Cheese! Of all kinds. Chewy cookies. Fresh bread.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
We've always talked about buying an Airstream and driving around the country. Given gas prices, I'd definitely need to be a billionaire.
A lot of international travel.
Not work.
Buy more artwork than I have walls or space to display them.

5) Places I have lived
Wellesley, MA,
Newton, MA
Waltham, MA
Medford, MA
Somerville, MA
Stoneham, MA
Woburn, MA
(notice a trend there?)

I won't tag anyone specific, because I don't know if anyone else reads this. But if you do, feel free to let me know!

Peacock fairy!

2008-10-31T12:24:00.002-04:00

Peacock fairy!
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

Just a quick post to show off the latest project. There are times when I actually do take pictures!

Happy Halloween!

Still around

2008-09-26T15:46:00.006-04:00

Ok, so clearly summer is not my best time for communicating with the world. Of course, I don't think winter or fall are so great, and spring is kind of iffy. But here I am, trying again...

So here's some of the things I worked on over the past few (ulp!) months.

I love love love Anna Maria Horner's Garden party fabrics. So here's what I came up with to attempt to show them off. Its actually all pieced now, and the back is prepared, so I just have to quilt it. Hopefully in time for it to be added to the pile of essential sofa blankets for winter.

Speaking of which, here is the quilt which I showed in progress ages ago, but it was finished and is in use on the sofa now.

Also on the sofa, my completed pillow from the Alabama Stitch book. This is definitely the perfect take along kind of project that I really need more of. It requires a bunch of advance prep to do the stenciling but then it is very forgiving of being tossed in a bag with a needle, thread and scissors.

Otherwise, I'm still completely obsessed with decorating the house still. we are busy acquiring rugs to cover the bare wood floors before it gets too cold. I also hope to get the living room painted before its too cold to open windows as it dries. No guarantees there, but I am determined to do it this fall.

Other upcoming projects - Michelle has asked for a quilt for her bed. How can a mother say no? I've been gathering an assortment of pink fabrics (with plenty of other colors as well, of course) and hope to start on that soon. She has also decided that her room needs to be painted. We were surprised, but she has been most insistant. I think all of decorating mania is rubbing off on her.

Otherwise, I'll try to post more often, in case there is still anyone reading.

Busy busy busy

2008-05-22T11:18:00.002-04:00

I have too many projects in process, and not enough time to do them all. Last night I had a free evening and spent too much of it spinning my wheels trying to decide what to do.

This is a test piece from the Alabama Stitch book. I love the look of everything in that book and have been dying to try something. So there go some old t-shirts and some fabric paint I've had forever. I love doing a simple running stitch, its so satisfying for such minimal effort. I've brought it to work so I have a simple lunchtime project to do. It was hard to stop last night! I painted another piece last night so I would have the next one ready to go.

Also in progress, this mini quilt. There's no urgency with this one. Its entirely sewn by hand, and I started it back in January or something. Its a nice sofa project. I'm enjoying having a nice slow entirely hand sewn quilt. The thought that anyone ever finished a full size quilt in this pattern amazes me!

Next, I need to make another one of these. This quilt was for Michelle's preschool class teachers as an appreciation gift. (There's a story there for another time.) I made it in about 4 days and it was very well received. I've decided to make another one for the upcoming fundraising auction. This time I have a whole 2 weeks to get it done! The photos all got printed last night, the worst part as far I'm concerned, so I should be on track.

Also in progress: a large quilt that is intended to match our red sofas, collecting materials and ideas for an upcoming Michael deMeng workshop, another mini quilt that is pieced but assembled yet, another paper mache flower where the petals are done but it needs to be put together and then painted, and a whole list of other ideas!

It's really too bad I have to go to work so much. I have so many other things to do!

Resin paper book

2008-05-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

My "big" class at Art and Soul was a day+ with Susan Lenart Kazner. We spent the evening making resin papers, and then the next day binding them into a book.

Making resin papers was awesome. Depending on the paper used, you get varying levels of transparency. I used a bunch of tissue paper that I collected, as well as a vintage book pages and some other scraps. I also tried using some paper cutouts I had done. I was having a great time. I just want to make pages and pages of these to hang as is! I also tried a couple of other resin bezels, which I haven't photographed yet.

We let everything dry overnight, and the next day worked on the book. We made the spine using rebar and wire wrapping to hold the "vertabrae" in place. Then made the frames with the same materials. My discovery is that I am terrible at wire wrapping. Don't look too close. Once the frame was done we attached the covers. This involved putting eyelets in the pages (yes, I did too many) and then stitching it to the frame with linen. This part I could do!

Putting the pages into the book involved inserting a longer piece of metal tubing, binding the pages together, and then inserting a length of rebar into the stitches and attaching it to the spine. This part I don't feel worked as well. Susan's skills are definitely as a jeweler, and this felt like an awkward binding technique. It also meant the pages didn't move freely, which is too bad given how cool they are.

Regardless of that, I did finish it, and it is now on display in our house.

Lessons learned:
1. Resins are cool. I will definitely be ordering some soon to play with.
2. I am not a jeweler. Metal working is not my strong point!
3. Susan Lenart Kazner is very fun to work with, and she makes some amazing things. If you are a jeweler of any sort, you should take a class with her if possible. In fact, I'd probably take a class with her again, despite lesson #2 above.

Art and Soul trades

2008-05-08T11:33:00.001-04:00

Art and Soul trades
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

Ok, so just a quck post to show off the fabric flowers that I made for Art and Soul to trade. For some reason, my sister and I did not have a lot of luck trading, and there seemed to be a lot of people with ephemera packs rather than personally made art work. It may be just me, but I'd rather trade for something that someone made rather than more stuff to add to the piles I already have. There were a few nice things amongst the ephemera, and some of the other things went to Michelle for her art supplies and treasure box.

In any case, a number of these flowers made their way back home, and were distributed to my sister's Stitch n Bitch group. I've heard they were well received, and that's really all that matters.

Woodland village

2008-04-28T12:39:00.001-04:00

Woodland village
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

This is what happens when I clean my studio while Michelle is in the room. I find weird things that suddenly can be put to use. About a billion years ago, Charley got me some of this Crayola foam stuff that I now can't remember the name of. Fast forward to 4 year old finding it and we have a Mommy/daughter craft time. Lacking any more brilliant inspiration, I started with houses, always a good default. Michelle started making small balls. I moved on to trees. Michelle - more colorful balls. Ooh... I can make mushrooms. Michelle asks for help making one of her balls into a mushroom (its the blue one with yellow spots) then returns to her ball making.

The woodland village now has inhabitants, not shown here. There is a fairy and a gnome and another plastic fairy house. I can live with all of that. The ball collection is safely kept in a tin container, reminding me that for a 4 year old its all about process, not product.

Before and after

2008-03-06T13:01:00.002-05:00

Woo Hoo! The dreary winter is finally starting to end, and with it color appears everywhere. Especially in our newly painted bathroom. This is what I did yesterday on a much needed day off from work.

Before

After

Update

2008-02-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I seem to have lost the blogging groove. I blame it entirely on the lack of light, so that I can never manage to take pictures of my projects!

