Quince and Quire

Flying Books

We started a project a few years back: a book, filled with art and letters, that the kids mail back and forth to their grandparents. We call it the Flying Book. We've been through a few of these books now; the photos show our current editions, one for each child. I sewed a piece of their artwork to the paper cover.

 

Each child draws pictures and writes a few thoughts for the grandparents. Sometimes they ask questions, like, "What do you like best about autumn?" Sometimes they tell them about the art they've made. 

 

The kids often have seasonal themes.

 

Everyone enjoyed writing about and drawing birds that they see in their neighborhoods. 

Sometimes we get wonderful memories of a grandparent's childhood--as when my mother recounted a story of the time she was given a kitten as a party favor.

The four-year-old dictates to me. I like that there is simple honesty in his correspondence, and that it always ends with those most important words. I love you.

 

I love you very much. We can never hear it, or read it, too often. 


 

Mother Love

This bear needed clothes, a warm blanket and a pillow--or so I was told. You see, the seven-year-old has a best friend. The best friend just had a birthday. And this was my daughter's idea for the gift: a bear (which we bought) dressed in clothes, which we made. SImple!

Unless you, like me, are no good at patterns. How does one tailor to a furry, fat lady with a tail? 

I made a pattern from some existing doll clothes, which almost fit the bear. I kept the clothing shapes simple. And I ignored the tail, which meant no pants. 

 

A ruffle was required on the dress, naturally. 

 

My daughter, who wanted to sew much of this project herself, couldn't get the hang of moving the fabric along in time with the machine--so her job was to run the pedal (I am afraid for her future driving skills) while I stooped above her, guiding the fabric.

 

It was a good time to forget about my advanced degree, useless for this sort of motherly teaching moment. It was a good time to forget about health worries, school worries, house worries: it was a good time, in short, to shut down all the nonsense that typically exhausts me each day. 

 

It was a good time to be pleased with my daughter's generous heart and love of bright colors. 

 

And the dotty scraps we have left? They are just waiting to be made into coasters for our Moomintroll mugs. The successful completion of one skirt, one shirt, one dress, a pillow and a blanket: that was quite a good time for a coffee. 

The Green Kingdom

Like many things on this earth, it looks best up close. The details spring to life. The greens reveal themselves.

 

And, as with so many things the seven-year-old likes to make, it was spontaneous. "Let's make a terrarium!" Before I could mention research, or necessary supplies, she was gathering up the potting soil and rummaging for an empty glass container. 

 

She uprooted her solo succulent; she collected mosses from our property; she pulled tiny cones from the nature shelf. She dumped in the dirt, and with gentle hands she patted in the plants. 

 

I know there are books that would tell us how we should have done a terrarium (we'll see how the various plants adapt to their new home). I know there are colored stones and glittering sand that we could have purchased. I know that we could have tried to make a more dynamic arrangement. But why? Why not embrace what we have, and see what it will become?

The world, in miniature. The forest, cupped in her hands. The magic of making beauty: of finding beauty in small places.

Unoriginal--and happy about it

Does it get any better than snowshoeing into the sunset? I think not. We've been waiting so long for real snow outside . . .

 

. . . . that inside we were happy to be formulaic in our crafting. Sometimes the familiar is most fun. I do think it's time to do more snowflake photography!

Giving and receiving

We rang in the new year with this fabulous pig bell, made by the 7-year-old. When you lift the string, the two little legs peeking from beneath the bell make a pleasant clatter as they swing about.

 

We received many wonderful handmade gifts this Christmas season, including this nativity, also made by the 7-year-old.

 

My talented friend Amber of Shagbark Studio gave us these lovely sachets, scented with balsam, in a handmade fabric basket. So nice for tucking in the linen closet!

 

My mom stitched little velvet acorns and that handmade strawberry gnome came from A Toy Garden. 

 

I made a doll quilt to fit on the decidedly not-handmade doll bed, using the crazy-bright colors my daughter loves.

 

Gifts need notes of thanks, which we made this weekend, each in our own way and according to our talents. (That bottom card uses a craft punch to make the evergreen needle design; the lettering I did quickly with nib and gouache.)  

Happy New Year!

Little & last-minute

The teacher gift assembly line was in action this weekend. Here you see little ornament houses, waiting for ribbons to hang from a tree. We glued colorful scrap paper on top of cardboard from a cereal box to make them.

We made peppermint bark for the teachers, too, borrowing the idea shamelessly from this talented lady. Having a problem not eating the gifts, though. 

And, finally, the tea-drinking teachers received coasters (and tea!) in their gift bags. Those stacks of pre-cut fabric squares work great for a project like this. 

Flurry

We've got a flurry of flowers and paper and glue and tape happening here, as we make special surprises for mothers and daughters. I'll let you decide who made what for whom!

Patterned paper eggs

We spent one rainy morning this weekend making patterns on paper. My mom sent a stack of "texture plates" from the craft store awhile back, and the kids and I got them out to see what we could do. They worked great for making these paper eggs, and our block Stockmar crayons made beautiful soft colors over the textures. My daughter and I each cut out free-hand egg shapes (hers are in the middle photo) with our papers. 

Now what do we do with them? Perhaps use them for cards (yes, we still have to make our Easter cards), or perhaps put two together with a string in between and hang them up. Any other ideas?

Fun link

Good morning! There's a nice post on storing kids' art over at Be a Fun Mum. Kelly used one of my ideas and shares many more! And of course you can always do what my daughter did in the photo: sew up a book for a friend to use for art collation. You all know how to sew a pamphlet, right? If not, let me know and I'll do a review.

