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. 


 

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!

Calm & bright

Little light

Little woodland

May views

What I saw . . .

. . . upon waking this morning. And you?

Momentum

I'm back to working on a variety of projects--some neglected longer than others--after another round of stomach flu at our house. WInter's little joke just never seems to end here: now we've got another 3 to 6 inches of snow forecast for tomorrow!

Well, even if I haven't completed anything of note in the past week, so many other people are doing amazing work. I'll have links to beautiful projects, new-to-me design sites, and lots more for you tomorrow. (Unless, of course, a snowstorm takes out our internet.)

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!

 

Small bath spruce-up

We have a simple and quirky upstairs bathroom. It was constructed from half of a much larger room in our 1817 house. It has great natural light and a nice view of the barn and fields. 

The shower has this pretty tiling in it. 

We use a weathered vintage chest of drawers for storage. The chest would benefit from refinishing or a coat of paint, but at the moment I don't have time to do either. Then I remembered this fabric, from the lovely Adrie. It has a bit of the block-printing look to it, and the colors work nicely with our shower tiles.

So I made a runner for the top of the chest. As you can see, I had only thin strips of the patterned fabric, which I used to frame a natural cotton in the center. So much nicer! And our little lidded Senegalese basket looks very cheerful on top. 

It may seem like a silly project, but one has to get through the winter doldrums somehow! This is my approach: fun, easy projects that make corners of the house feel renewed.

Heart

I hope everyone is enjoying this day as much as we are! I sent the kids off to school after a breakfast of heart pancakes, ready to deliver yarn-tied bags of treats to their buddies. My Valentine cards went out on time (a good thing) but I didn't photograph them (not so great), so I put that last photo up to show you last year's labor-intensive push-drill Valentines. Now I'm off to bake a chocolate cake! Happy day to everyone!

Sick leave

We've got a stomach virus going through the household, which means lots and lots of laundry, cups and pots of tea, lavender compresses and rosewater mists, books by the fire and books in bed--and not much time to think about projects. I hope you all have a healthy week and I'll be back when we're all well!

The handmades

Before we get into a week of winter sky-inspired crafts, I wanted to show you a few little things that I made this Christmas for the kids. 

I wanted to avoid buying more, more, more. I thought about how I could extend the play value of things they already had and, when possible, use materials that I had on hand. Here's what I came up with. 

I made this dress from my own pattern for one of my daughter's favorite dolls. The fabric was left over from a quilt project. I was so happy to finally do tidy, tiny seams on the arms and neckline. I know the beads are a bit much, but when you're six, the more the better!

For that same doll, I made a little sleeping bag to keep cozy on cold winter nights. It has been very popular so far for having play dates at other dolls' houses. I put that big pleat in to make it easier to get the doll in and out. The diamond-print fabric is by Lecien. 

Little brother got a sleeping bag for his friends too, and I'm showing it to you in all its rumpled reality. He really likes it so I'm happy to find it crammed next to his pillow with a gnome tucked inside. I made three berths to accommodate the many small friends he likes to carry around. The handles are good for swinging the friends around as though they are on the ferris wheel, which is important in my son's world. My mom made that wee cat on the left back in the '80s. The map-print fabric is Japanese and came from an off cut of a different project. I had no pattern and made things up as I went and it turned out fine.

And then I made a little scarf for my son using upcycled plaid flannel pajamas. The seams on the pjs were worn out and frayed despite repeated mending, but the fabric itself was still sound and soft. I added some star print flannel and a band of red. 

The last project was one my daughter and I did together for our local friends. We grew herbs this summer, dried them, and packaged them in glass jars to give as gifts. My daughter was so proud of this long-term project! It was fun and easy and brought so many nice memories of our summer garden.

That familiar feeling

It's getting to that point in this month of all months--that point when I start abandoning projects while adding new ones; crossing off one list and beginning another; feeling slightly frantic as the children open another window on the advent calendar; wondering why I can't eat all the chocolate caramels without having my wardrobe shrink.

The piles of stuff, bizarrely random to any outsider but perfectly sensible to me, threaten to overtake my little guest room studio: half-addressed cards, flannel pajamas, egg cartons, quilt squares, knitted scarves, scraps of silk, kite paper, pipe cleaner, acorn caps, buttons, shells, wool felt. It's all there. I look at it and start to think that maybe a handmade Christmas is just silly--after all, I do live in a town with stores.

It's the point where I will either lose perspective on the season--and hence lose the meaning--or take a step back. I am taking a step back. Some projects won't get finished, but there's one project I must work on every day: keeping my heart in the right place. Keeping my mind off acquisitions--even for other people--and remembering the meaning of enough. And good enough. Each day I am trying to sit in stillness to think about the coming of the Light. 

With that in mind, I'll be posting photos, probably without many words, over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them. 

Favorites for my son

I know it's blurry . . . the point of this photo is to show the hat in motion. You saw the hat coming, didn't you? It's a new one, made just for my little guy. I just really needed to make that red pom. The pom made my week. 

I've been thinking about the stages of reading. The New York Times had an article about how picture books are falling out of favor; kids are outgrowing them, or being encouraged to move on to chapter books, at an earlier age. How depressing! I have never outgrown picture books, and in fact look forward to reading them every night with my kids. Sure, the 6-year-old likes her chapter books too, but why would anyone rush away from the sublime format of image and word together? For me it all goes back to Blake, and book arts, and the unity of idea and execution that can be so brilliant in a good picture book. Bah. Do not rush your child through childhood. (You can find many interesting ideas about stages of childhood--and some ideas on peaceful parenting and intentional homemaking--here, at one of my new favorite blogs.)

I wanted to share some of the books I've been reading with the almost-three-year-old, who seems to be in a major moment of transition in his life: behavior, skills, interests, and temperament: all are evolving. (I need that red pom pom on the hat to keep track of him.) Many of the books are not new, but are beloved nonetheless: the Tom and Pippo series by Helen Oxenbury; the Maple Hill Farm books by Alice and Martin Provensen; Polo and his many adventures by Regis Faller; the hapless duo Boo and Baa by Olaf and Lena Landstrom. What strikes me is that nearly all of these books--with the notable exception of Polo (which provides fantastic and reality-defying feats on every page)--recount very ordinary events. I guess there is something comforting about seeing our daily lives reflected, in an artful way, in literature--no matter what our age.