The Usual Suspects

As part of my extended 40th birthday celebration we got to stay in a vacant apartment in San Francisco. Maxine lived there from the late 1940s until she died some years ago — she was 97. She fancied "Oriental" decor and fancy stereo equipment. I think these headphones were hers. Thanks, Maxine.

H is for Hat

He always wears his best when we go out to the fancy neighborhood restaurant. This time it was three plaids and a vintage fedora, white pants, and suede oxfords — all on his own.

More photos at flickr.

Give a kid a camera

and he'll take photos. It's so fun to see what catches his eye.

Grandma got him one of these. The image quality is lacking, but I kind of like the grainy, blown out look.

Now I need to go see if I can find the pictures from my first camera, a Brownie, from when I was five years old.

500 Gumdrops, Less 30

OK. I love the way these gumdrop wreaths look. But, having just finished one, I think everyone that has ever made one is CRAZY, including me. Did anyone mention how time consuming and tedious they are? Did you know that three pounds of gumdrops is about 500 small gumdrops? I thought my five-year-old and I could whip one out in a little sibling nap session. Nope. He was done after about the first 80 or so. It took much longer than a nap, maybe three to four hours. It's definitely cool, though — I just hope it doesn't become a holiday tradition. ;)

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After writing this I went back and googled Gumdrop Wreath Blog and I got the actual time commitment from Alicia. Guess I should have done more homework. I never was good at reading the directions all the way through.

Here are some other gumdrop wreath stories:
Sparkle Power
My Paper Crane
Hula Seventy
Crazy Mokes
Hey Lucy
Sew Darn Cute
Bella Dia
Teen Sleuth

P.S. It's funny what crafty types will find too tedious to do. I've met at least one knitter who can't stand to rip out seams from sewing, but thinks nothing of frogging a sweater. Personally, I'm afraid of My First Sweater because it might involve large quantities of frogging.

P.P.S. I forgot to mention that I wrapped the Styrofoam form with masking tape, which made it impossible to poke a toothpick through. I had to make a pilot hole with a sharp metal tool first for each hole. This could have been part of my frustration.

Proud Mama

Sometimes I need to jot these things down here, because I'm not so good at getting them onto paper.

My oldest

Said:
"Those clouds look really low, like I could jump into them. They look like cotton candy. When I have a hang glider I'm going to fly into the clouds and see how they taste — and, I *will* have one."

"Do you know why I come and get into bed with you in the morning? Because I want to see my brother when he wakes up."

Wrote:
His name on a chalkboard, when asked to by a prospective kindergarten teacher, while being assessed. My first child's first test — I was a bit of a nervous wreck.

Drew:
A gnome — his fourth representational drawing of a creature. This has been a long, challenging process for him because he wants things to be perfect. The lesson we worked on was, that — if you don't like it — you can try again. We went through many sheets of newspaper. We also made a compromise, where I did the cutting and he did the drawing.

By my littlest

Said:
"Fabric" and "Gnome." They are two of his first twenty or so words. That makes me smile. So does seeing him wake up.

Making Tradition By Hand

Growing up in a half atheistic, half non-church-going-believer type of family made my childhood holidays a find-your-own-meaning sort of situation. My mom created the mood, my dad tried to ignore the whole thing. I don't remember wondering what the meaning of it all was — I suppose getting presents was my main concern. But, I do remember loving the ritual of our family's traditions: opening family presents on Christmas Eve/Santa's in the morning; baking a long list of very specific goodies (Granny's Fudge, mom's Russian Tea Cakes, Becky's Peanut Butter Balls, grandma Ruby's Peanut Butter Cookies, Renie's Magic Bars, etc.); and, most importantly, the making of handmade gifts and decorations. We did *a lot* of making. We never stopped making, not even in those awkward teenage years.

When I was in college I printed a very small edition of miniature books about our family's Christmas traditions. Talk about being a dork! There is nothing more un-hip than illustrating Christmas when you are a fine arts major — my teacher was not impressed. It was an earnest book, though, full of love and memories. Each spread features an item handmade by family or friends: my sister's toilet paper tube angel; Wayne's machine-lathed aluminum tree; my soft sculpture snowman; Kathy's felt advent calendar; Patty's patchwork placemats; even our favorite baked goodies are in there.

My printmaking teacher might not have liked it, but it was tear-worthy over at our house that Christmas. It's probably the best present I ever gave to my mom. And, in a way, it's one of the best presents she gave to me.

