Inspiration

Today I had a date with the lovely Miss K to go downtown to The Museum Of Contemporary Craft. We saw an exhibit by Mandy Greer, an artist that works with textiles and fibers. Really interesting pieces done in miles of crocheted ropes, beads, buttons and other mediums. I really enjoyed the exhibit and it gave me some curious ideas.

Then, we strolled around downtown Portland going into galleries, stopping for coffee and french pastry. We talked about the art that we saw, our own art and all the creative processing and handicaps we share. As we sat on the park bench talking, I realized that I hadn't done this sort of thing in ages and ages. It was a blast and I made a mental note to do this sort of thing more often. It was inspiring and grounding both. It got my wheels turning and reminded me that sometimes we must dare.

We ended our adventure by making a craft date for this coming Tuesday. I will be sure to fill you in on the making and the mess after it happens.
It was a good day.

Communication Breakdown, School is Cancelled And I Don't Know Jack

My Internet has been wonky of late so I have not been able to post the last few days, hopefully I can get through this one without being booted off. It's been going on for months and we have finally broken down and decided to do something about it. I am optimistic that by by Thursday evening we will have a nifty cable installed and all our surfing will continue unimpeded.

So, preschool was cancelled this morning because teacher Joyce got the flu, poor dear. This put the whole day off kilter. Today is my husbands birthday. Happy B-day Love! I was planning on spending my childless couple of hours searching for the perfect gift (I know, way to put off 'till the last minute) but, bringing my sweet girl to a wood crafting store for an hour is a recipe for disaster. I really did try to search out the coveted #5 Jack Plane for my sweety, or the equally sought after Fore Plane (wood working hand tools for those of you wondering)but, the sources for used tools around here are limited and I don't know just what I'm looking for in a good used tool. So yes, it turns out I don't know Jack.

Well, it's tradition around here to make the birthday boy (or girl) the dinner of their choice so, I'm off to the store to get fixuns for Chicken Fried Steak and Mashed Potatoes. Until next time I thought I would randomly leave you with some of the more "arty" pictures from our trip.
A monster tree
Impenetrable Bamboo Forest
Curly Eucalyptus
/>Red Dirt Path to the Sea ...and a Hawaiian goat for Claire

Pink Stinks...Or Not

When I was a little girl my favorite color was pink, but only by default - because purple was already taken. My older brother's favorite color was purple and he was not particularly good at sharing. He refused to allow his little sister to share the same favorite color as himself so, pink it was. I grew to be wild for pink. When I was eight, my father built our crazy house in the woods and I got to pick out my carpet and wall paper. Yup, you guessed it, pink and pink - with a crystal chandelier to boot, hanging from the raw timber ceiling - if you can imagine. Over the years however; my passion for pink subsided, then died away, and then turned into outright loathing. I think it may have had something to do with teenage angst and a rebellion against the pink pastel sweaters my mother was always forcing upon me. In any case, my aversion to pink continued well into my early adult years.
Over time, my feelings about pink simply became ambivalent. I am not especially drawn to it. I own one shirt that may be considered to be in the pink family but, beyond that I don't give it much thought. That is, until recently...

Right now I have pink on the brain. My next project is my daughter's Birthday Dress. She has only a few specific requests:
1. It must be PINK
2. It must be twirly
3. It must have an under skirt that is also PINK
4. It must have ribbon and fluffle (ruffle) that are PINK
Well, the girl knows what she likes.
So, I have been on a mad hunt to stockpile my remarkably pink less stash with all things girly and PINK. Now, I just have to figure out how it will all come together in one super-duper 4 year old worthy masterpiece. Ummm...sure.
Wish me luck.

Pili lani - Close to Heaven

I'm back! What an amazing adventure we had on our vacation to Hawaii. I was reminded of how much I love the islands, what an incredible place. It hits you as you come off the plane, that tropical air, the sights and sounds. Driving from the airport to West Maui I got to watch my husband's expression as we took in the scenery, "Wow!" was the most common utterance. Once we found our condo, a sweet studio with the most spectacular view of the ocean, we went out onto the lanai (patio) and immediately saw a few whales swimming just in front of us. It was as though they were saying "e komo mai," welcome.

We were blessed with beautiful weather the whole trip. My husband is now completely addicted to snorkeling. We found one tiny beach that we had all to ourselves, we snorkeled there for awhile and ended up swimming with sea turtles, the biggest ones I have ever seen. They are endangered so, this was a special treat. Fish all the colors of the rainbow and a wild seascape of coral reef met us at each turn. Each evening we went down to the beach next to where we stayed, with our drinks of rum and POG (Passion, orange, guava juice) and watched the sunset. This resulted in about 53 photos of sunsets!