I have been working on various projects - a mini quilt, a full size quilt, some projects with Michelle. I've also been totally obsessed with decorating the house. So many things that we can do, so many colors we can paint! We're also trying to find some nice rugs for our hardwood floors, some curtains for the bedroom, and going through the collections of artwork we've had for years to decide what to get framed.

Here are some of my latest obsessions.

Juggling clubs. Aren't these ones great? I can't really afford these ones, but I'm now trawling eBay hoping to get something somewhat less elaborate. The shipping is kind of high on such things.

Speaking of eBay - check out this display cabinet! I think it would be great in the entry way, or possibly for a small kitchen cabinet space. Its a live auction, so I'll never deal with it. Besides, the two jars on top are both cracked. Just as well...

A glass terrarium. We used to make these as kids, although with less elaborate jars. Given that we are at that horrible point of winter when everything is just mud and dreariness, I'm dying for some real plant life. We've even determined the perfect place to put it. I may need to also get a vintage bird cage to hang nearby. Have you seen the mixed media gardens on November Moon's blog? I like the paper mache and moss combination. (Raise your hand if you're surprised! Anyone? I didn't think so.)

This console from Pottery Barn. I keep looking at it, and trying to find something else comperable and am not really coming up with anything. It doesn't help that I can't get to real furniture places to spend time looking. The green is really appealing to me right now. The giant tub of orange tulips doesn't hurt. We do desperately need some sort of table in the kitchen to pile things on, and hide some of the random stuff that just piles up.

And just in case I think I need to collect more things, I can always check out the Organized Collection group on Flickr, which consistently demonstrates how you can make anything interesting if you have enough of them! I've started filling glass jars with some of my favorite groups of items, which make me smile everytime. More jars are necessary! And maybe more places to store them.

So that's some of what I've been doing. I know that I also owe some people emails. Forgive me for being negligent! I'm not at my best in December and January.

Belated Halloween

2007-11-09T14:21:00.001-05:00

I really meant to show this off sooner...

Michelle decided in early September that she was going to be an elephant for halloween. I assumed that it would change, but it never did. Not even in the face of three fairies and a princess amongst her classmates. It faltered briefly at the fabric store, but when I told her she couldn't have the $30/yd silk fabric for a princess costume, she returned to the original plan.

This favorite elephant was the model. How did I do?

All the other parents were impressed by the sensibly warm costume. I had to admit that I could take no credit for it!

Fuschia sewing desk

2007-10-09T13:00:00.001-04:00

Fuschia desk
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

This is the first house project that has been completed. The desk was unfinished wood, and since it was already empty, the perfect opportunity to paint it. The fuschia and silver are inspired by the decor at the restaurant Upstairs at the Square, which is just fabulous, both the food and the setting. The designs were totally freehand drawn, with no real plan. It is distinctly possible that more silver will be added.

You'll notice that there are no other pics of the project room. Other than some shelves with haphazardly placed stuff, there's no real organization yet. And I believe that a large amount of stuff from storage is related to this room, so I haven't made a big effort. I suspect that the attic will house many things that used to be stuffed into my studio.

I'm now on a quest for the perfect craft room table. I found something I like in the Pottry Barn catalogue, but I think $1000 is excessive. I may try to find a cheaper knock-off.

Additional thoughts on the orange bathroom

2007-09-26T15:31:00.000-04:00

The orange bathroom idea is appealing more, especially as it has gotten tentative spousal approval.

How about this fabric for the shower curtain? A bit more expensive but I think the scale could be cool.

It also is a heavier weight, I think, then the average quilting cotton.

Today's brainstorm

2007-09-25T16:35:00.000-04:00

So today my brain is thinking about decorating the bathroom. I know, you want to see a picture of it, but that requires being home during daylight, so some patience will be required.

In any case, it is currently white. While subway tiles in the tub, white octagonal tiles on the floor, white wainscotting and off-white walls. If you know anything about me, its that I am not a person who will really live with that much white. So color is in order.

The first paint swatches were red, which my husband has rejected, and teal, which I'm not thrilled about because its kind of common for a bathroom color. Today's brainstorm is... orange. Orange is hard in one specific way, in that there aren't a lot of commercial shower curtains in orange. But then I think, well, it can't be too hard to sew a shower curtain. It is just a curtain with big grommets, right? If anyone out there wants to talk me out of this idea, speak up now!

So, here's what I'm thinking of when I say orange:

Because here's the fabrics that might work in my mind with nice bright orange paint: (And yes, my mind is a funny place.)

No, not both of them at the same time. And then maybe some turquoise for the bath textiles - rugs and towels and stuff. I think Kaffe Fassett would approve, and these are his designs. And that would fix the white problem in one fell swoop. And it would probably wake us up in the morning too...

What do you think?

What I've been doing

2007-09-19T16:05:00.000-04:00

So you've probably noticed that I haven't blogged in a while. Actually, all 3 of my readers outside of immediate family have probably given up on me. But in a vain attempt to restart this blog, I'm going to share what I have been doing.

I've become design and decorating obsessed. Its something that was building for a while in our old house, and I now have a huge home that cries out for decoration. Pictures of the house are not yet extant, but here's some of the goodies I've been checking out.

The one thing we have bought is a new bed, thanks to a timely warehouse sale for something usually way to expensive to even consider.Its real new Stickley. So that has dictated much of the plans for the bedroom. In fact the new dressers (a very good sale followed the warehouse sale, fortunately) are on order. Before they arrive and fill the room I plan to paint it. The bedroom is currently a pale blue. We seem to be settling on a mossy green. Questions remain if I need to repaint the ceiling, which is a purplish gray right now. I'd love to skip that, but I don't know if it will work.

Next item is a sofa. Many have been viewed, and we came up with some basic criteria: No back cushions (upholstered back only) to avoid children and cats nesting on them and squishing them. One or two seat cushions, not three. And not too blocky and modern. There are a lot of very square sofas out there right now that really would not work in the new house.

Current candidate is from Pottery Barn:

Probably in red, with plans for dark brown walls.

Spare time is being spent surfing the design blogs and on-line furniture shops. I'm currently obsesses with design sponge, decor8, apartment therapy, and craigslist.

There's plenty to look for - kitchen stools, new rugs and there are a huge number of walls crying out for artwork. I think I'll be busy for a while!

Small evidence

2007-08-08T16:20:00.001-04:00

Pillow
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

I made two pillows back at the end of June. I present one as small evidence that I am still around, in case you were wondering.

Since the time I made this, we have packed two storage units full of stuff, rearranged our entire house (including creating a combined playroom/craft room from what was once my very packed studio), put our house on the market, sold our house and bought a new house.

We are now in the process of packing up the rest of the house so that we can move at the end of August.

We are just moving one town over, to a bigger and better house, with a better school. My spare moments are now spent pouring over decorating books, searching the design blogs and checking out every on-line furniture catalogue I can find. I am really excited to actually have space to decorate, and we have decided that at this point, we can have real grown-up matching furniture!

Any suggestions for interesting on-line sources or inspirational images will happily be taken!

