Summer Art

Emma Jane went back to an art camp this summer.  You can read about last summer's camp here.

This year she could not wait to go back and she really had some amazing instructors.  She came home each day covered in stage make up.  She has a very cool instructor who would put fake wounds on them each day and also taught them how to paint each other to look like the musical CATS.  I am thinking of hiring Emma Jane to come up and do the wounds on the mannequins at work, her bruises and burns looked very good.  She had lots of fun with Zombie make up and such.  I think Halloween might be pretty interesting this year. 

She made quite a few mixed media pieces including this one. 

I wish I weren't so busy.  There is much to say about our summer and family and a little four year old who is growing too fast.  And I want to tell you about her big sister who is maturing into a young lady who is so consciencious of everything.  Yesterday, as we were walking into my office she told her sister not to hit the automatic button on the doors for handicapped people because it opens both sets of doors and lets too much air conditioning out and must waste so much energy.  Who thinks of that at ten?

But I am overwhelmed at work and at home and I have to go. 

Sewing with Zippers

This weekend Emma Jane and I conquered my fear of zippers. I have never sewn zippers before and am intimidated by them.

No more! Zippers in hand we went to the scrap fabric tub...err...um...closet and picked out fabric for make-up bags. (Never mind that neither of us wear make-up. That's not the point.)

We sewed these little bags and the zippers work perfectly!

Emma's is the shoe fabric with the adorable blue lining!

The Einstein Quilt

Because many of you have asked how it turned out, I thought I would post pictures of the Einstein quilt I made for the auction.  I still really wish I had it as a keepsake.  But I am getting over it.  I realize that I can teach my girls a great lesson by getting past this.  I also realize that Emma Jane already learned a valuable lesson.

One night when I was cutting and piecing the quilt together she said, "Mom, I love watching you accomplish something you have never done before.  It makes me think I can do anything.  It makes me think that nothing is beyond my abilities."

That is all I needed.  At the beginning of April I had never made a quilt before and by the third week I had one.  And I had a little girl who was inspired to be creative and never stop learning.

Ouch!

With her newly acquired sewing skills, Emma Jane made these "Ouchy Pouchies" for the auction. You can either heat them or cool them. They earned the school $40!

They took her about 15 minutes to sew. She was very proud of herself (and so are we).

Art Show

Emma Jane once again had pieces in the TPS district wide art show. We are so proud of this girl.

My Creative Girl

I am behind on posts. In March Emma Jane went to a spring break sewing camp. She made a lunch pail that is lined. She made a sandwich bag, a placemat, a napkin and because she finished early she made a tic tac toe board too!

She learned how to use her new sewing machine and how to take care of it and change feet. She is so self sufficient.

Here is her work.

Gateway Quilt

You have heard that marijuana is a gateway drug?  That it leads to harder drugs?  Well, I don't actually believe that.  But I do believe that this rag quilt is a gateway quilt.  I was just going to try it once.  I wasn't going to ever do it again.  It was just a one time thing.  Besides, it was just a rag quilt.  It was just going to be something I tried.  Once.  I would get this it out of my system.  It's not even a REAL quilt anyway.  It doesn't have to be finished on the edges or quilting stitches put in when it's finished.

Well now, I am getting into the hard stuff. I have to up my game.  I need finished seams that have been pressed and trimmed edges and batting!  Aghhhhh! 

I forgot where I was going the other day because I saw a fabric shop.  I was supposed to be getting my girls from school.  I went in and got lost in fat quarters (pieces of fabric cut to 18" x 22").

Then I found myself enrolled in a quilting class.  She said "Wait, aren't you making quilt already for your daughter's school?"  And I said "Well, yes.  But why not make two?"

Up next...

I have to go now, I'm jonesing for a fat quarter...

A Wedding, Three Lucys and a Leprechaun

What have we been doing this week?

