The kids have been exposed to my fiberantics since they were born. In the early days Charmie's and then later Mardie's play room was also my craft room at both of our homes. As I tried to make things for them and our home, I would craft around the kids. They have seen me sew, embroider, quilt, crochet, knit, spin, weave, card fiber, and more. Yet I really wasn't engaging them in the process. Fiber was my stress relief. It was my escape. It was just for ME.
I think I was afraid. Afraid of them hurting themselves on sharp tools. Afraid of them damaging expensive tools or materials. Afraid of them making my efforts take longer or setting me back. Afraid of failing to teach them well. I was afraid of sharing. In general I was consumed with fear.
Fear isn't a good thing. It's a paralyzing thing. It's a thief. It takes something that should be good and lessens or destroys it.
Starting with Mardie a few weeks ago, the kids have been interested in learning fiber arts. Actually, it goes back farther than that, but a few weeks ago I started to listen, and not be so afraid.
I mean, I'm right there, I'm not going to intentionally let them get hurt. I'm teaching them all kinds of other things, why not teach them my passion. And the tools and materials are just that, tools and materials. If they are broken or damaged, they can be replaced. I can't replace teachable moments passed by. I can't replace projects that were never started or made because of my fear of giving them a chance.
I got a loom to share with Mardie. It's smaller than the loom I got this summer. I wanted something easy and fun and Mardie size. He has been weaving a scarf for Charmie's Christmas present and he's really enjoying it. He's doing a wonderful job too!
Charmie expressed interest in learning to crochet. We had tried two years ago and had not gotten far or had pleasant results. But this time, he really seemed to more easily grasp the process. I was also a more relaxed teacher. His first chain isn't perfect. It has areas of tension issues, twists, etc. But he stuck with it and it's impressively long.
Zuri begged to be taught to knit once she saw her brothers. From seeing how she tries when she sits on my lap, she's not ready to be turned loose with needles, but I remembered I had a spool knitter and she picked it up with little explanation.
WHO
ARE
THESE
CHILDREN???
Sitting all in a row.
Quietly working.
Asking to bring their work along to share with friends.
Making brash statements about how fun this is, how they want to do it every day, how it's more fun than video games???
All I know is that I'm no longer afraid. I'm ready to get out ALL of the tools and ALL of the yarn! I'm so happy to be able to share this with them. I hope that it lasts.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Fiber time
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Week 3 Day 1 classroom reodo
I decided to try something new in our school. Rocky had the idea to move the couch by the door, of course his suggestion was for one day when my craft goodies were no longer in the room.
I decided to try it anyway.
Lots of measurements, mental puzzle solving, pushing, pulling, heaving, hoeing, two meals and a snack, and 15 hours of Pandora later here's the result.
I have some piles downstairs "staged" for donation and resale. The throw away pile is already gone. I just have to empty the vacuum.
I like this layout because the kids are no longer facing the wall, I turned their desk 1/4 turn and now they can all look into the classroom :) I hope this won't be too distracting to them.
Also I spread out my three desks a bit more and I'm not as cramped in my sewing/working area.
An added benefit of this reorg that I wasn't counting on is that I found a lot of wasted storage.
I didn't spend anything to buy new storage solutions, but I re-purposed some poorly utilized bins, drawers, totes, etc. and now things fit better. I also followed a major rule of decluttering and organizing a space and consolidated like things and pulled out things we don't use, or no longer work.
I think the room feels more open now . Instead of coming in and having to wade through my sewing area and desk you are come to a relaxing couch/reading area. Then as you progress into the room it has more things. It also widens though so the additional items are balanced out so that's not what hits you when you come in the door.
I now have more motivation to keep my area tidy, there's no way to hide a mess.
I hope that this reorg provides a better working space for us all.
Optimally this would just be our school and the craftiness would be in a dedicated craft room. I think in lieu of that option, this one works well.
If you would like to see photos of our school from other angles, check out my flickr photostream.
Monday, August 06, 2012
My Baby is Clean
We have had a busy summer with over 25 days of traveling through 7 states while camping in JayJay. At the end of our journeys, the final day of Higher Ground, Zuri got baptized. She's been asking for a little while to do it, and the time was right! Praise God, for he is worthy of all praise!