Modeling

2007-06-13T16:46:00.001-04:00

Modeling
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

How's this for a model? Remember my post a while back where I had a big fabric binge? Which one? Whoops, I hoped you wouldn't notice that...

Anyway, this was made from a Fabexmix pattern. Aside from the pattern being translated from German, I had some other issues with it, some mine and some theirs. There were two versions of the shoulder straps, but no info about when to use one or the other. I also am not really sure about adding seam allowances to those European patterns. I added 1/2" to all sides, but it occured to me later that perhaps you are only supposed to add the allowance on the seams that are actually sewn together (like, not the straps, which seem too wide.). It has some other quirks too that I can probably deal with now that I've done the pattern once. Michelle does like the big pocket in front (there's a small fish stuffie in her pocket in this pic, which is why it looks so lumpy). She wore this for her class picture, and I think she looked great! I'm sure that someday in the future she will question why her parents were dressing her so horribly!

Lotus mini quilt - Whiplash

2007-05-29T13:35:00.001-04:00

Lotus mini quilt
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich

I interupt my most fascinating stories about Art and Soul with an actual project:

I've been on a mini mini-quilt kick lately, so the current Whiplash theme was irresistable. My pile of Amy Butler fabrics have been mocking me lately, insisting that they can be so much more than stash filler. Plus, how do you buy more fabric if you don't use at least a little bit?

It takes so little fabric to make something so fun. A few squares, some time to fuss with the arrangement, and soon there is an actual quilt. This one is my first one with a border, which I am so happy with.

So there's no prizes for the current Whiplash, just a chance to show off a little. I'm really impressed by the entries already, with so many clever ideas.

Art and Soul - Story Fragments

2007-05-16T14:21:00.001-04:00

Thomas' English muffins paper dolls
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

So I actually took very few pics at Art and Soul, too busy making stuff! I will have more of my own artwork soon, I hope, but in the meantime I show off some of the paperdolls I made as trades. I traded them all!

Day 2's class was Lesley Riley's Story Framgments class. I admit that I was less sure about how I was going to like this class. I already work with a lot of the techniques, so it was going to be a matter of how this particular project settled with me. Lesley also specifically wanted us to bring pictures of heads, to make a person with an accompanying story. I'm not really big on representing people in my artwork (other than Michelle, which I didn't really want to do for this one.) After much agonizing, I found a photo I took at the Bronx Zoo of an elephant sculpture that I thought would work well.

We spent the morning painting our fabric - very fun and freeing. While it dried we started to plan out our figures. The elephant worked out great. I ended up giving her a tiered skirt, and her story somehow involves flying coffee cups. An elephant also freed me from worrying too much about proportion, since she's already not a person. We attached everything with wonder under. I think I will need to go back and add some stitching to hold some parts more securely. I didn't get far enough to write my story on, and her skirt still needs some stitching. I'm really pleased with how she came out. A photo will follow ASAP.

I suspect that Lesley has not had a lot of people do a non-human figure before, and she definitely gave it a thumbs up. She was a good teacher. The techniques aren't hard, but she had a really helpful hand-out giving some basics of human proportion that were really useful. Its interesting to see that while many elements were repeated (a lot of people had a tree) there are so many variations. There were some very nice women to chat with as well, and I definitely didn't have the "fitting-in" problems that I was feeling on Friday night,. Whew! You can see the work of some of the other artists in the class on my Flickr account. I, of course, did not make a note of anyone's names, so can't give full credit unless the artists want to jump in!

Saturday after class my sister and I joined a group she had fallen in with at the Manager's reception. A margarita and many trades soon followed, along with a really nice conversations with lots of new people. Any inability on part to remember more specific details we'll just chalk up to that margarita. We decided we would wait for after vendor night to get dinner, and went off to go shopping.

Vendor night shopping was interesting. The booths of emphemera and collage things we mostly passed by, since our favorite way of acquiring such items is to go through our parent's garage. Plus, the prices are a lot lower in the garage. We enjoyed looking at the artist booths mostly. Seeing the artwork of some of the instructors made us want to go and sign up for their classes next time. Paul Johnson, a book artist, had some absolutely amazing pop-up books, a small one with a story involving a house (my personal totem these days) and a princess (Michelle's obsession) just jumped out at me. I would definitely look for one of his classes sometime, although he is from the UK, so I don't know how often he teaches here. We also picked out a bird sculpture from Stephanie Lee that we were sure our Mom would love for mother's day. (It turns out we were wrong, but that's for another day.) Another teacher to add to my list for next time. I also couldn't resist a clothes-line of little wax dipped dresses from Pamela Huntington. Sarah took a class with her on Monday and had nothing but raves about her as a teacher and a person. The dresses were so sweet and had a cute story about peanut butter sandwiches. Sarah was taken in by one of Sally Jean Alexander's charms. I will have more to say about Sally Jean later, since I spent the next 2 days in her class.

I think dinner that followed will deserve its own separate post, as it was an adventure unto itself.

Art and Soul stories

2007-05-11T16:08:00.001-04:00

Mine! My house!
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

I managed to convince my sister Sarah, usually less of a structured class crafter, to come with me to Art and Soul in Virginia. Thus begin the adventures:

Friday morning I got a special treat before I left, to see the house next door partially demolished. This was not a surprise, but it was an interesting way to start the day.

I arrive at the airport and cannot immediately locate Sarah, who has taken up residence by the wrong US Airways counter, and has also turned off her cell phone. (Sarah, I promise this will be the last time I make fun of you for that!) She does eventually realize the latter, and we get to our gate with plenty of time to spare, especially since our flight is late (no real surprise there.)

Despite the delay, we arrive with enough time to cross the entire Philly airport to get to our connecting flight. We go to check out the deal, and slowly come to realize that this flight is scheduled to leave EARLY. Who ever heard of such a thing! The inevitable fall out does occur - we make the flight, the luggage does not. Did I mention that we also did not get a chance to grab lunch? Sarah has a much mocked turkey sandwich in her bag, so she is fine. I am surviving on Luna bars and airplane pretzels.

At the hotel, hunger starts to set in, and all restaurants are closed (that lunch-dinner lull) and the hotel shuttle is off on some unexpectedly long jaunt. We finally get the brilliant suggestion for room service, which I admit NEVER would have occurred to me normally. It actually wasn't too overpriced, and was reasonably tasty.

Now its time for class, and there's no sign of the luggage. So off I go to Susan Lenart-Kazmer's tassles and fringe class without any of my specially ordered tools, or carefully selected ribbons, yarns and charms. The classroom is already full with people who have been in her earlier class all day. This is a sure tip-off, since they are all already comfortably settled, familiar with everything in the room, Susan knows their names, and I am already feeling left out. A totally empty workspace does not help any.

Susan shows us some of what we're doing, and fortuantely has many ribbons and metal supplies. What I really need is tools - pliers of various sorts. The woman next to me has offered to share hers, but somehow everything of hers seems carefully placed on her other side, and after repeated attempts to ask for things or reach across, I give up and use Susan's tools at the center table as much as possible. I then get missed in the distribution of some copper circles for a different fringey dangle, probably because my space is so clear its not obvious that someone is working there. I end up taking apart Susan's class example (at her suggestion!) to use the parts.

