Flower Pillow for Mom

I made this pillow awhile ago for my mom and decided to share it.

It's a round pillow embroidered with a flower. Each petal represents one of my mom's kids (five kids = five petals) with miltiple hearts in the center. Around the edge is embroideered the phrase "The Power of a  Mother's Love is like an ever-blooming flower."

Clowning Around

Ever thought about clowning around? Laughter is important to life and how we deal with. What better way then to clown around?

Years ago, I attended a weekend workshop on clowning and got hooked. I ended up doing a 4-H project on clowning and the importance of humor, which led to more clowning opportunities at camps, pre-schools, a couple church events, and even at the Ohio State Fair as a 4-H representative. The costume I have used through most of this was one I got to design and build as I continue to get use out of it with volunteering and working with kids of all ages.

The original costume pattern was for a "Hippy" costume that I adapted. I added green triangles to bottom of the pant's original pattern as well patches of green. The pants are purple with flowers with green accented fabric with little bees The vest is made from matching purple flowered fabric. The shirt has a small opening on on the top back made from white fabric with images of smiley faces, word "love," and swirls. The accenting scarf (originally used to cover my hair before I found the right wigs) is from the green with bees.

The hat was a plain black rimmed hat I found and added silk flowers and a bird nest with hot glue. At one time there was a little yellow bird perched on the nest and plain black shoes I added silk flowers to as well. (The shoes and bird have disappeared over the years.)

In later years purple and black stripped tights were added underneath in place of socks (Love post-Halloween sales!) with a bright pink straw bag to hold my toys and twisty balloon supplies and a green and white wig.

Baby Blessing Quilt: Part 7 (More Embellishment)

After the five pieces were sewn together and ironed, I added more embroidery and fleece hearts. By adding more embellishments AFTER the pieces were sewn securely together allowed me to add images and words spanning more than one piece as well as reinforce the seams where they were sewn together.

I used a flower, more hearts, and a few words ("love," "dream," and "hope").

Camp Tales - For the Love of the Spiders

Most of my rules and daily life at camp involved creativity, creation, and the safety of those who spent time in my Craft Hall. I encouraged my campers to create and assured them in their creativity was one of their greatest gifts. But there was another lesson I was trying to constantly instill in my young charges - to constantly respect the natural world around us and the creatures that made this place their home during the months we were there and the months we were not. Protecting the spiders and the webs in the corners of my raft Hall was nearly a constant battle. Somehow any of these kids saw the spider webs in the high corners of the pavilion that sered as a Craft Hall as a threat that needed someone clean out. Perhaps it was the hippy in me, but the one rule that I had to constantly remind both campers and counselors was to respect my spiders. I reminded them that during the months that we were not there, the critters were the only ones who called this places home. I reminded them that the critters called this place home year round and not a week at a time, like they did. I reminded them that the spiders had an important job to catch other bugs and mosquito's, the very ones they often complained about biting them. I reminded them constantly, that the spiders were my friends and did not like my friends being injured or their work undone. Somehow, my spiders were generally left alone and I hope that a few kids gained a new light about the world around them.

For the love of my spiders... leave them in peace.

Cross Stitched Feminism Pillow

We can find power and celebration in many things. We can turn old fashioned skills and arts into an expression of something else. I find some sort of strange comfort from turning something that used to symbolize much of a woman's bonds into something that can symbolize what we are capable. A woman doesn't have to reject the arts of her grandmothers to embrace the ideals of equality and feminine power.

For this project, I used the female symbol, cross stitched in black and red to embrace the ideals of feminism and equality.

I started with a template made on graph pattern for the pattern. The lettering and phrases around the edges were mostly just to get a template for the letters not for the final placement.

Using black and red embroidery thread, I cross stitched my female design with phrases around the edges that emulated the theme. "Never let the hand you hold, hold you down." "History and Herstory." "If your not outraged your not paying attention." "A woman's life is a human life." "I am not your Barbie Doll." "The meek are ready." "Proud to be a feminist." "equality.""I resist." And so on. I then embellished the sides.

When the needlework was completed I cut a square of a red velvet-like material (seen in a few other projects) for the backing. Instead of sewing them right sides together, I opted to sew them wrong sides together.

