Not like I was doing much while I was gone- let’s see- I moved, spent the fourth of July on the White House Lawn, and just got back from a balloon fashion show in Las Vegas, you know- the usual!  I’ll fill in the details shortly- but in honor of taking out my Singer for the first time in about 6 months, I felt inspired to blog!

Chloe wanted some snuggly dollys for her bed (it’s been awhile since she’s slept the whole night through, and yes, I will stoop to bribery) So I promised her we’d make some dolls for her bed. Now it’s turned into making mermaids for her and her little friend Morgan. I’ve spent most of the late spring/summer in perpetual motion- maybe this is a sign that I’m actually settled in a bit!

I promise I’ll write more about what I’ve been up to and blog more often again, but if you truly can’t wait for some of the recent details- go check out Larry Moss’s blog, over at www.airigami.com. While you’re there you can read about what we’ll be up to in September for Artprize in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

There are a few things that I hold a tight attachment to after I create, (example, my kids ) but in general I try to release my objects d’art as often as possible. This accomplishes 2 goals, first- it makes other people happy to get something handmade and unique. I enjoy seeing their appreciation, and I think it’s better that the objects are valued instead of ending up in a box or lost somewhere in the house. And second- can you imagine the amount of stuff I’d be carting around right now if I just hoarded them?

Of course there are all sorts of UFO’s flying around my house too. Before you call area 51, UFO in this case are “Unfinished Objects.” Sometimes I get into a project far enough that I feel artistically satisfied with the process, and I don’t need to finish immediately, and sometimes the time-lapse allows them to evolve into something else. (for example this blog was going to only document stuff I make, but it’s kind of become a diary of sorts)

I used to go to a Craft Club sponsored by Mothers & More Rochester (yes, that’s my goofy mug on the far right in the pink shirt ) every month, that often had UFO nights, where we’d bring a project to work on while we chat. I’ve let my membership in M&M lapse (to my chagrin, but at the moment life hasn’t been accommodating enough for me to get to gatherings, but I miss even just being on the email loop…) So I think I’m going to re-up soon. I miss the girls, Facebook just isn’t enough!

Where was I going with this post. Oh yeah! So this blog has been a bit of a UFO lately, not that I think it will ever be truly finished, but I figured I’d give fair warning that the next few months are going to be crazy busy, and maybe I can start blogging again in the summer…

I’m feeling cranky, I don’t mean to be, but it’s been at least a week since I’ve gotten to sit down and make something… Took the kids to one of those paint-your-own pottery places earlier today. They got the chance to glaze some mugs- but I had to assist so I didn’t get to make anything myself. That normally would be fine- but I’ve spent nearly the whole week in meetings, and hardly any time getting stuff done, so I feel frustrated…

I’m going to stick the kids in bed and then start designing a little bride to cut out on my paper cutter. I want to make some cake toppers for my shop… Tomorrow I’ve got an illustration to work on, based on The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai. I’m vectorizing the original, erasing the boats & Mt. Fuji & modifying the rough of the waves to look like dollar signs. I’m going to try and cut it out with the Silhouette too…

But nothing’s getting done ’til I get some mommy time. Let me get these cuties to bed…

I can’t help it, there’s nothing like instantly understandable information. BAM! You learned something and didn’t even mean to, it’s like guerrilla education. Anyhoo- the kids and I made time lines this morning FOR FUN.

So here’s the long story of how we hopped aboard this train of thought. We were doing a giant 50 state floor puzzle, and Wyatt was putting in the Kentucky piece and he says “Hey! That’s where Abe Lincoln was born!?!” I wasn’t so sure, I’d always remembered Lincoln and Illinois ( or at least remembered that was the state he represented in congress.) My trusty iphone made short work of  googling the answer, and Wy got a high-five for showing up his mom.

Then Aves busted out our copy of  Scholastic Encyclopedia Of The Presidents And Their Times. We started looking through the profiles of the different presidents, and since they’re early/emerging readers we spent alot of time looking at the pictures. We saw the changing flags, President’s birthdays/dates of death (god that sounds macabre lol) and used our GIANT CALCULATOR to figure out about how many years old they lived to be.

We  also saw this image of how slaves were packed into the cargo holds of ships which led to a discussion of how sometimes it takes alot of  hard work to change things that are wrong, because they might have been wrong for a long time. We ventured into civil rights, and women’s rights…It was just the sort of discussion I wish I could have more often with the kiddos, the kind where they take the lead.  This lets me be the mommy version of google, getting them the answers they’re looking for, which then lead to more questions and connections… I love that. That’s the mom I want to be.

