two straight lines

Sprucing Up

Here is a quick little project I did recently.  I purchased the wooden magazine holders from IKEA and covered them with a cute wrapping paper that I found.  When I went to pick out the paper, I really had no idea what I would buy, but I knew I wanted it to be green and blue-green.  I assumed it would be a little more subtle than this, but when I saw this sweet little girl, I knew I would love looking at her.  I cut the pieces very randomly and laid them out this way as well, hoping to get a dreamy quality, just odd snippets of this girl.

I used my Xyron machine loaded with permanent adhesive.  I first experimented with Mod Podge, but decided that it would definitely make me crazy having to decoupage 24 of these.  The first one was bubbling, so I knew I would be bug-eyed by the 5th.  I am definitely a realist when it comes to crafting.  I usually take the time at first to discover the "happy medium," how to achieve the desired results without going batty in the process.  If any of you have considered a Xyron, but didn't know if you would use it, I really recommend it.  I have had mine for maybe 3 years now, and use it all of the time.  And I have never had to buy replacement cartridges yet either.  I love the fact that it doesn't require power.  I usually let Elliot do the "rolling" for me.

After finishing these, I found myself considering cannibalizing my Martha Stewart Living magazines- gasp!- I never thought I'd say that, but I really feel that with 24 holders I've reached my limit, and would like to start keeping a few other magazines, like Selvedge.  I think I find the crafts and good things to be my favorite projects, and don't really need to reference things like "how to hire a mover" so much any more, been there, done that.  But a daunting project it is...

Update: I've had a lot of questins about this, so I'll try and answer them the best I can.  I bought the wrapping paper at Hollander's in Ann Arbor (Kerrytown).  They've updated their website (also on my sidebar) for internet shopping, but I don't see this particular item there right now.  Best to call and describe it--  I'm pretty sure they still have it.  The paper I used for my wall decals was also from there.  In person they allow you to buy half sheets, but I don't know if that is an option online.   They have a really nice selection of paper and offer classes as well.  I still order my solid papers from Paper Source because their prices are much better.  Did I ever mention that I used to be an assistant buyer at Paper Source in Chicago (back when there were only two)-- what a wacky place that was.

My Xyron is the 900, purchased new on ebay.  I think I paid around $80 for it.  For this project I made a cardstock template and traced and cut out the pieces (including the hole) and then ran them through the Xyron two at a time, longways.  They come out with a paper backing and thin plastic on top.  You just peel that stuff off and stick.  Voila!

Fall Craftiness

A lot of you have emailed me privately about my piece in the new issue of Wondertime, so I wanted to say thanks, I really appreciate it.  It wouldn't have happened without all of you.

Here's a sneak peak of one of the two projects, since the picture of this one is smallish in the magazine.  For me the holiday is really a celebration of family and the fall bounty, so those were my jumping off points for these projects.  If anyone attempts these, please let me know, I'd love to see them.

Also, don't forget the crepe paper flowers for the upcoming season, they could be boo-tiful Halloween decorations.  And my leaf prints are still available at lulu.com, so get on over there and download those too.

What Inspires Me: Angels

When my Mom died, nine years ago today, her house was loaded with clocks, mirrors and angels.  When I look around my house, I see that I too am drawn to the same things (although different things than my Mom), over and over.  Our collections seem to overlap at angels.

A Toy for Kitty

On Sunday Elliot and my husband came home from the pet store with treats for all of our pets.  For Clio the cat, there was a small tub of Cosmic Nip.  Apparently Elliot had turned his nose up at all of the premade cat toys.  No, he's really not like Mommy, at all.  "Mommy make one" he says and I oblige.

A little wool felt, some leftover fabric sewn to make loops (what is this called, exactly?), one small dowel, and one tiny office clip (because, you know, the fish must be removable), and five minutes.  We couldn't find the cat that night, so left it on the table, where kitty found it.  Which leads to middle of the night nip frenzy.

Next up, Sally's magnetic variety, which we've had on our list since Camp Russell.  Thanks for the reminder, Sally.

A Birthday Cape

I guess no amount of scary photoshop effects will improve this picture that I took in the wee hours, but this cape had to fly away to preschool today.  I offered my services to Elliot's teacher and she took me up with a request for special birthday capes for each student.  Birthday celebrations are very important in Waldorf schools, and this will be presented to the birthday boy today during a special ceremony.