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Time for a bit of a change
I've been carrying and loving Tom BIhn Little Swift's in Hemp and Cork as my purse like object for a year and a half, and I haven't fallen out of love. I did yearn for a bit of a change. I wanted something fun, cute, and feminine. TB didn't have anything in their lineup that matched my criteria so I went on a search with relatively high standards and specific requirements.
I found Maruca Design a small company based in Boulder CO. All bag components from the zippers to the fabrics are made in the USA. The fabrics are even custom milled for MD twice a year in the USA. The bags are produced by hand until the fabric is gone and the following run is with different fabrics corresponding to either the spring/summer or fall/winter release. Yet they have enough features and design elements to feel couture vs. craft fair.
I found this one on eBay. It's from the spring 2006 catalog and was used. The fabrics are Ping and Bloomer's Purple. The pattern is O'Jackie which currently is redesigned.
About the only things I don't like about this bag are the black lining, absence of closures on the external pockets and the fact that it's not machine washable.
The rest of the things that I have feelings on are positive. Overall size and configuration makes both stuffing with daily needs and finding them easy. The straps are comfortable and appropriate length and width. The fabric, zipper, lining and finishing are done well and while not industrial, will last. The colors are pleasant and fun.
I will definitely keep an eye on Maruca Design for future releases of prints and patterns. Eventually I think a true minimalist bag is on my horizon.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Elna Grasshopper, my little green machine
Happy 9th Birthday Captain C!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Exercises in weaving
I decided for my next weavings to work with scraps of organic cotton, and cotton/linen blends to make some towels. I love how they came out. The boys chose from the selected yarns and told me which ones in what order. These towels are SO SOFT!!! I must make more. I'm really enjoying weaving!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
A woven scarf for Janet
Before the move to Seattle, Janet gave me an Ashford 16" Rigid Heddle Loom. I warped it right away and a project languished on it until two nights ago when I cut it off. It started out as a table runner or stole and when I saw its ugliness off the loom it became a kitchen towel.
I bought the Rigid Heddle Weaving class at Craftsy.com and with some renewed confidence and insight to trouble shoot, I warped for a scarf. This for some reason came out WAY better than the first project did. As soon as its done drying I'm going to ship it off to Janet. I hope she likes wearing it.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
my baby can ride!
my baby can ride! a video by mom2rays on Flickr.
Zuri received a Strider running bike for her second birthday. She received a Specialized pedal bike without training wheels for her fourth birthday. Unfortunately she hasn't been on it much. Today was her fourth time on the bike. And she rode it! I'm so proud of her. She has to gain confidence and coordinate turning and stopping, but she can ride! I think having Sippy, her first baby along for the ride helped her to focus. She was very concerned about crashing and hurting Sippy in the process.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Studio and Schoolroom redo
The center table how holds the kids sewing machine (on loan from my mom) and our globe.
As I mentioned above there are bookcases/shelves between the desks to aid in the kids focusing. On the shelves between Zuri and Mardie's desks we keep the daily use supplies like pencils, markers and colored pencils on top. Below are many of our classroom non math manipulatives and puzzles. Between Charmie and Mardie's desks I keep our greatly reduced workboxes. For this space, and where we are in our work, this simplifies things. I also keep the boys text books here. It's much simpler than keeping them with the other classroom materials. There's a lot less hunting and frustration this way.
To the right of Charmie's desk is a shelving unit that is an extension of my studio. My spinning wheels, some fiber, some yarn, some works in progress and related fiber tools are housed here in baskets.
The left side of the room (right side in this photo as viewed from Zuri's desk) has my studio. My sewing table setup hasn't changed. This was the best placement and allows for me to be able to work and keep an eye out on the kids simultaneously. Rocky and I share the desk. As before, we work facing each other. When I'm good and don't collect things on my desk it's plenty of space for both of us.
I cleaned out the credenza that came with the desk and now store some of my office supplies and teacher's materials in it. We were able to find IKEA office chairs in the "as is" room for well under 1/2 price! Nothing is wrong with them, they were just no longer in the box. They are very comfortable and well built. They do not match. We weren't trying to match them. Rocky and I are built differently so it makes sense that we would be most comfortable in differently shaped chairs. My chair is a wool version of the leather one we bought for the living room desk. IKEA doesn't make it anymore sadly, but it's the most comfortable office chair I've ever used. Rocky's is green and black.