So when its done, I have 3 different tassel forms for jewelry that are fine, but nothing very personal. Pictures will be forthcoming, I was understandably not interested in taking photos at the time.

I do get a call from Sarah, whose class is in the hotel itself, just before the end that our luggage has arrived! So at least we don't need to do a late night run to the nearby Target for clean underwear and toothbrushes. We happily go through our bags to get ready for tomorrow's classes.

To be continued... (Hint, things get better from here!)

Too much stuff

2007-05-10T14:57:00.001-04:00

Princesses
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

Here is my first reason why there hasn't been a blog entry in a while. We decided to indulge Michelle a bit, and took her to Disney World at the end of March. She is currently and inexplicably obesessed with all Disney princesses, particularly Cinderella.

Needless to say, it was a great success, although thoroughly exhausting!

But just look at that smile.

The other big thing I will catch up with soon includes a trip to Art and Soul in Virginia with my sister. There was prep work that and projects completed there that will be shown off. There will also be long sagas of lost luggage, people who don't share well, others who are so generous, wonderful art created with metal, ribbons, fabric and glass, an explanation of how you can have 5 breakfasts in 3 days, and a few choice quotes that made us laugh.

As a special bonus, there is an international package that arrived soon after my return, in case I had not had enough wonderful art experiences!

For a sneak peek check out my Flickr pictures from my shiny new sidebar banner.

Stay tuned....

Value of the collection

2007-03-13T13:51:00.003-04:00

Another mini quilt
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

I have gone through phases in life where I have focused on different crafts. Currently, as some of you may have noticed, I am on a fabric and quilting kick. I was on a similar train many years ago, but with more shopping and less sewing. So I have a bunch of fabric still. I was reading a quilting book

recently which said that you should not do a project unless you really love the fabric. Looking through my piles, I disagreed. I have had these fabrics long enough that they are mostly overlooked. So I decided to do a project with them to refocus my attention. Also, since I bought these so long ago, the value has depreciated to the point that they effectively didn't cost me anything, so if I made a mistake and threw it out, then I had only lost time, but not precious and expensive fabric!

So here are the results. I made a bunch of blocks, and finally got one that I loved, with the red center and the stripey edges. So back to the piles for some extra red fabrics. I had a slight mishap with the blue stripes when I wasn't paying attention and cut them cross-wise. Not the same look at all! Of course, this was the smallest piece of fabric I had. I managed to eek out just enough to finish this mini quilt! It still is not bound and finished, as I've discovered that's the part I like least about quilting. I think it has to do with bias tape.

So not only was that a success, but I started playing with the other blocks I had made, and in pretty short order put together 4 mini house quilts. This picture shows them before they were quilted. Not bad! I think it was very freeing to not worry about "wasting" precious fabric.

Of course, not all is perfect in crafty land. I decided to sew my first garment in a long time.

Let's start simple - an A line skirt. Pull some nice tencel fabric from the stash, some new Amy Butler Lotus fabric for a border. Very nice. So why I would do every possible thing to totally ignore or disregard the measurements, I can't tell you. But that is what I did. So this lovely skirt, could possibly have been worn by me when I was 16. Needless to say, its not going to fit now. So now I am faced with the prospect of starting over and salvaging what I can, or...

Whoops skirt!
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

Anyone out there a size 8 (US size)? Or something close? I'm willing to put the finishing touches on, and trade this for a reasonable offer with anyone who thinks they might fit it. I can send more precise measurements if you think you're in a borderline position. I will iron it, as the wrinkles there have resulted from being tossed in a corner in disgust. Like I said, its nice fabric, and not an entirely horrible sewing job. I'd rather see it be worn than sit around mocking me, and waiting for me to tear it apart. International postage is fine with me. Just leave a comment!

Must sew more!

2007-02-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

The fabric designers of the world have just got to slow down! There are so many wonderful things out there, and I am spending my days at a computer, not a sewing machine. Look at the fun things I have come across recently.

This is from a Swedish company, I think, called Sandberg. I found a site to order it for a mere $35/meter, which is bad enough, but the shipping costs are about the same! But I just love house motifs, and this one is so bright and colorful.

This one is from the more affordable and mainstream Andover fabrics. The designers are Abbott and Ellwood, who's jewelry I can recognize in an instant. I have one of their pins and adore it, especially since it also has a little cork stand for display when I don't wear it. This could be very fun. eQuilter has it, but with pink or black backgrounds only. I may have to try to find somewhere to get this great blue.

And look at the little bunny peaking out at me. Another Andover fabric. How cute is he? Plus, polka dots. Need I say more?

I'm not even talking about the amazing Japanese fabrics at SuperBuzzy and Kitty-Craft. I hesitated in the last SuperBuzzy update, and missed out on some neat stuff.

I think I might be spending too much computer time looking at fabrics.

I really have got to spend some more quality time with my sewing machine. Did I mention that I did give in and order a bunch of the Amy Butler Lotus fabrics? They are beautiful. I'm actually attempting to make a skirt for myself using some. I have had an aversion to sewing garments for a little while now, but I have got to do something to keep the fabric from becoming stash fodder. Let's hope that it fits!

Moon Pie paper dolls

2007-02-13T12:56:00.001-05:00

Here's one of the other projects I completed on my crafty day. I was inspired by Heather's dolls, here, and happened to have an almost empty box of Moon Pies that just screamed paper doll! They are actually very fun to pose and make dance.

I'm thinking I might try to make something along these lines for Art and Soul trades. My sister and I are going in May (can't wait!) and it may be time to start thinking about such details. I think I'm over my Moon Pie obsession, though, so I may be looking for other interesting packaging to use.

Look, a quilt!

2007-02-13T12:52:00.001-05:00

I have to admit that I really hate February. It is around this time of year that I start wondering if I should be truly worried about my mental health. I think the problem is that in my mind it should be getting warmer as it starts to get lighter, but that never happens. You'd think that after a lifetime in New England I would get that, but no.

So last week I decided to make a bid for sanity by taking a day off from work just to do projects. It was great! My biggest task was to get this quilt layed out, and get the batting and backing pinned without any toddler "help." And since the sun was shining, I even got to take a picture of it while it was on the floor. I'm reasonably pleased with it. I think that it will not be anything to win a prize anywhere, what with imperfect piecing and inevitable wrinkles once I get it quilted, but I am quite proud. And I got to use a bunch of my Amy Butler fabrics! I still have to quilt and bind it, but if I get it done soon it can help keep my toes warm before spring comes.

Constantly shopping

2007-01-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Target to try to find a birthday present for one Michelle's best friends. Mission was accomplished in pretty short order, but once in the toy section we of course couldn't just leave. Michelle insisted on exploring the "pink aisle" several times. She also liked the baby toys, mostly, I suspect, because they all made lots of noise. But then I discovered some toys I'd never seen at Target before - European imports! I got sucked in right away. This guy simply had to come home with me.

He is from a French company, and is knit, and oh so very soft. I mean, he even has a sweater! Theoretically, I have put him aside to be a birthday present for Michelle. In truth, at the slightest provocation, he is coming out of his box and going onto my bedside. Why can't I get a new stuffed animal, right?

