makin' stuff

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the elves have been busy

December 23, 2008 in celebrations and traditions, creativity, makin' stuff | 3 comments

Glittering up cones and pods.

mr t makes ornaments

Stitching up baby hats for Mama to Mama.

hats for mama to mama

Bashing candy canes to sprinkle on top of cookies for kid-friends. (Could there be a better job for a seven-year-old boy?)

cookie-making

Making sets of cocktail napkins for grown-up friends. These were fun. All the fabric-choosing delight of quilting, but much less effort. I got to use my new serger–which I bought with money earned from my first publication. One creative endeavor fueling another. I like that.

cocktail napkins

One of the elves has been extra busy in the past few weeks. That would be the Divine Miss L, who just finished the 12 Days of Nutcracker–another way of describing twelve days with four dress rehearsals and eleven Nutcracker performances. This year she moved up from “cute” roles–lambs, soldiers, mice–and put some mileage on her pointe shoes. She was a perfectly sassy Spanish Chocolate, and a graceful and lovely waltzing Flower. This besotted mama couldn’t take her eyes off her dancing Lily.spanish chocolate

I got lots of chances to watch, ’cause I co-chair food concessions for the shows. Which means about a zillion emails and calls to line up 80 bakers, and 50 concession shift workers. Plus stocking the kitchen and decorating, and working six 5-hour shifts. In the middle of December. On top of all the other holiday craziness.

But am I complaining? Why no, I gave that up weeks ago! And busy as the last few weeks have been, I loved getting to watch Lily dance so often. And it’s always fun to sell hot chocolate and sweets to happy theater-goers. Especially the little girl who brought Joan Baez along to one matinee. (For some reason Chris and I used to love to sing the Tears for Fears’ song Shout, Joan Baez-style. I think we heard her sing it at an Amnesty International concert once upon a time and it cracked us up. We are easily entertained, you must understand.  It was hard to look at the real Joan across the counter the other day without wanting to start in: Shout, shout, let it all out…)

Anyway, the elves still have much to do. So I’m signing off for now.

atwitter: november

November 11, 2008 in atwitter, books, makin' stuff, writing | 5 comments

I’d planned to post monthly on what has me all atwitter, but somehow October slipped by. Which just means more to share for November…

a new camera. Finally. Our camera broke right after I started this blog. I’ve been making do with Lily’s none-too-fancy point-and-shoot. But when you read blogs with gorgeous photos like Uncommon Grace, SouleMama and sixoneseven, well, you aspire to more.

Chris and I have been debating for days about whether to go for a digital SLR, or whether we need something smaller and more portable. We compromised on a more upscale non-SLR camera with a nice telephoto lens and lots of manual setting options.

I figure I can fiddle around with those manual settings, and if it turns out I have a knack for photography, maybe we’ll buy an SLR down the road. Meanwhile, we’ll have a camera that’s reasonably portable. I just hope the photos I soon post will be more like the ones I picture in my head. 

writers on writing. I love this podcast. Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviews writers on their craft. She’s been doing it for years, and there’s an abundance of past interviews on her website and on iTunes. The October 23 interview with Billy Collins was especially wonderful. I had to hit replay and listen twice as he described his theory on breaking open moments in poetry.  (Barbara’s book, Pen On Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within is also an inspiration. Lots of bite-sized little exercises to try.)

handmade holidays.  Now, I’m realistic. I’m the Queen of Taking On Too Much; there is no way I’m going to set myself up by taking on an all-handmade Christmas as Prairie Poppins at Handmade Homeschool is. But reading about her family’s challenge is an inspiration.  Surely I can make a few handmade gifts. Follow that link to Prairie’s site and check out the stunning list of handmade gifts ideas that she’s assembled. I dare you not to be inspired too. (Of course, if making handmade yourself is too much, buying handmade is a step in the right direction. Etsy’s got that covered. Check out these hand-carved stamps. I want one!)

blurb. Do you know about this online bookmaking company?  It allows you to make gorgeous, bookstore-quality, coffee table-type books, for reasonable prices. I’m using it to create a homeschool yearbook with a bunch of teens from our homeschool group. And if you’re a blogger, check this out: certain blogging platforms can be “slurped” instantly into a book! Wouldn’t it be cool to have a beautiful book version of your blog? (Apparently they’re having some problems with certain platforms just now; I’m hoping those will get worked out by next July, so I can make an anniversary book of my first blogging year.)

the gentle art of domesticity. Oh, how I love this book! The subtitle is Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & The Comforts Of Home. All the craft bloggers have already sung its praises, but if you’re late to the party as I always seem to be, perhaps you haven’t heard about it.