So Avery was very excited to point out that Susan B. Anthony was one of those people who worked hard for change, and remembered we had just gotten an Easy Reader about her and ran over to the bookshelf to get it. It’s from a great little series of books on different historic American icons. It manages to paint a pretty good picture of her and her times though it didn’t mention anything about her work in the abolitionist movement. But hey it was 10 pages long and meant for first graders… I did like enjoy the list entitled “These were some of the ways life was unfair for women in those days.” The thought that women had to give their money to their husbands blew their minds, which was adorable to watch.

The last page of the book had a time line  about Susan B’s lifetime. She was born in 1820, died in 1906 and women didn’t earn the right to vote until 1920 (which, according to our giant calculator meant that she was 86 when she died, and women were able to vote 100 years after she was born). And then I got the brilliant idea that we could make time lines for things in our lives, so we found a ruler, some paper and a pencil or two and headed to the little table. Chloë’s time line was a span of years, Wyatt chose months- and Avery chose to go play legos. Birthdays seemed to be the most memorable date-related item, so they logged them on their charts.

It was really quite easy, I just showed them how to draw a line and mark off each inch for a unit of time. I think I’ll create and instruction sheet and a new section for projects on here. If I have the section maybe I’ll feel obligated to do fun stuff like that again more often and post more of them. <When it’s done I’ll insert the link here>

Awwww… I’ve been digging through some old pics, and I came across this shot of my son Wyatt wearing a “dinohat”. These were a little concoction of mine from a few years back. I need to make some more of these, they really are fun to wear. Maybe I’ll bust out some polar fleece tomorrow with my daughter and she can help me design some new polar fleece hats…

Recycled Lego Bracelet by Emiko Oye

What a sweet little find! Artist Emiko Oye creates amazing necklaces (imagine something a queen would wear to her coronation) by recycling those ubiquitous plastic building blocks, legos. The photo at left is a much simpler version, available in her etsy shop, but I really enjoy the color combinations she comes up with and how she sneaks in translucent and architectural legos.

Just got back from NYC, Larry Moss (a dear friend and frequent collaborator of mine) & I spent 2 days making a balloon interpretation of a gown. He was invited to create the piece in support of the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge.

Added bonus: got to see my little sister, and had the best guacamole in the world afterwards. Life is beautiful…

Anyhow, Larry & I had gotten in far later than we’d planned on Thursday (there were 45 mph winds that delayed our trip and at one point slowed traffic to a stand still about a mile from where we were going. What would have normally taken 3 minutes took us an hour and a half!) So we were up half the night working, and had to start bright and early again the next day- since the show was that night. In the midst of all of this there were also 250 little promo cards for the swag bags,  that were not quite assembled yet. I’ll add photos of  those tomorrow, but for now I am zonked! ZZZZzzzzzz…

wooden building blocks

My kids have too many toys. I keep trying to purge the piles, thankfully we’re avid freecyclers so nothing really goes to waste. Now that the kids are getting bigger, I’m finding that I’m the one more attached to some of the things they’ve stopped playing with. I did put a small box of Wyatt’s beloved train tracks away, just in case I have grand babies someday, and I’ll save the rolly-poly chime ball (which was one of my favorite things as a child- the musical chimes have so much depth and beauty compared to sharp electronic noises) but the rest will have to go at some point.

I debated over saving the wood blocks- and then I realized that was kind of silly. Those I should still be able to find in 20+ years with little effort, why do I want to haul those around?! So while I was planning on giving those away, I realized they’d make really great somethings. I haven’t decided just yet what they’ll become- and well- there are alot of them, so they’ll probably end up becoming lots of things…

Rock Garden, Deep Pendant by AdornJewelry

When I was around 4 or 5 years old, we lived with my maternal grandparents for awhile and they would watch my sister and I during the day while mom was at work. Often enough I was handed one of my grandmother’s spoons and told to “go dig” in this little patch of dirt between the spigot and the back-porch door. I’d spend hours transforming that little 2′x4′ rectangle of dirt into tiny moss-covered islands– planting weeds as tiny trees, placing little stones as boulders in the landscape,  lining the stream bed with sand, and building tiny bridges out of popsicle sticks…

I stumbled across these pendants on Etsy and was instantly transported to my grandmother’s backyard… The artist, Amy Mueller of AdornJewelry, combines polymer clay and faux moss into these beautiful little pendants & rings. They have a nice little interview with her.

So much more here…

Yuken Teruya "corner forest"

I came across the work of Yuken Teruya, and I had to share- I thought these were absolutely beautiful. I really love the play between the negative branch, and the dimensional extended arm… wait till you see what he does with paper bags!

“Yuken Teruya manipulates everyday objects, transforming their meanings to reflect on contemporary society and culture. Cutting trees out of paper bags and cardboard toilet paper rolls, he creates meticulous and intricate art works, small and enchanting worlds, which relate to broader concerns.”

So much more here…