#Inktober Owl

I have been trying to blog more often, with more of my artistic content.  So, have you heard of #inktober?  It was started by Jake Parker as a way to polish up inking skills.  (He also started the #artdropday).  I took a week long illustration class from Jake at a Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers a few years ago and soaked up some of his genius, at least that was the hope.  He's one of those ridiculously talented/practised artists that can draw so effortlessly that he makes the rest of us look bad.  But anyway, I digress. This is inktober day 1.  With many more to follow.

owl

 This owl is a sort of compilation of a couple of cute owls, and as such is not a specific breed of owl.  He was fun to draw and has a different look then my other Owl that I did in pencil.  (he is very specifically a barn owl)

Ironically an owl was the first thing I drew with that last hashtag media bandwagon I jumped on.  Weird.  Either way, that #365drawing frenzy gave me great fodder to digitally color and turn into nice finished polished pieces later.  And as I seem to sometimes need a push to produce artistic content in quantity, it seemed like a great idea to participate in this one too.  And goes along with my newly defined outlook and identity as artist first, and illustrator of books as an extension of that.  As opposed to primarily and almost solely identifying as a writer/illustrator of children's books.  Of which I have worked on for a long time, but have not published or even tried to publish any thing as yet.  Which was getting really discouraging.  Also since I had an almost single handed focus of working on my dummy book, I was taking hardly any work to a final polish.  I think I was too narrowly focused on a long term goal with very long term payoffs.  So although I will continue to eventually finish and then submit my dummy book, I am going to play at being an artist just for the sheer joy of creating content that I personally like to create and look at and polish my skills in the process. And not limit myself to other possibilities. 

My origami display solution

I have loved folding origami ever since my second grade teacher Mrs. Maetani at Waterford School (Provo, back when it existed) taught my class how.  And then my big sister went on a mission there and brought me back a huge oragami book in Japanese (which didn't matter, because it is based on pictures anyway).  I was an origami fool as a kid.  Bored at church; origami, bored in school; origami, bored ANYWHERE; origami.  I still love to do it.  My perfectionist tendencies get a huge kick with all the crisp exact folding...  The only problem I ever had with folding origami is that I never had a very good place to put it/store it/display it.  And therefore was reluctant to do it as much as I might have otherwise.  I didn't want them to go to waste (especially if it was with real origami paper, which I rarely had).  Because I'm crazy like that too.  But having recently succumbed to the temptation to buy a fat stack of darling little origami papers and so I now have loads AND THEN I saw these tiny clothespins and voila!  A brilliant solution was procured.  I don't know if others have done this before me and I have just been clueless.  It is certainly simple enough I wouldn't be surprised.  But either way, I figured I'd share it with you.

None of my doorways are safe now.

What Has It Got In Its Pocketses? (Finger Hugs Tutorial)

Max recently started all day kindergarten and has been lonely for his mommy.  He can't have a picture, because it is distracting to others in his class.  But he needed something.  The idea developed after my oldest sister suggested something he could leave in his pocket.  Max and I brainstormed and came up with this:

original idea doodle

Then it ended up as this:

pocket hug

I like when an idea goes from concept to finished product fast and actually turns out better than I envisioned on the first try.


I don't want to make tons for everyone (though I'm sure now Max has one, I'll have to make ones for Sohvi and Lucy).  Soooo, I'll post the pattern and instructions so you can make your own.  Just don't be a turd and sell them en masse or anything.  That would be lousy of you.  Give them away as gifts all you want though.  Share the love!

Print out this:

print out full size (sorry I don't know how to attach the PDF file...)

