sweet thing(s)

big girl

my baby is out of diapers

**sadly, i've removed the photos from this post as i have noticed a lot of views of it that stemmed from Google image searches of things like "little girl undies" etc.  I am disgusted and sickened, but i guess not too surprised.  i should have thought of that...

i haven't written about it much here, but we did infant potty training (or EC, Elimination Communication- I hate that term though) with Maxine.  I highly recommend this book if you are interested.  it makes so much sense.  we started from birth, but i wasn't hardcore about it- Maxine did wear diapers until about 10 days ago.  BUT she hadn't pooped in her diaper since she was 6 months old, and peed on the toilet about 50% of the time- more if i could take the time to get in sync with her rhythm.  because of the potty use and cloth diapers this time around we used way way way fewer disposables (the City of Toronto has a composting program- including for diapers- so we even could compost the ones we did use)  which makes me feel really pleased, even if it is a drop in the bucket.  the funny thing is we didn't do cloth diapers or EC with Asa, but he was out of diapers at 21 months also- completely at his own request. 

the last one, this girl is growing up.  i've written before about being sad that Maxine is our last baby- i do love babies and breastfeeding and pregnancy and childbirth.  i especially love that sweet sweet baby smell and the heft of her in my arms.  but i recently realized that while i might want a fourth baby, i really don't want a fourth child.  i may never get over the urge to have more babies but three kids is just perfect.

lately i have been thinking in terms of the bright side of babies getting older, which makes taking the growing up easier.  what i find challenging right now is that Maxine wants to be held in my arms almost all the time, or 'help' me with whatever household task i may be doing.  i try to accommodate her whenever possible, but i know someday she will be happily playing near me or with her brothers while i am trying to do laundry/make dinner/sweep the floor.  right now i am almost always overwhelmed and 'behind' on the house.  maybe the best part of children getting older is that i will have more time to work on things that are important to me. 

this feeling of being glad about the approaching end of this stage of my life is a brand new one.  and while i am sure i will still mourn the passing of my children's babyhood, i welcome a new chapter.

i want to be an artist

 

well, maybe a domestic artist. 

have you seen this book?  it's about being creative in the home.  i am reading it here and there and i'm really enjoying it.  (by the way, if you have the first US edition- the recipes are all wrong!  lost in conversion from metric to imperial.  i wrote the publisher and they are sending me the updated edition) 

i used to want to be a painter, but i was too hard on myself and it paralyzed me (i'm not half bad, but i'm a wicked perfectionist)  i found needlefelting really helped me to get over being stuck creatively.  I discovered that i am completely happy being creative in the craft world, and it doesn't have to be ART, but maybe it is anyway. 

the drive i feel to be creative in my life now both fuels me and frustrates me.  fueled by all my dreams and frustrated by so little time in which to realize them. 

i do silly things like "still life with bagels cucumbers and bananas."  maybe part of being a domestic artist is to find ways to marry the creative with the ordinary, the beautiful with the mundane, if only on a small scale like lunch for a four year old boy.   i will do what i can.

island photographer

here's an excellent picture of the spring equinox bonfire:

one of my neighbours, Sean Tamblyn, took this photo.  here's his website  (which has some really nice Island images)

welcome, spring

last night was one of my favourite island events- the spring equinox celebration.  we all save our christmas trees and burn them in a huge bonfire with drumming and merry-making.  a week or so before the event, some trees are hung near the ferry docks, reminding us as we arrive on the island that spring is indeed on its way.

we gather just before dusk on the first day of spring with our trees and parade to the beach- about a 5-10 minute slow walk.

we each throw our trees on the bonfire and make a wish for the upcoming year

i am moved by this event, so much, every year.  i love the rhythm of the drumming and the ridiculous procession,  dragging our old Christmas trees down the sidewalk.   i love how our community has these crazy traditions that we all count on and look forward to.  and i love marking the changing of the seasons in such an earthy pagan-like way. 

at times like this i am reminded how truly lucky we are to be living and loving and raising our kids in community.

freezer paper stencil tutorial

after teaching a fabric printing workshop and writing numerous times ( here, here,  and here) about making our own t-shirts, i thought i'd post my own tutorial for freezer paper stencils.  especially fun on a t-shirt or the ever-present reusable canvas bag! 

my sister's friend just had twins, so i made her a bag with the breastfeeding symbol.    (Mothering magazine offers this symbol for everyone to use!  how great is that?)

here is the lovely Maxine modeling:

materials:

• your chosen design and something on which to print (washed first if it's new)
• freezer paper- found at the grocery store with the plastic wrap, etc.  It is paper with one side lightly plasticized.
• scissors or exacto knife
• iron
• screenprinting ink- I use Speedball Screenprinting Ink for Fabric
• a stiff paintbrush

1.  trace or draw your design onto the dull side of the freezer paper

2. cut out your design.  remember: the paper will be ironed on to the fabric.  the paper is a stencil- the negative space of your design.  where there is paper, there will be no paint (and vice versa)

3. Iron the freezer paper on to your fabric, with a medium hot iron, no steam.  check that all the edges are adhered well.