Poor Olive

2007-01-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

Olive
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

I made Olive here from Hillary's make-a-long patterns here for a Chanukkah present for Michelle. I have to say that I was so pleased with how she came out, pretty and cuddly and so cute. I almost considered keeping her myself.

I gave her to Michelle at the same time that she got many present from my family. Poor Olive suffered in comparison, as she was not one of a series. Michelle's favorite activities involve lines or piles of toys at this point. After getting tossed aside, I asked Michelle if I could keep here. She readily agreed. I was disappointed, but not too much.

A week later, Michelle found other cloth dolls in her room, and announced that she didn't like them either, and I could have those too. I asked if this was an overall trend, that she didn't like dolls only stuffed animals. She answered "Yes. No. Yes." Shortly thereafter, she announced she did like them, and wanted her doll back (meaning Olive). I of course returned her, but she is now sitting on a top shelf with other banished dolls.

I don't think I'll be making any more dolls for Michelle soon. But I admit that I am thinking about how to recover Olive (renamed Lola, Linda and Blackie in the interim) to my collection.

Current obsessions

2006-12-08T15:28:00.000-05:00

I have more pictures of projects, but haven't uploaded them. So instead I present my current internet/craft/fabric obsessions.

Janet Bolton
I've seen some of her work in various books over the years, but never actually put them together to look at the entirety of the artist's work. Wow. I love these little quilts. They are deceptively simple. I went looking for a copy of her book "Patchwork Folk Art" and was somewhat dismayed to find it out of print, and running at least $95 from various used book sources. Yikes! Thank goodness for inter-library loan. I've had the book for a week now, and have read it twice, and started on a Janet Bolton inspired piece. Look for more soon! I'd love to go to one of her workshops, but it doesn't look like she comes to the US very often.

Amy Butler
We've already seen that I am helpless to resist her fabrics. They are simply gorgeous. But could someone please ask her to slow down? I've barely used scraps of the Belle fabrics that I ordered, and she already has another line, Lotus, due out in January that I am drooling on. I guess I better start sewing fast!

Prints Charming
Another new fabric line, Follow Your Imagination, that just came out. I really would like to see these in person, since the scale is large enough that most websites don't even show a single repeat. Even so, I really like the big clean graphics.

One more fabric line: Building Blocks/American Jane

This fabric with the rulers is popping up all over the place in projects, and I love it every time I see it. I also like the funky florals and polka dots that coordinate.

Do I need more fabric? No. The birthday binge that was so recent is still in big piles, although I have used some small pieces of the Amy Butler ones in a quilt project. Yes, that's right, a quilt. Let's see if I actually follow through and put it together as such, or if it gets diverted into some other end use. Of course, the quilt does need some solid fabrics to go with it (solids are not a big part of my stash, its so hard when there are other flashier fabrics around) so it probably will require a trip to the fabric store...

House and flower

2006-12-08T11:54:00.000-05:00

I know, you've despaired of me posting again. And truly, I've been meaning to do more. But I've been alternating between the seasonal ennui and the sudden bursts of frenzied activity. So many exciting things though.

First a long in process project which I am actually quite pleased by:

This house with feet was inspired back in the summer, when the Whiplash theme was reuse of clothing. I've had these sneakers, one of Michelle's first pairs, kicking around my studio for a while. They were so cute that I couldn't bear to just throw them away. But a general idea was further enhanced when we also saw Howl's Moving Castle. I kept working on it, re-painting parts, adding the arms was a later step, and then finally the umbrella (re-painted at least 3 times!). I'm actually quite pleased with it, although I haven't been able to get the umbrella to stay glued into her hand yet. More super glue is needed! It kind of reminds me of some of the house girls that Emily makes like this one here. Mine is much less representational, since I can't actually draw or paint people. She makes me smile a lot.

This was a kit that I asked for as a birthday present from Paper Source. It was way more fussy than I thought it would be, but I'm happy with how it turned out, especially now that some time has passed. Its one of those good projects to have around where I don't have to think too much.

Wow!

2006-11-12T21:51:00.000-05:00

Ever have those times when its really clear to you who gets you, and who doesn't? This weekend had some of those moments for me. My sister, she gets it. She made this for me for my birthday. Can you tell what it is?

My own lemonade sandwich! Thanks Sarah! I'm pretty sure that no one else has one of these, and only you would think of making it for me.

Shopping

2006-11-09T15:16:00.000-05:00

Having finished a whole bunch of projects, I find myself in that lull where I don't know what to do next. So I have taken advantage of some birthday money to go out on a small fabric shopping spree.

Just looking at the variety of patterns that have come in the door is an amazing example of the totally different tastes that I have.

For the bright colors, pink girly side we have the following:

You have got to see the things that these German designers at Farbenmix do with this dress! I don't have anything nearly so elaborate in mind, yet. They have a website all in German here that sends me into a pink and orange high every time I look at it. I ordered these from here and they were the first to arrive.

For the earth-tone calm side we have:

I found these at Purlsoho They are even better in person, with more colors and no repeats from selvedge to selvedge. I almost want to hang them on the wall as is. I suspect that they will take some courage and a firm idea before they are touched by scissors.

For the country side we have the long awaited red and white polka dot series, as well as another favorite motif of mine, black text on white fabric.

These were all ordered from eQuilter These will be needed to finish my quilt kit right away, and will then join the overwhelming stash.

Now that I have all this fabric, I hope to be able to actually make something during the upcoming long weekend. I'll let you know if it actually happens next week!

Finally - some projects!

2006-11-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

I've been on a quilt spree lately. Well, not actually quilting, since I have never actually made a finished blanket, and then quilted together the various layers with stitching to create a real quilt. Usually, I do the piecing, and then am pretty much done with the project, so find some other way to use it. Some day I will actually make a quilt. Probably.

In any case, here's what I've been up to:

This pillow is a pattern from the Denyse Schmidt quilt book. I really like this book. If it had existed 10 years ago, when I was thinking about quilting but really wasn't interested in the usual quilt patterns, then my entire hobby trajectory might have been different. Plus, I got to use some of my Amy Butler fabrics that I bought last spring, thus justifying an order for some of her latest Belle designs.

I also stumbled onto Natascha Rosenbererg's website and blog. She has an illustration style that makes me smile every time. She also happened to have a few little quilt kits at one point, and I was lucky enough to get the last one. Thus expanding my mailbox fun to packages from Spain. I had so much fun putting this together, playing with all of the pieces. I threw in a bit from my own stash to fill it out. I haven't figured out how to finish it yet, but I want red fabric with white polka dots, which I seem to be unable to get at my local fabric store. Natascha has some other finished pieces on her website that I love. Anything with houses appeals to me, and she has a couple of stuffed ones with her own people peeking out the windows. How great are they?

My last, non-quilting project, was inspired by this paper doll book. I think the book is actually a little too simplistic. In many cases, the paper doll examples just use a lot of vintage ephemera smooshed together, or other similar sort of easy ways to make a paper doll. Some a really great though, and I enjoyed the history of the dolls. But it did give me a little push to just put together this guy in an evening. The biggest problem is that in the process of punching holes for the eyelets using a hammer and punch, I made a few marks in the studio floor. Whoops! So while the book is only so-so, anything that gets me to actually make something is a winner.