Supplies: 
pins
scissors
fabric scraps (I used two different minky fabrics)
sewing machine (although he's small enough, you could stitch him by hand)
stuffing 
black embroidery floss (or thread)
embroidery needle
 
Use 1/4" seam allowance 

Cut pattern.

embroider eyes and mouth as shown on pattern.  Make sure to stay inside the seam allowance.  If using thread instead of embroidery floss, use four strands of thread (it will look exactly the same, I promise).

sew with 1/4" seam allowance all the way around, leave opening along bottom of one of the arms to turn.

clip curves in corners and trim off seam allowance around hands and thumb.

turn inside out.  I use the end of a paintbrush (skinny and smooth and not sharp..) to help turn it inside out.

stuff.  (do small amounts at a time).  don't make it super tight because the arms still have to bend, and you have to fit a finger in there to hug.


stitch the opening closed with a blind stitch (or slip stitch).

stitch the ends of the hands together with a blind stitch  (or slip stitch).

You're done!  At school put in pocket and when you put your hands inside, slip your finger through the arms and get a pocket hug!  At home you can wear it on your finger (or thumb) like a fat ring.  Feel the love.

You're welcome!

kid project: growing sugar crystals

My kids are on a crystal kick such as the world hasn't seen since the early 90's.  Theirs runs more towards the cheaper plastic sort, but nonetheless just as crazed.  I thought I'd show them some real crystals.  They aren't too impressed by small ones we found in rocks, so I thought perhaps we could make some bigger ones.

Fortunately a while ago I scored a sweet Goodwill find of "How Science Works" and bequeathed it to my oldest filled with fantasies of doing science projects together and being that cool sort of Mom.  Then I got all nerdy and explained it all before we did it.

this is how:

1- we heated up water and slowly dissolved sugar into it until it wouldn't dissolve any more, and then we should have added a tiny bit more water so that all of the sugar would have dissolved and not acted as seed crystals all over the bottom of the jar.   ..and added blue food coloring

...BTW, this is AFTER the solution has sat and been poured out.

2- we poured the super saturated hot sugar water/syrup into a jar and hung a rough string (we used hemp because it was laying around, you could use yarn) into the jar (not touching the sides or bottom) 

3- waited.  Patience isn't a strong point in children, but they held off for two whole days while we were growing a seed crystal. 

3- we took the largest seed crystal (that Lucy didn't eat) from off of the rough string and tied it to a nylon string (fishing line works) and hung it from newly resaturated sugar solution. 

And then whilst on vacation, we grew bigger ones.

Saved the biggest ones in cool origami-sticker boxes, and happily ate the rest. 

They taste like little naked nerds. 

On patched jeans and other atrocities

I can't decide if this makes me a nice, loving and clever Mom, or a total dork Mom (or probably both).  But I am really bored with jeans being rendered useless after a month because my kids are.. well, kids.  Their knees are constantly hitting pavement, trees, carpet, furniture, gravel, you name it and surrendering their thread count.  I hate waste, and not so much in the trendy, crunchy, reduce your carbon footprint kind of way, but a deep mental aneurysm sort of way.  Call me cheap, or a tight wad, whatever you want, because its true.  But just don't throw something salvageable away in front of me.  I'm probably only saved from serious hoarding by the fact that I'm not a big shopper.  All mental issues aside though, I've officially declared war on the pesky lower appendage ventilation duct.  In honor of the weather starting to cool off I pulled out last years leg wear in all its tattered glory.  And then got busy.

Trying out new ideas all in the name of erring on the clever-mom I-did-this-on-purpose side as opposed to the point-and-laugh-at-the-dork-kid look.

now there are

Since discovering HeatNBond *cough, stupid name I am now re-in-love with appliqué.  And no, I am not being paid for giving them a blog shout out.  And since I was in a blog stupor at the time of the frantic baby-sewing, there are no pictures of said appliqué-love.

all two of them

I also recently started working as a sewing assistant for the incredibly talented fabric/pattern designer/artist  Sandi Henderson.  So I've matriculated back to some sewing projects, having sewing on the brain, but my Ted book illustrations are still forthcoming. 