4. Paint it!

5.  After your design dries, carefully peel off the freezer paper.  Heat set the ink- my preferred method is 1 hour in a hot dryer.

Enjoy!

 

fabric printing workshop

last weekend i taught a silkscreening and freezer paper stencil workshop.  there were about 20 participants, from ages 5 to 75. 

we had fun and made some neat stuff:

 
 

i learned a few things: people will always use more materials than you think and scale down the scope of the what you're teaching!

coming up: a freezer paper tutorial for canvas bags!

a cure for melancholy

eating mangoes
outside with my girl today
no spring green yet
but there is warm sun
and sweet company

happy day

happy st patrick's day

i'm Irish, if you count that my ancestors have been in North America for at least 5 generations.  my whole life people have told me i look Irish, but i always thought of the generic red haired blue eyed Irish lass.  when my man and i cycled through Ireland on our tandem way back in 1996, i was blown away- everyone looked like me!  dark hair, green eyes, high forehead, big head!  wow.

here's a picture from the last time i mustered enough St Patty's spirit to dress in green and document it- 2005.

Lee and I were alone this morning and both working on projects.  (i can't tell you mine because it is a gift for a friend who reads my blog- some day it will be revealed in all its glory)

we have had such a nice quiet day and easy companionship. 

i love that Lee is finally at an age where he can do projects independently and we can work side-by-side for hours.  i also have been noticing his maturing humour and thoughtfulness- we can relate to eachother as people more now that he's getting older. 

i feel fortunate that i can appreciate this at the same time that i am feeling sad about the end of the baby stage in my life. 

are you on facebook?

ahhh, i've been sucked back into the time-wasting galaxy of facebook.

i deactivated my account last year because i wanted to devote my screen time to my blog.  but it has become seemingly more socially necessary to be on facebook.  when i was on it before, none of my old classmates from high school or university were there, but now there are enough for a serious trip down memory lane!  can you say "old boyfriends?"  haha

(if you're on facebook, friend me!  and if you have a blog do you know how to post blog entries to your profile?)

i will be back

breastfeeding activism

did you know this symbol

is public domain? (anyone can use it)

you can download it here

i'm loving

this song

and this artist- Ray Lamontagne

and i have to say- it's been a long time (20 years?) since i had a crush on a musician- but there it is!

his story is also inspiring me: 

this from Wikipedia:

...LaMontagne found a job at a shoe factory in Lewiston, Maine where he worked 65 hours a week. One morning at 4 a.m., LaMontagne heard Stephen Stills' song "Treetop Flyer" on the radio as it awoke him for an early work shift.  After purchasing the Stills Alone album, LaMontagne decided that he wanted to quit his job at the shoe factory and start a career as a singer-songwriter...

i am reminded that we can all reinvent ourselves should we choose to do so.

map boxes

one of my long term projects is to bring some beauty, order, and functionality to my very small 'studio' space.  also the home of Lee's desk and the family computer, it is about 6' x 15'.  very challenging.  i drool when i see rooms like this. 

someday i'll  post some pictures of the finished space, but for now here's one of my beautification solutions:

bankers boxes covered with maps. 

i had a bunch out of old National Geographic magazines.  I think I used Russia, Alaska, China, the Prairies, and Germany.  they look really nice and give some cohesion to a very cluttered area.

craft FAIL, part 2

i had a brilliant idea that i could make my own wool roving- from scratch, going straight to the source.  (roving is wool before it's been spun into yarn)

last spring, i learned from the farmer at our neighbourhood farm that they don't use the fleeces after the sheep are shorn each spring

they saved one for me and i took it home and washed it in the bathtub.  here was mistake number one- i didn't 'skirt the fleece' (cut off all the really mucky disgusting parts before throwing it in the tub).  i had directions, but after the fact I realized they weren't very good ones!  so i spent the better part of 2 days washing all that wool, and it wasn't pretty.

i got it all washed and dried

 

and borrowed a friend's drum carder to process it all

 

i ended up only carding about half of it- which was another very big job- before i realized that it actually didn't work for wet felting.  roving is a bit expensive (for needlefelting it's not a problem because you generally don't use a large volume of it) and i am always hesitant to use large amounts for wet felting.  what i learned later is that these sheep are meat breeds and the fibres have a different texture than wool breeds.  i have a huge amount for needlefelting (it's mediocre but possible to use it) and i gave away the rest for stuffing.

oh well!  at least now i can appreciate why it's expensive!

craft FAIL

there's a hilarious website called Fail Blog, that has pictures and videos of things that don't work or are really bad or weird or funny.  Our family sometimes looks at it together and we laugh our heads off (there is a link near the top for a G-rated version if you want- it can be racy)  One of my favourites is a personalized license plate that reads "DIVA GINA"  Lee said to me out of the blue 2 days later "Oh! I just got that Diva Gina license plate!"  Very funny.

