More Fun

No progress on this since Tues. Too busy.

After an early morning walk (around 7:30--which is the only suitable time due to the heat), Mila found some of the buttons so I went ahead and let her play. I'd planned on putting a bunch of different buttons in a jar for her, but we began with these, and I added a few more later.
First she sorted, then she began making pictures.
Then I got out some card stock trimmed to postcard size from several years ago when I did mail art, and Mila glued the buttons to the card stock. She did two of these before it was time for the library.

The library opened at 9:00, and we were there soon after they opened. The books were much less important than these blocks (2 x 4 pieces in various sizes, sanded smooth), and Mila was soon immersed in building a house...
with windows, a door, furniture, and a garage -- all for sleep puppy. She spent nearly 45 minutes on this portion of the library visit and had everything her little puppy could want in a home, including a bed & pillow, couch, television, and more before another child came and caused the demolition of a wall as he was building an airport. I wish I'd gotten pictures of the finished product and of the catastrophic destruction of imminent domain.
She did choose a few books.When we got back home, she used my scraps and design board and created some more little houses. She had to use the step ladder to reach and had her scissor to cut anything she needed to the appropriate size. The triangles and squares were left over from other projects, but she got busy cutting things to size.

After lunch, it was down to the River Walk and the disappearing fountains! Boy, do the kids love this place. It is a feature of a wonderful little shopping area built like a small town, complete with a trolley.

Niece Maggie and nephew Matthew were all ready to go when Mila and I got to their house. The 3 M's.

Here we are at El Chico's for lunch.Matthew was mostly fascinated with Mac.

But Mila, Maggie and I painted and used the straws (remember the idea on the previous post?) and had a great time.


Later Matthew & Mila played they were invisible (but not inaudible) while Maggie drew a picture and began working a little embroidery like a pro.By 5:30 we were all a bit ga ga. A great day!

"Morning Has Broken..."

I'm getting in a little computer time before Miss Mila wakes up. I found this cool activity for making paint splatter fairies over on Lapaz Home Learning via The Crafty Crow. After the unit of fairies was complete, a Fairy Notebook was compiled--what kid wouldn't love this! Ahem...and the fact that I want to make a fairy is only a coincidence.

Always interested in education, I love visiting home schooling and unschooling blogs. Although I was part of the education system (mostly on the upper end of the spectrum, as my students were enriched and advanced placement seniors), the idea of home schooling fascinates me because it concentrates on adding art and craft and imagination to learning. While I was still in the system, the direction that education was taking was counterintuitive to what I believe--and that makes my fascination with Montessori and Waldorf Schools, home schooling and un-schooling that much greater. They are so much fun!

Checking on Miss Mila... where did she go?
Ahhh, here she is taking a little cartoon time while waiting for waffles.-------------------------------------
The Domestic Diva continues her series on Sewing Room Organization. Are you as fascinated with creative spaces as I am? With storage ideas? With work stations and cutting tables and design walls? The Diva leaves nothing out and provides plenty of pictures and links.
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Time for a bath and today's activities! Miss Mila wants to see Matthew and Maggie and Baby Bryce and Aunt Mimi and go to the library and go to SciPort and paint and sew and...

Let's Not Forget...

Dorset buttons!

Thanks again to Marie for the links to making Dorset buttons! Here are some of Stephanie's and here is a tutorial. I have had such a great time making these.

Some that have not yet been beaded -

These have been beaded and attached to cuffs.



And this concludes the "button posts" - whew!

Miss Mila arrived this afternoon about 5:30, and we had quite a time until she went to bed. In the garden, she said (on the run) "Sunflowers! Sunflowers! I've never really seen one!" We'd already talked a little bit about seeds (the seed heads on the Queen Anne's Lace are particularly interesting), and she wanted to know where to get sunflower seeds. Planning ahead...

While I always enjoy my Notes from the Universe (such a great way to begin my morning during the week), sometimes the notes are even better than usual:

The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want.