We had something going on every single night this week.  We had student led conferences on Tuesday and that was wonderful.   I am so lucky my girls love school and have such outstanding teachers.  We also had swimming lessons twice this week.  Lucy moved from level 1 to level 2 class this week.  They decided she was too advanced to be in beginning swimming.  I wish you could hear the 4 year old version of her advancing in her swim class.  It goes something like this.  "Last week I did number 1 but this week I will do number 2 in the pool!" 

We also had gymnastics and then went to watch the sun set so we could catch a glimpse of the comet, PanSTARRS.  Emma was so thrilled.  She jumped up and down and forgot all about being cold.  Lucy was sort of interested, but the need for warmth won out over the curiosity of seeing a tiny dot in the sky through binoculars. 

We went sailing on Friday with our sweet babysitter/sister/friend/mentor/role model, Madeline.  It was 80 degrees and beautiful on the lake.  It got pretty windy but Mike reefed the main and we kept things pretty steady on the boat.  I forgot my camera so I am relying on Madeline to send me some pictures from that day (hint, hint).

On Friday night we went to a wedding for one of Emma Jane's teachers.  She got married in the school! 

Her name is LeeAnne Power.  And she has a daughter named Lucy Power.  In the car on Friday, Lucy was saying that her mom had mommy power and her dad had daddy power and her sister had sissy power and that she had LUCY POWER.  I explained that she was, in fact, going to meet a girl named Lucy Power.  She was not very excited.

I did manage to get a photo of the 3 Lucy P's at the wedding that night.  Pictured are Lucy Piper, Lucy Power and Lucy Plunkett.  Tri Lucy.  Lucy cubed. 

I was pretty excited, but I think I was the only one.  You see, both their first and last names can be spelled using elements.  Sadly, Plunkett cannot.  I know when I tell people this, the blank stare on their face should make me realize that they just don't really find it interesting.  You would think that I would stop.  But I don't.  I went ahead and made some files in case they want t-shirts made...




Just smile and nod.  I know I am weird.

On Saturday we went to the lake for the spring racing series.  We were to be crewing for Daniel who has a Corsair 31 trimaran.  The winds were too strong for little Lucy.  At the beginning of the first race, while I was at the helm of a 31 foot boat sailing 17 knots, getting sprayed by water, and having the time of my life, Lucy burst into tears.  She was scared and didn't like all the banging above board.  So I went down and held her through race one.  Then they delivered us back to the dock before races 2 and 3.  We sat on our boat in a very calm marina with no loud noises or choppy seas.  We had snacks and watched a movie.  All was calm, all was well.

We waited for Mike and Daniel (the skipper of the 31 foot boat) to return and then we ate and visited with all the friends we haven't seen all winter.  I love the first day back in the spring.  It is so good to see everyone and catch up.

On Sunday we had lake friends over for dinner.  It was St. Patrick's day and Emma Jane got crafty.  She made a leprechaun trap.  (I do not know where this idea came from.)  She had a gold coin to attract him and then a trap door triggered so that as he pulled the coin the lid slams shut.  We are still waiting to hear the lid slamming shut in the night.

And because it was Sue's birthday (the day after St. Patrick's day) and because Sue is Irish, and because Emma did not catch a leprechaun, she made a leprechaun for Sue.

What a crafty and creative girl she is.

Glass Blowing

Emma Jane and I had the opportunity to go to a glass blowing studio in the Brady Arts District in Tulsa and pull glass into flowers.  I bought the deal on living social and it was for two people to have a glass blowing experience.  We could choose from a paper weight, an ornament or a flower.  We both chose the flower.

Our instructor's name was Ethan.  He did a great job of explaining things to us.

Here Emma Jane is rolling hot glass through the first color which will be the stem; she chose green.

Then she rolls the glass on this table to help shape it and cool it.

 Then it goes back in the oven to heat up a little more.  You have to constantly turn it in the oven because it is so fluid on the end of the pipe.  Emma Jane was better at rotating the bar smoothly than I was.

