Sunday, September 25, 2011

It's About Time

I am back.  I know I said that before, and I meant it.  I mean it again.  Today I went to the Western New York Miniatures Enthusiast's Dollhouse and Miniatures Show.  I don't buy much at these things (surprisingly), because I just love the ideas that start to whirl in my cobwebbed brain.  I left with twenty new ideas and the inspiration to finally dig my craft room out, again.  After the summer of driving - driving to speech therapy, cottage, school, New York City - and back again, and again, and again... - I was guilty of dropping whatever I didn't have time to find the proper home for in my craft room.  After a couple hours tidying and organizing, I was thrilled to see the floor again.  So I am back in business, and it feels darn good. Yay!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Can Kids Be a Hobby?

Well, you may have thought I dropped of the edge of the world, but I didn't.  I have been consumed with my kids.  Our son, Charlie, is heading off to university and we spent many a night talking over the dinner table, discussing the various pros and cons of the universities that he was accepted to.  Then there were a couple trips to university candidates, which were great opportunities to spend some one on one time with my amazing guy before he launches.  Then there were letters to write, worrying to be done, and waiting for final offers of scholarships.  Then finally it all came together - and hurrah, he was set!  The right school and the right financial package!

Then there was Miss Maia.  She has demonstrated some need for some extra academic support - this is a kid that can play Bach on the piano.... with two hands.... dances beautifully.... and she can jump rope backwards with her arms crossed over her chest!!!!  But, alas she will benefit from some targeted intervention... So, this required much reading on my part, calls to various therapists, waiting lists, school meetings and such until.... ahhhhh finally, I think we have a recipe that just might do a body good.

I have felt much like I do when I am crafting.  Research, hours that just seem to disappear, excitement, anxiety and satisfaction when the results start to be seen.

Now, I have a pile of things that have been awaiting finishing (or starting) and I can't wait to get back to work.  But... oh, did I mention the chickens....

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Serious Hobbying

Hobbies are so varied.  Yesterday, Miss Maia and I attended a festival of sorts called "The Passing of the Ice Dragon".  It is sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism which is "an organization that is dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th century Europe".  Although, if you are interested in the same time period on the Middle or Far East you will find much to interest you as well.

This is a group of people that take hobby seriously.  They meet to learn how to engage in various fighting arts, such as fencing, broad sword and pole fighting, thrown weapons, horse riding and so on.  To support these activities they create the weapons, in such a way that death will not come to those engaging in the sport, armor, clothing, shields, banners to represent themselves while competing and some even create a "persona" that they use when engaging in their interest.

In addition to these "manly" pursuits, which actually have a very high number of women participating, there are areas that would interest almost any person under the sun - cooking, sewing, woodwork, leather work, metal work, drawing, painting, calligraphy and illumination, toy making, games, dancing, story telling, research, history, geography, map making.... I could go on and on.

In our fast paced days, it can be a welcome relief to slow down, sew by hand, make lace or battle armor, spin wool, visit with friends or paint just for fun.  I am consistently impressed by the friendliness and eagerness, of all the wonderful people I have met, to share what they love most about their hobbies and knowledge (in addition to some of the most chivalrous men I have ever met).  I have also been inspired and impressed by the high level of artistry and craftsmanship in all the creations I have seen.  Check out their site www.sca.org and enjoy a good glass of mead for me!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

One Flower at a Time

Needlework is slow business.

I have been working on a cross-stitch headband for a few weeks now and today I was sick of it.  I forgot my books in our black car, which my son borrowed, so I picked up the needlework to keep myself busy during a dance lesson.  Sitting on the floor in a church hallway, listening to Irish music as Maia hopped, jigged and reeled, I looked at the needlework and cussed a bit, quietly to myself.  Ho hummmmm, tiny stitches, tiny gains.

As I brought the needle in and out, my busy mind started to smooth out and I softly heard my mind's voice finding some parallels between this project and life.  If you continue to work on a project, according to the plan, the result is pretty much guaranteed, barring any bizarre unforeseen event.


It just takes a vision of what it is supposed to look like, the raw materials, the pattern/plan and the belief that it will at some point be finished.  The one thing that isn't easy to judge is just how long it will take to get to the result.  The process may go quickly, depending on your motivation to finish, or it may go slowly because of other distractions, illness, or lack of raw material.  The trick seems to me, to be finding the balance between all these factors and never losing sight of the goal, even if it is gained just one small flower at a time.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Distraction - Sushi

So, I love sushi.  I really do.