In the middle of the studio wall is my cutting/pinning/ironing table. I've had to have one side folded down since we moved it up here. This new configuration of the room allows me to have it all of the way open. I have had ironing/pinning mats for a long time for this table, but the size didn't fit and they overlapped. I finally cut and sewed them together to make one large fitted mat, vs. two ill fitting ones. Under it I have storage drawers that hold our math manipulatives, our school craft supplies, my mailing supplies and scale, as well as my cutting instruments. I'm going to be adding one more set of drawers in a few weeks and our science materials should then fit here as well.
Beyond the cutting table is a short bookcase of school resource books and a second with unused school supplies. I try to get supplies when they are affordable which isn't exactly when I need them. I have to store them somewhere. Having them in one place allows me to keep an inventory of what we have and also itemize what we need for future sales.
The closet also got a redo. It was full of videos/ DVD and VHS (yes we still have a VHS player), Wii games, board games (now under the clickclack), and over flow toys that we had temporarily taken out of rotation. There was little useful organization, though Rocky had made multiple attempts. It was a clusterscrew because it wasn't kid friendly and when opened almost always vomited its contents all over the walkway into the room. I hated it because it was never tidy. The solution; after we removed the items to more kid friendly storage areas was to move the remaining plastic drawers with fabric and yarn into it. These drawers were previously on the landing at the top of the stairs and an eyesore.
I know it's A LOT to have it all in one room, optimally this would be in two separate and large rooms. This is the modest space we do have and it all works. I feel so blessed to have this space to be used for a studio and school. The space is very conducive to us working together. Everybody has their own space if needed yet we can come together for games or projects that require our combined efforts. After some time, the room is becoming what I envisioned it being when we bought this home.
the storm before the calm
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
First Vacation
Friday, March 23, 2012
Sewing School
The kids have expressed interest in sewing, and I have interest in teaching them. Today I got my old sewing machine from my mom's house. I felt that starting on a basic mechanical machine would give them proper fundamentals of machine mechanics and maintenance.
They all had turns to sew some samples. Then Zuri wanted to sew a heart and Mardie wanted to make a dragon.
Zuri's project was pretty easy. Cut out a heart and stitch it up, turn and topstitch.
Mardie's involved making a pattern, coloring, ironing and lots of curves and angles. He did great though and even whipstitched the opening closed by hand after he stuffed his dragon.
I think we are going to have a lot of fun with sewing. I need to find some basic clothing patterns for shorts and pajamas that have multi sizing so they can experiment with making some clothes.
Thanks mommy for letting us use the machine :)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Coaching Upward Cheerleading
At the end of the season, I made them each a bracelet, with their name, and a cheer, cross, and "made with love" charm to encourage them to remember our year, our devotions and whose they are!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Balle's scarf
Balle gets a new bag (and outfit)
Here's the bag and outfit that we made for Balle. Zuri helped with the design of the purse, she centered the design and pushed start (my sewing machine will allow hands free/presser foot free sewing) to sew out the design "Balle ♥♥♥". She did an excellent job!
She got disinterested though when I had to press and sew the tiny binding. It wasn't the type of work suitable for tiny princess fingers. :(
The outfit is made from 2 socks. I bought a TON of socks and made Z legwarmers before she was born. I planned to also sell some, never got around to it and have a ton unsewn and decided to copy an idea I saw on flickr to make them into doll clothes. They work perfectly. Sewing is reduced because they are already tubes so unless you want to, there is no need for side seams. They are stretchy so they are easy on and off for small fingers. No frustration that the clothes are stuck on or off. No complicated closures to manipulate.
For the leggins, I measured and cut the tube leaving the cuff of the sock as the waist band. Then edge stitched with a stretch stitch the entire bottom. Then I straight stitched up and around and down to form the legs. I sewed 1/4" on either side of center and marked which stripe to stop at based on laying Balle on the tube before sewing. Once sewn, I cut between the stitches leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Voila, leggins!
For the tunic top, I cut out the focal bunny in a tube and sewed the bottom, stretching slightly to allow it to lettuce edge. I set aside the bunny tube.
