Umbrellas

The rain just keeps on pouring down. The grass and the garden are loving it, but I don't care much for it. Nor does my hair, which gets all frizzy when rained on. Oh, but I sure love umbrellas, more specifically, illustrations of umbrellas. Artsharkdesigns, by Megan Nolton, has a whole series of red umbrellas (even better) over at Etsy. In these gocco prints, the red umbrellas take centre stage with different cities as the backdrop. What lovely images - makes me want to buy two red umbrellas and hop on a plane with G.

Fish out of water

I woke up with a terrible headache this morning. Luckily it is a Thursday, so I was able to curl back into bed after dropping N off at preschool. I napped for about an hour and managed to have a couple of vivid dreams. One of which involved fish.

Upon entering the kitchen, I saw sitting on the counter a tall cylindrical vase and a fish struggling to get out. It made it to the top and rather than falling onto the counter as I had expected, it started swimming in the air, effortlessly. I watched for awhile as the fish gracefully glided around my kitchen. Then it disappeared. Next, I found myself sitting in a chair and blindly picking up a glass of water sitting on the table. One gulp and a second later, I realized there was a fish in the glass - which wasn't actually a glass anymore, but a tiny fish tank full of murky water. I rushed over to the sink, frantically washing out my mouth. Finally, I walked into the living room and found another fish flapping about on the carpet. Clearly needing help and desperate for water, I gently picked it up and brought it into the kitchen where the vase was, and put the fish back in the water.

What do you suppose that dream meant? Am I feeling like a fish out of water? This fish, made from cut scrapbook paper, is inspired by my dream.

Matchbook scratch pads

What do you do with all your scrap paper? I usually make my own greeting cards and gift tags, and keep the leftover scraps for future craft projects. I don't always get around to using them, so they sit in a box waiting, waiting, waiting...

I discovered some 1 x 7 inch strips of cardstock in my pile of scraps which I used to make these little matchbook style scratch pads. They're perfect for throwing into your purse and come in handy when you need to scribble a short note or jot down a phone number. They're quick and easy to make. I decorated them using security envelope patterns and some punched out flowers.

Looking beyond the ordinary

Have you ever noticed the patterns inside security envelopes? I never really gave them much thought until I started seeing other people in the blogsphere creating interesting things with them. You can see what other people have done with security envelope patterns here and here. We had a whole pile in our recycling box, so I spent an afternoon trimming, turning them inside out and gluing them together again. Now I have a set of recycled envelopes ready for use.

Have a look at The Security Envelope Project by The Sweetie Pie Press. It's amazing. Perhaps you will be inspired to salvage your old envelopes.

Happy birthday G!

Mmmmm. I love cupcakes. I baked these this morning for G's birthday. N helped me, mostly by cleaning up the counter of any runaway sprinkles.

All dolled up

...and going somewhere very special.

I've written about Craft Hope before, and I am so happy to be participating in their second project. It's not too late to get involved. Please visit their site here for more details. They are asking for handmade dolls which will be donated to an orphanage in Nicaragua.



Here she is. It's the first doll I've ever made, making her up as I went. The head, arms and legs are made of felt, but I'd like to experiment with other materials next time.

I am so excited for this doll and the adventure that awaits her. And someday soon, she will meet a very special little girl and hopefully they can become good friends.

The road less travelled

I'm back after a nice long weekend. Yesterday was a perfect day to ride our bikes. With newly pumped tires, I was eager to go for a bike ride with G and the kids. H loves to ride her bike and would probably go off on her own around the neighbourhood, if only we would let her. N can't ride on his own yet, so he rides with daddy.

There is a conservation area near our neighbourhood. We have done the gravel trail on a few occasions. I usually prefer to take the well traveled route. G is more adventurous - taking us on tiny, winding dirt paths. I'm glad we followed the road less traveled, because the trail was beautiful. It was so nice to be out in the woods. Unfortunately, our trail ended here, due to this damaged bridge.



Hopefully it will be repaired soon. After yesterday, I'm determined to use my bike more this summer. I'm glad G pushes me to do things out of my comfort zone. And I'm so proud of H. The trail was a little challenging in some parts, but she pushed on and didn't give up.

Daughter's Day

This Saturday, H and I are celebrating Daughter's Day. I started this tradition with H as a way to honour her and to give the two of us special one-on-one time together. When little N came into the world (three years ago), H felt she was no longer getting the attention to which she had been so accustomed. So one week after Mother's Day, we set aside the day for just the two of us. Last year we went to a ceramics/bisque studio. She wanted to do the same thing this year, but has changed her mind. Now it looks like we're going to watch the Hannah Montana movie.