Then you dip the glass into the glass chips you are going to use for the flower itself.  Emma Jane chose a mixture of orange and red glass chips.  Here she is picking up the colored chips for the flower on the end of the rod.

Then into the oven to heat it up again.  Then to the bench to start shaping and pulling.  The process was to pull some and then reheat, then pull some more then reheat.  The glass was emanating heat so your hands got really hot while pulling the glass into shape.

After shaping it, the flower was placed into an oven that cools slowly over time.  So we were not able to leave with our flowers that day.  But finally we were able to pick up our finished product.

Here is Emma Jane's glass flower.

Isn't it spectacular?

I chose multicolored glass chips for my flower and a yellow stem.

If you get the chance to go to Tulsa Glass Blowing Studio, you will love it!  I might not go in the summer but it was a great winter activity!  Emma Jane is hooked and wants to take a class.

Mom, I need a costume!

Have you seen this ad?

Well I had a similar experience, with albeit a little more notice.

"Mom, I am in a living museum at school and I am a French Canadian named Louis Jolliet, a fur trader and cartographer who mapped the Mississippi River in 1675.  I need a costume and three artifacts that he would have had in his era."

Yes dear...

There is faux buffalo and bobcat fur all over my craft room.

Fabric Flower Tutorial

I have noticed that there are all kinds of fabric flowers on Pinterest.  So Emma Jane and I decided to make some.  We used scraps from a fat quarters to make the flowers.  I cut the fabric in 2 inch by however long a fat quarter is.

I ironed the 2 inch strip in half to make it 1 inch wide.  Then we used chip board to hot glue the end of a piece.  Emma Jane started to roll the fabric and then pressed it into the chipboard.

Then she began to twist the fabric and glue it down as she went around.

Once we ran out of fabric we trimmed the chip board with scissors so that it didn't show behind the flower.

  

Then we hot glued the chipboard to a wreath we wrapped with burlap.  I attached some paper flowers we made a long time ago using a Martha Stewart paper flower kit.  I added some ribbon and tulle and hung my wreath.

Holiday Themed Frame

I got a great idea for a holiday themed frame project here.

Now most of the time when I see something on a blog I think to myself "I could make that," but I rarely do.  This time I did!

I bought an open frame from Hobby Lobby.  I found the clips in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby and the wire in the jewelry section.  I found the screw eyes in the frame section at Michael's.

This is the first one I made.  It is too small, I think.

The second one I made was for my friend Jenny.  Her favorite holiday is Valentine's Day and her birthday was Monday. 

Here is what the back looks like.

Mike drilled tiny holes but I also think you could start the hole with a nail and then put the screw eye in once the starter hole was made.

The wire is jewelry wire that was strung tightly across.

I made Jenny enough paper hearts to fill all 30 clips.  I also made her cardstock that says Happy Valentine's Day.

I can just see it at Christmas time filled with paper ornaments.  Or at Easter with flowers and bunnies!
Or with your Instagram photos!

I cut my paper hearts out using Amy Butler paper from Michael's and my Sizzix die cutter.

Knitting Retreat

Q:  What do you get when you combine knitting, wine, great food, yarn, smart women, a little more wine, and hysterical laughter?

A:  A knitting retreat.

This past weekend I drove to Kansas City for The Studio's annual knitting retreat.  It was held at Unity Village just outside of Kansas City.  We stayed in a new hotel and conference center built on the property just a few years ago.  Most of the participants were from the greater KC area, but I know there was someone there from Chicago and a group from Omaha and of course one lone Tulsa girl.

I found out about it from my friend Jessica.  She and I went to high school together and have always remained close.  She works at The Studio and has invited me in the past to this retreat.  This was the first time I have been able to make it, but it will NOT be the last.

We were given the coolest goodie bags with a water bottle and snacks.  The Studio also set up a yarn market right there at the hotel.  There were classes but I did not enroll in any of them.  I actually learned a lot from sitting with my friend Jessica for two days.  I met the nicest, wittiest, most talented women.  Everyone there is someone I would want in my kitchen with me and a glass of wine.  They were amazing.