I wrote earlier of feeling absolutely certain that if I want learn something there is some way, some how or some one that I can find to help me learn.

I tried to learn how to make sushi by watching the sushi preparers at Wegmans.  If you didn't already know, Wegman's is our higher end supermarket chain, here in Western New York, and they provide just about anything you would want to buy relating to creating the most amazing food. If you do not have a Wegman's in your area, start to request that they open one, trust Alec Baldwin, he knows... they are absolutely wonderful.   They also offer just about any prepared food you could wish for - including twenty or so delicious sushi options.... I wax on.....

Well those sushi guys and gals weren't too inviting as I lurked at the edge of their kiosk, trying to glean any tips and techniques.  So, I was a good girl and sulked away and bought my daily fix.  Now, anyone that knows me, knows that if I really like something and have any chance of making it myself, I will buy books and raw materials, that will most often cost more than what I would have spent if I just bought the desired thing to begin with and I will try to make it.  Needless to say, I have more books on sewing, felting, embroidering, marbling paper, making paper, gardening, preserving, cooking, and so on than a person has a right to.  Not to mention those boxes and boxes of raw materials that started this project.

I have bought sushi books, mats, rice, vinegar, wasabi and all the other little fixings to make sushi, but after several meals of loosely wrapped, kind of yucky wannabe sushi, I was determined.  The rejection of Wegman's sushi chefs made me start to take inventory of who I might know that might be able to connect me to a sushi chef.  After thinking a bit, I realized that I had that very person in my life already!  One of my class parents is a wonderful sushi preparer, having had a small catering business of her own.  She was very gracious when I asked if she would be willing to help me in my endeavor.

She provided me with exactly what I hoped for and we had an absolutely amazing dinner with her and her daughter (who also graciously played with Miss Maia while we worked on the preparation of our feast).  It was so good, and I learned so much that I wanted to sing and dance.  That was a week ago.  This particular week was extremely busy and I mostly thought about making things, anything... rather than actually being able to put my hands on any of my projects.  This morning I woke up and we headed out to a sugar shack in celebration of "Maple Weekend."  We had a great afternoon of riding in wagons and tasting maple cotton candy and when I got home I was craving a quick and delicious dinner, before we were to set off to see the "super moon."  Sushi!!

I got out all my ingredients and set to work and forty minutes later I was heating the saki and putting out my plates.  Who says that hand work is restricted to fabric and tread?  Look at these yummy beauties.  Thank you Sachiko!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Old Friends Revisited

My nine year old self sat watching my mother sewing a pair of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for a friend that was having a new baby.  I jealously watched those muslin bodies taking shape, the red yarn hair being sewn on, the striped legs dancing around, the little pinafore and dress coming together.  I fingered the left over fabric scraps and wished my mom had made me a doll.  She was busy, and made a point of saying that she didn't have any more stuffing.

I went to sleep disappointed,  but the most wonderful surprise greeted me when I woke up the next morning.  A small muslin version of Raggedy Ann, with two long red braids instead of the raggedy afro.  She had a small, red, flowered, print dress made from those scraps and when I lifted her dress to see her body, there sewn with red thread on her little torso, was the classic "I Love You" encircled by a heart.

The words "I was happy" are far too small to fully describe the joy I felt.  I asked her how she did it, with no stuffing! After I went to bed!  She smiled her wonderful smile and told me my doll was a "stocking doll."  A stocking doll?  She had stuffed my precious, little doll with her old pantyhose.  My little, stocking doll became very, very dear to me.  She came to university with me, carefully stowed away with my varsity letters.  She joined me in my first home with my husband and made a reappearance for my oldest daughter, Mary, when she was five years old.  She has rested in-between tucked away in my memory box.

