arts and farts and crafts

(sorry for the crass title--anyone who's seen it will recognize the phrase from one of my all-time favorite movies, Wet Hot American Summer)

Recently I started volunteering one morning a week at Tigerlily's school to do a craft project with the preschool and kindergarten. I always test things out with T.lil beforehand and it's been great to have that scheduled craft time with her. This week, of course, I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day and I've been promising them that we would do some real live actual sewing. So this evening I let 'Lil stay up a bit and after Lyric went to bed we pulled out some supplies and got to work. Here's what we came up with:

Little stuffed hearts! They were super easy to make and I have a ton of felt and stuffing and floss so it's decided, this will be tomorrow's project. Of course, now I have a million hearts to cut out....

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I've been working for DAYS on this really cool but super intricate rock-themed book and have finally finished up a couple of the images to show you:

I agreed to include Jimi Hendrix thinking that he's totally cool and iconic and I could figure out a way to represent him. As soon as I saw this image I knew I had to use it; I mean, how much more rock & roll can you get? That dude was badass.

Also:

Not my favorite band but a cool logo (a pain to sew, but worth it, I think). This book, when all is said and done (tomorrow, hopefully!!), will also include the Abbey Road and Sticky Fingers album covers. I'm thinking of starting a side business making full-sized fiber replicas of classic album covers. It's SO much fun but also SOOO much work....

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Somehow, in the midst of all of this work and parenting and volunteering I've managed to finish a crocheted blanket for Lyric, using up most of my yarn remnants!

I love to knit but it is unbelievable how much faster crocheting is. Seriously, this only took me a month of little moments here and there, never more than 30 minutes at a time. At 2 years old the poor kid could have had a blanket well before now if I had only known!

my kids in floss

During the recent local Craftstravaganza events I was lucky enough to befriend the very talented young artist Corinne Loperfido (who doesn't have a website or Etsy shop but should!). She was working on an embroidered portrait of a friend of hers and I was completely blown away. I hired her to do a portrait of my kids and I just got it from her over the weekend. I couldn't be more thrilled, it's awesome!

Here's the photo I gave her:

And here's what she came up with (knowing that my favorite color is orange):

:I can't wait to frame it and hang it up!

Corinne also made these lovely little braided "rugs"--they'll be great as a little placemat or table decoration. I couldn't resist:

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As part of our neighborhood chicken collective our family is responsible for the needs of the hens on Sundays. Here's what the gals gave us as thanks, fresh from the coop:

Always so good!

good day sunshine

For the first time in way too long Skye and I had a wonderful, leisurely, happy afternoon together and it was so nice. We dropped the kids off with my folks and headed south a spell to a little outpost of flea markets and antique centers. We ate lunch at a little diner and didn't have to rush because Lyric was screaming or Tigerlily was bothering all of the other customers. We browsed at 3 (yes, 3!) different flea markets without ever worrying about kids breaking expensive china. We talked and laughed and just took it easy. I love spending time with my kids but we need to make this grown up time a habit!

Check out the loot:

Beautiful framed needlework the perfection of which I will only ever aspire to. So colorful and perfect for my new studio!

A spool of raspberry-colored elastic. Always useful and only $1!

One of those old-fangled baby food warmer bowls (they must have a name, I just don't know what it is) for a certain future baby to be (NOT mine. nononono).

A set of bright yellow salt and pepper shakers so we can finally have something decent to offer when meal collective is at our place (and for all of the breakfast, lunch and dinner parties we plan to have when we move. New Year's brunch 2010, baby!).

Two white lotus bowls. I've been covetting these in all of my favorite vinage shops on Etsy and found these puppies for $.50 each. And this teensy tiny yellow one for $.35!:

And lastly some utilitarian but pretty vintage mugs:

:I already had 2 of the yellow and was psyched to find another yellow as well as these avocado green ones to make a set.

SUCH a good day.

tunes

I'm bored, over-tired and buzzing with coffee and Lyric is (at least momentarily) occupied in solo play, but I have no new work to report. Instead I thought I would share some of my favorite music these days. So here it is, by no means all-inclusive but a bit of a cross-section of what I listen to while sewing:

The Magnetic Fields, and all of Stephin Meritt's side projects. Seriously, this is the best band in the world. I almost peed my pants when we saw them in Northampton last year.

PJ Harvey--always. Everything she has ever done is brilliant, in my humble opinion. If I could be anyone in the whole world it would be her.

Santogold--it's rare to feel like music is really fresh. She is SO fresh. And looking for a link to her music I discovered that she's just a few days older than me. That's one way to make me feel like I haven't done much with my life!

Lady Sovereign--hilarious and fun. Tigerlily loves her, too.

The Evens--already mentioned here. Great music and message. (this clip is FANTASTIC--when will the Evens kid's album be out?)

Aceyalone--the most amazing lyricist ever. Again, in my humble opinion.

Mates of State--so, so great. You're singing along, right? How can you not? (I totally want to party with the guys in this clip but I could never keep up)

Busdriver--another good lyricist. He also uses really interesting arrangements.

Avenue Q Soundtrack I can't get enough of this. Beware of some bleeped profanity in this clip.

...And of course there is so much more, but it's lunchtime!

Spoony G

After reading this blog post yesterday I almost died this morning when Lyric pulled this:

:Yes, he is about to spill milk all over himself. It'll be a nice compliment to the yogurt on his shirt from breakfast.

I'm slowly but surely getting those orders out the door, and things should be speeding up next week when Skye goes part time. Oh, I can't wait....

