Time flies

This little boy turned one last week. And not content with becoming a toddler in age only, he has since learned to walk and said his first word: "dog" (or his first word besides "uh-oh" and "wow" which don't seem to count.)
He's brought so much joy to my life and it's hard to remember the person I was just 12 short months ago. I've learned so much -- about patience and gratitude and flexibility. And I feel so lucky to know this happy, cuddly, outgoing, energetic, jolly, funny little person.
Happy Birthday, sweet boy. Many blessings and endless love.

Okay, I know I promised you a cocktail, but this procrastinator has to finish her mother's day presents, so drinking is going to have to wait. But don't worry, here's a nice easy project in case you (like me) waited until the last minute -- it won't take long, and afterward we'll get back to that cocktail!




Freezer Paper Stencil Silhouette
I'm not going to go into too much detail here about either the freezer paper stenciling because there are lots of other great tutorials out there on those subjects. I referenced this one and this one.

First, gather your materials: freezer paper, pencil, craft knife or small sharp scissors, iron, fabric paint, a digital or print photo of your subject in profile, and something fabric to print onto. I'm making reversible tote bags with Skip to my Lou's tutorial.

Because I'm a bit too lazy, I didn't want to print out my photo so I chose the easy way: I opened my photo in photoshop, cropped it and zoomed in until it was the size I wanted -- about 4" high. Then, using the Pioneer Woman's free photoshop actions, I hit "define and sharpen" a few times until I had a nice distinct profile.



Next I cut a square of freezer paper a few inches larger than my image, held it up to the screen, and very carefully and very lightly traced it in pencil. Hey, presto, you've got a light box! If you try this lazy woman's method, please don't press too hard with your pencil or you'll damage your screen.



Now clean up your tracing lines: simplify the hairdo, add details (eyelashes, hair bows, etc), and make a nice curved line below the neck.



Carefully cut out your design. I've found it's easier to move the paper rather than the knife when cutting curved lines and fine details. If you cut carefully, you'll be able to use both the positive and the negative pieces as stencils.



Next iron your stencils onto your fabric. It's also a good idea to iron a piece of freezer paper onto the back of the fabric to keep the paint from bleeding. Make sure your iron is set to a dry setting, but high heat is okay.

Paint using fabric paint. I like the Jacquard brand; I get it from my local art store but it's also available all over online. If you're painting on a dark background, it's worth searching out Jacquard's Neopaque line. Use a foam brush or sponge and dab the paint on. Now test your patience and let the paint dry to touch, recoat, and allow to dry completely overnight before peeling off the stencil.


here's the positive image...


and the negative image

After a bit of sewing, you've got a beautiful homemade gift, perfect for those doting grandmothers to show off at the market. Now if I could just figure out how to get one to Finn's Oma in the Netherlands today...

We're Getting Bees!

We had our first class yesterday and my head is spinning a bit with all the information.


Our teacher, the "Outlaw Beekeeper" of Sonoma County



By the end of the season, we could have 80 pounds of honey. To get that honey, the worker bees will have flown 4,400,000 miles (that's more than nine round-trip visits to the moon) and visited 160,000,000 flowers! Whew!



Our queen and her brood should be ready to come home with us next week.
Do you see the queen?



We all held one of the bee-covered frames; it's surprising how calm the bees on the frame are, but with other bees flying all around, it was still exhilarating and a little terrifying.


Tiana and Leandra hold bees for the very first time

Have any of you kept bees? Any advice for us novices?

Fabric Flower Garlands

My beautiful little sister Leandra is getting married here in June so there's been a lot of gardening, crafting, building, and cement pouring happening these last few weeks. We had a little party for her over the weekend; all the girls got together to help her get a start on some of the decorations. It was really just an excuse to try out potential "signature cocktails" but we also got a little (easy!) crafting done. I wanted to feature one of the projects here: these little fabric flower garlands. They're super simple to make, require almost no sewing and (just like my sweet sister) are so pretty and joyful. So grab a bit of fabric, some ribbon, and a needle and thread and let's get started.