Random thoughts

2006-10-16T14:07:00.000-04:00

I don't have any photos of my recent projects due to a lack of desire to spend time on the computer at home, and forgetting to take some pictures while there is still natural light. Instead, I offer today's random thoughts:

1. Yippee! I am getting a package with a lovely homemade bag sometime in the near future thanks to Ellen. Don't you wish you had added a comment to her blog now?

2. We've been reading a lot of children's books over and over again, not uncommon with a 2 year old in the house. But doing so has generated some questions in my mind that really can't be shared while reading the stories, but keep bugging me.
a) What is the deal with Madeline? Who are these 12 girls? Is it a boarding school, an orphanage, or what? One of the books (where Madeline has her appendix out) makes a reference to gifts from Papa, but he never appears again. I mean, she runs away to join the gypsies and no one but Miss Clavell seems concerned.
b) Who else thinks that Lily's parents are surprised to discover that Mr. Slinger is straight? When Lily tells them he is getting married, they react only with the comments "Really?" sev eral times.
c) Curious George has so many issues I don't know where to begin. But aside from all of the animal issues, let's just sum it up by saying - who puts someone in jail for calling the fire department by mistake?

I guess those are the only issues I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'll think of more later.

Back to craft projects soon.

Still here

2006-10-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

I know its been a while...

The end of summer/vaction/start of school year took its toll for a while, and my project output dropped dramatically. But I did finish a few things that I will show off now!

The giraffe from one of the Japanese craft books that I can't identify at the moment. I started him ages ago, but I admit that he was not bery attractive in process. But I finally decided to finish him, and the facial features make a huge difference and I find him quite adorable now.

The bunny did not come out as well as I hoped. I had some issues with the darts in his head that I think I sewed wrong, and his embroidered face is a bit goofy.

From an evening where I just needed to do something small and non-mess-upable (yes, that is a word in my universe)I altered a few photos that I have kicking around. I took a really enjoyable class from Karen Michel a while back and its really fun to scratch, color and otherwise abuse a photo to make it your own. I had spent some time looking for interesting photo sites a while back with public domain photos and had printed a few and then hid them away, so this was just waiting for some abuse. I like it, but I'm not sure what I will do with it.

One more, but I didn't make these. I picked them up at an estate sale next door. An odd thing, going to the estate sale of someone you know a little bit. I don't know who played with this dollhouse furniture, but I just loved the bird cage. Michelle got totally obsessed with wanting to play with it, and then I realized that the soft metal it was made of was probably lead, and not really an appropriate toy! I let her play with them briefly and then we "traded" them for other dollhouse pieces that I had tucked away. They are now safely hidden in my studio, and I hope to use them myself in some project that will not be a toddler interactive item.

Inspired by others

2006-08-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

For a while I was getting really obsessed with trying to create "original unique art" for each of my projects. What that mostly led to was me not doing anything, rather than me creating some wonderful artwork. One of the things that I like about reading craft blogs is that it is ok to use other people's patterns (they even post them for free or self-publish them to share!), be inspired by someone else's project, or even to do totally ordinary things like bake a cake and have that be an artistic accomplishment. It has really let me do a lot more things, and more things that I like. I have a wonderful collection of things that I have made, that fill my space and make me smile. That's far better than trying to live up to the title of "artist."

So here are projects that I've made recently that I enthusiastically credit to others:

Squid (or as Michelle calls them - Squig) made from Sewing Stars' pattern book that I purchased at ArtBeat a few weeks ago. The perfect small project, I made him while having a crafty evening with a friend of mine. I am now tempted to make entire chains of squid to hang as garlands in my studio.

Collage canvas is based on a series that Posie Gets Cozy did and shared on her blog. There was something about the grid format, and the use of the smallest scraps of fabric that totally appealed to me. It kept sticking with me until I finally picked up a canvas at lunch and ran home to play with vintage and modern fabric scraps. It was definitely fun rummaging around in boxes of trinkets and actually using some of those fabric scraps without worrying about sewing them.

Wagon inspired by the papier mache work of Julie Arkell. I've had a little papier mache box hanging around for a while, the original idea for it didn't really click with me. I was looking through the recent Julie Arkell catalogue and saw the wagons, and knew what this box had to be! I want to make a small figure to put in it, but I don't do small papier mache, so it will have to be fabric of some sort. It still needs a pull cord and some general touch-up. By the way, if any family members are reading this, I wouldn't mind owning a piece by Julie Arkell. My birthday isn't too far away, you know...

Yesterday's creation, peach and blueberry cobbler from this recipe.

So there it is. Part of me feels a little uneasy about how much of a copy some of these projects are of other's work. But I'm really thinking of them as learning exercises, and a chance to do something creative without worrying about the artistic merit of what I make. So thank you to all of the artists out there, for your wonderful work and your personal inspirations.

Another bag

2006-08-07T12:11:00.000-04:00

So I did, in fact, order a whole bunch of transfers from Carla Sonheim's etsy site. I couldn't decide, as all of her girls are so wonderful! I ended up with 4, plus a little bonus one that she added. They are just wonderful, and I felt the need to do something with one of them right away! I started going through the fabric stash, and found this little scrap of Kaffe Fasset fabric, just enough for a little frame. And I also pulled out this tote bag that I had picked up at H&M with the intention of embellishing. A little stitching, some fusible webbing and its lovely. It needed something, so I added the little blocks of text the next day, using up nearly every last thread of that fabric. I am really pleased with how it all turned out.

Matching bags

2006-07-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

These bags were made from the extra fabric from Michelle's skirt. I made the big one first, for myself. Its been a while since I made a bag, so I took my time, and actually ironed seams and the like. I was really pleased with how it came out. When I was looking at it, I realized that it was likely Michelle would claim it as her own. So with a lot less precision, I made a mini version for her during one of her rare weekend naps. (That's another whole topic!)

She was quite pleased with it, especially because Mommy has one too. And I get to keep my bag.

Treats for me!

2006-07-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

So work has been totally crazy for the last few weeks, and despite the original idea that it would calm down soon, additional new things have been added to my schedule. In order to keep sane, I have been allowing myself small treats and purchases, so that I have something to look forward to.

I saw one of the other shoes in this limited edition series on someone's blog last week, and when I started researching found these ones. Llamas! I love llamas. And its hard to find attractive items with llamas, so the order went in. They are just great. I mean, there is even attractive llama-ness on the inside. The only flaw is that they have a fleecy lining, so aren't really summery. But on the next slightly cooler day, these will be on my feet!

I also ordered my first etsy item, from Emily of the Black Apple here. Milk dress girl was simply too sweet to pass up. It arrived fast, and I had even forgotten it was coming so was a perfect treat. It needs a frame, but makes me smile whenever I see it.

Other items on my shopping list:
Prints and/or transfers from here.
Monsters! here and here (maybe).
Fabric and all sorts of things I don't really need here and who know what else.
Other things that I've forgotten I will have to add later.