(beautiful packaging from pickalapoopa)

new news

Here are some pictures of new books for the shop, taken with my new camera:

back to work

Well, we all seem to have fully recovered, partly thanks to a large dose of this from our local library:

Ugh. I made myself not worry about all of the work I had planned on finishing this weekend while doting on a very sick kid and now I'm overcompensating. Lyric is at a friend's, Tigerlily's at school and I'm trying to catch up! If all goes well it will only be another week before the big switch in Skye's and my work schedule. He'll be doing small jobs in the neighborhood and slightly beyond for pay and trade and my work schedule will expand greatly. But even before then I've got some serious work to get done! I need to get a handle on my custom work and spend some quality time developing some really cool ideas for ready-made stuff (thanks to a wonderful and very creative new friend!) and stocking up for summer craft shows.

Pile 'o work in progress:

the good, the bad and the so, so tired

First the good:
1. The CPSIA, following sense and logic, has granted a one year stay on the testing certification requirements for toys, etc. I never doubted this would happen, though there are rumblings from big business to take down the handmade movement. But that's just how capitalism works, right?

2. I bought a camera! It's a Nikon D40, which is probably the nicest camera I'll ever have. So pictures will resume shortly but you'll have to bear with me while I figure out how to use it.

The bad:
Tigerlily had her first ever ear infection this weekend, complete with delirious fever, a gooey ear and terrible pain. Good times.

...and of course, though we survived, we are now so, so tired.

check me out

...and speaking of the CPSIA, this week's cover story in Albany's local alternative paper is all about it. And you'll never guess who's in the article! Read it here.

cpsia, common sense and my two cents

Today is the CPSIA blog-in and now that I'm one of the cool kids with a blog I feel obliged to participate. Check out the link above as well as the "save handmade" link on the sidebar of my blog for more information--I'm no expert and I'm not into the mass hysteria that has spread a lot of mis-information about this. I'm definitely not among the throngs of alarmists who are closing up shop, I would say I'm cautiously continuing with business as usual. I will vouch for the safety of my products but cannot afford to test (if it was even feasible--all of my books are one of a kind and would be destroyed during testing) or close up shop. I trust in the common sense of lawmakers and my understanding that this act is not intended for my ilk.

My heart goes out to retailers who really do have a lot on the line and am saddened to hear that our local handmade store, The Paper Sparrow, will no longer be carrying items for kids. I do understand that. I sell exclusively through Etsy and at craft shows but crafters who do a lot of wholesale to stores could also be in trouble. I'm a little annoyed that Etsy hasn't posted a policy regarding the sale of children's items without test certification, even in an "if/then" scenario. I'm not scared of some hastily thrown-together and unfair law that wasn't intended for my goods but I do follow Etsy's guidelines and will be kind of screwed if they decide to outlaw untested products for kids...which would be all of them. Logic says that won't happen, but sometimes logic doesn't prevail.

Here's what you can do to help logic along:

From the Handmade Toy Alliance

How You can Help: Please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys and children's products. Use our sample letter or write your own. You can find your Congress person here and Senator here.

I do have a fun alternative if the poo does hit the fan--xxx libris! This has been an idea of mine from the very beginning, subversive and x-rated versions of my kids' products, mainly books and quilts. This would certainly not be for the same clientelle and may turn some people off, and it would definitely be sold through a different shop. I also have lots of ideas for art quilts large and small, including cloth representations of these:

one of those days

I have this pact with myself that I will make something every day. It could be a crafty project, cooking a great meal/baking, creating order out of the madness of life with three pigpens. Today this is about all I can handle:
Yup, stuffing that little guy, already layered with much clothing, into a slightly-too-small snowsuit. Today's masterpiece.

The Evens

I've been out of the loop with new music for a few months but recently unearthed these CDs and have fallen in love again. From the first time I heard Minor Threat at age 15 or so I've worshipped Ian MacKaye and, though I still love the hardcore, his new stuff is definitely more me-as-a-grown-up. The whole family went to see them a year or so ago in the basement of our local library and it was so amazing. Lyric was just a wee little thing and Tigerlily pranced and danced through the sitting crowd of hipsters. Mr. MacKaye thanked us for bringing our kids and I couldn't stop grinning.

Here's my latest creation, made while listening to The Evens:

:It's my submission for the Craft:/Singer Sewing with Nature contest. I hope it's good enough to win me a sewing machine!

a family affair

Here's another one for the history books:

A family book! I love this idea, which was totally conceived by the wonderful customer who ordered it. This is actually the second I've done for her and both, I think, turned out really well. It helps that her friends all seem very interesting and have lots of good hobbies.

Sorry for the lousy pictures. Not only is my camera broken (just one of a series of unfortunate events this month) but the light is awful today and I can't get this borrowed camera to take very good pictures, either. Oh, when will the camera fairy bring me an SLR?

BTW, Avenue Q was so so so so so so so so great. I wish I could afford to go again! If you have the means I highly recommend it. It is so choice.

Schadenfreude!

Today, at long last, I will be seeing this:




:Our friends Jon and Krista turned us on to it a couple of years ago and we have the album but have never seen it. I'm SO excited! We're so lucky to finally have some real Broadway shows in the area, last year we saw Jesus Christ Superstar with the original Jesus (well, not that original) and Corey Glover from Living Colour as Judus, who ROCKED; even though we're technically pretty close to NYC it's always a huge expense to go (the train tickets alone are more than we can afford!). This was my Christmas gift to Skye (he gave me this). Technically I guess I got two gifts this year!