Purple & blue

It seemed for so long that spring was never coming to our little corner of the world, but at last, we have proof. Snow glories and crocuses! Tiny, fleeting--but bits of color amidst the brown bracken and downed leaves of autumn.

 

My daughter and I were inspired to make this purple lady to celebrate. (Don't let the photo fool you; she is a mere 2 inches tall.) I'm starting to think purple is an April color. Might be time to review the color book of the seasons . . . 

Classic spring project

This little project has been one of my most popular crafts for young children: it has been featured on craft blogs around the world, including mammafelice, Craft Gossip, and The Crafty Crow.

 

The baskets are colorful, cheerful and easy for kids to make. 

 

For variety, have your kids paint the baskets with acrylics and add glitter while the paint is wet.

You can find the tutorial here. Happy Spring!

It's never too late for luck

What can you do with very little time, bright colors, a craft punch, a glue stick (not pictured) and a few kids who want shamrocks?

 

You can make four leaf clover greeting cards in dazzling colors. 

 

What if you add a few alphabet stamps and use strips of paper?

 

You get bookmarks for all the young people in your life.

 

And then, you can do it all in reverse! Add colorful envelopes for your cards and bundle your bookmarks in rainbow order and you've got St. Patrick's Day covered.

I hope this gives you ideas for any last minute St. Patrick's Day crafting needs you (or your kids) may have! 

Transformation

I've been working with watercolors and feeling my lack of art school training. I had poetry training, and book arts training, but never basic mix-colors-and-materials training. So there were some creative failures this week with ideas about diagrams and plots and colors, which I will share with you when my ego is less challenged.

 

Instead, let's think about leaves. My daughter painted the leaves, not me, using watercolors and a few sprinkles of salt. We cut the leaves out together, quietly, sometimes quickly. As we worked I thought about why people are compelled to make things, to put paint on paper, to assemble, to create order. Do we actually create? Or are we arranging the things already given in this world? 

 

My daughter is deeply interested in the idea of Lent this year. We are not Catholic, but we are, shall we say, guests in a Catholic community. And it's a good place to be, with strong women, thoughtful children, and people deeply concerned about serving others: all things we like. Not every belief in this community fits our views, nor must it be so: we see it as an opportunity to talk about different ideas as we wrestle with our own sense of the divine. We are, after all, a family made up of a scientist and a writer and curious children: there are bound to be ontological debates.

 

And so we are keeping a form of Lent at our house. In our family, that means having more time for reflection; working on our ability to serve and help others; developing our spiritual knowledge by reading a variety of texts, from scripture to poetry to commentary; and being kind and patient with one another.

 

We made a calendar to mark the journey through Lent. It's not our idea. We found it through the Parenting Passageway, and it was an idea from this site. Each day we move our oh-so-elegant pipe-cleaner caterpillar to another leaf on the calendar, Eric Carle style. (I used the beloved push drill to make a hole in each leaf). At the end of the forty days we'll hang watercolor butterflies: a lovely metaphor from the natural world about what we are trying to do in our own life. 

 

This week, as I watch the stunning events unfold in Japan--a catastrophic example from the natural world that offers no room for metaphor, only empathy--our little leafy calendar feels like an exercise in fantasy. Yet I hope and, yes, pray that the terrible situation will get better, that there will be survival and renewal. It will not be a forty days' journey, but it will happen. There are many ways to help make that a reality. 

Starry drafts

My daughter and I spent part of our snow day (you heard about the snow, right?) working on constellation books. We began with a simple accordion-fold structure, which made each page approximately 2 x 3 inches: a tiny book. She used blue crayon for her sky; I choose a greeny watercolor, and then we punched holes with the push drill to represent constellations.

Though these are just first drafts, we were both delighted with our little books. I'm planning to paint a darker sky for the next one, and to use ink for the lettering, and maybe a cursive hand. I think I'll also change the size of the punched holes to more accurately represent each star.

This was one of those projects that I had planned for January: you know, cold frosty nights with lots of stars get you thinking about such things. Now everyone is thinking about shamrocks and bunnies. But two feet of new snow gets one back in that January mood, and I am so glad we finally explored this idea.

Artful things around the house

My daughter and I are obsessed with this puzzle. Do you see the fun we have with color and design? Available here.

Grandpa sent these chalkboard for the kids. You are seeing them in a clean moment; usually they are covered in cake recipes & names for imaginary dogs. 

 

I found this book at my local independent used & rare bookseller. So great! Lots of photos, good synopses, great for non-homeschoolers who still do lots of teaching and exploration at home (that would be most of us, yes?) 

 

My daughter made this ceramic hand for us at school. I am in love with it. It sits next to all my little tiny hand-bound books: reminders of where I've been and what I've got now. And its beauty makes me think of all the not-beautiful ceramics I made as a child, which my parents always displayed and used. 

 

I don't know where I got this book: I think it arrived by osmosis: I really like it. (You can find it here, though.) Author Heather Smith Jones provides a nice overview of tools, materials and techniques for the non-art school person who wants to make art. Many inspiring photos, interesting projects, guest artists, and so forth. I have so many ideas now! I just need a little time alone.

 

Time: look at my beautiful calendar from Pat. I am really enjoying this one, and it is a lovely way to keep track of the days. I am so pleased to report that two months into the new year I am holding steady to my resolution to rise before the rest of the family, all seven days of the week, to be starting my work before they are awake. Sometimes that means I am reading at 5 in the morning; sometimes I am doing dishes and laundry; sometimes I am sitting at the computer (like now), though I am trying to limit my own screen time. 

 
If you remember this project you will enjoy seeing what Mona has done with hers. So lovely! My February is in the middle. 

Happy news from a local friend: see Maya's blog! Here's to more art and words in the world!