Spring Rummaging

There are some things that are just better when shared with a friend, especially if that friend also happens to be your daughter.  One tradition that my daughter and I have come to share is our bi-annual trip to a large rummage sale held in a nearby town.  My daughter, who lives in Maryland with her husband, makes the pilgrimmage to New Jersey this time each spring, to share this exciting adventure with me.

It began on Thursday evening.  Dana and her adorably sweet, dog, Laila, travelled from Maryland to New Jersey after work.  I organized her old room which has since become my craft room, pushed aside the inventory of my Artfire shop, unplugged the sewing machine, and cleared off her bed.  She arrived at around 11:00 PM, tired from a long day at work and driving nearly four hours, but happy to see me, my husband and our 2 dogs.
It's nice to have her back in her room, shuffling around in her mismatched socks that she pulls out of her lingerie drawer still holding a few remnants of her youthful wardrobe.  For a few days, we are back to how life used to be.  It's great to have her back home, if even just for a few days.
I take a personal day for this event.  I NEVER take a day off from my teaching job, and my students can't believe I am actually leaving them to take a personal day.   But, I think this special time with my daughter warrants a day away from my students, and although I feel a little like I am playing hooky,( because that's just my strict work ethic), I reassure myself that it's ok to take 2 days a year off from school.
We rose fairly early on Friday morning, and dressed for the weather.  It always seems to rain the day we go, but Dana donned her rainboots and I put on my old sneakers, we grabbed some cloth bags to hold our treasures and headed off to the rummage sale.
It was crowded, as usual, with the parking section of the fairgrounds lined with cars , but we managed to find a space amidst the large, muddy puddles and headed off to the tents, plotting out our plan of which tents to visit first and what we intended to purchase in each one.
We began in the dry goods tent, weaving through the narrow aisles grabbing any fabric we felt would best suit our needs.  I found some gingham and tiny prints for a few baby projects.  Dana found some very cute beige fabric with tiny blue bird silhouettes that she thought would make an adorable baby skirt.  I am tucking that one away for my future grandaughter, when and if she ever comes into our lives.  Dana found some very nice upholstery fabric scraps to cover a chair pad.  She has a very descrimating eye, being a graphic designer.  Being an artist, crafter and art teacher, I am always planning my next project, and I am always on the lookout for just the right fabric to use in any or all of my projects at school, or at home.

We continued on to the vintage, arts and crafts, holiday and jewelry tents, picking up a few items along the way.  Our last stop was the kitchen tent where I picked up some teapots and plates to use for the Senior Breakfast at the end of May.  As freshman class moderator, I work with the freshman student council to host a themed breakfast for the senior class.  This year our theme is "Mad Hatter's Tea Party".  I found exactly what I was looking for...an eccletic assortment of interesting teapots and plates.  As we juggled these items, my daughter found a cast iron fondue pot.  We were quite a sight with this weird assortment of items, standing in line, balancing the awkward and heavy kitchenware.
After checking out, Dana strapped our 3 bags across her back and headed back to the car.  I lagged behind toting the box of teapots and plates, stopping every few feet to regroup.  Tired and muddy, we headed back to my house chatting all the way home about our purchases, and how little money we spent on such great buys, and planning the best time to come for our trip back for the fall sale.
A week before Mother's Day, this was the most perfect early Mother's Day gift I could have gotten from my daughter.  As I get older, I appreciate time spent with my kids more because I see them less.  It was a very special day, and a very special weekend, rummaging with my "friend".

Growing in Leaps and Bounds!

I have 7 grandnieces and nephews.  The youngest of the 7 will be celebrating his very first birthday next week and my husband and I will be attending his party.  I love to make something for these occasions because I feel it is a unique and special way of commemorating a special day. It will be a one of a kind gift and since I always second guess anything I buy as a gift, I know that something handmade is a perfect and confident choice for me.

 I thought long and hard about what exactly I would make for a one year old boy.  I made him a personalized stool for his christening.  I made him some appliqued onesies when he was born, so what could I possibly make him that would be useful and attractive?  Hmmm....a growth chart!
So I took a trip to the hardware store and bought a canvas dropcloth.  I use drop cloths for art projects with my students and love the color, texture and durability, not to mention the cost!

I toyed around with different themes appropriate for boys such as space, cars, forest animals, etc., but decided on frogs.
I cut and hemmed the cloth, sketched out the design, added the calibrations and painted.  I added some polka dotted ribbon to the sides for a little contrast and pattern, a dowel to which I will a a cord to hang it and 2 large beads to keep the cord from slipping off and, "voila", I have a perfect handmade gift for my little grandnephew!

The finishing touch will be a little message on the back signed and dated by me.  Happy 1st Birthday, Michael!