After Maia's birthday party, she asked me about rag dolls.  I explained to her that her Raggedy Ann and Andy (handmade by my mom...) were rag dolls as was her little Madeline doll.  She asked if me or Mary had ever had one and I told her of my doll that we both had shared.  She quickly asked where it was and could I get her out.  It took me two days to get around to it, despite Maia's nagging me about every thirty minutes or so.  I found the doll this evening, after dinner and her enchantment was instant.  I carefully placed her in Maia's arms, and she was named "Lucy."  Lucy is still in that little dress from thirty-five years ago, stiff with age but still bright red.  Her eyes still sparkle and her little heart shines with the love of a mom.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

All on the Prairie

This weekend was amazing!  At the Wingfelder abode we had a sushi making tutoring dinner on Friday, a gathering of friends from school on Saturday, and our much awaited prairie birthday.  Now, did I plan for this eventful weekend???  Hmmm...... this wonderfully entertaining weekend was born out of my neglectful attention to my many calendars, that sit in my purse, hang on my wall and float around my desk.  

As I was driving around gathering the last details for Miss Maia's party, I heard a piece on NPR stating that people who surround themselves with friends and are active in the social happenings in their community, live longer.  Life is a blast, and I so want to live a really, really long, productive, high-energy life, so I guess my "mistakes" around scheduling might, just might, work in my favor.  

In between driving and preparing sushi and Julia Child's chicken fricassee and a log cabin birthday cake, I finished the sewing of an apron that I started a month ago out of some gorgeous cantaloupe colored linen,  and starched (yes, I starch) those bonnets.  To say I was productive this weekend wouldn't really fully describe the adrenalin that flowed through my veins.  Amazingly enough my stress level was really low!  I was focused, had my lists, didn't get distracted and now this Sunday night, I ate some outstanding leftovers and drank a beautiful glass of chardonnay, feeling a bit smug.  Here's to preparing for and surrounding yourself with friends!



Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Longer Than I Thought

How many things take you longer than you think??  I tend to think that most anything will take me about...oh.... forty-five minutes or so....  well these absolutely adorable bonnets, that I eagerly began, and have sewed with love and positivity, have taken me much longer than those predicted forty-five minutes.  I finished them this evening and then noticed that before I could finish Miss Maia's little apron, I needed white thread.  Now, who doesn't have white thread??  Especially when you have 25 or so little spools of thread!!??

Well that apron, that really, truly, honestly should have taken about half an hour or so, will be extended by a round trip to JoAnn Etc., walking in through the pouring rain, finding the thread area (that somehow seems to move ever so slightly each time I go there), standing on the line that seems to take forever (I swear the cashiers have to be trained to take a long time with each customer - so you have to stand on line looking first at the many craft books and magazines - which crafters compulsively buy) then stand looking at their "$1" bonus buys right before the register (I really do think that Maia cannot survive without those little socks with shamrocks all over them for St. Patrick's Day.....).

So, in addition to expanding the time it will take to finish that quick little apron, made from an old sheet salvaged from my friend's fabric stash, this "no-cost" apron will only stay "no-cost" if I can resist those oh so carefully placed and marketed impulse purchase items.

The consolation prize?  Eight little girls, in prairie garb, playing "Hide the Thimble" on Sunday...

                                                                                                                                                                                                        








Here's a little needle-book that I made last week, to help keep track of my needles.  I was getting very tired of those little paper and plastic folders of needles that are so hard to get the needles out of.  It is made of wool flannel with more wool flannel appliqued on the front. I just loved the colors.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Detours

Welllll...... I was planning on getting those birthday things done today, but I got that dreaded note from school regarding those horrible childhood pests of the hair sort..... Let's just say I was detoured for four hours tonight, Maia's hair is now incredibly squeaky clean, sheets are changed, laundry is churning, vacuuming is done (thanks to my wonderful husband) and I just want to climb into a warm and cozy bed.  Alas, tomorrow is another day.....

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Gifts

Today is my dad's birthday.  My parents were very, very young when I was born and these days I feel like I am rapidly approaching their ages.  Despite the chronological closeness of our ages, there has never been a moments doubt as to who the parents are in our relationships.  My intense, vigorous relationship to a life of creativity may have born out of admiration for my mother's seemingly effortless ability to do anything, but I think it was my father that instilled in me the absolute certainty that I was capable of doing anything I decided to do.

