...chocolate air...

swapped.

Kristin just posted about the things we sent to them in the Miniswap a few months back, and it made me realize that I had never shared it myself.

I had so much fun with this swap. Kristin had mentioned that her Margaret likes playing school, and since that was one of my favorite things as a kid (and still kind of is... homeschooling is so fun!), I decided to make up a playing-school kit. We put it together almost entirely from things we had around the house.

This box had a lot of odds and ends for the teacher... office supplies, stickers, old rubber stamps, a jumprope for recess time, a school bell, etc.

You can't have a school with no chalkboard, so this slate was put in, along with a little bundle of chalk and a pointer that Zach made from a wooden dowel and a couple of spools. A few books for reading/writing.

I made this smock from a felted wool sweater, and am truthfully unsure of how it was meant to be used. School uniform? Teacher's apron? Art smock? Lunchtime apron? I guess it's multi-purpose.

Speaking of lunchtime... my favorite bit. A packed lunch. I actually squealed when I realized I could make this as part of the kit. The lunchbox itself is a tin with sticker labels on either side, which have pictures of Margaret apple-picking that I swiped from her mother's blog. The juice box was made from a wooden block, a dowel, and a bit of paint, and then I made a label for that on the computer, too. The apple was a thrift store find, and the cookies and sandwich were whipped up from more wool sweaters.

I am really happy with how the lunch turned out. I need to make some of these for myself for Zachary.

Kristin and Margaret were such great (and patient!) partners, and we loved putting this together for them. Thanks girls!

whales, iguanas, and dinos...

Oh, my!

When I think of the contents of a child's Easter basket, I usually think of the year that I was seven, and we got stuffed bunnies that looked real (well, we thought so, anyway), and the usual Mommy-made chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Simple. Sweet. Eastery. I try to maintain that same feeling when we do our bunnying, and yet somehow, the child ended up with a dino puzzle, a stretchy rubber iguana, and a whale. I drew the line at Transformers though... they have no place in a bunny basket.

This whale was my creation. He was done in just a few hours, and I think he's adorable. (Thanks a million for the sewing machine help, Susan! But I still wimped out and hand-stitched the darn thing.) This is another felted sweater project. He was pretty simple, the same on both sides, about a foot long. I used the cuffs of the sweater to create the grooves on the underside of the jaw. One of his fins is a pocket, specially made to hold a little boy's tooth so it won't be lost before the tooth fairy can get to it. Soon, people. My boy has his first-ever wobbly tooth. And he couldn't be prouder.

His camera smile, by the way, is improving quite a bit. I'll be sad to see those baby teeth go...

swap received.

Okay, yes, I've been completely negligent. We actually received this gorgeous swap box over a week ago, while we were still flu-ish, but after spending the whole of last week just trying to get everything caught up, I am FINALLY blogging about it.

We gave our swap partners an odd list of things Zach was interested in, and they pulled it all together to create a nautical-themed box, that somehow incorporated pretty much all of his interests. Amazing. I'll start with my personal favorite, this little Sock and Glove rabbit. I've had this book for over a year, and still haven't created anything from it. (I think that's due to my sewing machine fear...) But Kristin had the book for what? two days?! and had this guy whipped up and in the mail. I mean, really.

Zach named him "Ahoy". I love his wee belly button, and that adorable scarf that matches a bag she stitched up for some seashells they sent.

And then there's this pirate mask... seriously, have you ever seen a cleverer little thing? Genius.

One of the things that amazed me about this package was how really talented Miss Margaret is!! The child is not yet five (!) but she went all out creating several things for the box, including this ocean puzzle she drew.

And all the rest of the loot. We have here a whale shirt that Zach wears every chance he gets, a pirate yoyo he's a bit obsessed with, a CD of whale songs (obviously a winner around here), and a few other cards/collages by the lovely Margaret, and the shells with their bag.

Kristin... you seriously rock. What an amazing package you two created for my boy. It made a really lousy week oh-so-much better. Thank you, thank you!! (And your box is soon on its way, I swear!)

wootie.

On a not-so-deep-and-personal note, I'll share a little project I put together while Zach and I were snuggled up on the couch with the flu last week. (After two weeks, by the way, we are finally getting our energy and appetites back. Gotta love cold-and-flu season.)

This is Wootie. I've been dying to make one of these turtles ever since Hillary first posted this adorableness. So I was thrilled to my toes when she started offering a pattern for them.

I think this would have come together more easily if I had been using wool craft felt, which is a more standard thickness than the felted wool sweaters that I used. But, well, he has character, so it's all good. The pattern on his shell has some sort of thick stripey cotton that I liked. And my favorite part? So quick and easy. This took longer to cut out than it did to stitch, I think. And that makes me happy.

sneak peek.

