Valentine

Mama bird and baby bird. tweet tweet. "Will you be my valentine?"
I painted this when I was pregnant with Felix. I painted through the morning sickness and wondered about my baby. "Who are you, my love?"


Felix painted this the other day and declared it a Valentine flower. He banned me from the room while he worked, since I kept making suggestions. Good boy!

key key

This was a really fun project that Felix and I worked on together. He picked out the project he wanted to make (we also made a frog but I can't find it). I drew the key on the felt and Felix cut it out. He had a hard time with the little turns on the key so I helped out with my sharp scissors. Then, he glued the pieces together and drew the face. I showed him how to sew. He did pretty good with some guidance but he got tired quickly so I finished it. We were able to complete the project quickly and he's been wearing the key as a necklace ever since.
The pattern, or directions are in the book Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo.





Next, he wants to make a bag and decorate it with cute faces. I wish I had a good stash of wool felt. We used the cheap craft felt from Michaels and it's not holding up. I'm having a hard time (it's expensive) ordering the good stuff. On the other hand, I'm sure it's worth it, since the projects will be made with the best materials...something I believe in.

magical tree of everything

-click the photo for bigger magic trees!

Here are a few of the paintings that were done in the Magical Tree of Everything class.

edited to add: teacher abira ali's flickr set with all the paintings from her wonderful class.

painting together

painting together, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

Felix and I have been painting together. We’re taking a class called "the magical tree of everything" and last Wednesday we painted trees that were very different yet looked so harmonious and connected. I was inspired and Felix said he had a lot of fun. This morning he wanted to paint together. It’s so hot outside I was grateful to stay inside.

boys do knit

Last weekend Felix helped his dad make a wood box for my sewing machine. It was a surprise. My sewing machine came with a flimsy plastic cover and I think Johnny was tired of looking at it on the shelf. I didn't want to store it on the floor in the closet. But, now I can. Anyway. Felix helped make this box. He hammered nails, and sanded the wood and other stuff too; and he was so proud of himself. We were all proud.


The little striped toy is named Tiny and he made it out of a sock filled with stuffing, eyes are glued on and a string is tied at the “neck”. It’s a great project for a four year old. He’s been carrying Tiny around all week.


I got to thinking, if Felix can work with wood, why couldn’t he start learning to knit? My mom taught me to knit when I was eight so I had that age in mind for teaching my child to knit. Nevertheless I already own a great book for kids knitting appropriately titled Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick.

I asked Felix is he wanted to learn knitting. “YES Mommy!”
Off to a good start, I handed him knitting needles and yarn, I cast on a few stitches and started to show him the motions.

“Now I’m a granny momma.”
What?! Not that I have anything against grannies, but where did that come from? Must have been TV. So, I said, “Boys knit too, and I knit everyday and I’m not a granny”.
He giggled and said, “BOYS DON’T KNIT”.
Yes they do! I showed him the pictures of boys knitting from the kids knitting book. It helped my case a lot to see boys knitting, and lots of kids knitting too. He was excited.


The first lesson ended shortly after that when frustration set in, that his sticks weren’t going to be immediately flying through the yarn. He gave it a good try.
I asked him the next day if he wanted to knit. He did but said he wanted to do it "by myself" and when that didn’t work out he ran out of the room.

flowers

I mentioned in the last post that I spent the weekend crocheting. I had a blast of inspiration. In my mind I kept seeing large flower pins. Do people still wear these? I don't know but they sure were fun to make! Some of the materials used: lace weight mohair, orange thrifted button, and star sequins.


The tender heart back of the yellow flower. Red wool felt sewn to blue/green/yellow silk yarn. It looks nice without the pin but how will it stay up without it?


Mohair, alpaca, sequins, bead, ochre felt


mohair, wool, sequins, felt, button


cashmere, button, tweed, mohair, sequins


angora, tweed, button, sequins

All pins are about 4".

god's eyes

Collecting the sticks was really fun. Felix and I took a long walk in the park. We saw a lot of dogs, ran into old friends, listened to the birds and looked at the view from the top of the hill. In one direction was the downtown skyline, in the other direction was the 5 freeway. Cars driving on the freeway look pretty when seen from above.

Our stick gathering expedition had a purpse. We want to make god's eyes to decorate the house for Christmas.


Click the picture above to see it BIGGER.

Here are the ones we have made so far. WOW I have a huge yarn stash. So far I dipped into my Brown Sheep Nature Spun bags because I like the bright colors and the weight of the yarn. I also used some lace weight mohair and a sequined carry along thread.


Johnny wants to make a multidimensional star. I'll write another post after we have more and the tree is up.