Hemisphere Wars

My creative beastie is sick and tired of table scraps and wants something substantial to masticate, and is fed up with all of my measly little sewing projects of late. So, my left brain has had to toughen up and put the smack down on its cranial counterpart. My right brain protests vehemently that it is being unfairly stifled, and that structure is so boring! (in that awful high pitched whiny voice that kids are so proficient at). And my poor corpus callosum is stuck in between as the bedraggled referee.
The fact remains however that unless I schedule and organize my sorry tush, I don't get nearly enough (or any, lately) illustration done. So with my dominant hemisphere kicking and screaming, I dutifully cleaned my cluttered house, paid the depressing bills and cracked open my dusty planner and set me some schedule to illustrate more. Nice stiflingly specific goals with deadlines and all. (ok, ok, loose deadlines... right brain put up quite the fight and threatened to strike if things got too stringent)
Soo-o, I'm going to finish (yes, really) the Ted the Hamster book my sister Meg so cleverly wrote and gave to me to illustrate all those eons ago. Its been disgustingly close to completion for way too long. The plan is to print it out myself and hand bind it. It will have both hardback and paperback versions. And I'll be selling them through my decrepit etsy shop. And if my kids have any say in it, a Ted the Hamster plushie may show up there in the future (they really want one, I'm not horribly keen on it, so we'll see). Meanwhile I'll also keep plodding along with my "Cora's Perfect Pet" dummy book in preparation for its sacrificial offering to a endless ocean of potential publishers and multiple rejection letters. Hopefully little and consistent bits at a time will keep both beasties at bay.

Tutorial: Diaper Holder Changing Packet

I have of late much appreciated free patterns and tutorials. So here is another one I came up with that I will share. Anyone is welcome to use it for personal and non commercial use. (you can make it for you, or as a gift, just DON'T sell them) I retain all commercial rights to it. The point is to hold all your diapers and changing stuff in your diaper bag together, so you can just grab a small bundle to change your kid, instead of lugging the whole bag around to the bathroom. Obviously I like the idea, or I wouldn't have designed this one. Enjoy it. Its fun to customize to match with other baby accessories.

DISCLAIMER! I used pictures of two different diaper holders in the directions, so sorry if that is confusing. It is also really hard to explain how to do things with only pictures and words... instead of just doing it, or showing someone how in person. I didn't think this was complicated at all until I wrote directions for it. If you ARE confused, please ask me questions, and I'll try to make the directions better and clear it up.

Supplies:
-rotary cutter, self healing mat and clear ruler (or scissors and measuring tape)
-sewing machine.-two coordinating/contrasting fabrics, 1/3 of a yard each
-matching thread
-clear vinyl, 1/4 yard.
-iron on/fusible interfacing
-10" of 1/4" wide elastic
-sew on Velcro
-8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 1" diaper wipes traveling case (Huggies.. is the one I used)

optional:
-coordinating 1" wide grosgrain ribbon
-more coordinating fabric scraps for pockets.
-tissue paper for sewing vinyl easier
-clothespins for holding vinyl in place

Cut:
-one 10 1/2" x 20 1/2" rectangle of the main/outer fabric
-one 10 1/2" x 20 1/2" rectangle of the liner/contrast fabric-one 10 1/2" x 20 1/2" rectangle of the fusible interfacing.
-one 8 1/2" x 11 3/4" rectangle of main/outer fabric or other coordinating fabric for the middle pocket
-two 5 1/2" x 10 1/2" rectangles of clear vinyl for outer pockets
-two 2" x 10 1/2" binding strips out of outside fabric or second coordinating fabrics for vinyl pocket edging
Use 1/4" seam allowance unless otherwise specified on this pattern.
We'll start with the inside.
To make the elastic casing on the middle pocket. Turn over the lengthwise edge 1/4" and iron in place. Turn over again another 1/2" and iron again. Pin and stitch close to the fold as shown.

thread the 10" piece of elastic through the casing with a safety pin. stitch casing closed on each end, making sure to catch the elastic in place.