Here it is:


Becky's Angel / My Snowman:


Patty's Placemat:


Kathy's Advent Calendar:


Wayne's Aluminum Tree:


The Goodies:


The End:


Some technical info:
I printed the book on a stone lithography press with black ink. I hand-colored each illustration with Prismacolor colored pencils. The text is handwritten (I forget what kind of pen — heck, it was 20 years ago!). Each page is glued together accordion-style. The binding is red leather with what used to be gold ink.

Post something interesting already

You know your blog is sucking when your comments are down — and, when you mention this to your husband, he let's you know that your blog hasn't been all that interesting lately.* Nothing like a little tough-love to kick your butt into finishing a long-time WIP.

So, without further ado, let me introduce to you:

The Original Butt-Kicker Crochet Bodice Dress



This dress fought me the whole way. If it wasn't for blog suckage it probably would never have been finished. I won't bore you with the gory details — I tried writing them, and I almost fell asleep.



Props to Linda for the original inspiration, and to my sister for taking such lovely photos of her lovely self. More photos over here.

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*His comment was before yesterday's post, which he thought was nice.

Original G-nome

I wondered when I'd have a go at needle felting. Lucky for me my friend, Sara, has a craft supply shop in her garage. ;) First, I made a loose shape of a beard out of felt, then sewed the roving onto it in areas where it won't show. Then I made a lining of felt and hand stitched it to cover up the fuzzy edges and to strengthen it. Of course, it has fuzzy edges anyway.

What do you call a group of gnomes? A herd? A pod? A posse?

Cold Turkey

Notice anything missing? I packed up the 200 or so kid videos and DVDs that my mom had acquired in the last five years — they were sitting in front of the books. We're going cold turkey and it's working out just fine. Boy, am I surprised.

This also explains my absence from posting. I'm still making stuff, just don't have the same amount of screen time to publish. We're also moving out to the granny unit, so things are a bit chaotic. The move is tempting me to sell off a bunch of stuff (supplies and old craft stock), so keep your eyes peeled for some sort of shop or something.

Thanks to all the lurkers who invited me to visit their blogs. Anyone else? I love finding new crafty folks.

Crazy Train

train
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Just waiting for the crazy train to pass — hopefully it will with the beginning of the school season.

Week in Review: June 17-24

Week in Review: June 17-24
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

This is a week late, but that's how life is these days — for me and many others — I guess. Highlights of the week were: going to a powwow with Sara & Aurora; H olallieberry picking with Becky & Blaize; a birthday party at Wilder; C learning how to feed himself; and an exciting, but not scary, visit to our street by the firetruck.

To Damian

Father's Day
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I'm glad you are the papa. Happy Father's Day — you are the best.

Week in Review: June 9-16, 2007

Week in Review: June 9-16, 2007
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

So much to do, so little time. I am finding my role as activity director increasing at a rapid rate. Some of the things we did this week were: visit a miniature horse and pony show; dig in the dirt a lot; say good bye to a best friend; go to the Boardwalk with a larger kid to parent ratio; and take a night walk with cousins, aunties and uncles to see the fireworks over the ocean.

How Do You Hold a Moonbeam in Your Hand?

Minkee1
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Minkee2
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Chiweenie
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I think a lot about this line from the Sound of Music, especially as my "Maria" gets closer to school age — a topic for many future blog posts, I'm sure. Right now, I'm working on figuring out ways to help my son relax, to learn how to be calm.

Somewhere in this blog I mentioned that the fabric Minkee helps my little whirling dervish settle down. He's taken to carrying around an unfinished length of it like a blankie. Kristin from Sew, Mama, Sew! remembered this and included some Minkee scraps along with an order that I placed. I thought I would use them to finish the blankie, but I made up these pants and poncho instead.

As you can see, the Minkee trick doesn't always work. When it doesn't, we can always play the "Will You Buy Me?" game — possibly his favorite game of all time. In the bottom photo you can see my latest purchase, a Chiweenie, trying his best to be a good dog. He cost "none." A pretty good deal, I think.

Sewn For My Sis

Sewn For My Sis
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


birthday_skirt
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


champagne skirt
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Vintage Sheet Skirt
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

My favorite model and sewing muse, my sister. You've probably seen some of these photos before (here or in the Wardrobe Remix pool), but I wanted to make a group post to see them all together. It's about time for another round of sewing for her, maybe some shirts or a mini dress now that she's wearing things above the knees. I've also been wanting to make one of these, which would combine my love of yarn and fabric.

I sewed the skirts from a self-drafted pattern based on the "Tourist Trap" from Sew What! Skirts. The dress is McCall's M4369 tailored for a streamline fit.