First: cut a strip of fabric as wide as you want your flowers to be. Fold it up, lay something round on top (a jar lid or drinking glass works great) and trace a circle.



Cut 8 to 12 circles out, don't worry about being precise here.



Grab one circle and fold it into quarters so that it makes a little point.



Run your threaded needle through the point of the folded circle. Don't worry if you don't have matching thread, it won't really show.



Keep adding folded circles, just like stringing beads on a necklace, until you've got 10 or 12 circles together.



Tie off your string, fluff up the circles, and like magic you've got a flower! Now make a couple more flowers in lots of beautiful colors.



Attach the flowers to ribbon with a little "x" of two stitches.



Now hang it up and get ready to party!



Stay tuned for a recipe for the chosen cocktail...

Dirt under our fingernails

Spring has already arrived in our blessed part of the world and today we finally got out into the garden to give it some much needed attention. Turns out Finn is a pretty natural gardener: he went right to work pulling some of the dinosaur-sized weeds that have been growing up all winter.







(It's a good thing these "weeds" are edible!)

What I've been up to

There hasn't been much crafty posting here, but there has been a fair amount of crafting ("fair amount" considering the traveling and parenting that's also been going on.) I find that when my crafting time is limited, it can be really nice to use a tutorial. No second guessing or starting over or craftfails -- and lots of nearly instant gratification.  I've been using some wonderful free tutorials and patterns from the internet and it's been so easy and rewarding. So here's a linky lineup in case you're in need of a quick crafty fix too.

Cooking
Well, not exactly cooking, but playing with food. I've been making my own chai latte mix (like the one from Trader Joe's but better!) loosely based on this recipe. I gave jars of it away as stocking stuffers at Christmas and it's been a big hit.

I leave out the instant tea (ew.) but the recipe still calls for non-dairy creamer (scary stuff.) so I'm thinking about trying this recipe which calls for sweetened condensed milk instead (I can get a nice organic version at my local grocer.)

Sewing
For my dear friend Beth's birthday, I made a reversible tote bag from Skip to my Lou. I made mine a wee bit bigger and finished it off with an apple print with an appliqued leaf.


I put a few goodies for Beth's beautiful baby Jonah in the bag: a ball from felted wool sweaters and a flannel crinkly square using an old baby wipes package...  The crinkly square especially is perfect: it only took about 10 minutes to make, saved an old diaper wipes package from the garbage, and (most importantly!) it was such a hit I had to make Finn one too.  It's become my go-to last minute baby gift.


I've also been whipping up a bunch of these super easy wool pants for Finn.

They're made from the sleeves of adult-sized felted sweaters and they seriously only take a couple of minutes to throw together. Wool is a perfect material for diaper covering as it's naturally antibacterial and absorbent without feeling wet. Plus you can add fun and easy (no unraveled edges) appliques. I'm kicking myself for not keeping all the shrunken sweaters I've sent to the Goodwill over the years!

Knitting
I've been knitting too, several as yet unfinished projects -- and these ones are (almost) all for me! I'm making a simple sleeveless cardigan, the Shalom Cardigan from Involving the Senses.
Finn's helping with this one:


Also a Burberry-inspired cowl (every girl needs a little luxury, especially if it's homemade and $720 less than the Burberry version.)


And I'm finally attempting an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, the Baby Surprise Jacket), just in time for Finn not to fit it at all.


And I haven't cast on for the last project yet but I just had to show you this yarn: Malabrigo Merino Twist, isn't it beautiful?

I'm thinking some sort of slouchy beret for myself. Perhaps the Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret or maybe the Grace Lace Beret. Do you have any suggestions?

Any other good (quick and easy) tutorials I should be looking at? What are you working on?

Walking between raindrops

Finn and I have been taking advantage of those lovely hours between rainstorms. We've been walking a lot and enjoying the lush greenery, the swollen creeks and the squelchy mud. We don't talk much when we walk; my normally chatty little man gets very quiet and just looks around. And up, he loves to look up at the very tall redwoods. I imagine that he is experiencing awe and wonderment for the first time and I'm reminded to allow those emotions into my life again too.

So here, without much chatter, are some of the wonderful things we've been seeing.