To give the pocket depth we need to add small pleats near each end. (fold the fabric over to make a little pinch) Pinch just enough pleat to match the width of the liner (sorry for the lack of exactness.. I'm not really an exact seamstress, and it doesn't really matter). Line up edges with elastic casing matching the edge of the liner fabric, pin in place. Stitch along the opposite edge of the pocket as shown in both the illustration and picture.


Fold pocket over adding more small pleats close the the corners of each side. Pin and stitch along the sides. (if you want more guidelines as to how big to make the pleats, use the travel size diaper wipes you'll be putting in it as a guide)

Vinyl pockets
- [1st illustration] sew (no pinning on vinyl) right sides together the binding strip to the vinyl. (tip: sew with the vinyl on the bottom, it will feed through your machine easier.)
-[2nd illustration] turn and fold fabric binding strip along the seam edge.
-[3rd and 4th illustration] Fold twice to make a binding. stitch close to the edge. (edges won't match, wider side with outer stitching is the outside). Repeat for other vinyl pocket.

Stitch vinyl pockets to liner matching corners. (if you like to pin... use clothespins while sewing to hold it in place instead) (for easier feeding through your machine, put the vinyl on the bottom) Clip curves and trim close to stitching on vinyl only.

Inside is complete... now to construct the outside.

Iron on fusible interfacing to the outer fabric according to interfacing directions.

if you are using a contrasting ribbon stitch along the edges of the ribbon down the middle of length of the outer fabric.

Velcro Tab: (two ways shown)
-Cut about 7/8" hook side of velcro, and about 1 1/4" of the soft side of the velcro.
using ribbon:
cut 3 1/2" of ribbon. Sew hook side of velcro just past the middle of the ribbon. Fold ribbon in half and stitch along the edges of the ribbon.

or using fabric scraps:
cut two pieces of 2" x 1 1/2" contrasting fabric scrap. Sew hook side of velcro onto the right side of one fabric piece about a 1/2" away from the end. With right sides together sew around three sides of both fabric scraps leaving the opposite end (of the velcro) side open. Clip corners, and turn inside out. (you can stitch 1/8" around the edges for a more finished look if you'd like)


pin velcro tab as shown to the middle of the lengthwise end (velcro side up). Pin soft side of velcro in between 5 1/2" and 6 3/4" along the ribbon (or in the middle) as shown. (To double check correct velcro position, fill liner side with diapers and wipes, pin corners together and fold up, checking velcro closure. Adjust accordingly.) sew velcro and velcro tab on.

With right sides together, pin liner and outside pieces together (but not on the vinyl part, pins leave permanent holes in vinyl). You can hold the ends in place with clothespins if you want. Stitch with 3/8" seam allowance leaving an opening along the side, large enough to turn inside out. Clip corners paying special attention to the vinyl (very important! otherwise it will be a nightmare to turn inside out). Then trim vinyl only close to the seam.
turn inside out. Make sure to turn the pockets to the inside, and get the corners tight.
Pin opening closed, and stitch 1/8" seam allowance around the entire diaper holder. (paying careful attention to making sure the hole is closed and vinyl is flat)
fill with diapers (it is designed to fit 3 diapers of any size, one per pocket) with wipes and changing pad in the middle. You can buy or make your own changing pad. (You just decide on the size, and cut top, and bottom fabrics and vinyl the same size and sew them together with vinyl in the middle, leaving an opening to turn inside out, and then finishing it with a topstitch just like the diaper case once it is turned inside out)

fold it up and you're ready to go!

On organization

I'm crap at it. But seeing as it is a recognized (though not celebrated) weakness of mine, I'm always trying to come up with (or find) ideas that just might help me be not-so crap at it. Occasionally out of sheer volume of trial and error, I come across some things that have miraculously worked for me. I will share them with you on the off chance that perhaps they might help you too. Or you could alternately point and laugh because A- you are already an organization pro, or B- of course my silly ideas wouldn't work for you, or C- you are rich enough to pay someone to do your dirty work for you, or D- you have no children to negate your organizational prowess. At which point you have at least been amused by my misfortunes, so my rantings haven't been in vain after all.