A Few of My Favorite Things

It's time for me to write about one of my favorite things, teddy bears.   I don't know when my obsession began, but for as long as I can remember, I have always been enamored of those furry, chubby cheeked, shiny black eyed huggable creatures.  They surround me everyday, in my bedroom on a wicker trunk, in my den on an old fashioned record player and on a shelf in my kitchen. There's something very comforting about having them around.

One thing I like about as much as I like looking at my teddy bears, is painting them.  In addition to painting the bears on my Christmas ornaments, I also paint bears on children's stools.  Although I usually do a sketch before I begin painting, sometimes I just begin with a rough idea and let the muses lead me where they will. 

I recently painted stools for a set of quadruplets, 2 boys and 2 girls.  I painted a fairy bear in a garden of flowers and butterflies for Lily, a bumble bee bear in a garden of sunflowers and bees for Edda, a sailor bear with a toy boat and anchor for Timmy, and my favorite, a fisherman bear with fish and frogs for Wyatt.  The woman who commissioned me to paint these stools is a friend and former colleague of mine for whom I have painted several ornaments, stools, rocking chairs and a table for her grandchildren.  I have painted lots of different bears for her, so I wanted to do something different for these four stools.

Although I will paint a copy of one of my stools for someone if they ask, I enjoy the challenge of creating new and different themes because each bear I paint has a slightly different look, different color fur, and no two are alike.  Each has its own personality and sometimes I don't know what the bear will become until I begin to paint.  Another colleague of mine, who uses my stools as her go-to baby gift, simply tells me the child's name, lets me know what the mom or dad's hobbies or favorite sports are or where they went to school, etc., and lets me take it from there.  Sometimes people just tell me colors and the sex of the child and let me do my own thing.  Those are my favorite stools to paint.

It's a wonderfully creative process for me to go through each time I paint.  Although I've been doing this a long time, I never tire of the journey!

Babies in Bloom

About a month ago, one of my nieces approached me about creating centerpieces for her sister-in-law's baby shower.  She is having twins!
Since I created the centerpieces for my daughter's wedding, this was something I enjoy doing, and could definitely have fun with. I have also been creating centerpieces for my high school's "Senior Breakfast" every year for the past 20 years.  It's alway a challenge coming up with new theme ideas each year with the freshman class student council who hosts the event.

I got busy sketching on my tablet computer and came up with some fun ideas for the baby shower centerpieces, which I then sent to my niece for approval.  Although she liked all the ideas, she especially liked the one I did using a topiary form.  I filed away the other sketches because my daughter's friends, after a year or two of marriage are starting families one by one, so I'm sure I may again be called upon to create a few, if not for her friends, then one day for my future grandchild's shower!
I had to make eight centerpieces and after many hours of making each flower with tiny pearl bead centers and gluing them to the topiary ball, wrapping ribbons around the dowel, painting the pots and adding Spanish moss, I was finally finished.

It was time consuming, but fun, and the resulting centerpieces, I must admit, came out very well.

Embroidery Hoop-la!

I haven't written about my Sewing Club in awhile.  The fall is usually bustling with club activity, however,the winter months tend to become very slow as special activities and winter sports begin. Then comes spring and all the wonderful things that come with it, more sports, the spring play and the temptation of sitting at the picnic tables outside having a snack and just spending time with friends after school.   This seems to happen every year. Once students become involved in a sport or activity that keeps them from coming for a few months, they get out of the routine of attending meetings on a regular basis and seldom return .  But I do have between 7-12 students who come faithfully out of the 25 I began the school year with.   That's not necessarily a bad thing.  I am free to work with the students on the sewing machines more and do more intricate projects.  With fewer girls, I can help everyone and there isn't a line for the sewing machines.

 I found this idea that was quick and easy, something that the girls could complete in 1 or 2 meetings.  I tried it myself and was very pleased with the results. I like to give the students a few options, since some projects require several meetings to complete and they may get tired of working so long on the same project.

My club is making this "Embroidery Hoop Wall Pocket".  A few girls are done or have cut out their circles to date.  Other girls are finishing up past projects.  I am glad they are sewing and happy with what they are doing, which is the main purpose of the club, well that, and learning a little bit about sewing along the way.

I have moved the embroidery hoop idea into my own work as well.  When I was young, I was constantly engaged in some art or craft activity.  I painted, drew, sewed, knitted, crocheted and crafted.  I loved embroidery and  used a hoop when I embroidered. The embroidery hoop is making a comeback in the crafting world in a more decorative capacity, as a frame for letters, or as a showcase for pretty fabric. 

I decided one winter Friday afternoon, that as long as I was going to be indoors the following day due to one of the rare impending winter snow storms, I would get a 12 inch hoop and see what I could create.  I decided to paint on muslin.  I painted this cute little owl perched on a button adorned tree limb with flags hanging overhead ready to be personalized, a letter in each flag. 