And the only way to know what you really want, is to know yourself.

And the only way to know yourself, is to be yourself.

And the only way to be yourself, Jen, is to listen to your heart.

I do,
The Universe

French toast every now and then might help, too, Jen.

Vintage Embroidery & MORE Buttons

I do like coming up with my own embroidery designs by going through my old journals, but vintage designs have such a nostalgic and amusing attraction. Sweet Bee's Vintage Finds has so many choices! She also has links that sent me here and here and...

As one thing almost always leads to another, the silly, sweet, sentimental vintage embroidery designs make me think some more about the vintage buttons (you know the the pink and yellow ones mentioned in an earlier post -- the ones I've been hoarding).

I could combine vintage prints and vintage buttons on little dresses or aprons AND add vintage embroidery designs on the yoke and/or pockets! The Vintage Trifecta!



Something else I want to try (since I'm stuck on buttons) is embroidered buttons. Check out these buttons from the embroidered button swap. Hosted by greetingarts, there are so many cool examples that you'll just have to check them out.

Fioleta of Ordinary Miracles did these awesome buttons for the swap: Aren't these just perfect? I adore the way the birds sit on the wire!

I know, I'm all over the map! Shall refrain from listing all the WIP projects that include things currently in progress and that quilt from last year that still has no binding. Shall also refrain from listing all the items on my "To Do" list in my journal. Because muddling through is only possible if I don't think too much about the overwhelming number of things I want to try...


Just one more thing to make you smile - how about this quilting postcard with a little beef cake found over on Carpe Quiltem's blog!

Buttons Continued

I don't know what this will end up as... I believe I've finished the embroidery, but I'm not sure and may come back with something later. I'm hoping for a visit from Mila soon! She will be starting kindergarten this year; I can hardly believe that she is 5 years old. What will we make while she is here?

As I continue to clean and organize...I realize how hard is for me to resist cute, pretty, or unusual buttons.

Oh, for another chance to play with my grandmother's button jar! There were certainly many childhood hours spent sorting buttons by size and color-- unaware of any treasures that I'd certainly look for today.

Loose buttons and buttons on cards still charm me, and I still pick them up at flea markets now and then.

The top two cards below (the yellow and the pink) are vintage buttons that Marie sent me a while back. They are awaiting a project with some vintage prints...probably little dresses for little girls. Truthfully though, it will be quite difficult to force myself to remove the buttons from the card. The tiny white ones I bought at flea markets. Here are various shell buttons I've picked up over the years.

The backs are pretty rough, but sometimes I like the backs even better for their homely touch. I turned a few over for comparison...

I'm working on at least one more post on buttons...I have by no means exhausted this subject!

More on Buttons and Stuff

Fabric stores are another temptation for buttons. Many of these just sit around forever, neglected and often forgotten.


The beautiful button on the bottom I ordered from Joggles a couple of years ago; I'm sure the time will come when I need this exact button. The picture below makes it look mostly blue, but the colors in the picture above are more accurate.Oh, I've just thought of a way to use this button. I knew a purpose would eventually develop.

Currently Cleaning...

For some reason, my cutting table becomes a place to gather and pile materials. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if I worked on one project at a time...
Regardless of how or why this happens, fact is that it is currently an awful mess and must be cleared.

Friday's Note from the Universe:
Would it be as much fun, Jen, if you never stopped laughing? If there were never any clouds? If you were never challenged? If you were never alone? If you never heard the whole truth when it hurt? If you always knew what would happen, what to do, and where to go?

Or would you be like, "Beam me down, Bro!"

Yep, The Universe

Relish the quiet, Jen, enjoy the mysteries, and welcome the whole truth.


I do love receiving my daily Notes and miss them on the weekend when they don't arrive. Even the Universe needs the weekend break... Not that I would welcome the "whole truth" too often. Occasionally is quite enough. :)

Bryce Eleanor - Featured Model

After putting Miss Bryce Eleanor down last night, I finished the knickers and sewed the buttons on the dress.
We had a little photo shoot outside this morning.