"We are going to build a wall today, Jacqueline."  "Sure, you and your sisters can stack seven cords of wood, as I chop it."  "We will be taking the roof off today, you girls are to put all the fallen debris in the dumpster." "Here, paint the windows like this..."  "Execute your plan with vigor and all will be good."  To say my father is a man of strong will, would be an understatement.  And, while some might think he got a lot of free service from minors.... these hard jobs, that we were expected to execute, were probably the best gifts that a parent could give a child.  There is no thing that I am unwilling to try to do (even singing in public or climbing to high places - which are both very, very scary for me).  Also, I am confident that there is someone out there that would teach me, if I couldn't take on the task myself.  These two things are powerful things to know.

Gifts that carry us into the future, rather than gifts for immediate gratification, are the best kinds of gifts.  So as I ponder what to give my dad for his birthday, I angst as I do every year.  There is no gift in the world, for any price, that could demonstrate my gratitude for the gift of confidence.

Now, I have the certainty that although I have not yet finished the bonnets (7 out of 10 are finished however) I will somehow make a plan to finish them tonight, while making dinner, planning for the week, folding laundry and trying to "relax."

Friday, March 4, 2011

Weekends

My little Miss Maia is turning eight next week.  Birthdays are great fun.  They provide a thousand excuses to craft.  Maia has had a "Tea Party" birthday, a "Welcome Spring" birthday, a "Flower Fairy" birthday and a "Pinkalicious" birthday.  Being a bit of a book-aholic, each birthday was born out of different books we have read.  This year's birthday party is born out of her new interest in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books.  We have heard all the early stories of Laura and her brave family.

 I think I could write a book titled Parenting Skills from Ma and Pa Ingalls.  It would include lessons such as - children do not need to know everything, parents expect their children to do what they say - the first time, children need to share - always, parents are the ones that will take care of every need a child might have, children do not need much more than a haystack to have a great day, parents are the wise ones and children are to learn from them, and my favorite - boredom is a fine thing.

I digress.... regardless of the parenting lessons we can learn from the Ingalls (and I do recommend rereading these books if you are parents...) the life lead by pioneers was full of creativity.  Just about every item owned was made by hand.  Wow... This seems to me to be a wonderful dream (minus the lack of running water and central heat).  The idea of making all day long makes my heart sing.  Well, Maia's birthday is a wonderful focus for making.  On the docket for this weekend are the following:  10 prairie bonnets (from my and my friend, Merideth's,  stash of old calico, 2 aprons, 10 "slates", and autograph books to share at the party.  I can't wait to see them all in their prairie best playing "hide the thimble."

In case you are interested....
The Flowers' Festival: Mini Edition
Pinkalicious
The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Time

 So I have been working on a couple projects since heading back to work this week.  They are all portable and very, very satisfying.  I love creating things that are both beautiful and useful.  In looking at my new favorite embroidery book,   Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living,  I am constantly inspired to slow down and look at those things that have beautiful detailing.  What does this detailing mean?  I think it means that something was important enough to take time and create a detail that would enliven a utilitarian object or garment.  Time - what do we do with our time?

To me, time is life, and when we say we don't have enough time it is kind of saying we don't have enough life.  Time is the great equalizer of all humanity.  We all have the same amount of time in every day, it is the same for every person.    There are no extra hours for the privileged.  What we do with our time is the true measure of wealth.  Do we squander it engaged in activities that rob us of joy or peace?  Do we let it slip through our fingers, complaining about the unfairness we dealt with during the day?  Or, do we just watch it fade away, with those mind numbing, yet totally amazingly, entertainment inventions that have become imbedded in our lives.

Yes , I am talking about those time thieves, the television and the internet.  As useful and entertaining as they are, they do rob us of time to talk to those right in front of us, take a walk in the crisp cold air, or play a game with our little ones.  And the funny thing is that I know that I can justify the hours easily.  "I am researching."  "I am exhausted, but don't want to go to bed yet."  "I just want to unwind...."  But, I know as I go to bed, I regret those hours, especially when I don't get the satisfaction of feeling like I actually accomplished something in the real world or I spent a few hours watching some fictitious person living a really interesting life.  Hmmm..... life is always more interesting than fiction, if we take the time to live it.



This little bag is from another great book, if you are interested...... Scandinavian Needlecraft: 35 Step-by-step Projects to Create the Scandinavian Home.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Friends

There aren't many things better than crafting with friends.  Through friends we get encouragement, celebration and good honest criticism.  Friends introduce us to others they think we might have something in common with.  My friend, Merideth, has been one of my very dearest for the last fifteen or so years and this week she introduced me to Tasha Tudor.  While she never had the opportunity to meet Tasha Tudor herself, she knows her well through her collection of vintage and current books and wonderfully slow documentaries.  I have to admit, Tasha Tudor has never been much more than a name on two of my favorite childhood books, A Little Princess and The Secret Garden.  Anything other mention of her was, to me, a corporate logo on many cards, books, and so on.