Wrong sides together, I pinned the edges securely, especially taking into account the stretchy nature of the red backing fabric. Then, using a strong backs titch hand-sewed the two sides together with black embroidery thread, using the stitches along a clear straight line as part of the overall design, but making sure to leave a small gap to stuff.

Using the opening I left, I carefully stuffed the pillow to the desire fluffiness with some poly-fil I had on hand, being careful not to rip open the stitches around the opening.

Once full, I pinned the opening (once again being mindful of the stretchy nature of the red fabric for the backing), and sewing it securely shut with black embroidery thread and the back stitch. I pulled the loose thread from the fabrics to give a fringed edge to the small square pillow.

A pillow to make any feminist proud. (Take ye inspiration where ye may.)

A Lost Friend - The Ladies Who Craft

I got the sad news that one of the ladies I visited at the nursing home to do crafts with has passed. Over the years, I have gotten the opportunity to work with a variety of people of all ages and walks of life. I have seen light, creativity, and humor. I have shared, but am humble enough to realize how much has been shared with me. I have taken away as much as I have given, if not received more over the years. This friend was among the true gems and the inspiration behind our little gathering (often in the a room used a beauty parlor or the conference room). She brought along her humor, her unique perception of people, as well shared some of her own knowledge and projects with us. Despite failing health and complications she was determined to live life on her own terms, something that I admired and drove some nutty. (She had great appreciation for that ability.) With her out spoken nature, she never failed to let someone know how she truly felt about them. To our group she added her own creativity, her own desire to take on new things, her sense of humor and wit, as well as her own heart. It can be easy for people to see the gruffness of a person's exterior, but too often people overlook the heart that is there as well. She was one of these special people, full of heart, but unbashful in her approach to life. It's a rare and refreshing combination, that will be missed.

Good-bye, Jen.

T-shirt Bag

I had this great t-shirt that I loved and then one day I found that it was getting a couple holes along the bottom. I didn't want to just throw it away or cut it up, so I re-purposed it into a handy bag, lined with some coordinating green fabric I had one hand for the lining and the strap. I added a couple iron on patches I had picked up before.

I love having fabric bags on hand for everyday things or for those summer trips to the farmers' market (forget plastic bags, reusable bags are the way to go).

Poetry For Ransom

Why spend the money on a set or so of 'magnetic poetry" when you can make your own individualized set and recycle in the process? (A double whammy of April's National Poetry Month and celebrating the mantra "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." Yay for Earth Day!)

These magnets can be easy and totally personalized. (Who doesn't love personalization?) Using words I cut from old magazines and ads I attached them to old sheet style magnets from torn, tattered, and magnets no longer needed with Mod Podge. (Like the ones often given away at fairs and things for businesses, politicians running for office, and community organizations.) Of course, you can also get magnet sheets and strips at craft and office stores, but I had these on hand to be recycled/reused for something already. The Mod Podge secured the words to the magnets and gave a nice sealing finish when dry.

Create. Inspire. Express. Love.

 

CREATE. Create a Rebellion in your own right. Just create something... an idea, a token, a gift, anything. With creation is life as we were meant to create.

INSPIRE. I think it's important to inspire someone -anyone- even of that someone is yourself. Sometimes you are the one that needs the most inspiration and maybe by inspiring yourself you hold the power to inspire someone else.

EXPRESS. Express yourself. Life, to me, is about finding ways to express yourself and everyone expresses themselves differently. I don't think people should worry about what people think it, it's only about expressing yourself and finding a way to get the stuff inside out. It helps our balance. It helps us understand ourselves. It helps us make peace with our emotions and our feelings.

LOVE. Everything is about love, or the lack of love, in one way or another. By expressing ourselves, inspiring others, and creating something we are a part of love, or the searching of love, or the loss of it we may feel. Love yourself and share that love with the world around you. The very act of love is a rebellion of sorts in a world with so much negativity & hostility. 

      Think about the kids who gave and received friendship bracelets and other trinkets - it was a way to express a type of love and friendship through sharing something special - basic acknowledgement for existence. It could be a friendship bracelet or something else, but just let it be a part of something.

Create Love.

Inspire Love.

Express Love.

Love can be a Positive Rebellion in this world.