The grounds of the Unity Village were beautiful.  I went for a walk on the first day I arrived and found myself on a golf course with about 2 dozen deer and this wooden statue of a woman golfing. It was about 23 degrees though so I didn't stop to talk to her about her wardrobe choice or her orthopedic shoes, or her dry skin.

Two things I failed to take pictures of, my friend Jessica and the amazing food!  We were fed three times a day and had great meals.  The coffee was also quite good.  It was Parisi coffee which is owned by two brothers from KC, Paris Brothers Inc.  If you ever get the chance to drink Parisi Artisan Coffee, do so!

My sweet friend Jessica and I shared a room together and I felt like we were having a sleepover.  We stayed up late talking and giggling and drinking wine.  It was a much needed respite from our normal roles as mom, chauffeur, cook, laundress, homework tutor and scheduler.  It was heaven.  Thank you to Wade and Mike for making this possible.  Thank you.

My biggest lesson learned was a really simple one that I never knew because I am a lone knitter, not a group knitter.  I did not know you pull the yarn from the center of the skein.  I just assumed that it would get tangled up that way.  It does not.  You pull from the center and the ball does not roll all over the place when you knit.  Clever.  Simple.  Perfect.

Candy Houses

Right before Christmas we were invited to yet another epic event put on by Mr. John Gee and his momma "Nan".  They are the ones responsible for the amazing Greek party I blogged about here.

Much like the Greek party, the candy house party was for the children.  But I must confess that the adults enjoyed this as much as the kids.  We were told to bring boxes for the base and told that "less was more" in this case.  These were not going to be edible houses, merely decorated houses.  Nan was busy making the plaster when we arrived.

Soon she enlisted help from Uncle Danny.

The rest of us started to assemble our boxes onto cardboard bases.  I found out quickly that I had broken several rules by bringing box tape, a box tape dispenser and a box knife.  I was chastised publicly and was just starting to feel like a cheater, when THIS walks in...

Wait just a doggone minute...that is a pre-fab!  You can't bring in a pre-fab candy house to a candy house making party.  You have to start from scratch!  He walked in with a double-wide-4-bedroom-3-bath ranch style pre-fab with a wrap around porch and an outdoor kitchen!  And I got in trouble for bringing box tape??????

Anyway, I channeled my outrage inward and had a beer and started taking pictures.  I did not decorate.  My job was to document the construction process.

There was lots of candy.

So there was quite a bit of sneaky snacking while the decorating went down.

The parents and children were covered in powdered sugar.

These little cereal square (above) were Lucy's favorite.  John if you have any left over bags we'll take 'em off your hands...

He is working on his pre-fab...  Just wait until next year.  I am going to roll in with one so close to being finished all it will need is licorice molding and a caramel mail box.

This was such a great night.  The parents were just as into this as the kids.  I discovered so many new uses for Oreos.  Little Bug sampled a few.

Lucy had some ideas about what her daddy should do to "her" house based on what the neighbors were doing. 

"Oh sweet daddy, see that outdoor kitchen over there that they have?  Could you build that for me on my house...?"


My sweet artist/architect at work.

Now for the houses...

 

I love the picket fence and the front awning on Emma's house.

There was no covenant in this neighborhood...anything goes.

The house pictured above was Lucy's (read Mike's) that she completed almost completely on her own.

Below is our host, John, whose house was covered in powered sugar cement when we left.  The gal with him holding the red solo cup is my sister from another mother, Amy.  She and I are convinced we must be related in some way.  (Sorry Amy but the other photo, in which I told you to put down your red solo cup, is just not as good as this one...trust me sista)

And below is the picture of most of the crew...I had a little bit of trouble getting them all in the photo.

Thank you John and Carol for another memorable event that my kids will be talking about until next year.