The dress is new fabric — it's dragonflies. The pink skirt is vintage, the bubbley champagne skirt is new fabric, and the green and blue floral skirt is from a vintage sheet. I did a quick search trying to find the names of the new fabrics, but couldn't easily find them. If you know what they are, can you leave a comment so people who are interested can find out?

First Birthday

c peeking
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I didn't get a chance to post a birthday photo yesterday for this wonderful little guy because I was recovering from a night of mastitis. It was a bit ironic as I recalled the 24 hours of labor exactly one year prior. Eleven pounds two ounces of sugar puddin' goodness and worth every push. Happy birthday, C. I love you so much I can hardly stand it.

Speaking of mastitis, did you know a potato poultice can help? A grated potato applied to the affected breast can relieve symptoms — in my case it instantly stopped the feverish shivering. I've used both the potato and the cabbage remedies before, both with success. In addition, I take hot baths and express with the electric breast pump. Rest is important, too.

Boys and Toys

Not much crafting going on around here. I've been cleaning my craft area, which took two whole days — sorted a mess of fabric by color and realized that I could sew for two years straight and not need to buy anything new. Help, someone stop me.

And, we're in the middle of birthday season around here, with five birthdays in about five weeks. These photos were taken by my sister at my dad's birthday party. My dad has been trying for years to find the pedal car of his childhood and he finally got one — handy timing for the grandkids. At the same time he bought one to match his current hotrod. He specializes in '32 Ford roadsters with vintage speed equipment. My sister pointed out that my dad is obsessed with the past, which made me realize our interest in vintage isn't that surprising. The apple doesn't fall from the heritage tree, as it were.

Birthday: The Day in Review

My creation
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I had an excellent day, especially the no timeouts part. This birthday gets written up as the one where I felt strange because all attention was upon me. Everyone was at my bidding and I didn't have kid responsibility. Other years it must have felt normal, now, not so much.

100 Posts 39 Years

39
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

NOTE: I call it "mama brain," my husband called it "pulling a lame-o." Did you notice that I never really told you what I was giving away? My grand idea is make another pincushion with chick and flower pins. Sound good? I hope this works for you all. Because of my mess up I'm going to extend the sign up until midnight tonight, Flickr comments included.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I had a great day.

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Well, it's about time for a give-away, no? Recently I found this embroidered trim that I thought had disappeared under suspicious circumstances. It turned up at the bottom of my floss basket. Whoops! So glad I didn't make any accusations.

Do you remember what I used it on? Yep, that chicken pincushion for the swap with Samantha. It remains one of my most viewed photos at Flickr, as well as one of the most common ways to find me through Google. Sometimes I wonder if "chicken pincushion" has some subversive meaning. Anyone?

So, leave a comment today, before midnight Pacific Standard Time, and tomorrow I will draw a name for one lucky winner. And, thank you everyone for being part of this thing that I love.

Oh, yeah, it's my birthday today. This is what I hope happens: a shower for my grubby self; finishing sewing the Hawaiian tunic to wear (Sounds like a muumuu, huh? One of the benefits of being 39.); shopping for fabric with the Bitter one; letting my four-year-old surprise me; riding the Giant Dipper; eating sushi; having banana cake with whipped cream, getting lots of hugs and kisses from the littles; no time outs.

P.S. Please make sure to leave a way for me to find you. You know Blogger isn't so good about this. I think you need to type the "www" before your blog address for it to work. If you're not sure, leave an email address. Melissa and Kristy, I'm not sure who you are.

Easter: The Day in Review

My creation
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Inspired by Jek's Week in Review, I'm starting with one day, since Easter was such a good photo op with its bubbles, hula hoops, and pink aluminum peep Christmas tree. It's harder than it looks to do these mosaics — Jek does it so well. I think this medium will work well with my kid-on-the-go-go lifestyle these days. Check out the flickr group for Week in Review.

New Vintage Wardrobe: Pink Dogwood Skirt

Day 70
Originally uploaded by becktress.

My favorite model wears a newly-made-by-me skirt from vintage fabric — a birthday present for her. These skirts work up really fast now. I can almost finish one during naptime on a good day. The lovely pink fabric came from the same stash as the red Hawaiian.

I'm reading an old book called Pants for Any Body by this author. It's about altering a commercial pants pattern to fit your body. They suggest using 1/4 inch gingham as a first draft to get your exact mesurements. It's a great book so far. My fear of pants is waning.

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Happy Birthday little sis! We've come a long way. Well, actually, I still live here, but at least you moved. I am glad that you stayed in the same zip code, though. Sweet homemade clothes!