It would be putting it mildly to say Merideth was surprised that Tasha was not on my list of inspiring women, because when I finally "met" Tasha I felt a recognition of spirit and productivity that was hard to put into words.  Tasha Tudor lived by her own rules, created her own reality, enjoyed herself thoroughly and gave no apologies for choosing to live according to her muse.  I must admit, I became totally fascinated by her and I have spent the last several days reading everything I could about her.  She was not perfect, but my oh my, I would love to have her quiet, yet absolute, certainty that life is ours to create, coupled with the resolution to create it.  She is an example worthy of imitation.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters

I decided to start with embroidery.  Why??  Well, it is portable, inexpensive and breathtaking to look at when a project is complete.  I was introduced to embroidery as a little girl.  My mother gave me a Snoopy embroidery kit when a was around nine or ten years old.  Embroidering that little Snoopy, with his long stocking cap hanging down over the side of his classic dog house, kept me entertained for hours.  I was surprised that it was fairly easy after my mom showed me the first few skills.  The funny thing is that I never saw my mom embroider.  And, although she didn't carry a hoop around, stitching the hours away, she was good at it.  Actually, my mom was good at everything. 

When I was small and we moved into my first real house, my dad built her a studio in the basement.  She spent hours, burning wood, and creating gifts for family and friends.  The smell of scorched wood brings me back to that room.  She had a wooden box that she kept her oil paints and linseed oil and precious paint brushes in, that I gazed at like they were jewels.  My Nana Mary had an oil painting, that my mother did in high school, hanging in her dining room that I marveled at.  If my mom could do that she really could do anything.  That old paint box was in my possession for a number of years and it now lives with my daughter, Mary, in Toronto.  I saw it the other day while organizing Mary's studio, and it made me so happy to see it still in use.  Creativity nurtured and practiced over three generations.

My mother is one of my greatest inspirations.  She has gifted me with more things than I can list and supported me through every phase of my life.  She is an example of the highest form of unconditional love and acceptance and demonstrates generosity of spirit in every act.  She also is one fine artist, worthy of imitation.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Will Forces

 It's the first real day of our winter break, which of all the breaks in our school year I find the most necessary.  In case you didn't know, I am a teacher.   The busy fall term leads to Christmas vacation, which is wonderful and wonderfully busy.  Coming back after the New Year is full of recovering from too much eating, drinking and merry making.  Kids often get sick as they try to make it to ski club and finally when we are all at our Northeast palest, winter break arrives.  Winter break takes what feels like this pile of embroidery floss and gives me time to take a refreshing cold breath and sit down to unravel the knots.


 I began the day locating all my embroidery and cross stitch materials and then carrying them to the dining room (again).  I laughed out loud as I found many "organized" projects already in plastic bags - by this I mean materials purchased, floss cut and threaded through labeled cards, fabric carefully taped around the edges and in some cases on hoops.  The reason I laughed is that while I did all this prep work, somehow I never actually put the needle through the fabric in most of these projects!

Why???  I think it has to do with what can be called "will forces."  This term is used in the phrase "the will to work."  What prevents me from taking the step from the set-up to the execution??  Well, I pondered this as I wound those pesky skeins of embroidery floss onto little cardboard pieces, so I could actually see what colors I have.  As I did this, my Little Miss Maia was glued to my side as usual.  She had a million questions for me along the way about what each piece was, what the tools were, when was lunch going to be ready, and could she try.  It was then that it dawned on me!!  I tend to have this expectation and anxiety that as soon as I get started on any project, I will get interrupted.  So.... it is better to not start rather than suffer the interruptions!! Hmmmm... sound familiar??

 Little Miss was relentless in her desire to do this work, so I set her up on one of the twelve (yes twelve) embroidery hoops I discovered in my gathering.  She drew a picture on a piece of paper, I helped her transfer it to a piece of muslin and after a little demonstration, she was off to the races.  Children are all will forces, focused on what they want and eager to be at meaningful work and play.  She chatted about school, what she was going to do with her little embroidered picture and when was dinner going to be ready....