Then I cut the 2nd sock below the bottom stripe, leaving the cuff in tact to form the neck edging. I edged the bottom with stretch stitch then cut the tube in two. leaving two rectangles (because these were stripes, I aligned the "jog" of the beginning of the stripes up to be where I cut so that it would be in the seam allowance.
Then I carefully pinned the sleeves to the bunny tube and first sewed the front, centering the cuffs on either side of the center of the tube. Then flipped and repeated the back, ensuring that the stripes matched. Then I turned it inside out and sewed the bottom of the sleeve seams, and turned it right side out.
These were WAY faster than any other doll clothes I've attempted in the past. I believe I will go back through some of the leg warmers that Z doesn't wear that much (she actually still wears quite a few of them) and harvest some for doll clothes for Balle.
I can also see a use for older tights that have gotten a hole, both mine and hers, making doll leggins!
Friday, January 20, 2012
2012 slippers
I need to locate or make some soles to add tread, and keep them from wearing out so quickly. I also need to weave in the ends.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but they are a medium bluish purple.
I haven't decided whether or not I am going to add any further embellishment. There's something about their simplicity that I like at the moment.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
iBuds
Jenny, my knitting buddy, mentioned how the iPhone standard ear buds worked sufficiently for her so I decided to go home and resurrect mine, sealed in my iPhone box and give them a try. Would you know, they stayed in!
I just had to deal with the 2nd reason why I don't get along with most of these types of gadgets. Tangles.
I had seen icorded headphones on Ravelry, as a solution so I decided that if I was going to be carrying mine around, they needed sleeves.
A few Netflix selections and scrap sock yarn knitting later and voila! iBuds!
The final solution needed was how to transport them in my bag without damage, and how to easily locate them. There's nothing like deciding you need something and not being able to find it!
Here's where the Tom Bihn Mini Cordura Organizer Pouch in Wasabi comes in. Looking at it, it's not anything super special, but these little pouches, and their friends are now the mainstay of the organization and upkeep of my Every Day Carry bag!
When I purchased my first TB bag, these Organizer Pouches came highly recommended. I didn't get it though. It took ordering a few and playing around with them to find out their secret.
They come in 6 fabrics, Cork, Ballistic, Cordura, Clear front Cordura, Dyneema ripstop and Padded. They come in 7 sizes, mini, small, pencil, medium, super drive, large and now Kindle. The color choices are dependent on what TB has on hand, but usually range the gamut of colors available in their bags.
I currently use in my EDC mini sizes in Cork, Iberian Dyneema, Azalea and now the Wasabi Cordura. In small size, Ultraviolet Dyneema and a special gift to forum members a Friend of Tom pouch. The pouches are flat construction and the fabrics light weight so they don't take up significant room or weight, but they add an immeasurable amount of organization to my bag. They are like pockets, but each one a different size/fabric combination so it's SO EASY to find anything in my bag. It's also easy to find out if I've put something in that doesn't belong. It's NOT in an Organizer Pouch.
Lastly the clip keeps them secure, and easy to find whether clipped to an internal o-ring in my bag, or a keystrap, they don't fall out or get accidentally left out and lost, and they don't settle into the bottom of the black hole in my bag.
They also are useful in travel or in children's bags for corralling those little things that seem to go missing into corners or under the bottom of the bulky stuff. They are useful by themselves as a grab and go pouch for anything from medicine pouch to a place to keep books from getting dogeared in your bag. And that's one more thing that I love about them. Since I've started using them, my contents are protected and remain looking nicer because they aren't being beat up floating in my bag.
So if you couldn't tell, I love TB organizer Pouches. They are fun little accessories, that make a huge impact in the organization of my life, and more specifically my bags. :)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Boy's room redo
Our 2011 Christmas plans needed to coincide with the house goals of continuing to reduce clutter. That kind of sounds contradictory. Christmas presents in most cases equal clutter, but I was against that on multiple fronts. So I had some discussions with Rocky and we decided that part of the boy's present would be something to help their room be more usable. Rocky's parents asked what to do for the boys and I told them our plans, they asked if they could participate in them and it could be a combined gift. We conceded, it made sense.
