Crafty Fun

 We have had so much crafty fun in the last few weeks that I felt compelled to come out of blog hibernation.

I moved my art desk and supplies to the heart of our home, right into the dining room. Which is also our homeschool center. All of this makes for a very messy, non- decorator magazine space; very lived-in and reflective of our day to day life. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now, I love having my desk in there. My supplies are right under my nose all day long; I can't help but show them the love they've missed for the last 5 years.

 

 To get myself back into creating, I started with commissioned pieces from the kids. Elijah requested a painting of a motorcycle jumping over a mountain. And I finished a piece started long ago for his room. Not the greatest photos...

 

 Adah wanted a princess and a sand castle.
( Its a drawing and its behind glass so the photo is very poor quality.)

 From there, I moved into a painting for Gabe and I' s room. Its in progress....

 With stopover in a twice-failed drawing of our wedding day. They've been shoved into a drawer. No hard feelings. I am just glad to be working somehow or another. 

 

We made this gratitude tree to count our blessings:

 And today we went wild and made this turkey with items gathered from our yard and pantry. The kids absolutely loved it!

I highly recommend this craft for the sensory thrill of the different natural materials. But, its not for those who wilt at the idea of sticky, dirty (fun) messes.

I wanted to get in on the gluing, so I made this:

 I keep wondering if its going to catch fire above our blazing hot woodstove. 

Can you read that it says "Give Thanks"?

 

 Let's see.... there is this crocheted flower and leaf mobile in the works for Naomi.

I am also knitting a hat and mittens for Adah and a pair of legwarmers for me.
(I realized recently that I work well with many projects going at once. It helps me not to get overly focused, analytical and critical of what I am working on. When I feel myself falling into this creativity killing pattern of mine I move onto something else for a while.)

And last but not least, one of my most favorite creations...

Love to all,

Liz

Painting

Another Hat

I am really tired of looking at the balloons. But life has been a bit too overwhelming to blog lately.

Gabe started his new job about 2 weeks ago. He works from 9-9 most days and has only had one day off since he started. So, its just me, the kids and the little wooden people. It has been going much better than I expected. For the most part, there has been realitive peace about the whole situation. We miss him, of course. I am learning to adjust to not having a break when Daddy gets home at 5pm. The children are adjusting, too. We go up to the restaurant to visit him once every day. Even Adah knows the place now and starts chanting "Daaa-deeee, Daaa-dee" when we pull into the parking lot.

Meanwhile, Elijah insisted that I knit a hat for him since I made Adah one. Well, of course!  We took a hilarious trip to the craft store where, after much deliberation, he choose the yarn for the hat. He requested that it have a ball on top and that it be "a crazy hat". I could manage the ball, but the crazy, well, I didn't know what to do with that. I told him he would have to bring the crazy to the hat.

Knitting for Elijah is much more rewarding than knitting for Adah. He's said many times, "You made this hat for meeee?! Thaaaank yoooou!"  And he wears it all day long.

Awwww.... thank you, buddy, thank you.

My First Paid Order

I am so happy to report that I am having a bit of success at selling my silly little painted people.

A friend who saw pics on of them on facebook ordered 36 dolls to match her entire family! And I just took another order for a custom family from someone who found me on etsy! Yippee!

Its not a flood of work, but it is a beginning and certainly enough to give me confidence to go on.

My first customers have not given my pictures to work with, just a few descriptive phrases, so there is a lot of guesswork involved and I hope that I've done well for them.

 Here are some pictures of the first of the customs:

 S plays golf

 P plays guitar, CS loves cooking, C love bikes and horse, L likes bugs.

the two cooks:

B. the hunter and S. likes to read

 R. loved motorcycles and M. (all I got for her was: brown, olive, cactus- so this what I did)

 

A New Hat for Adah

The hats I made for Adah last winter (here and here) have long since been outgrown. The baby can't have a cold head, can she? So, I set to work on making her a new hat. My requirements for this hat were that it be:
1. simple-  I have very little free time for knitting
2. free- had to be made from yarn I already have stashed away
3. big enough that she won't outgrow it in a month's time.

I achieved all my goals with this extremely simple rolled brim cap. I crocheted a flower and attached it with a cute little button to dress it up. I also added a pair of crocheted straps in an attempt to keep it on her head. But, no such luck. I might as well give this hat to some other child who will use it, because I doubt Adah will ever wear it.

I managed to snap a couple of quick pics before she yanked it off and tossed it to the floor with disgust.

Will somebody please tell the child that this hat was made with love by her mommy using vintage Morino wool and its cute and  really practical?

Craft Time

Elijah asked if he could make a mask today. Of course, I am always ready and willing to pull out the craft supplies for my little man, all three (overflowing) drawers full.

He knew what he wanted, but he needed some help making it happen. He wanted feathers, I found a way and helped to attach them. The same for the "monster curls" at the bottom. The rest was the work of his hands.

While we worked on the mask, Adah found a sunny spot on the floor to eat a snack and work on some easy Spanish crossword puzzles.

It turned out awesome, if I do say so myself.

After appraising his handiwork in the mirror,

he declares, "I am a dragon."


Then he chased us around the house.
We screamed like girls, because, we are girls.

Its 1:00 pm now, they are napping. I am still in my pink pajamas, blogging.
I am trying to decide if it has been a productive day or not.
Hmmmm....yes, I think so.

A lazy little post.

A truly random assortment of pictures, just because.

(Adah, adorable, Adah.)
(Elijah paints.)
(Good friend, Kelcey; her daughter, Lilikoi; baby goats and Elijah.)
(A new set of painted people for birthday niece, Alexia.)

Two Gifts.

Another attempt at Crochet: A headscarf for Jessica, Gabe's sister.
(Who shares my birthday, in January....yeah, it's a little late.)



























And the other gift..... I've been working a bit. I am now working with 3 acquaintances to set up email marketing programs for their small businesses. I am helping them to build their lists, upload them into the mailing program, designing the newsletters and strategizing with them about how to best market to their clientele. Funny, huh? This is not something that I am trained in... marketing and design...and I have only minor amounts of self-taught experience in the work. Nonetheless, I've been busy with this and still not really sure where I am going with it. (Or where it is taking me. Maybe nowhere, after the job with these 3 is complete? That could be it.)
It's not something I planned for or envisioned for myself, but I am not turning away from the opportunity.