I continued to pick my way through the skeins of floss, carefully winding threads, that in some cases were from my teens.  She triumphantly announced that she was done, eager to take it off the hoop and get to hemming the edges so her precious project could grace the bed of her tiny baby doll.  Her sense of accomplishment was so radiant that I couldn't help but applaud.


There is a lot to gain from watching a child at work.  While they can be distracted, if they are eager to accomplish something, there is no deterring them from their goal.  They have the will to work and it is admirable. Try interrupting them and you face a battle that is difficult to fight.  I am again humbled by the lessons children teach us and I used my observations to turn the tables on her later in the afternoon.  She tried her hardest to interrupt my goal of sorting and winding the floss, but I would not be deterred!


I was quietly thrilled to finally, after fifteen years, have that box of jewel toned embroidery floss ready for my work.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Envy

I read somewhere that you should pay attention to when you feel the green monster, called Envy, rise within you.  Envy helps us identify what it is that we want.  Paying attention to what we want is a national pastime, causing many a person to feel dissatisfied with what is in front of them.  I like to think of envy as far more useful, maybe setting us off in a direction that we might not ever consider.

Today I went to Toronto to visit my eldest daughter, Miss Mary.  She studies drawing and painting and is one of the greatest inspirations in my life.  She inherited my lackluster interest in "good housekeeping" and when I arrived today my son, Charlie, was drying his hands after washing her dishes that had been sitting for "awhile."  Nevertheless her freedom and passion for life supersedes and eclipses most anything that might offend the housekeeping police.

When Miss M was a baby, all I wanted to do was to take care of her.  To clothe her in dresses sewn by me and  sweaters knit by me.  I wanted to make her toys and baby food.  I wanted to make her books and paint the pictures to hang on her wall.  She was the greatest project I had ever created and the sun rose and set on her.  I really was not obsessed, I swear, although it may have seemed like that to the casual onlooker.  Anyways... all of these things that I wanted to do for Miss M required research and sourcing out of materials.  I remember wandering through Jo-Ann, worrying that the sewing and knitting arts surely must be fading away in the age of cheap imports.  Little did I know of the "crafting" phenomena that would result in these last twenty-years.

As we cleaned up Miss M's studio in her new apartment, affectionately known as the "Enchanted Rabbit Hole," I reflected back on years of making sure there was enough paper, paint, brushes, pencils, crayons, and yes....glue, for her creative appetite.  I felt a pang of envy washing over me.  As an art student, it is her job to work creatively, and I was envious.  My days are filled with many commitments and blessings, leaving little room for working creatively with paper, paints, brushes, pencils, and so on.  Working on Mary's studio was a reminder of what I want and reinforcement of why I am setting this hobby project as a priority.  I need to create, it helps me breathe, and when I don't create time to create, I can get very cranky.  Here's to Envy.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Inventory

Today I began the process of taking inventory of all my craft supplies and projects.  As I surveyed my studio, which is a very small extra bedroom in my house, I tried hard to keep breathing.  The efforts of Chinese New Year housecleaning were apparent.  Boxes were stacked in corners of the room, each containing the attempts to organize my raw materials.  While looking at the fabric box stack, I began to feel a knot in my back start to crank tight.  I turned away and surveyed the raw wool bags and boxes, evidence of my fascination with turning stuff that looks like cotton candy into beautifully posed animal and people.

I continued to move my head, lighting first on paintbrushes then the doll house I began for my oldest daughter fifteen years ago.  I finally focused on my desk.  It is a hand-me-down desk from my father-in-law.  It is solid maple with seven drawers. I began to fill those drawers eight years ago, while making costumes for a play that my class was performing.  I have never emptied those drawers.  Hmmmm..... it was time.  I began to unload them into a cardboard box and bring the contents to the dining room table.  After a half hour of transporting, I began to sort.


I threw away alot of old dried out paint, snipped threads, worn out paintbrushes, and bits of paper from old projects.  It felt great and as I puttered through the stuff, memories of intentions that were years old came into view, triggered by a collection of wooden finger puppet bases that I planned on making into a nativity set that my older two children could actually pick up and play with.  My older children are eighteen and twenty years old now.  Oh well, maybe someday they will have children that will play with that nativity set.

