a blessing house

This one's for a friend in Kentucky.  I stitched all sorts of prayers and wishes for happiness into it!  Excited to bring it to her in a few weeks.

And Sew It Goes

wee folk art

 Just found a really great resource!  It's Wee Folk Art, a Waldorf-inspired website chock-full of children's (and adult's!) craft patterns, activities, recipes and other inspiration.  Wish I had found this earlier on in my Enrichment Program career, but it's been a good help already.    

Olivia's felted flower

 Such a sweet video on how to make felted flowers!  We're going to try it with the kids at school next week.  Fun!

Supplies we'll need:
* bubble wrap
* spray bottle with soapy water
* felting wool
* container with hot water
* rolling pins
* towel for cleaning up
* lingerie bags and a dryer
* sewing machine or needles and golden thread
* buttons and beads

one righteous godmama

this is my godmother.  i hope to live up to her amazingness someday!

 

sneak peeks

Am loving these "sneak peeks" into designers' homes.  So many thoughtful, beautiful and personal spaces!  Sigh.  Thanks, Design Sponge!  p.s. These would be great inspiration for anyone who's, say, building a new home or moving into a new apartment...  ;)

Ice Art 2011

Cillian's ice carving team has been working in negative degree temps in Fairbanks.  (It's -19 right now...  Yikes.)  But they're making good progress!  Click the photo above to see minute-by-minute photo updates of the site!  So fun to watch, and to get a glimpse of those four great guys.  I won't tell you what the deisgn is, but here's a little hint: the team is called "The Fun Guys."  

coming together!

progress!

 

Excited to sew this puppy together, then send it off to Amanda's mama to finish!  Cheating, I know, but still lots of fun.  Now to find a good sewing machine for myself!

scrappy quilt

Amanda and I are taking a Scrap Quilt class!  I love it.  The scraps I have are mostly extra material from napkin sets that Beth's made over the past few years.  So a lot of the material reminds me of her and of the folks who now own and use the napkins :o).  It's been super fun to hang out and sew with Amanda, and to remember the times I've sewn before: dress-making with Grandmom in KY, quilting for Mima - who was an extraordinary quilter - with the rest of the Herde/Amshoff ladies...  The colors are a great antidote for the winter blahs; I love to just spread the finished squares all over the carpet and dig in to making new ones.  Thanks for the idea, Amanda!

log cabin

Have been looking for a pattern for log cabin washcloths, etc.  HERE's one from a great crafts/knitting resource I found this morning: the purl bee.  It's so fun to have a cold-weather hobbie (knitting), especially since Cillian is learning too, and I still meet with the K2D2 (knit 2 drink 2...) girls on occasion.  Excited to get to go home in a week and a half to knit with Grandmom, too!

Another amazing online knitting resource:  www.ravelry.com.   (You've got to make an account, but they only ask for your email and name.) 

oh, martha.

I'll just write it out nice and plain: I LOVE MARTHA.  She's got her stuff together, you know?  You can trust her craft ideas, trust her homemaking tips, and - perhaps most importantly - you can trust her recipes!  Here is a canvas checker board project I'd like to do with the kids at school sometime soon.  And here's an easy-peasy, yummy-looking recipe for sweet breakfast quinoa that natalie sent earlier this week.  Deeee-licious.

laura bean and southern flavor

let us know

The fun guys at Alaska Quarterly Review asked me earlier this summer to make a song from a work that they planned to publish in the fall.  The poem, Let Us Know, is by Knute Skinner of County Clare, Ireland.  It was an interesting experience - a blessing, really - to get to put someone else's thoughtful words to music; I found myself wondering what Knute would think of my interpretation, and also wondering how the song would have turned out differently had it been a more actively collaborative project.  I also found myself thankful for the impetus to take on a project like this.

Yesterday morning I recorded at the studio and I like the results.  Someday I'd like to add cello and violin, which is what I hear in my head while I'm singing the song.  {What I see in my head is a moonlit night on a grassy hill on the Irish coast, with a wispy young person bravely and joyfully setting out into the night.} 

Here's the poem.  I'll let you know when it's available to listen online.  Or just check in on the AQR website.

Let Us Know
by Knute Skinner

Let us know how it goes,
That hill looks calm tonight
where the new moon barely shows.


You move on sportive toes 
and laugh in the evening light.
Let us know how it goes. 

The high horizon glows 
in fading Fahrenheit
where the new moon barely shows


and the oath obligingly goes,
whetting your appetite.
Let us know how it goes.


God alone only knows
-and even God, not quite-
where the new moon barely shows,


but you, a stranger to woes,
would haste to impending height.
Let us know how it goes
where the new moon barely shows.

far away

Christine in Tennessee and Katie, who is somewhere in Australia, are putting together a literary magazine.  The theme of the first issue (the entire magazine?) is far away.  Interesting, because the theme for the Sketchbook Project I've been living into these past few weeks is lights in the distance.

My job is to answer the questions below.  Why me?  Because I left Alaska.  Unlike the other people who've also been asked to answer, though, I came back.  Christine's going to collect answers and compile in some kind of poetic and meaningful way.  Will share the results with you if possible. 

{Here's to international art swapping!}

Why did you come? And why did you leave? Is part of you still there? Are you looking back, past your shoulder at chillingly deep Valleys and dazzlingly steep mountains and crystal turquoise lakes and dizzying glittering dancing lights? Do you crave the dark? Do you chase the never-ending light? Did you try to smuggle a birch log in your suitcase? Did you fold onto your knees and kiss the red clay when you landed home? Did the magnolias whisper they told you so?

cranes for Owen

Some friends and coworkers of mine just lost their baby boy, Owen.  He was a shining light of a child. At 14 months old, he had red hair, deep blue eyes and a quick grin and laugh.  Our entire school has been grieving with Owen's parents. 

I think I'd like to start making these for Owen.  Maybe the kids in my program will help?  I'm imagining cranes strung on string throughout the hallway, swooping up and up and up like our love and prayers and gratitude for him.

HERE are directions, in case you're interested in folding your own!

when life gives you...

Dear friend Annie in Seattle has been taking (and posting) a photo a day for 233 days!  Her goal is to keep it up for an entire year.  In the past few weeks, she's spent some time at a butterfly house, eaten a huge and delicious-looking sandwich, tried some abstract painting and received some interesting feedback from her boss...  I love the project for lots of reasons, but most of all because it's a neat perspective into Annie's every day life!  Hooray for making art on a daily basis!

and that's a wrap

Last week, I did something smart and contacted Kelly Mastracchio to makeover my fledgling website.  I love the results!  Kelly is one talented lady; two years ago when we were in school in Boston, she took the photos that are featured on the website.  You can check out Kelly's daily art adventures HERE.  {Thank you, Kelly!}

of roots and of wings

The cd FINALLY arrived...!!!  Am having a small album release party at some friends', and have also been madly trying (with Cillian's very patient help) to figure out HTML to make a website.  Shew!  There's big grattitude in my heart for so many things and so many people in the completion of this looooong project.  Will be nice to move on to some new music projects, now... 

knitting envy

Just finished this washcloth - so pretty!  And functional.  But I'd reeeeally like to knit something like THIS.  Just a little more practice, perhaps...