It’s a book version of Jane Brocket’s very popular blog yarnstorm, with page after page of yummy-as-candy photographs and witty writing. It’s decidedly not a Martha Stewart-like bit of gloss, designed to make us aspire to an unattainably perfect life. Instead, it’s a call to have us look for creative inspiration in the homes where we find ourselves. As Jane writes, “When I started photographing the details of my domestic life, I was quite sure I would run out of material in a matter of weeks. But instead of exhausting all possibilities, I actually found myself unearthing more and more sources of inspiration, all within the confines of a quite ordinary, domestic life.”

Plus, to steal a phrase from Jane, the book is “terribly, terribly English”. So English that it includes a recipe for Chewy Flapjacks, those absolutely addictive oatmeal cookie bars that I fell hard for in London, and have lived without since. Just have to find me some Golden Syrup at the gourmet shop so I can make a batch and I’ll be in heaven. With a cup of tea at my side, of course.

So, what has you all atwitter? Pour a cup of tea, leave a comment and let’s chat.

kicking my waldorf guilt in the butt

November 2, 2008 in books, creativity, makin' stuff, my waldorf guilt | 4 comments

I bought this book to allay my Waldorf guilt.

I wanted to be sure I was doing crafty, Waldorf-y activities with my little guy before he gets too big. (And if you read my last post, you know how sentimental I am about that.) 

See all those little tabs sticking out of the book? Those are my Best Intentions, displayed in purple Post-It.

There are so many lovely ideas in this book. (And also on SouleMama, Amanda’s blog, which is not news to anyone who follows crafty, mama-written blogs.) One of my favorites was the idea of embroidering your child’s art. I was enchanted with the idea of capturing some of Mr. T’s hand-drawn characters in embroidery.

But. My craft quota is down, so down these days. I used to sew Halloween costumes on occasion, and curtains, and even a quilt or two. But as the kids have gotten older, life has gotten busier. I do a fair amount of knitting because it’s portable and something one can do in five minutes here, five minutes there. But sewing? Embroidery? My needles are dusty.

But I was determined to get to this embroidery project, before I had a kid who was too old to want his art embroidered. (I didn’t want it to be like the Magic Cabin doll I always meant to sew for Lily. I guess there are always grandchildren…)

But guess what? I did it! In time for Mr. T’s birthday even!

Those two creatures are Scritch and Scratch, two children-turned-wolves who popped out of Theo’s imagination and have been starring in his dictated stories for months now. They were simple creatures to embroider, made up as they are of mostly straight lines.

It was easy, really: I traced Theo’s drawing on tracing paper with an iron-on pencil. I transferred the image to a piece of linen and embroidered it. I reinforced the patch with Therm O Web HeatnBond (but not the portion that would get stitched to the shirt; apparently stitching through this product isn’t recommended.) I ironed the patch to the shirt, and then stitched it on with my sewing machine, using a satin stitch. (Which is nothing more than a very narrow zigzag.)

I was going for the look of those Boden applique Tee’s that Theo loves–but which I only buy on sale, since they’re so expensive. But this one was much more of a bargain: it didn’t cost much more than the $7.50 baseball Tee from Old Navy, plus a few evenings of secret embroidery in the rocking chair.

And this one means so much more–it’s Theo’s art brought to life, and Mama’s guilt brought to rest. For now, at least.  And yes, when he looked in the gift bag on his birthday and saw his wolves, I got one big smile.

Take that, Waldorf guilt!

atwitter: september

September 18, 2008 in atwitter, books, creativity, makin' stuff | 6 comments

A few things that have me all worked up right now:

Finished books. I finally got to this one. It’s the tale of Kingsolver’s family’s year-long experiment to grow as much of their own food as possible–and to eat locally-grown food when they couldn’t raise it themselves. Parts of the book preach to the choir if you already eat mostly organically, and you try to be a locavore. Still, their experiment was much more extensive than anything I could ever undertake, which made it an interesting read. And the writing itself often dazzles. This cheese queen especially loved the chapter on cheese-making: I’m inspired to try making mozzarella to go with our garden tomatoes.

The next book in the queue. I resisted this at the MOMA last week, which only forced me to hunt it down elsewhere when I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Doesn’t the subtitle–A Natural History of the Palette–thrill you? Maybe not. Maybe it sounds about as thrilling as an algebra textbook. But if you’re a color junkie like I am, it sounds like rainbow-colored crack. I hope I like it as much as I’m planning to.

