Falling off in October!

unfinished

        October may be my favorite month of the year, yet I missed posting. Supreme educator Abby (whileshenaps.com) today wrote: "Sometimes having a blog is awesome. And sometimes it feels like a prison sentence." I understood, but/and I decided to get back to the computer to post my less than dazzling accomplishments before another month goes by.

     Oversight of Hannah's Hershey Halloween costume was the winner. But looking for ideas, I only started some still lifes in a class. Also, I want to return to the ex voto paintings (on wood shaped as paper prayers) where I show my great gratitude for blessings. I started a painting of son Jim's rowing the grandchildren in Central Park. I haven't gotten anywhere, but I am delighted to get this post up at least. 

     Excitement is that I downloaded an app at the library today to listen to books while I paint. Perhaps I will be more productive and expansive next month!

Birds on a branch make me smile

     Every time I walked from the study into the front hall today I almost laughed, or certainly smiled big. Joe as well. Last night he hammered a branch in the top of the door and I hot glued three birds to the clean, washed branch (one bird for each of the grandchildren, fabrics chosen by each of them) . I had found this Spool Bird pattern on-line at Whileshenaps.com and thought the children might have success sewing their own bird. So...when they were leaving the house the other evening, I told them to run upstairs to my sewing room to choose two fabrics for their bird from my fat-quarter stash. Of course, after they left,  I just had to cut out the pieces and then sew them together.

    Abby Glassenberg posted a story about the Spool Bird. The Spool Bird was a free pattern designed by Michael Fulkerson around 2008 for Spool Sewing, a fabric store which no longer exists. His pattern ended up on the Internet and many copied the pattern to sew colorful birds by hand or machine. He won an award from Martha Stewart. I had never seen the bird or the pattern, but I thought my grandchildren would like the softee project. I follow or subscribe to Abby's rich blog. She is a friend of my daughter-in-law and was the person several years ago who encouraged me to blog since it stimulates productivity!

     I was having so much fun and frustration sewing the bird and mounting them, I did not take photos of the process. I printed up the pattern I found in Abby's blog (perhaps Copy and Paste or Drag) and reduced and enlarged the size. The only thing I would add to the instructions is to iron down the tail's 1/4" seam allowance to make closing the bird's tail easier .

     In the meantime, Joe is having a success of sorts with his cactus...a real yellow flower bloomed from one of them (it opens more when the sun hits) and the octopus cactus (please let me know the name!) keeps growing and producing babies as well. As usual, click on the photos to enlarge!

Taking a blogging break with summer guests!

     Summer visitors finally arrived, and I took a break from blogging. We enjoyed the grands while their parents moved house. Then, super niece and nephew, Brittany and Alan Clayton, arrived from Texas. We swam and ate lobsters. Interested in American history, the siblings hit the Freedom Trail, the new MFA wing, and JFK Library among other fine sites. What fun!

Click to enlarge photos.

      When David and Erika stayed with us one weekend, I had a craft found all over the Internet that interested both children...making racing cars from empty TP tubes. We collected tubes for about 4 or 5 cars. They painted the tubes in fast-drying acrylic colors. To make the wheels, I used circle cutters from my TV craft days on ABC's The Good Day Show; but all you need to do is draw circles in cardboard and cut them out (I used some black foam core) .

      You will also cut circles for steering wheels and hubcaps. Attach wheels with pronged fastening brads. Help the children mark and cut the seating area by drawing and cutting an H on top. Check the many Internet sites for varied instructions. Making cars was a lot of fun and a source of pride to the children.

      At the same time, a friend said she was hosting an octopus birthday party. Abby at While She Naps offered a free pattern for an octopus! I had some spotted fleece which I cut up, as she suggested, into 16"x 16" squares,. From that, I cut out 5" squares in the corners. Abby suggests you cut 6 strips on each side and then secure and tie up a  3" styrofoam ball with string. The children braid two legs on each side for a total of 8 octopus legs. If you buy 16" of fleece off a bolt, you'll  have enough left for small blankets. Those 5" square corner leftovers make doll pillows. Abby once encouraged me to blog, saying it encourages productivity.You will enjoy scrolling through her site.

       For the parents' viewing, I left out the cars, octopuses, pillows and blankets, drawings, as well as some Sculpey clay pieces. I got in a little beading. I love vacations.


     

Sketching and lobsters at Summer Shack

     

Swimming in the heat

Hooray for long weekends and indoor crafts before a heat wave. (click to enlarge)

I made two necklaces and two goldfish. I downloaded the goldfish pattern from Abby's site While She Naps. You can print a pdf of instructions to make this ornament or part of a mobile.

I still can't get over how easy it is to make a necklace. You need the crimper tool, 2 crimp beads, two seed beads, Fireline wire or other stringing material, a needle to pass through the decorative beads and a mix of beads. I use a beader's tray to make it easy to lay out to study and measure the length of the necklace: 17 inches, with another inch for the clasp run it up to a nice length of 18 inches. At both ends of the necklace, pass a threaded needle through the crimp bead, a seed bead, the loop on the clasp, back down through the seed bead, back through the crimp bead to finish down a couple of inches into the decorative beads. Tighten all firmly and crimp (tighten) first with the funny hole and then again with the round hole on the crimper tool. Do this at both ends and voila. Don't cut the wire until you are sure it will hold (meaning the crimper bead is tight enough). You will find other ways to secure things. I do a hidden knot about two inches down and use clear fingernail polish to glue.

Historic Healthcare, a journal quilt

Abby, creator of the terrific While She Naps blog, said that a blog is an impetus to produce. So true today. I need to set up my big new exciting computer, but I am stopping everything to get out today’s posting. This week’s journal quilt had to be about the Healthcare passage, a historic event.

I have a truncated beachball, not beached, w hints of the Healthcare logo (in all honesty, I didn’t have time to perfect which probably improved the idea for the quilt) all on a stormy sea. I must find a new metaphor for stormy seas in novelty fabrics! A different fabric than felt would have been more difficult for the logo, and I don’t mind these results. I got the journal up in less than the goal of two hours despite the detached scanner awaiting hookup to the new computer. Harried but happy here.