But really, what I'd like is some time. I want one day to myself, to make things and/or go shopping. Then I want one day with Michelle to go to the beach or something else fun. Then I want another day to see friends who I haven't had the chance to talk to in ages, and eat and laugh together. Then I want a nice dinner out with just my husband. In the meantime, I will have to be the shallow person who substitutes with material goods and hot fudge sundaes for lunch. But these days will come, just wait and see.

Swap goodies arrived!

2006-07-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

As I had hoped, my magazine swap goodies from Ellen arrived on a day when I really needed a treat! In addition to the wonderful New Zealand magazine, she sent a bunch of treats for Michelle - an adorable bunny and a custom-made apron. Its a good thing that Michelle claimed the bunny rught away, or she would have been at my bedside last night. I read through the magazine last night, and was amused to read about warm soups and cozy blankets. I hadn't even thought about the fact that it's winter in NZ, and thus the topics would not be the barbeques and outdoor parties of our U.S. magazines. I enjoyed my first perusal and look forward to curling up with it in more detail this weekend.

Thanks to Ellen for the wonderful package. And thanks to Adriana for organizing it.

Tiered skirt

2006-07-05T13:17:00.001-04:00

A while ago, there was a post on WhipUp with a tiered skirt tutorial from 3 peas, here that I just loved. And believe it or not, I actually made it! A trip to Fabric Place during their 25% off everything sale provided the perfect fabric. (Not that I didn't already have plenty of fabric that would work, but this was "perfect" fabric.) I cut it out that night, actually pulled out the ironing board to press the hem the next night. The tutorial was very clear, with plenty of helpful tips. An evening drifting between the sofa and the sewing machine let me do the gathering, and poof, a skirt for my little princess.

Shh.. don't tell anyone that I didn't finish the inside edges. Given the kind of wear Michelle has on her clothes, those will be the least of the worries. I also discovered a small hole in my brand new fabric that made me pout. A little fusible webbing, and a busy print, and it is impossible to find without close examination.
!
I am very proud. I've been fearful of sewing clothing for a while, given some bad fitting issues in the past, and the fact that she is a toddler who abuses her clothes a lot. But this was easy, doesn't use a lot of fabric and looks just beautiful. As a bonus, I got a baby stuff catalogue over the weekend that showed skirts like this for $45 each. So this was a bargain! I think I'll make more... Of course, I also have some of the fabric left over that I think will make a lovely bag for myself.

Ugly sock creature - Girl Boo

2006-06-29T12:35:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, my sister and I had plans to get together. The original idea was to go to the South End Open Market, but as has been the case all spring and summer, it was raining. Having run low on ideas of places to go on rainy days, we decided it was time for a "stupid sock day." I bought her the Stupid Sock Creatures book for a holiday present, and we have been talking about making one for months.

So I gathered some supplies and headed to her place. We each picked a creature, and then took turns looking at the instructions in the book, using her new thrifted sewing machine, and offering random advice. Mine was a simpler pattern and went together more quickly. I did run into my share of problems, as I missed the instruction to cut a hole for the tail, and then cut it on the wrong side of the body. This created a rather obscene sock creature. I removed the tail, performed some minor surgery to repair the incision, and put it on the correct side. I then selected some vintage buttons for eyes. And when all was said and done... I had a really UGLY sock creature. The proportions were nothing like the book, and the color didn't work well, and really, she's just ugly. Sarah's sock creature also ended up with some proportion issues, and is kind of floppy. We brainstormed about possible accessories (dresses, hair bows, scarves) that might hide some of their worst flaws.

So I returned home with my ugly stupid sock creature and showed it to Michelle. She immediately ask "I have it?" I said that if she named it, it could be hers. She came up with "Girl Boo." She then gave it many hugs, and proceeded to have it fly around the house. My heart sang that such an ugly doll was getting such love. I manages to snap a picture during this brief love-fest. Girl Boo then decided that even more fun than flying was landing on my head. Repeatedly. Once I started getting injured by the lovely vintage buttons, I had to confiscate Girl Boo and put her in my studio. Michelle was not at all upset, and happily relinquished her.

So my poor ugly sock creature had her brief moment of love and affection. I fear that I will not be making her any accessories, as I don't think additional time can be invested in her. But maybe I'll try another sock creature again. Someday.

Polka dot step stool

2006-06-20T09:53:00.000-04:00

Polka dot step stool
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

Although I feel that I have done nothing crafty other than go into my studio and stare at the big piles of stuff, I have actually completed a small project. We picked up this step stool at the recycling center, where it was blue with Noah's Ark transfers and some strange sponge painting. A few coats of paint (the green actually left over from Michelle's very stylish bookcases.) and some polka dots later, and it is done, with no financial outlay, I may add. I used a cardboard stencil for the dots (with the inevitable touch-ups) so they are rather consistent. There are times when I see it and think it looks more like a case of the measles than attractive dots. It may require a bit of extra embellishment.

Oddly, Michelle hasn't offered her opnion about the design. Usually, she's pretty forthcoming with her comments - "I thought you were going to paint it red?" or "I no like it." but whenever we ask if she likes it we are met with silence. She does like having an additional step to carry around and stand on for no particular purpose in the middle of the room, though.

Looking at the colors, I've realize that while these are some of my favorites, the stool actually does not match any room of the house. Its a pretty good indicator of what I would prefer that my house look like. (All right, not really that electric a color on the walls, but this is definitely closer to what I really prefer.)

Elephant in a tea cup

2006-06-16T14:34:00.000-04:00

Elephant in a tea cup
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

I realized that while I feel like I have been blogging a lot of my projects, what I have actually been doing is getting them uploaded to Flickr and then forgetting that I didn't actually post them here. Here's me at Flickr, in case you want to see them without my overly elaborate commentary. In an attempt to remedy that, here is one of my more recent projects.

The elephant is from a one of the Japanese books. I have to say that it was a very satisfying project - a tiny bit of applique (without any fusible web, which I have now remedied in my studio stash), a few evenings of embroidery, and then another evening to make it into a little pillow. Also a good excuse to use some of those Heather Ross fabrics that I love!

I have since also used the same design on a t-shirt for Michelle. The shirt has some issues (let's not discuss the masking tape residue that is bonded to the shirt because I mistakenly thought that my transfer paper was iron-on paper, not rub-on.) but the design is great and we always get lots of compliments. I wish there were more animals in teacups patterns in the book!

Trash picking

2006-06-13T14:37:00.000-04:00

Tiki #1
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

While I may have a genetic predilection for trash picking, it has actually been a long time since I pulled an object from the side of the road and taken it home with me. I really don't need more random crap, as a general rule.

But when I see something like this guy, and his friends 2, 3 and 4, and I am on foot, so don't have to pull the car to a screeching halt, but the car is close enough that its not a burden to carry them, well, they just had to come home with me.

I even exposed myself to the potential ridicule of many family members who were with me at the time. Yet they were all intrigued as well, and understood why I was drawn to them.

Its just airbrushed or spray painted on foam core. The general consensus is that they were used for party decorations. I did pull them from a pile in front of an apartment in a college student heavy neighborhood. I almost expect to find a picture of them elsewhere on Flickr.

