It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The giant slide and bumper car madness at the county fair.

So far, we've been able to attend the Hobe Sound Art Festival , the ArtsFest of Stuart, and the Martin County Fair. Another arts fair, "Artigras" is going on this weekend in Jupiter, but three weekends in a row of art fairs would just be too much for my kids. ;P I contemplated going to the Florida Renaissance Festival this weekend, but honestly all these fun activities are cutting into the budget.


The Stuart ArtsFest and the Hobe Sound Art Fest.


So now we may have to eliminate a few of the future outings I had hoped to take. Our choices are the Ren Fest, the Hatsume Festival at Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum, and a day trip to Orlando to visit a theme park. It will most likely be Orlando, since my Aunt Cathy will be there visiting from Maine.

Will somebody please remind to save some money from the holidays next year, so that I will be financially prepared for Florida's Festive February? And if YOU ever want to visit Florida, I highyly recommend coming in February. The flowers are blooming and the outdoor festivities are abundant!

I'm Becoming a Bag Lady

It all started last may, when I decided to try and sew myself a new handbag for spring. Using a pattern from this book, I made the bag above. It was so much fun, that I decided to make another on with a different pattern, which became a gift.Then I was inspired to try my hand at felting a bag for the fall, and created this.

My mother really liked the felted look and asked me to make one for her for Christmas. I was thrilled. Here's what I came up with for my mom.
I also made 8 of these tote bags for Christmas gifts.
I have no good reason to make another bag, but today I bought some more wool yarn (on sale-yay!) for yet another bag. I saw a design that I just HAVE to try out. I love the idea of creating something pretty, and so useful too! I anticipate that 2008 is going to be "the year of the bag" for me. ;)

Thirteen Holiday Handmade Goodies From Our Home (TT#6)

(A little late due to trying to find a place to put our ever growing assortment of Chrismas decorations. I can't help but make a few more every year!)

I Love Creating Things - Thursday Thirteen #5

Thirteen arts and crafts that I've dabbled in:

1. Crochet

2. Knitting

3. Cross-stitch

4. Embroidery

5. Making wire and bead jewelry

6. Embellishing clothing with fabric paint

7. Encaustic painting (wax painting)

8. Watercolor painting

9. Tie dye and batik

10. Candle making

11. Stamping & Scrapbooking

12. Henna tattoo

13. Leather tooling

Update to last week's thirteen: I completed #2 and #8, and #12-13 are well underway. ;)

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My Son's Collections

My eight year old son loves to collect things and display them for all to see. I'm not sure if he is leaning toward museum curator or window display artist. (I know; there is so much more he can do with these talents!) I'm just impressed by how he has done this from a very young age. It's clearly a part of who he is. Anyway, here's a little tour of just a few of his collections. The pet rock friends - displayed on a spice rack, on a bookshelf so to increase the available display area.

All the wooden toys my son has built or assembled (puzzles), plus the model motorcycle he and my husband put together.
Most of the Z-card models are displayed on this corner shelf (also built by my son).
My son's shark tooth collection has special display "stands", which he crafted out of Fimo clay. (Notice the biggest tooth has a place of honor.)
This is a close-up of some of the Z-cards.

Now we just have to find more room to display the rock collection, the shell collection, the miniature alien collection, the coin collection, and probably a few more I'm forgetting! I'm thinking maybe we should have rotating exhibits.

San Francisco Shopping (Sort of)

Just a few days ago, I excitedly received my first package from The Sampler. It contained all these goodies from indie artists based in San Francisco!

I had been wanting a Sampler ever since I first found out about them, and finally I could no longer resist. Here are my favorites.

If you want to find out about some of the wonderful independent artists and crafters out there, The Sampler is a great way to do so. Even if you don't get your own Sampler, their website will introduce you to the works of their wonderful contributers (whom you may want to order from individually). ;) Go ahead, take a peek, and see if you can resist.

Re-creating Myself

(Crocheted and shrink art jewelry by me.)

One of the best things I've discovered, or re-discovered, since having children is my own creativity. I spent so many years working to be "professional" in my field, to be taken seriously as an "adult", and making "work" out of being the best parent I could be. I'm only recently coming to realize that to be my best at any of these things requires me to honor and accept all parts of myself. That especially includes the parts of myself that I tucked away in order to be more "mature" and adult.

The part of me that LOVES arts and crafts, and enjoys appreciating others art and creativity, is making a strong resurgence. This is what brought me joy when I was younger, and it is no less joyful now! Thanks to all the wonderful resources at my fingertips (via the computer), I am able to nurture this part of me and be inspired by countless others. It feels like a whole new world has opened up to me. But in reality, it is re-visiting of a part of myself that has been fallow for some time. Now, I am definitely enjoying the harvest, and looking to further cultivate my joy in creating.

Today's Daily Om spoke so eloquently about this that I wanted to share it. Here's an excerpt:

In certain times and places, developing a creative ability was considered an important part of being a well-rounded human being. It was not necessary to be a professional or a masterly genius, because the act of creativity was valued in and of itself. It gifts are manifold—from the sheer pleasure of allowing our imaginations free reign to sharing and enjoying the fruits of our labor. Children share drawings and songs freely, without self-consciousness, and there is no reason why we cannot do the same thing. (Read the entire piece here.)

This has been so true for me! Why not see if there's a part of you longing to create? You can find instructions for just about anything right here on the Internet. ;) Try something new and you might find something old and familiar inside that's been dieing to get out. Let me know about it too. I'd love to hear about it!

My First Sock Monkey

Here he is!

I think he still needs a little embellishment, but my son already swiped him to sleep with. This was fun, but next time I'm definitely using the sewing machine. You can find a really good tutorial to make your own here.

I "Felt" Impatient

When I saw Diana's beautiful knitted and felted bag, I knew I had to have one. Lucky for me, I learned to knit at the Live&Learn conference this year, so I could make my own. The only problem was, knitting takes too long for me. I NEEDED a fall purse right away! So....I figured I would try my hand at felting a crocheted bag, since I could whip that up in a matter of days.

I found a pattern for a great market bag, and purchased some pretty wool, and this is what I created.

Then after the magic of felting, and the addition of a pin (yes, all those buttons are a pin I had purchased a while ago just because) and a loop to close it, my market bag turned into this awesome purse!

I love it, and I love the wonderful on-line communities of crafters who joyfully share their ideas, inspiration, tutorials, and patterns. Thanks to you I can create beautifully satisfying goodies in no time at all, which is good for an impatient crafter like me! ;)

Creepy Crafting

These adorable little guys are "glove monsters" created by my daughter. We first saw the idea on my half of the brain, which gives links to tons of crafty tutorials. The original tutorial came from the wonderful CraftyPod. They are so fun to create, quick and easy too! There's plenty of time to whip up a few before Halloween. Come on, you know you want to. ;)