So the day before Christmas Rocky and his father undertook a project to turn the boy's bunk beds that have been stacked down into loft beds. The beds aren't anything fancy, I actually found them years ago at a Habitat For Humanity Restore for $25. We purchased new pillow top mattresses for them (they are super comfy to sleep in). and the boys had what they needed. The dilemma was that a few months ago our bonus room became a dedicated home school and was no longer available as a playroom. We also needed to un-stack the bunks for some other issues we had. The result was that they had their beds and toys all in their room with little room to play or move around. The loft beds gave them back their floor for playing and the beds for sleeping are up and out of the way.
Rocky and his dad built the loft structure and stabilizing supports under the beds. Then in the following weeks Rocky has been constructing the additional shelves and finishing touches to make the space usable.
The train table for building, setting up vignettes, etc. fits nicely under Mardie's bed. Rocky has put in two upper shelves, there will be one more that goes the length of the bed, under the "LEGO" display shelf for Mardie's special things. There is an open backed shelf in front of the window and under it a very sturdy shelf that is also a window seat. Under that shelf the LEGO's are in individual bins by color with two larger tubs for builds-in-progress. LEGO manuals are in page protectors in binders. Now the boys can build to easier because finding the parts is facilitated by them being separated out. They have been careful to maintain the separation, and they do not dump out the bins (that's a big no no in our household due to my AR tendencies).
In the under Train Table bins the boys keep their action figures/vehicles on one side and "weapons" on the other. Weapons are in the Nerf variety for the most part, but there are a few pop gun pistols etc. in the mix. These items used to be in under the bed storage bins. You can imagine how messy the under the bed spaces would become with time. It was a cleaning nightmare. Now it is very easy to see where everything goes and to put it away. It's also easy to see when things are out of place.
The boys had an IKEA Kusk cabinet in their room before that had come from Zuri's room, but it is no longer needed in their room due to the shelves that Rocky built in under the lofts. I will show where we put it when I blog about Zuri's room again.
Under Charmie's bed Rocky built a bookcase. In it the boys house most of their books. There is some overflow into our living room bookcases. The bookcases mirror the structure of the beds so they aren't super deep, but as the boys grow, their books get smaller and the smaller sized books fit just fine. We moved these floor chairs in so they have a sitting area as well. They use them to sit in when they read, they also pull them up to the train table when they are playing and use them when they are playing board games too.
In the first photo you can see a yaffa block stacker in between the beds. This was also reused from Zuri's room, and I have had it since college. Yes, I know it's not the prettiest or nicest, but it's functional for their needs. Their lamp, alarm clock, and bins of dress up costumes are housed here. A common bin for hats and accessories and each has their own personal bin for their costumes.
The boys report that they love their new room. I love their new room! With time we have to decide how to finish the beds. The wood is stained on the uppers and unfinished on the lower parts. It works for now, though with time a uniform finish would be nice.
Also the design can be undone. The beds can be unstacked and turned into individual twin beds or bunks whenever we choose!
This was the perfect solution for a large part of their Christmas, and also keeping in line with our new house goals of cutting the clutter!
Friday, January 13, 2012
2011 recap
I know it's a little late into the New Year. I had to decided to do this, and then I had to get a little help from a friend to remember how to do this. But here are some high points from 2011. I had a hard time picking just these 36 pictures. There were many many more that I wanted to include, but the mosiac maker would only allow 36 tiles. Enjoy, I know I did, looking back through images from the past year. 1. Side view, 2. DSC09149, 3. DSC09178, 4. DSC09181, 5. DSC09276, 6. DSC09295, 7. DSC09315, 8. DSC09342, 9. My little Princess, 10. DSC09378, 11. closed with swifts, 12. DSC09505, 13. Navajo ply on Vespera, 14. Avion mine, 15. We need kickstands, 16. Untitled, 17. Visit to Tom Bihn, 18. My sweet precious nephew, 19. DSC09813, 20. Apple chips, yum!, 21. Untitled, 22. Ham the rescue dog, 23. Camper and mini camper, 24. No more spider man, 25. The rough section, 26. Studio and School preview, 27. Untitled, 28. Beach ride, 29. Untitled, 30. Untitled, 31. Untitled, 32. Lunabudknit art batt spun wild, 33. Untitled, 34. New favorite spinning basket!, 35. Untitled, 36. First ride