Register to vote

It's no secret that I'm a solid Obama girl this election (and, yes, loved the speech last night. What I hoped for: finding common ground, reaffirming mutual patriotism, direct plans. The man is a born leader!), but whether or not you agree, please register to vote.

Lots of us are in the moving-around stage of life, so if you need an update, here's an easy way: fill out this online form to have a voter registration form e-mailed to you.

http://rockthevote.com/

PR

Today was blessedly rainy (or are those tears of gratitude on the previously-parched lawn?), and painting posters for the girls' pending Kool-aid stand out on the porch was perfect.

Our little PA town hosts a Corn Festival (crafts galore & 35,000 visitors with good weather) on the last Saturday of August. The second day in our new home, we woke up at 4 am to the gentle but unfamiliar noises of hundreds of white tents being set up on the street outside our house (we live on the central street in town). Last year the girls threw together a Kool-aid stand and, to their great delight, netted $116 in 2 hours. Of course, their cutie-pie helpers from last year were ready to be included, and came to help. Oh, yes: this year, plans are big...

handmade holidays: fabric dollhouse

In no particular order, I'm starting to post project ideas I run across for handmade holidays. First up is this fabric dollhouse.

there's a barn, too :)Read the tutorial at UK Lass in US.

doll making

A friend who joined me in my first doll-making experiment 5 (Is that right, Meg?) years ago e-mailed me about my last post, and I spent enough time searching out helpful links that I thought I'd post them here. I could do some tutorials, but frankly they've been better done elsewhere. As I come across them, I think I'll post...hmmm...this is making me think of a whole "ideas for Christmas gift-making" line of posts. I cannot for the life of me get anyone (one exception: thank you, Shannon!) to craft with me here in small town, PA (I even hit up the grandmas at church, to no avail), so maybe I'll get a little vicarious joy sharing ideas via web. Oh, that's why I type away here: I already do. Thanks for "listening."

(the girls wouldn't agree on where to pose with their dolls this evening, so you get both...)

Hi, Meg :).


I bought our doll kits a few years ago from Magic Cabin, and still feel like their kits are pretty economical, considering how hard it is to find good-quality dollmaking goods. Here's the link to their doll-making kits. http://www.magiccabin.com/magiccabin/product.do?section_id=0&bc=1004&pgc=170&cmvalue=MCD|0|Normal%20Search%20Result|P1

They also sell materials separately.

Magic Cabin does sell pocket dolls off and on, but I haven't seen kits for them. I'm sure kits are available from other sources, but you can find pocket doll or waldorf doll tutorials pretty easily online. There are great Waldorf toy books that have sweet patterns and ideas, too. We own these:

The Nature Corner: Celebrating the Year's Cycle with a Seasonal Tableau

Feltcraft: Making Dolls, Gifts and Toys

Making Flower Children

Toymaking with Children

and OH THERE ARE MORE! And more in print (back in print?) now, I just saw as I searched for links on Amazon, than when I bought those 3 years ago.

My favorite sites for Waldorf doll-making materials are A Child's Dream Come True (http://achildsdream.com/) and Weir Dolls and Crafts (http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/). Weir sometimes offers velour and wool felt scrap packs, which are perfect for wee dolls. I've especially had a hard time finding cotton velour. Recycling old clothes (lots of velour baby sleepers & I've dyed cotton tees for skin fabric, with walnut shells or tea) is a great source, too.

Have I said that I really, really, really love handmade toys for my children? The natural materials just are good for our souls. And kids treat them differently, even our visitors, not necessarily as firmly trained by their mama as mine are in handmade LOVE.

Please do share your results!
Love, V

today...

There was no creativity at our house. Only laundry. (From me, anyway. The girls spent a large part of their day with their Cranium FunFolio books. Highly recommended, though I'm a little afraid that they're being phased out because we bought one of them on clearance. Marian received the Junior edition for her birthday from her grandparents.) But I did hear on the phone today that my cutie-tootie niece likes the creative bits I sent her for big birthday #2. I photographed those good bits & (true to form) never got around to posting them.

First, some freezer-paper stencil fun for Miss Ellee (who really does a most fantastic elephant trumpet) and her new baby brother Will. I've been LOVING the freezer paper stencilling this summer and will someday share more photos. Very simple. You can easily find tutorials. Since I used a little tutorial in a freebie Craft: mini magazine I got at Art Star this year, here's a link from their site. I used Versatex screen printing inks and Jacquard textile paint with similar results.

One of my favorite sweet nature books is Sibylle Von Olfers' The Story of the Root Children (We read it at Marian's birthday party). I really want this quilted version, btw... Anyway, after first reading it, I needle-felted little root babies a couple of years ago that I loved so much, and have been wanting to make little Waldorf velour root baby dolls for forever. Two little darlings turning two this month finally pushed me to it (okay, one isn't finished yet...). I'm not quite pleased with the result, but I'm comparing my efforts with the super-skill of Aunt Boo of aunt boo's babies (this article in the Storque includes a sweet photo that shows how excited Audrey was when she received some of her great work for Easter this year. The dolls pictured just below Audrey's photo are some of ours).

Marian took this photo after she decked the root baby in all of her summer finery.

I hoped that little fingers would be successful dressing this wee doll, especially with the flower skirt-cape-hat options all available. I hear she's close.

this week

"One kiln load by the end of the summer" has morphed to "one kiln load before baby...", but I did get into the studio one day for a little batch of bowls.

Provides a bit of a belly shot, too :), though this particular angle and smoosh definitely understates it. We vacationed on Chincoteague Island. We camped, the weather was perfect, and I came home with a rested soul.

Overheard...

...on the phone with her uncle Cody. I do not know how this conversation thread got started, but suddenly it was Valentine's Day: "I like it. You get to make cards with red, white, pink...and also it reminds me of the people I love!" [later: Bye! Airhug! *loud smooch: Mmmmmwwwah!*] She's really into the phone calls. This one was to wish Cody well in his first day of medical school. She originally left a message: "...and I was just thinking if you were really scared, I could give you some good things to think about."

And this I had to post:We still have a long, long way to go, but for a girl who transitioned straight from breastfeeding to tubefeeding & hasn't deviated, this has been a miracle week.