...and another perfect sunset...


I also got to eat all the food on my wish list while I was there. Hawaiian Mixed Plate lunches of Chicken Katsu, Kalua Pork and of course one scoop rice. The best Chow Fun I have ever had and Hot Malasadas (a Portuguese fried doughnut) from Komodas bakery. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the food because I ended up being too excited to eat it and only thought of pics after it had been devoured. And even after all the good eats, I still lost a few pounds on my vacation!

The last two days were spent up-country exploring. We drove up the side of Haleakala and took in the stunning views. We ended up in a tiny town called Keokea where we stopped for coffee and while we sat on the deck of Grandma's Cafe, we were serenaded by Fred and his wife on Ukulele singing Hawaiian songs. This man had lived his whole life in this town and had such a soulful, beautiful voice, that I was moved to tears.

We also had the most awesome experience meeting some locals who invited us to their house for dinner. They showed us such genuine hospitality and kindness, opening their home and hearts to us. We truly felt the Aloha spirit during our trip and I couldn't have wished for anything more, except perhaps to stay a little longer. We did briefly entertain the idea of having Nana send our daughter over and never coming back.

On our last day we took a horseback ride at Piiholo Ranch. The name loosely translates to ascending a hill slowly to heaven and that pretty much says it all.
I feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip, it was the vacation of a lifetime. To share it with my husband, to breathe deep the perfumed air and relax, to know our daughter was being so well cared for by her Nana, to slow down and appreciate the beauty, what an amazing gift! I am humbled and inspired beyond measure.

Oh, and of course I picked up some fabric while on the island. It was so affordable (the only affordable thing in Hawaii)I couldn't resist.


Now I need to catch up with all my favorite blogs to see what I missed while I was away and get back to reality. It's all good.

I Felt It

One more quick post before I leave on a jet plane tomorrow. Lola Nova has been featured on the Felt-o-rama blog! April has done an amazing job with this blog, it is full of wonderful information and fantastic inspiration. I definitely recommend you taking some time to poke around over there. It is the companion blog to her shop www.feltorama.com where you can find beautiful Hand-Dyed Wool Felt, Eco Felt, embellishments, books and patterns as well as needle felting supplies. So, go check it out and tell her Lola sent you.

I've Got The Funk, Buxom Blonde Causes Cave In and The Island of Happiness

So, I've got the funk, or rather I had it. Not the good time Parliament or Funkadelic hip shakin', groove makin' Funk. No, I had the swampy, low down, feeling so tired and melancholy Funk. Fer no good reason, boy howdy! So, I have not been posting as I thought I might before my vacation. See, I am about to take a vacation - so what the heck am I blue about? Maybe I got the Februaries, or short-timers. Let's just say, I aint feelin' justified but, I was still feeling funky.
AND THEN...
The sun was out again yesterday, a February tease in the Northwest, just before the Daphne blooms, a hint of magic yet to come, waiting for the Crocus Pocus to arrive. The first day in the yard. Gloves on, snippers at the ready, my girl singing and digging in pink cowgirl boots and sunshine. Zen like labor for an hour or two and then such a satisfying moment of back cracking stretch and surveillance. It's an annual ritual to be followed by other rites of season. Oh, that blessed vitamin D, you do go to my head. I love the dirty nails and attention to bandaiding a blister, a feeling of accomplishment and peace with battle scars.


Speaking of rites of passage (insert awkward segue here):
As a parent you can't help but anticipate future scenarios but, for the most part you try to be in the now, live the present phase and not get too far ahead of yourself. Sometimes things just happen, sneak up on you - finding you ill prepared and stumbling. My daughter just received her first blond bombshell doll, you know the one I mean without naming names. She isn't even 4 quite yet and she was obsessed. Other little girls in her preschool were bringing them for sharing time and I watched my girl hover and be awe struck, as if she had found the Holy Grail. Then she talked about it on and on. I wasn't ready but, I caved in. She had to earn this doll, wow what motivation! I knew if I withheld this doll of glory from her, it would become more powerful in it's lure. I had them as a kid so I'm not sure what my big problem is with them - giant corporate greed, unrealistic beauty themes, manipulative marketing, cheap plastic gobby gook - perhaps. At least they have scaled back the torpedo bosom a little. My daughter is now at school happily and proudly sharing her doll. I am still a little uneasy with the whole business, I can't wait for the teenage years!