It's funny how one thing leads to another, one inspiration leads to another just like a wonderfully creative chain reaction!  I also love how my inspirations at school lead into my inspirations in my own work.  I am seldom at a loss for ideas wherever I am!

Gifts

My mom is turning 89 this week.  I would be remiss if I didn’t include her in my blog of inspirations because she was my first, and continues to be my strongest, source of inspiration.  I love her dearly, and would like to thank her for being my muse throughout my artistic life.

I have an incredibly gifted life.  True, I may not have a lot of money, fame or luck, but I have many gifts in my life for which I am eternally grateful.

 I grew up in a great family.  Yes, we have had our issues, as all families do, but I have wonderful memories, strong values and faith in God.  These gifts were all given to me by my mom and dad.  The things I remember most about our family of 6 ( mom, dad, 3 kids, and a grandma), are things like helping my grandmother prepare and serve snacks for my parents’ card parties when it was their turn to host the monthly neighborhood get together.  I remember my mom teaching me how to sew on the sewing machine, my grandmother teaching me how to crochet and my dad playing his music on the record player in our finished basement.

Mom has always been the rock in our family.  The quieter, calmer of the two parents, Mom was the one who held our secrets, gave us advice and had the patience to teach us things like driving a car.  When I had to commute to our state college because of the housing shortage first semester freshman year, Mom worked and I didn’t have a car, so she drove me a half hour each way, every day to school.  That’s dedication.  I remember lots of shopping trips on Saturdays with Mom and Gram which always ended with lunch at the diner.  I attribute my love of sewing, and crafts to my mom who loved to do both. Mom was always making something, sewing up stuffed animals, making Christmas tree decorations or making clothes for herself, my sister, or me.   My gram was a great cook and baker and Mom inherited those talents as well.

She is a true supporter of the arts (or at least my art).  She and Dad encouraged me throughout my creative life.  Mom wore every creation I crocheted or knitted, good, or bad.   She hung every picture I ever drew, and displayed every Christmas door decoration and ornament I ever made.  Looking back on all of that, she deserves a medal for bearing with me as I struggled to become the experienced artist and crafter I am today.  Thanks, Mom.

Mom is a modern woman.  She is a handy-“woman”.  There is seemingly no tool she hasn’t touched, no part of her house she hasn’t painted, and no toilet she hasn’t fixed.  She is always searching (and I mean searching because her house is spotless) for things to repair or clean in her house.  She has a computer ( did I mention she is turning 89?).  Mom was a secretary, so she is no stranger to the keyboard.  She picked up the tricks of surfing the net, reads her email every day, views photos sent to her by her kids and grandkids, checks the news, visits my online shop and reads my blog (thanks, Mom),checks the news and the weather, and changes her backgrounds to match the seasons.  She shops online, prints out recipes and plays games.  Did I mention she was turning 89?  Mom is a marvel and she is the most treasured, beloved and most unique of all of my gifts.  I thank God each day for all my gifts, especially for her.  Happy 89^th Birthday, Mom!

Kid's Room Painting Inspiration

I am an art teacher, but I am also a crafter and I love to try out just about any craft idea that comes my way.  I have to do it, and I have to do it now, which also means I don't always have the right materials for the project, but since I have been doing this for a very long time, I welcome any opportunity to improvise.  I have taught painting and drawing for many years and love to incorporate both into my craftwork as well.  There are lots of crafters who are not artists, but I consider myself lucky to be able to do both.

 I found a site that got my wheels turning, and although I got inspiration from this project, I turned it around to be my own.  I handpaint stools mostly with my favorite theme, teddy bears, and personalize them, so this project was not a far cry from what I usually do, only on a different surface.  My daughter, although a few years away from starting a family, had mentioned she liked the name Ava, so I chose that name as the departure point for this first personalized painting.  I formulated a theme as I was painting a background, made a bear fairy template using a member of my bear collection as a model, and began working.  I am always amazed at how my original idea undergoes a metamorphosis along the way.  It's added to, subtracted from,and tweaked until I reach the desired result.

I was very happy with personalized painting #1, but during another of my nights of waking up at least 4 times, a thought came to me and I began a second child's room painting, this time using the word imagine.
I wrote the word out using various fonts for each letter, turned the i into a tree, added some fanciful creatures interacting with the word, some glitter paint and finished painting #2.  I forgot how much I love painting, since I often go back and forth between mediums.  I don't teach painting this year.  With the advent of graphic design, I have been busily teaching several classes of graphic art and don't get much of a chance to paint anymore.  So when the opportunity presents itself, I fall in love all over again. 

This weekend is supposed to be a snowy one, so I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will be staying in, doing laundry, vacuuming, shoveling the driveway, but, best of all, planning out my next project.  Today I will make a quick stop at the craft store to pick up a few things I might need, then to the grocery store to join the "stock up  before the storm" crowd and I will be all set to begin my next adventure!