So, while I was not actually creative or crafty in the recent past, at least I have added to the strange collection of items in my studio.

My kind of swap

2006-06-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

There are numerous times when I have an idea for a project, but I feel that I lack the artistic skills to bring it to completion. When this happens, I almost always staart looking through my book and magazine collection to look for similar ideas, or something with the same theme or motif, to see how someone else has done it. Sometimes, I find something that gives me enough of a push that I can go ahead and proceed with my project idea. Unfortunately, I most often can't find anything like what I was thinking about, and instead spend my limited studio time just looking through my magazines. Sometimes, this is reward enough. Given that, a proposed international magazine swap seems like just the thing for me. It would have the double fun of picking out a cool U.S. magazine, and then receiving some unknown foreign one.

Reminder to self

2006-06-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

I always look at the craft challenges like Tie One On or Month of Softies, but never actually remember the theme by the time I get into my studio. So this month, I am going to make anote somewhere that I might remember in a week or two. The June theme for Tie One On is too good to forget! Its time to make an apron inspired by your favorite musical.
The question that immediately comes to mind - Moulin Rouge or Strictly Ballroom? Of course, there's also Grease or Fame or Dirty Dancing. There's potential with something more classic too - The Pajama Game or Guys and Dolls? Hmmm... I may need to do more research and watch all of my favorites this weekend. I wish.

Cupcakes and other ramblings

2006-05-25T10:29:00.000-04:00

At the moment, I am totally enthralled by anything decorated with polka dots or cupcakes. And I can tell that I am not the only one. Any craft that involves either one of those will stop me in my tracks. But to date, I have remarkable few items in my home that are either polka dotted or cupcaked. Part of it is that "I can make that" syndrome. Another problem at the moment is the overwhelming feeling of clutter in our house. The shelves are full of art work and precious items that are not well displayed and thus overlooked. The walls are full of artwork that does not coordinate, and all of the spaces for small items are filled, whereas the big picture wall is half empty (because its easy to buy small affordable items we like, and hard to commit to big items, and because none of our artworks seems to coordinate enough to put on one wall). I have wonderful items tucked in drawers and boxes that really deserve to be out and seen.

So of course, today I have come across several cupcake items that I truly want yet can not easily justify. Unfortunately, there are no gift giving ocassions for me for a while. So for myself, I note the cupcake change purse here and the cupcake pincushions here. And some point soon, if I'm having a bad day and need a small treat, there may be cupcakes coming my way.

The picture is just to prove that I do have some cupcake items. For Michelle's birthday, I made her a cupcake crown to match my ice cream crown. She was quite pleased with it, especially as it is on display right next to mine. She did insist on a standard party hat for blowing out the candles on her cake, though. My husband also wants a crown, of course, so when I feel inspired again there will have to be a pie crown for him.

Next project

2006-05-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

So this is my next big project. My Mom called me from a yard sale to check if it was okay if they bought a dollhouse for Michelle, with the understanding that it needs "updating." Permission was granted, and now it has been added to the playroom. Michelle is already playing with using her Little People girls, and some cheap plastic furniture that also came from the yard sale.

But how to redecorate? The exterior is now committed to be red, as Michelle has decided that and believe me, she will remember it. The shutters I think can get a fresh coat of black, but I'm not sure about the awnings - maybe white?

The inside has already started to be renovated, as I removed the ugly orange and gold contact paper used for wallpaper. The ugly green carpets need to go, but they are permanently affixed to the flooring, so I will also need to figure out what to do for the floors. That's obviously going to be my biggest stalling point, as I am not a woodworker. I'm thinking about some sort of particle board that I can cut with an exacto. The kitchen gets black and white "tile" of some sort. and is probably painted yellow. Everything else is still under consideration.

I have to plan any work carefully, so that Michelle can still continue to use it during renovations. No painting during weekend naps or it will still be wet when she wakes up! This will give me something to do in the evenings once the Lost season finale airs.

Whiplash

2006-05-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

The convergence has finally occurred, and I not only remembered the Whiplash challenge for this week by the time I got home, I was actually struck by an idea as I was putting Michelle to bed. I came right downstairs and started working on it.

I made a small muslin doll a few weeks ago, with the intention that it would occupy a paper mache chair that I made. Michelle has claimed the chair (and two others) as her own, and the doll has been neglected.

So with the theme "yarn" in mind, I started to pull out all of my old yarn bobbins from weaving. When I used to weave, there would always end up being a little bit of yarn left on the bobbins that I just would run out of room for. Since I have lots of bobbins, I would just leave the yarn there "for next time." Needless to say, I have plenty just sitting around with lots of nice yarns. So I started to wrap the doll with yarn. Of course, soon enough I found the need to use some other yarns from the stash. Every time I added a new color, it changed the whole feeling of the doll.

I've often felt that putting yarn into some structure takes away some essential appealing characteristic of the yarn. Certain yarns that I have collected never look as good once I knit or weave or whatever with them. This doll I think conveys the pure color and texture of yarn itself, without any structure to distract from it. In any case, she was fun to do and I think a very nice transformation from a naked unfinished doll!

The Sultan's Elephant

2006-05-11T16:09:00.000-04:00

I came across a reference to one of the coolest public performances I have ever seen in Juju Loves Polka Dots' blog. Apparently, London was visited by an elephants and a giant girl puppet, who paraded around town. I admit that I have not even taken the time to read the story scenario that accompanies this because I am so taken with the visuals. There are even more pictures here. Its a good thing I didn't know about this before, or I might have been on a sudden flight to London. It will be in Antwerp in July, Calais in September - wouldn't that be worth planning a trip around?

Ice cream queen

2006-05-09T12:35:00.000-04:00

Ice cream queen
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

A two part project. First I made the crown. I really love the tiaras that sally jean makes and I kept thinking about going to a workshop of hers, but it never really was going to work. Plus, I've realized that as much as I like metalwork, its really not my strong point. So I decided to make an embroidered crown. The ice cream cones were added because last summer our default activity became ice cream outings.
After a while of kicking around my studio, I thought it needed an appropriate display. I did the classic papier mache a balloon to get the form. I now have this mounted on a dowel in my studio. I have worn the crown on several occassions, although never out of the house.

Jumping in

2006-05-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

Bunny
Originally uploaded by lemonade_sandwich.

I've been having such a good time reading everyone's craft blogs, that I decided to start my own. I've actually been so inspired that I have been doing more things and with less anxiety than previously.

I'm a lifelong crafter, and I've never stuck to just one medium. Over the years I've done everything from weaving to collage. I now have a 2 year old daughter, which means that crafts that have a shorter time frame are much more likely to get started and finished. The baby blanket that I put on the loom before she was born was not finished until she was 18 months old, so I decided to put that aside for a little bit and stick to things that I could work on for a few minutes here and there.

I've been having the most fun with paper mache recently. It has enough steps to be interesting, but it is also not so fussy that I get worried about mistakes. This paper mache bunny is one of my recent projects that I am most pleased with. I have a bunch of old projects that I'll probably add very soon.