Self Portrait

Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

How did I know, half my life ago, that this is how I would look and feel today as a mother of two small children each getting over a cold and one of them teething. I'm feeling lonely today, so Bitter Betty's coming down to save me. I know I'm not alone in this weird, isolated job that they call motherhood.

My sister: Wardrobe Remix(ing) it Up

Hula Hoop
Originally uploaded by becktress.

My sis was a featured Wardrobe Remix(er) on Bits and Bobbins' blog yesterday. The Wardrobe Remix thing is kind of like craft blogs for clothes horses only it's a flickr pool with over 3000 members! Becky's on day 57 of posting a daily photo of what she's wearing. If you like vintage dresses you should check out her flickr set. I think she's past 100! They made super cute Moo cards.

Like Son, Like Father

d_bowler
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I think our 4-year-old gets it from his father. You might recognize the squinty-eyed pose from Little Big Man — he's "breathing through his eyes." If there was a voice-over with this photo you'd hear D saying, "That was the end of my religion period. I ain't sung a hymn in a hundred and four years."

Click here to see a larger version of the photo at Flickr.

And, for a little more bowler fun check out Bitter Betty's cool Magritte-esque photo.

rockstar

rockstar
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Age: 4
Favorite music genre: Rock
Favorite band: The Police
Chooses own clothes: Yes
Dresses for dinner: Yes

Click here for a larger Flickr version.

Tis the Season

mele kalikimaka
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

This one is courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law — it's their Christmas card. They got the idea from MSL last year, but wanted a word more complicated than Joy, they picked Mele Kalikimaka. Not everyone is as lucky as I, to have such a great brother-in-law, one that is willing to wear hot pink stretch pants for a photo shoot.

Fa la la la la la la la la.

Advent Calendars 1976

Advent Calendars 1976
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I was going to put together the list of all the advent loveliness out there, but Steph beat me to it. This photo is from Christmas 1976—I was eight and my sister was three. We're standing in our white, faux-wood paneled living room next to our Advent calendars that my mom put together with something like interfacing and Liquid Embroidery. I got to draw the scene on the top of mine, but mom did the Santa for sis. Each day had a present tied with ribbon to a little ring. I remember exactly what the rings looked like, how the ribbon felt, how cold the linoleum was. I probably examined each present for hours, never sneaking a peek, although I did do that with the big presents. I think the secret was that they were wrapped well and had lots of ribbon to keep it secure to the calendar.

It will be a year or two before I get it together to do an Advent calendar for my boys. So far I only have one present for Christmas, let alone Advent!

Go check out Kim's photo that my four-year-old thought was me.

Stained Glass Afghan

Grandma's Afghan circa 1935
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Mom's Afghan circa 1975
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Mom's Window circa 1980
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Corner with Carlo 2006
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


Family History
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

The idea for this post started when I asked my mom to get her old afghan out of storage — the one that defines my Partridge Family era childhood, the one that always covered the back of our huge vinyl couch. I thought that I would compare her afghan to my crazy stripy one. But, when she also pulled out her mom's crocheted afghan another story developed.

There is an afghan that has been waiting to be made by me. It's primarily black with bright colored accents, probably a granny-type square with a circle in the middle and black edges. I've been thinking about it for some time now, saving online photos for inspiration. What I didn't realize is that I will be continuing a craft tradition with this future afghan.

I didn't remember that my maternal grandma (the one I never met, not to be confused with the mean one) crocheted an afghan much like I want to make. She made it back in the 1930s or 40s. It's probably been twenty years or more since I've seen this afghan. My mom's 1970s afghan is a nice complement to her mom's and tells the tale of a generational shift. She made a design contemporary to the time with its brightly colored rectangles, mixed-and-matched like a crazy quilt. So, it seems in our family that every thirty or forty years a new afghan must be made of bright colors and black. I'm ready to keep up my end of the tradition, just waiting to get through the season of holiday crafts.

I picked this corner of our home to photograph these legacy afghans because it's full of family history and because I liked the light cast by the stained glass window. It took me awhile to realize that the afghans look a lot like stained glass. Duh. On the wall behind the baby hangs a genealogic map that is almost eight feet tall — it's a photographic chart of my children's ancestors. It's fun to have daily access to these photos. My older son likes to ask who the people are and how they are related to him. He gets to *see* the British grandma who was one of the first members of the Salvation Army, or the Native American grandma who was the mother of "the first white child" in their part of the Oklahoma Territory, as well as, the grandmas who made the afghans. Maybe someday he will fulfill this colorful legacy and make his own version of the stained glass afghan — Kaffe Fassett look out. A mother of sons can wish, right?