I remember the days of potty training. It’s messy and there are days when you just want to take a cue from your toddler and have a good old-fashioned whining fit. Like so many childhood phases, it seems so much longer while you’re in the midst of it and soon enough you’ll be wondering where the time went.

For those of you who are in the thick of it, a few bits of goodness & something fun from a seasoned mom…

Some kids seem to just “get it” right off the bat. If they don’t, remember- It’s OK. You’re doing a great job. Breathe. This chart is going to help, or at least make you laugh so hard you’ll feel better just for the attempt.

My 3 kids were born fairly close together and the complexity level of anything increases exponentially when there are multiple small children running/being carried around. This chart worked well for them- (and for me!) not only to see their progress but the visual correlation between the drawing/coloring in the diagram seemed to make it “click” for at least one of my monkeys.

Yes. I'm completely serious.

How it works:

1. When your little trainer sits on the potty, give them a sticker to put on the tank of the toilet image. Even if nothing happens- it’s for the attempt. Go kid, Go!
2. If they happen to pee in the potty while they’re sitting there- let them color the bowl in yellow.
3. I had originally made “poop” stickers to go in the bowl, and actually now that I remember how darn cute & ridiculous  they were, I might just have to get some printed and sell this as a kit on Etsy, but a brown marker works just as well. (plus some kids are amused at drawing the poo shapes, and Poo-casso jokes. hahahah)

I’ve got 3 versions of the chart I am giving to teh internets to share and be used. Print them for your kiddos, your friends etc. Just don’t be a jerk and try to make money off them- k?

Chart 1 – “First Steps”  3 potties/page (let them get used to the idea)

Chart 2 – “Getting There” 10 potties/page (great for, hey if you fill in the whole chart we’ll <insert bribe* here>)

Chart 3 – “All Aboard the Potty Train” A week’s worth of potties (3/day, you could always add another sheet below tucked underneath)

*(A word on bribes- rather than “stuff” like toys or food, try something like special trips/time/projects with Mommy or Daddy. What do you want them to value?)

So please, share with your friends, in the least they’ll get a big kick out of it. My son Wyatt and I wrote an adorable book at the time called “Plip, Plop, Splash!” about the joy & frustration of potty training- and it’s hysterical. I just need to illustrate it. (Maybe now that they’re all “big” I could start doing that…) If I do- you’ll see it here!!

(@yaheesplace – enjoy & good luck!!)

I said I was going to get back to blogging about 6 months ago. I think that was a bit premature. I don’t think you can really plan on doing anything big so soon after a move. And being a single mom of 3, it’s hard to get any craft project of substantial size actually finished. So while I’d love to get back into my paper sculptures, that will require that I have dedicated studio space that will be left undisturbed inbetween work sessions. (working on it… stay tuned!) Fortunately I’ve stumbled across a new-to-me crafting technique… MICROCROCHET!!! These teeny tiny little dolls and bears and whatever else I can think to make can be finished in one or two sittings, depending on how intricate I make them. I can even pack a tiny bag of supplies to slip in my purse to drag along to Wyatt’s fencing practice, or waiting rooms & whatnot.

I stumbled across these sweet little miniatures by an Italian artist named Mariella on etsy a few months back-  but it took awhile to find crochet hooks small enough for me to try it out. I’m catching my groove using size 10 and 12 crochet hooks (about .75 mm) from Crafts Bits & Pieces in Fairport, NY. I started off with little bears, and a pug or two. I swear I’ll post a mini album of these mini creations soon- but if you’re a fan of twitter, I post photos of most of the things I make right after I’m done on there. I don’t use any patterns, I just free-form them as I go along.

I’m always looking for new suggestions on what to make, so feel free to leave a comment with an idea for a creature etc.

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…