When the job of emptying and sorting was done, I had a desk with neatly organized drawers and a surface that held one of my most favorite appliances - my extremely wonderful Bernina sewing machine, that if there was a fire in my house, I do have a plan on how to save, after the kids and the dog, of course.  Now, I have to decide what projects to begin to work on.

Here is my first draft of the possibilities:
-that nativity set, carving stamps, wee felt and flower fairy folk, needle felting a cast of animals for my youngest daughter, wet felting those mittens for my oldest daughter, painting that unfinished furniture for the doll house, finish the large doll house, knit the shawl for me, knit the little opera jacket for my youngest, make soap, make lotion, finish the various embroidery  projects started, string the pearls brought home from China into necklaces, bobbin lace (hmmm... what is that you ask??  Later, later....), two quilts envisioned, soft dolls, hand painted games on canvas, wig and dress those darned bald and naked porcelain doll house dolls, use up all that broken pottery for stepping stone mosaics, knit those "toe-up" socks, paint the plaster fireplace for the aforementioned doll house, transform those beautiful hand marbled papers into books and cards and lastly take that twenty or so yards of wool roving and transform it into angels to grace every season.

Where to begin - it makes my head spin!!!  Oh, and by the way.... I found 27 bottles of glue and glue sticks in that stash......

Friday, February 18, 2011

Hoarding

Ok, I admit it.  I am a hoarder.  It is a deep seated behavior that has spawned many an amusingly tragic reality show and while I do not come near to some people, I do hoard.  I think it is spawned by a worry that if I don't get something when I see "it", "it" may not be there when I really might use "it" - this is my "just in case" scenario.  Or.... I won't have the money to buy "it" when I really want "it."  This is then compounded with a tendency to worry that if I use "it" up, then "it" won't be there when I want "it" again!! Hence the growing stash in my studio.

I know I am not alone with these dark shadows in my psyche - once when I was helping my youngest sister organize her children's school supplies I found over twenty-five bottles of glue!  When I confronted her on this, her response was, "I just always want to know I have glue if we need it!"  Duh....

I really don't think it is just me (and my sister).  How many of us have a secret stash of yarn, or fabric, or what not that we keep for a rainy day?? Or buy supplies for a project that we really have no time to do, just because it has the potential to become a symbol of the life we wish to live... "if I just had that beautiful thing in my life..... I would be living that fairytale life...."

The work that looms before me this weekend is kind of exciting.  I plan to take an inventory of all the unfinished projects and the many supplies in my studio and put together kits with those supplies for projects for the coming months.  I can't wait to see what comes together!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Point of Departure

I feel great and I certainly don't need therapy, right now anyways... But I do have a plethora of projects and materials bought when those blue moods passed through me.  I have a little doll house, created during a particularly down period that I call my "Cheaper than Therapy Doll House."  One difficult afternoon, when my very intense, youngest daughter was still a toddler, I was finding it difficult to do much more than feed and hold her. I put her down for a nap and was ready for a good cry.  Well, the tears didn't flow, because I was frankly too aware that I had waited for years for this child and I was not going to regret or feel overwhelmed by caring for her.

But, boy I did feel blue, so I decided I needed to find something to do with myself that would help me feel better.  I somehow knew that if I got my hands busy it would distract me from my blues. I couldn't leave the house, so while she napped, I flipped open my computer and began to cruise Ebay.  Ebay you ask, dear reader?  Well, being home, full time, with three children, made me very fluent in finding what I wanted, for the price I wanted.  I searched for "doll house" and Bingo!  A kit from the 1970's in its original box for $17.50.  Just what I wanted.  I went to sleep that night smiling, with visions of hours spent in relaxed crafting.

So how does this relate to my current journey?  Since I began that little doll house, over six years ago, I have accumulated many happy hours crafting and evidence that this type of work with your hands can bring you out of the doldrums.  I also accumulated many piles of material for many types of handwork - fabric, wood, yarn, thread, electrical supplies, wool roving, paint, papers, and piles and piles of books describing every possible hand craft.  All of this, I am ready to release to the world - a symbol that you can hold onto feelings and things or you can pass through them and send them on their way.


My goal is to spend the next year using up and completing the many things I have started or collected over the years.  I hope you enjoy my journey.