I used a pattern from Ottobre 04/2004, and am very happy with it.  It is cotton velour from Weir Dolls lined with printed cotton from JoAnn's.  I really just used the shape from the pattern, winging the rest of it.  I found the velour pretty hard to work with, but I really haven't sewn knits too much.  I'd love any knit suggestions, since I have a whole rainbow of these to sew (8 more). I used a walking foot, which helped a lot, but wasn't sure whether to use the ball-tipped needle for the knits, or a regular one for the poplin, so I just used a regular one.  That could have been my mistake.  The edges were all misaligned as I made my way around, but thankfully when flipped inside out, it wasn't at all obvious.  Phew!

I made bias binding for the ties, and put a snap on, figuring most kids this age can't tie a bow.  There are wool felt stars at the end of the ties in orange.

I really enjoyed making this, and tried to think about the fun this boy will have playing with it.  I have been watching the children each day to see what colors they favor, because I bought nine different colors of velour.  Today's birthday boy has a really pretty dark complexion which will look nice with this royal blue.  I can't wait to pick up Elliot to see how things went, and to see if his teachers liked the cape.

Opinions, Please.

OK, I have been dawdling over the last year or so about a rug for my front hallway, and FLOR keeps coming out with more fantastic selections that I love.  So, I thought I'd open it up to your opinions.

Here is a little background.  We have a pretty big front hallway, and it is still fairly characterless.  I thought if I put in a pretty rug in the area near that library table it would feel warmer.  I want to lose the mirror eventually and put something else there, and I even thought about moving the table up or down the hall a little and putting a cushy chair next to it, since I keep all of my craft books right here.  Also, the room to the left is now my craft room (formerly dining room) and the doors to the right are to my husband's office (he works from home).  We are not formal at all, and like simple but playful decorating styles.  The colors of our house are mostly neutrals paired with greens and blue-greens, but I've been injecting an odd amount of navy blue upstairs recently.

My original plan was to design a rug sort of like this Whimsy area rug, minus the "housepet" carpet tiles, since we have them in our playrooom.  FLOR claims this is Spanish style, but to me in this cool colorway, I think it reads sort of Swedish farmhouse-- am I totally crazy?

edited to add:  I just pulled out the carpet samples I had ordered for this one and realized that I had planned to also add khaki shades to this one to tone down its "blueness."

Or, the same general idea, with only the printed tiles.

And then FLOR came out with their Hopskotch area rug, and I think this could be really fun up here, and obviously the kids could play on it.  I also have a lot of typography around the house (I am a graphic designer in case you didn't know that), so this would fit in nicely.  The one negative here is that I thought if the rug was larger, the kids might play or hang out up here while we worked.

And now FLOR has gone and come up with this completely fabulous new Souk Chic area rug, which seems to merge my blues and greens downstairs with my navy upstairs.  But, would I get so sick of that?  A little too crazy for me maybe?  It looks like a fabulous quilt to me.

What do you think?

Wool

I love wool.

What is it about wool that inspires such strong feelings?  I bet 1/3 of you are nodding in agreement, and  I've already lost the other 2/3 of you.  But seriously, each fall I renew my love affair with wool-- hello sweaters, hello socks, so glad to see you.  I've missed you.  I would wear wool year round if it wouldn't raise a few eyebrows in my climate.  Merino t-shirts, yes please.  Maybe I should take up knitting so I'd have an excuse to buy all that gorgeous yarn.  Why does wool seem to have almost magical qualities?

We attended the Mt. Bruce Station Wool and Sheep Festival this weekend.  Good old fashioned fun, with sheep shearing, border collie demonstrations, giant piles of hay bales, bluegrass music, and crafts.  I came home with a tiny felted sheep and a handmade broom with a lovely turned handle.  If you're local I recommend making the trek to Romeo next September.  I will go out on a limb and say that the people at the fair actually feel as strongly about wool as I do, even stronger.  They were buying up little sheep pins for the sweatshirts and stuff like that, so I definitely think they like wool even better than me.

And for those of you in the market for baby stuff, did you know that natural mat, the esteemed baby mattress company from England is now available in the US?  Coinciding perfectly with us setting up Lucie's crib this coming weekend.  Placed my order this morning-- for the coco mat model.  Pricey, yes, but most of the other organic mattresses that I've seen are about that much.  When Elliot was a baby, I had to hold him to get him to nap, and while he slept I would read the testimonials on their website (which I don't see anymore) dreaming he would sleep in his crib if only he had one of those mattresses.  We shall see if they are all they're cracked up to be.

And another find-- did you all see Elsita's Blog and Etsy shop on Whipup last week?  Wow.  I ordered two prints right away, as well as her fabulous tiny sister and brother Dido and Dida.  By the way, her print quality was exceptional-- the best I have bought from etsy so far.

OK, enough of my consumerism.  Hope you are all well.  Off to the apple orchard for cider and doughnuts.  Yum.