So here is the gift I made for her. I filled the jars with glass stones and these little tags.



I wrote different activities which she can do with either myself or her dad. Each month H can pick out one tag. This actually will end up working two-fold. H will get alone time with one parent, which leaves one of us with alone time with N.

Now I'm thinking that maybe I should make one of these jars for G. With kids, when do we ever get alone time?

Pretty Pantry Gifts

I didn't plan the week to revolve around jars, but somehow it has worked out that way. I received this kit for Christmas, but haven't used it yet. It comes with a recipe book for making jams, jellies and preserves. Raspberry-fig jam with port, apple butter, pickled green beans, Moroccan preserved lemons, cranberry-ginger chutney...don't they sound delicious? If you're interested in the kit, you can go to Chronicle Books.

I have yet to be adventurous enough to make anything from the recipe book. I'm a little unsure of doing my own canning or preserving, but the book does give you the option of using the "quick method" which means the jars can only be kept in the fridge for 1 week to a month, depending on the recipe. But I'd still be paranoid about the risk of botulism from improper canning methods. So, I doubt I'll be making any preserves any time soon, but I am going to use all the other items included in the kit - pre-cut fabric, stickers, tags and cord to decorate jars. I'm creating a special jar to give to my daughter H. I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

Earth paste

Speaking of jars, here's something I received from my sister-in-law. A jar of homemade tub and tile cleaner. She used the recipe found in the book "Clean House, Clean Planet".



There is a section in the book that describes all the nasty ingredients and chemicals found in various commercial cleaning products. It will make you think twice about what to use when cleaning your house. The book offers eco-friendly alternatives with recipes for natural, non-toxic cleaning concoctions. Now if I could only rub the bottle so that a genie could pop out and clean my house.

Mother's day wrap-up

Happy Monday. I hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I awoke Sunday morning to the clinking and clanging of G and the kids preparing breakfast. I went to the washroom - knowing that flushing the toilet would alert them to my awakening. I proceeded to head downstairs, only to be stopped by little N at the top of the stairs. His big sis, H, had instructed him to keep guard. “No, we not ready! We not ready!” N said, with his hands waving in the air. His wide-eyed face looked so adorable, especially because you could tell that he wanted to do the job which had been entrusted to him. So I curled back in to bed and waited.

Finally they came into the bedroom, singing Happy Mother’s Day. H and N both hopped into bed with me with their gift bags in tow. I’ve come to expect the little handmade gifts from school. What I love is watching them watching me open up their surprises. This year, a card and a planter with seeds from H and a bracelet and a picture frame made from popsicle sticks from N. Gotta love it!

After the gift opening, I was finally allowed to go downstairs. Breakfast was all served. At my place setting were photos of the kids in glass jar frames, similar to these.



So that explains the homeless pickles and olives I found in the fridge. You can go to Photojojo, just like G did, for the how-to. I feel so loved.

Photo from Photojojo

What are you wishing for on Mother's Day?

I'm jumping for joy. H's luck has finally rubbed off on me. I won a sewing book from A Little Hut, a blog which I love. I've been a fan of Patricia's papercrafts and designs ever since I saw her wall art. And now she has her own book coming out called Home, Paper, Scissors. That's definitely on my wish list. (G - Hint, hint. Just in case you're looking for a Mother's Day gift on behalf of the kids. Oh, but the book won't be available until August. Go with the watch.)

With Mother's Day coming, what are you wishing for?

Tuesday tutorial - Mother's Day Paper Purse

PaperCraft Art Creative is a site with a free collection of papercrafts, paper models, paper dolls and origami. They have a Paper Purses for Mother's Day Template and Tutorial, courtesy of Carlos N Molina. Take a look at his work here. It is amazing. I don't like high heels - balance being the issue, but I sure do love his paper high heeled shoes. He provides a template and tutorial for this as well.

Photo from PaperCraft Art Creative

Mother's Day Card - free download

With Mother's Day coming up, I thought I'd do a Mom theme this week. First up, a free download. Simple Mother's Day cards you can print and give to your mom and all the moms you know and love.

For the blue and orange cards, download pdf here.
For the green and pink cards, download pdf here.
For the light blue and yellow cards, download pdf here.