Now, I bid you all adieu for a wee bit. Yes, that vacation I mentioned. My husband and I are off to the Island of Happiness, better known as Maui. We have been saving and planning for a while now. We have never taken a vacation destination trip together. It's a pretty big deal for us. My husband has never been to the islands, I lived on Maui as a kid but, I haven't been back since. I have been to a couple of the other islands but, it has been 8 years since my last trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and that was no vacation. That last trip was a surreal and stressful journey to claim my father's body and deal with his unfinished business. This is going to be a real relaxation vacation. My brilliant mother-in-law, fancynancyjane will be watching over the bean here at home. The longest we have been away from our girl is one night, so this is going to be a kid free free for all. Whatever that means. May you all be happy, healthy and blissfully blogging on until I post again.
Aloha

Lovebirds #2

Oh yes, more of the sweet tweets.

These come with a template you can download and instructions, hurray!

O.K. I actually debated whether or not to post this project. I just didn't have the time to do it justice but, I wanted to get it up before I went on vacation. Yup, I'm going on vacation (more about that later). So, I just whipped it up in a flurry. Since I have been promising free patterns for the people, I figured I'd better - as my grandma Alta used to say on canning day, "put up or shut up!"

Here is the finished piece of Love Bird loveliness.


What you will need is some felt scraps, small scissors and thread.
The background felt piece I used is 11"x8 1/2". You could easily use a piece of fabric instead. In fact, my original intention was to applique the birds directly onto one of my girl's jean jackets, until she tried on said jackets and discovered them much too small.

Next you will need to download The Love Birds Template here which looks like this.
Now, print out the template. Cut the shapes from the paper and pin them to the felt or trace them onto your felt. Cut the shapes out of the felt following the cutting guide given for each shape with small scissors. Once I have all my pieces cut, I like to lay them out how I want the finished piece to look.


Next I sew the wings onto each bird body. I simply used a straight stitch on my machine and stitched close to the edge, slowly.

For the next step I used a glue stick to set the pieces how I wanted them. You could also use a spray adhesive for fabric. I then stitched again, close to the edge of each piece with a straight stitch on the machine. I finished with a french knot embroidery stitch for the bird eyes, and voila!

This would be darling worked with hand embroidery. Make it into a pillow, sew it on a jacket or applique the birds and hearts onto a tea towel.
I made mine into a little Valentine Treat Bag for my girl since I wont be with her on Valentines day. I will fill it with special treats and fun stuff for grandma to give to her on the 14th.

If anyone wants directions for the bag, I would be happy to share that as well. Just leave me a comment or send me an email and I will get it to you.
Happy Crafting!

Bread

I haven't made this bread in such a long time, I forgot how good it is. I usually try to make bread that's a little bit on the healthy side, you know - of the whole wheat, seed and dense variety but, today I made egg bread. It's of the moist, eggy and slightly sweet variety. Oh my heavens, this stuff is so tasty. It makes the best peanut butter and jam sandwiches, I tell you what!

This picture was taken 5 minutes after it came out of the oven, seriously. Half of the loaf just disappeared.

This bread recipe is for the bread machine. I don't know where I originally got this from, it's been in my personal cook book for a few years. The following recipe makes one large loaf.

Egg Bread

If your bread machine has a 1.5 lb. setting, set it there.
Select the Dough setting on your machine.
Place all ingredients in bread pan in order given.

3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup sugar (you can use a little less if you like)
3 cups Bread Flour
2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

Press Start on machine. After about ten minutes of kneading take a look at your dough, if it is too dry or stiff add more milk one Tbs. at a time until it looks right. (a smooth, soft ball that is slightly tacky to the touch)
Let machine continue to end of dough cycle. Preheat oven to 350. Remove dough and shape into a greased, lightly floured 9x5x3 loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for another 20 - 30 min. Place bread on the middle wrack of oven and bake for...ok this is where I am really bad - I don't time my bread, I just watch for it to become a lovely golden brown and sounds hollow when I thump it. So, I'd say you should keep an eye on it at 20 min. Sorry guys. I will try to remember to time it next time.
When done, carefully remove loaf from pan and let cool on wire wrack until you can't stand it anymore and enjoy!

Now you could let it bake in your machine but, to tell you the truth, I get much better results by baking in the oven.

I just had to post this picture, it cracked me up. I have been trying to use clear visual cues for my daughter - to help reinforce information for better processing. I think it might be useful for Mama too!