I started thinking about the various creative endeavours I've done lately that didn't really work out. 

Here's my "Craft Fail" offering, Part 1.

Dorodango, or shiny mudballs.  they are a pasttime of Japanese schoolchildren.  I saw them first in Craft magazine and had to try.  well, i got mud balls but they are not shiny at all. 

this photo is the 'during' but the 'after' does not look much different!!

I think the problem was lack of fine enough dirt for the powdery outer layer.  All the dirt around me was either sandy or really rich- nothing powdery.  you would laugh if you knew how much time i spent, by myself and with the kids, making my mudball!  (my man certainly laughed)  I am not beaten though- I'll try again someday.  They fascinate me and they are so beautiful.

Roasted Cabbage.  ahem.  it sounded like it might be good.  it was not.

 

next up:

wool roving from scratch!

"Get 'Er Done" and puffy petticoat giveaways

Toronto Craft Alert is sponsoring a giveaway called "Get 'Er Done" encouraging us to get out those old unfinished projects and well, you know!

Here are the details.

here's the loot for "Get 'Er Done"

 

Here's what I'm entering:

these lovely hats were crocheted by Buff (my mother-out-law) for the kids for Christmas, but they were a bit itchy.  last night i got them out and finally sewed fleece liners (dollar store hats) into them.  a small project but how many months have passed since Christmas??!!  thank you Toronto Craft Alert.  I Got 'Er Done.  the kids woke up this morning and wanted to put their hats on right away.  (Asa was still sleeping for the photo op)

 

Asa and Max went off this a.m. wearing them (did I tell you about my little plan for some time alone?  it's now!!  the kids are at my friend Karen's for the day.  I have big plans... gotta get off the computer though)

Lee didn't want to wear his because "I really like it.  it's weird and cool.  but i'm not going to wear it to school 'cuz the person i am at home is different than the person i am at school.  i don't wear hats like this at school."  sigh...  we are actually thinking about an alternative school for next year, where i think my little boy could actually be his quirky "weird and cool" self.

here's the loot for another fun giveaway on Grosgrain's blog.  you might want to check it out if you have a princess or kids who love dress-up! 

there is also a link to Martha's guest's instructions to make one yourself!

snakes

maybe spring is coming- there was a family of snakes in the yard today.

 
 

 

really, we did some wet felting the other day. 

i saw felt cafe's candy cane tutorial a while back and thought the same principle could be applied to any long and thin shape. we had trouble keeping the pipe cleaner from squirming out, but other than that it worked fine!  it was a great way for little ones to do wet felting.  very similar to rolling snakes with clay.  i needlefelted on the eyes and tongues later.

sunday night

this weekend:

saturday is my big day in the city- gymnastics for both boys, visit with cousin X, and the weekly grocery shop.  Maxine always falls asleep on the way there, so i have started bringing her special napping bin.  i can move her from the car seat to this bin without waking her up.  it's pretty handy and funny too.

today was the Island Mallard Cup- an annual shinny (informal pick-up hockey for all you non-Canadians) tournament extravaganza on the frozen lagoon.  picture tons of people of all ages, skating and playing hockey, with a smoking bonfire in a barrel and classic rock on the sound system, with the sun blazing.

i am embarrassed to say today was my first time on skates this year, and as usual i wish i had gone out more.   i went with some friends for a skate a few kilometers down the lagoon. 

it was gorgeous and so nice to get out! 

i really needed glorious sun and fresh air- i have been so cranky today about not having any freedom or time alone.  i was trying to get someone to watch Maxine so we could go skating (it all worked out- we took her out and she napped in a stroller on the ice!) and i couldn't find anyone, and i was feeling so angry and resentful about never getting to put my needs first and my life being so kid-focused!  (which i normally don't mind so much.  it's possible that this raccoon mum needs more sleep, and also i think almost 2 year old Miss Maxine is pretty intense right now in her needs/desires.) 

what i really really want is a day to myself at home- to putter, reorganize my little nook, maybe make something, take a bath, read a little.  i have a plan- it may happen soon- fingers crossed, 'cause mama needs a little time!