Miss Bryce Eleanor is now on her way home. Chris picked her up a little while ago. She was a pleasure to keep because she smiles and laughs all of the time...except when I have a camera in hand. This is the only one where I caught a smile.
Now, on to Mila's outfit and half a dozen other projects in the works.

On Babies and Bats

The little bee dress and knickers are all finished and in a little while, I'll have Bryce Eleanor (who spent the night) model her new outfit for a fashion shoot.

Kimy of Mouse Medicine likes bats (she delights in small rodents) and in her comment about the bat-face cuphea, she mentioned this fact. I have loved bats ever since reading The Moon by Whale Light by Diane Ackerman, which I highly recommend if you are interested in essays about bats, penguins, whales, and crocodiles written with " with the precision of a scientist and the soul of a romantic" according to School Library Journal.

In October of 2006, I discovered a way to adopt injured bats through Bat World (Thanks again, One CrabApple!) and adopted Bert for granddaughter Mila. The Bat World Sanctuary is a "rescue, rehab, and release" sanctuary for bats. Above - Cleobatra, an Egyptian fruit bat with toe injuries. Here is Cleo's tale.
And above is Miss Kitty and her story.

Such homely faces...why are they so endearing?

Must include this poem (I know I've posted it before but...)

The Bat

By day the bat is cousin to the mouse. He likes the attic of an aging house.

His fingers make a hat about his head.
His pulse beat is so slow we think him dead.

He loops in crazy figures half the night
Among the trees that face the corner light.

But when he brushes up against a screen,
We are afraid of what our eyes have seen:

For something is amiss or out of place When mice with wings can wear a human face.
Theodore Roethke

A Little Link Love

I've been browsing. You know, that time-consuming activity of following one link after another. This is a displacement activity that keeps me from doing the things that need to be done...and provides inspiration.

Interested in making things for children? As a grandmother this appeals to me and would appeal to both of my daughters, I think. Creations pour Enfants, a French blog, has tutorials for making all kinds of items like this and these for little ones. I can't read much of the text as my college French was a long, long time ago, and can only pick out a few nouns and verbs with no idea of tense or syntax; however, the pictures are excellent and the inspiration needs no language ability.

Enchanted Art has everything from quilting to crafts. Lots of good ideas here.

A Quilting Life creates patchwork, children's quilts, and appliqué quilts.

Little Arty Crafty Crow makes crafty creatures, has an interest in vintage, and more.

Because I was wondering what to do with my tiny nine patch blocks that I've been making from scraps and because of a memory of a doll quilt that I played with at Mama Mac's (my maiden name is McDowell, so Laddie's parents became Mama and Daddy Mac), I discovered the Doll Quilt Swap. Plenty of room for traditional or art quilt techniques here! I've fallen in love with some of these adorable little quilts which you can check out at their Flickr Pool.

Interested in being economical and saving money? The Centsible Sawyer blog watches sales and shares the bargains she discovers. Here are links to a couple of her posts: Freebies & Coupons, Give Away!!, Hot Tips for Target (75% of toys-- a little early Christmas shopping?), etc. She has her week divided into categories of bargain and offers frugal tips, links to freebies, and coupon deals.

Another blog in the same vein is Be Centsable, where you can find similar information. She also has Menu Plan and Make It Yourself Monday, Family Tip and Frugal Friday, and coupons you can print from the blog.

I'm just sayin' that given the current economic climate, saving a little money here and there can make a big difference. Both of the above blogs are geared to young families with children but provide resources to everyone.

And now, I must really get back to real life and the chores and errands that must be accomplished. Hope you have a little fun with these links...they have provided me with a great deal of fun over the last week!

Miscellaneous Items

Ruffles...My bat face cuphea never fails to charm me. The colors and the little bat face are just awesome.
And over at Melly & Me, I found this perfectly light-hearted creature. Of course, if you glance through the blog, you'll find more adorable creations.