Idea Uno.

I especially suck at cleaning my house. I just don't LIKE it, and it gets messed up again so fast, why bother cleaning it ALL of the time. So I used to let it slide until I went absolutely mad with disgust and annoyance at which point I'd go through and angrily clean the whole thing up, only to have it last roughly .00318 milliseconds before the next tornado hit. Seriously, what was the point.

Or else I was forever picking things up, but it never stayed as such long enough to vacuum or sweep before other toys, coats, backpacks or shoes would drift in of their own natural volition, thus preventing any actual cleaning of the cluttered surface. * So, even I who have a moderately high tolerance for clutter, was seriously annoyed. Next, I tried a chore chart, which didn't really last. Then I tried having everybody help clean up every Saturday. It wasted the day, and made everybody cranky. Everything I tried never really lasted longer than a couple of weeks. And took lots of effort.

* (Sir Isaac Newton, had he any progeny would have certainly discovered this fourth undeniable law of thermodynamics which is as follows "areas in clutter must remain in clutter unless acted upon by the STRONG force, which exists only in the nucleus of atoms, so good luck with getting that to work for you", but fortunately for high school students everywhere he didn't manage to fit procreation into his rather busy schedule and there is, for now, one less law to memorize.)

So... I came up with only cleaning one room a day. Every day, except weekends. That's it. Ignore the rest of the house (except the dishes.. yeah, that can't be ignored, and laundry I suppose..) and only focus on one room. Then the next day pick a different room. It actually has a chance to get all of the way clean, not just picked up, but thoroughly scrubbed (and half of the time organized) because I'm setting a realistic, small goal. And because it is realistic, easy and small, I do it again, and it actually lasts beyond a few weeks. The surprising thing is it helps me to be more productive, because once my one room is done, I don't have to do any wasting-time-avoid-cleaning-syndrome things, I get to move onto whatever project I am currently working on sans guilt. Then not only do I have a great feeling of accomplishment, but it actually stays a lot cleaner for some reason. (this part I don't get, except that as a whole, each room gets completely cleaned about once a week, which is probably more than ever did before in my house) And if happen to be feeling lazier on a certain day, I pick a room that isn't so bad. (if I have something too structured, I feel stifled, so I don't have set days for each room) Even when I miss a day, or days, I don't catch up and clean more than one a day, I just start again. I turn on music, and make my kids help me, and its not so bad. I really like it, and even if it doesn't work for you, I'm really, really relieved that something works for me. Sure it means all of your entire house isn't spotless at the same time, but when did that ever last anyway. Its scientifically proven. Nature truly does abhor a vacuum. Lucky for us, 21st century narcissistic Americans abhor Nature. So, it all evens out.

Point deux.

I am rotten at making real dinners consistently. Five o'clock rolls around, and I spend an hour thinking of things I don't feel like making, and then having to force it upon my unwilling subjects. By six, I am in somewhat of a panic... oh crap, now I have to do something ELSE and quick, because we should be eating now, or thereabouts. Pancakes, oatmeal, cold cereal, grilled tuna or cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, or mac and cheese are now the options. Gross. Well, except for the pancakes, which we have quite a lot of, but aren't really that great for long term hunger fulfillment. ANYWAY... as aforementioned and is now glaringly obvious at this point, I'm not organized enough to know what I'm making beforehand, which would solve all but the forcing-to-consume part of my problem. I also am a booger and can't be bothered with sticking to a fixed schedule for meals. How am I going to know on Monday what I'll feel like eating (or making) on Friday? Sometimes I think of a few I want to make, and I write them down before hand, but only occasionally, but it really helps. So I should be able to write out a list of seven meals that I might wish to make through the week in no particular order, and in varying degrees of time allotment required to prepare. I make sure I have ingredients on hand, or go get them all at once... So, I thought if I had a cool specific place to write all of it, then maybe I'd be consistent at planning ahead. So instead of dinner, I made a blank menu idea list I could print more of whenever I needed to. And then I thought of a cool way to put them on my fridge... So, I thought I'd share how to make it, and perhaps it can benefit you too, so that my kids having oatmeal for dinner yet again won't be in vain. I'll even give you the finished printing layout because I'm that kind of person.