My new planner. It’s the Moleskine 18-month planner and notebook, with weekly planning pages on the left, lined pages on the right. Moleskine touts it as the planner for both right and left-brained thinking, and that’s just what I love about it. My old planner was pretty much the Book of Guilt–full of things I had to do, ought to do, failed to do. This one gives offers just as much space for daydreaming, jotting, and ephemera-gluing. This week’s pages show my brainstorming for this blog entry, as well as a pathetic sketch of a romaine leaf from the garden, done in watercolor pencil. I’m trying to sketch nature with Mr. T–it’s not really my thing, but sometimes I’m surprised with what I come up with. (And I do love those watercolor pencils!)

Finished knitting. I’m really happy with this one. It’s Liesl, by Ysolda. It’s a fantastic pattern: quick-to-knit, and the complexity of the finished product belies the pattern’s simplicity. Also, Ysolda gives lots of options for customizing your cardigan. There’s more on my Ravelry page for you Ravelers out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next project. The most exciting thing about finishing a knitting project–besides getting to wear it–is the thrill of the next one. I’m finally giving in to knitting this: the Coat with Lace Pattern from the Rebecca Special Mohair Issue. If you ever listened to my essay on the podcast Cast On, this is the pattern that tempted me into my knitting obsession. It’s taken me a few years to acquire the gall to believe I can take on a pattern with both lace and coat in its title. 

Links. This one is an article about the benefits of daydreaming. If homeschooling has done nothing else for my kids, it’s certainly encouraged their daydreaming skills! They’re daydream masters, all three. (Although they may have inherited those tendencies from their mother.) Thanks to Melissa at Here in the Bonny Glen for the link.

What has you all atwitter?

makin’ stuff

August 6, 2008 in makin' stuff | 2 comments

In which Wonder Farm poses as a craft blog.*

Seems like everyone is makin’ stuff around here these days, which is pretty much what one should do in the summer, I think.

First up: what is surely to be Henry’s one and only appearance here as a jewelry-maker. But isn’t this beautiful? He made it at his beloved 11-day camp in the Sierras. Carved it from a piece of manzanita, then sanded for days with progressively finer sand paper. Finally deemed it smooth enough for a coating of shea butter. It’s lustrous and lovely and I plan to borrow it when he isn’t looking.

Lily the craft queen has spent much of her summer singing and dancing, so her usual craft quota is down. But this week she’s taking a series of sewing classes, so things should be back to normal soon. (I refuse to call the classes sewing camp, as the creators of the program do. If something is to be called a camp, dirt must be involved.) Before Lily lit off on her many summer endeavors, she did embellish her backpack. Her bunny patch is a simplified version of the cute animals she makes, inspired by–what else– The Cute Book. (It is seriously impossible to comment on these creatures without letting the word cute wander out of your mouth.)

 

Here’s my summer craftiness. It’s the Drawstring Chemise from Interweave Knits Spring 2008. Don’t go getting bamboozled by the lace or anything. Instead, please draw your eye to the bow at the front. Notice how that aforementioned drawstring holds the whole thing on. That’s 73 inches of i-cord, my friends, knit in cotton, which always i-cords badly. It was only when I was in the final 5 inches that my friend Stefaneener noticed what I was doing and mentioned that she has an i-cord machine. Doh!

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s Mr. T’s contribution. Just a sampling of his never-ending art. Of course, this is what happens when you are six and your brother is sixteen: you draw pictures of scary demon guys playing the drums. (You also, when out in public, sing songs from Guitar Hero, like “Rock and Roll All Night” and “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. But that’s another story.)

Speaking of makin’ stuff, last week I was away for five days with the man with whom I’ve made a lot of stuff over the years–made three lively, opinionated children to be specific. We didn’t take them along to the wine country to celebrate our twenty years together. Imagine that! The two of us just drank wine at least twice a day, ate gorgeous food made with local produce and cheese, surrounded ourselves with stunning gardens and vineyards, sat in hot tubs late at night–and talked about the kids the whole time. Isn’t that how it goes? And our camera broke, so I have no pictures. As it should be, I suppose. Anniversaries are one thing not meant to be shared.

* I don’t have the photography skills to match my favorite craft bloggers. In fact, I don’t even have a camera, since ours broke. I’m making do with Lily’s camera and my limited skills. Check out some of my favorites to see how the real crafty bloggers do it: beauty that moves, wise craft, house on hill road, soule mama.