Thoughtful Friday

Summer afternoon-Summer afternoon...the two most beautiful words in the English language.
--Henry James

Happy Father's Day!

I couldn't have asked for a better dad for my little girl. Adam, you're the best dad in the world and you rock most hardcore. We love you.

a little shameless self promotion

Customized zombies are now available at the Orphanage! Design a zombified version of yourself, your significant other, your mother in law, or give one as a gift to your social deviant friend.

A day with the Fae

Today Autumn and I went to the Maryland Faerie Festival for a day of magic, fantasy, and frickin' cute costumes. Of course I made said frickin' cute costumes, and of course I waited until the day before the festival to finish them.
Just call me Procrastinatia, faerie of the Eleventh Hour.
Can I just say those wings were a real pain in the tush? It took several failed attempts before I finally got them right, but I'm super happy with the results. Autumn requested "a shirt and pants with blue on the top and orange on the bottom" so rather than buying more fabric, I whipped up a pillowcase top and bloomers with some cream colored cotton from my stash and dyed the outfit to her specifications. She was thrilled. As for my outfit, I repurposed an old dryad costume I made for Adam's LARP 2 years ago and paired it with a cheap tank top from H&M. If it hadn't been so dang hot I would have worn my stripey tights, a la Amy Brown, but I think I would have melted. It was easily 90 degrees there, if not hotter.
Despite the heat the festival was loads of fun. There were beautiful bellydancers...
a wishing forest where we wrote our wishes on strips of cloth and tied them to the trees...a magic show in which Autumn participated...
even a unicorn (or a horse in a party hat, if you ask Autumn)
We spent a good 4 hours there before the heat really started getting to us, but that was plenty of time to walk around and take everything in. Autumn brought home a balloon animal and a handmade bubble wand shaped like a butterfly. As for my souvenir? Well, I brought home this.Yeah. It burns. I even have polka dots where I had glued rhinestones onto my skin. Snazzy. But hey, it was worth it.

Crafts for my Kid

As the name implies, Craftster's Craft for my Kid Swap is a swap in which partners send handmade cuteness to each other's children based on their interests. I was partnered with a lovely mama in the UK and her two kiddos, 5-year-old Luke and 3-year-old Abby.

As I was running out the door to take their package to the post office today, I saw that our package had already been delivered! Of course Autumn had to tear into it as soon as we got home, but first here's what I made for our partners.

Drawstring backpacks-pink hearts for Abby and Transformers for Luke.

Abby's was filled with star shaped crayons, an apron and matching potholders for kitchen play. I absolutely love that apron fabric, especially paired with the aqua blue trim. Luckily I bought extra so I can make something for myself with it later on.


For Luke I sent a mixed media painting to hang in his bedroom, a "Super Luke" cape (which was photographed before ironing), and my favorite, a Power Rangers tee. Can you tell I used this swap to experiment with applique?

Autumn also drew pictures for each of them, which I forgot to photograph. She drew a family of pink and green fairies and Optimus Prime. And now what Autumn received:

A Transformers purse (how funny that we both made things with felt Transformers appliques) filled with chocolate coins, jewelry, fun erasers and a tiny pirate photo holder

A Spiderman tee (Autumn's favorite)

A picture frame, Transformers magnet puzzle, and a piratey door hanger

An adorable rainbow sock monkey

A sweet polka dotted dress, an inflatable shoulder parrot (awesome) and a little sewing kit

Needless to say, this swap was a lot of fun and I had an AMAZING partner. Everyone says Craftster swaps are addictive, and I'm beginning to see what they mean. I'm already signed up for another one for next month, and I'm thinking about joining another (or two or three).

Thoughtful Friday

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."

--Jane Howard

Thanks to Cassi at Bella Dia for starting Thoughtful Fridays. Glad to join in.

Portrait of an imaginary friend

Autumn's friend Cera is five years old and she lives in our pantry. She has pink hair (wonder where she got that from) and a blue mustache, and she loves to surf. Cera is invisible (or, to be politically correct, visibility impaired) and can only be seen if you become invisible yourself. Since most people don't know how to become invisible, Cera asked me to paint her portrait so everyone can see what she looks like.


Who knew a girl with a mustache could look so cute?

Painting has become my newest accidental hobby. I bought a few 11"x 14" canvas panels on a shopping trip with Faye, thinking I might try out a variation of a cute craft project I saw on Martha's show. Instead, one of the panels turned into a painting for a swap I'm working on (more on that later), and it ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I had always wanted to experiment with painting, but thought to myself, I'm not an artist. I'm not talented in that way. As it turns out, I'm not too shabby. Cera's painting isn't quite finished yet. That top left bit of empty sky is begging for something pretty. I'm just not sure what it is.

What I love most about painting is the evolution that takes place, from the first sketch to the final product. You start with a basic idea (or in this case, Autumn provides one), a simple line drawing, and the artwork tells you where it wants to go from there. It may start out one way and go in a completely different direction by the time you're halfway through. It may change and evolve over hours or days. You add a new color here, some shading there, walk away for a little while, and when you come back you add more until it's absolutely finished.

At least, that's how it works for me. I'm no professional. My art will never be hung in galleries or museums. My art is just simple and whimsical and silly, and it makes for a unique addition to our home decor. But it's satisfying in a way that's different from sewing or any of the crafty things I do, really. It's more personal.

So to those of you who have always thought you have no artistic ability, to those who gave up on creating art or never even tried because you don't feel like you're good enough, shut up and paint! Whether you make stick figures or an award winning masterpiece, it's art because it's you, and you are amazing. As Suzi Blu says, you are an artist. You are. You just have to recognize it.