print THIS out.



I didn't put borders on it, because my laser printer doesn't DO borderless printing, so make sure when you print it out it is with a border. And its not perfect (hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I made it for you, quit whining) they're all not going to line up exactly and the edge borders are going to be bigger than the middle ones, but get over it, and just cut it off.

..and then if you went through all that bother, you might as well make the holder. (its really easy) And you can use a random ugly or boring magnet you don't care for to hold it up.

Cut a clear vinyl strip. 3 1/4" x 10 1/2"

Fold the strip of clear vinyl once backwards, and once forwards. Adjust to fit.



Sew the edges with cool colored thread. (I sew each seam twice so its thicker, and stays better, and you don't have to backstitch at the beginning and end because that looks silly on vinyl)

Slide the magnet under one flap.



..and the blank lists into the other.

Fill with ideas. Place on fridge. Feel sufficiently motivated and inspired to make dinner before bedtime.

Figuring out how to get your picky kids to eat the dinner, without giving them therapist fodder? No clue.

(and hey, make it all you want for you and friends or family, but don't rip off my idea as your own and try to sell them or anything K, that's just rude!)


Solution drei.

ha, ha, just kidding! I don't have another one. yet. I just wanted to use another random language number, so it looked like it was on purpose. (Kinda like I'd be cool like Bono and do my own version of weird counting, and not just totally copy his 1, 2, 3, 14 in spanish.) I know I'm lame, just checking to see if anybody is still actually reading by now. You can officially stop though. I'll let you.

I promise.

Valentine Fun

Sohvi and Max really wanted to cut out heart decorations for Valentine's Day, and finding myself with no good reason not to, I agreed to attempt it. So, I taught Sohvi how to cut out symetrical hearts by folding the paper down the middle, and Max mostly watched and requested asymmetrical hearts, shredded other paper and helped hang them up on the window. While I withstood the temptation to offer placement advice to my kids, and/or hang them all myself instead. That is how much I love my kids, I can stand back and let them make an unbalanced, lopsided, yet lovely splay on my windows all by themselves. I however busied myself making valentine heart snowflakes out of colored paper and abstract valentine art, so I could contribute something.

That was really fun. So it was a good mix of eclectic kid hearts as well as my crazy overboard detailed snowflakes. (which is why I don't usually do decorations.. I spend too much time on them, only to throw them away later, because they've been destroyed, and/or I don't want the bother of saving them and pulling them out for every separate occasion). The heart snowflakes do have really good potential for kid combined with adult projects.

They do the art (theoretically, because by the time I thought of it, Sohvi didn't want to do abstract, and Max's attention span had expired on the whole project). So you (being the adult) cut out the snowflake from the dried art (or your kids if they are old enough to cut their own snowflakes). Sohvi probably could, but was content with cutting plain hearts. So I had to provide the abstract art AND the cutting.
You can do any kind of medium, but white crayon makes for cool wax resist effects if you watercolor on top of it. (which I didn't do, I did red, which I obviously like the effect of as well)

Watercolor is funner for me with abstract, so I did a combination of crayon and watercolor in valentine colors. I also messed around with a tiny hole punch in the snowflakes. It was totally fun, and I made myself stop at four, so I didn't overpower (supposedly) my kids hearts. I like the compliment of both of them together on the window. Try it out!