Salvador . . .

not crafty, but important!  meet sal (salvador), our newest addition.  he's a surreal looking dog so we named him after dali.  big bat ears, short pudgy legs, but cute as all get-out.

true collaboration . . .

i recently coordinated a project that required the artistic abilities of myself and my 2 kiddos.  they love to paint, so i let them, and we're all pretty happy with the final product.

step 1 - the little man

 he's 3, the youngest "collaborator", so he goes first.  i provided him with a canvas, a paint brush, and a tray of "cool" paint colors that he chose himself.  i limited my input to directing him to paint the white areas, and he really stepped up to the challenge.  he had a blast, and really did not think he should have to stop.
i know some people tarp off an area when they let their little ones paint.  i think it's more work that it's worth.  i put him in a t-shirt that was already stained, and that's as far as my prep went.  acrylic cleans up easily with a sponge.

step 2 - big sister

after step 1 was dry, i let the 10-year-old have her turn.  she got a palette of "warm" colors and she was free to doodle on the already-painted background.  i told her that some of her work would get covered up, so it was more about having fun than painting a picture.

and step 3 - making it work

would i have hung it on the wall as-is?  yes, probably.  i'm a mom, so all the stuff they make is precious.  but this was a set project, so there was my part to finish.

i was inspired by an image i found on pinterest, which seemed appropriate given the project.

i drew it out and then painted the sky and grass areas white before the blue/green.  the space between the hearts was a particular kind of torture.  then i went back in with a fine brush to do the black outline and then the white highlights.

i'm pretty proud of my fine brushwork.  it's definitely a developed skill and i'm finally comfortable with most any project requiring it.

jo

this is a day . . .

over the weekend my sweet baby girl took another step towards growing up . . . her first communion!  there's not anything quite so unsettling for a parent than to see their little girl dressed up like a bride at the age of 8.  *shivers*.  luckily they are not so strict with attire anymore, and so georgia and i did our own twist on the traditional garb.  now, i did not make her dress or the sweater, for lack of functioning sewing machine, but i did make the veil . . .

sure, it's not a "real" veil, but a traditional veil just looked silly with the dress.  plus, her hair is just so damn cute in a headband!  i'm having a small love affair with birdcage veils right now, anyways.

and also, the banner.  the kids are all required to make a banner for the event, but i don't know if the people in charge have ever asked an 8-year-old to make a banner before?  georgia and i talked about what it should look like and what things she wanted to include, but i fully admit that i did all the work.  at 8 she has no business using the super scizzors needed to cut felt, and i barely am capable of using a hot glue gun without hurting myself!

she's getting so big!

sigh.  off to go look through her baby pictures :(

jo

thanks you

first, a shout out to anyone who is reading this or anyone still "following" this poor, neglected blog.  i offer no excuses.  oh, well, maybe just one . . .

here he is, my grand excuse.  this is at 7 months, so sometime mid-january.  this little fox of mine started crawling sometime around christmas, but he really started to master the sport in january.

and then here . . .

8 months.  walking.  see how happy he is?  what you cannot see in my rapidly greying hair behind the camera.  that leaf he's holding?  i am sure it was in his mouth meer seconds after the image was captured.  please note that it was an unseasonably warm march day, and therefore the lack of footwear.

oh, and that's not all . . .

9 months.  attepting to defy gravity, and not in the awesome musical wicked way.  he's not being rotten, persay, he's being quick.  he's too quick.  and he is stealth.

one more shot of the boy just to show you how i get through the day:

yes, there he is.  stop it, stop it!  i cannot take the cuteness!  put it away!  when he calls me from jail one day this pic will be what gets me to bail him out.  but anyhow . . .

so i have my hands full.  it hasn't stopped me completely, but production is slower than normal.  i have also been doing a lot of creative cooking and baking so that i can be artsy while also feeding the fam.

here's something i've been working on:

i always see people on etsy selling t-shirt yarn, which made me desperately want to make a t-shirt scarf, which made me rip a perfectly good shirt from my closet and start cutting.

i was really escited about the possibilities offered by using a tie-dyed shirt for this (yes, i tie-dyed this one myself).  no way to know till i try!

ahhhh . . . the prettiest little ball of t-shirt yarn in the whole wide world.  did i mention little?  yeah, i was a little afeared when i saw how tiny it was, so i opted for a skinny scarf for my first go at this. 

i've started knitting, and while i haven't gotten very far, this is what it looks like:

i kinda love it.  hopefully a final product post will be coming soon!

i've completed a couple other scarves, but they need a little embellishing still.  lots of in-process projects!

no telling when i will return, but i promise that when i do there will be more lovliness than you can handle.  deal?

jo

day of rest?

not for me!  sundays are the day i use to catch up with life.  i ran errands and cleaned house and organized and cooked the day away.  and then, when dinner was done and my surroundings were less horrible than they were this morning, and the babe was asleep, and i finally had an opportunity to be artistic and make loveliness . . . i decided to take my kiddos on a walk.

my babies!  no criticism of the picture as it was taken with my phone.

i've lived in this town since i was five, and as long as i can recall it has been the walking-est town i know of.  everyone walks.  we live about 2 blocks off the main street and within walking distance of 4 parks (with playgrounds), and while we are less than satisfied with the building in which we reside, we are completely in love with our 'home'.

so we walked and rolled.  the weather was g o r g e o u s, which is oh so rare for st louis.  my sweet husband even came out and joined us for a bit.  it was wonderful.

my apologies for the lack of project.  i only hope you got a moment of joy from your day as i did mine.

good night.

jo