Mike and I both woke up feeling queasy today, so we've had rather a lazy day. Which is, of course, the perfect sort of day for a little handstitching. So here's a peek at a work-in-progress, which I'll share in full when it's done.

construction.

I finished constructing my mobile this morning for elsie marley's mobile swap. Way ahead of schedule, I might add. Mostly because the Miniswap is right on its tail...

I decided on a bird theme, which is apparently not original because almost everyone so far did birds. But I've been wanting to make one like this for a while, so I was glad that my recipient has similar tastes to mine. I drew little bird-related images and then embroidered them onto wool felt. Then I stuffed and blanket-stitched each bird closed, and hung with baker's twine. I'm happy with the embroidery, and also with the little guy "perched" on the branch. You can click on the images to see it bigger. Hope she likes it!!

This afternoon the three of us went out to build a snowman, which was going well until I accidently knocked off his head. So Mike decided to be a little creative, a la Calvin and Hobbes.

cozy.

Am I the only adult who looks forward to snowy days as much as kids do? We're giddy around here. Well, Mike wasn't quite so chipper as he was shoveling the drive, but still... I feel so cozy on days like this.

Zach wasn't feeling well last night, so we decided to stay in this morning until we could guage how he was doing. So this morning we read wintry books, The Snowy Day and Snowballs, two of my favorites. Then we talked about the collage style of Lois Ehlert, and what she used to create her illustrations. And then we took that a step further and created a little mural. It's about 2-3 feet tall and hangs in the living room. Using crumpled white paper and odd bits we found around the house, Zach made a snow boy and I made a snow girl. I especially love the chicken bone unibrow on Zach's. Very clever.

Finally Daddy came home and it was time to play in the real snow. Happy day!

And also we did something brand-new to me... we made homemade bread!!! It's funny how even though I'd never done it before, it was still so familiar from seeing my mother bake bread as I was growing up. And yum, it's good. And much easier than I expected.

Buttermilk and Honey Bread

3/4	cup warm water
1	tablespoon dry yeast
1	teaspoon sugar
1 1/2	cups warm buttermilk
2	tablespoonsunsalted butter, melted
3	tablespoons honey
1	tablespoon salt
6-6 1/2	cups unbleached white bread flour
1	egg, to glaze

• Lightly spray two small or one large loaf pan with non stick cooking spray or coat with melted butter.
• Set them on a baking sheet and set aside.
• In a kitchen aid mixing bowl, hand whisk the water, yeast and sugar together and let stand for 2 minutes.
• Stir in buttermilk, butter, honey, salt and half the flour.
• Stir with a wooden spoon.
• Fit machine with a dough hook, then kneading, add in more flour as required to make a soft, but firm dough, about 8- 10 minutes.
• Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise 45- 90 minutes until doubled in size.
• Gently deflate dough and divide into two or keep as one loaf.
• Shape into oblongs and place in prepared loaf pans.
• Insert loaf pans into a large plastic bag and let rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
• Glaze well with a beaten egg.
• (You can also brush loaf with melted butter).
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Place breads in oven and bake about 45 minutes until well browned. You may want to cover with foil partway through baking.)
• Turn breads out onto a cooling rack and cool well before slicing.

One more cozy thing. My sister taught me how to do a basic knit this winter, and I actually created something! I made her this scarf for her birthday, and she finally got it only one month late. I think that's pretty good. Here she is modeling...

gorgeousness.

I have a category for some of my favorite internet links titled, yes, "gorgeousness". I thought I'd share a few of them with you, for those who aren't familiar with these sites.

Firstly, if you have never been to etsy.com... then what the heck are you doing HERE?! Stop reading my blog and get yourself over there to start browsing! For example, yesterday I received these lovely postcards in the mail, from one of my favorite shops, Sarah Jane Studios. I ordered a set of the cards on the left, and Sarah Jane included the one on the right also. I absolutely adore her illustrations. Her monthly series? Genius.

And then today, my other cards arrived that I ordered from Sarah and Abraham. I just found her shop, and I'll definitely be stalking it on a regular basis. I love the silhouettes so much.

Another favorite... Belle and Boo. Good heavens. I want one of each, starting here, I think. Or here. Or possibly here...

Ummm... I'll stop here, because if my husband is reading this, he's probably starting to get worried.

works-in-progress. (and one finished!)

Oh, no. I'm having bloggers' block. The photos will have to suffice for today.

Here's a little pilot's cap I stitched up for my friend Jennifer's baby. I certainly did NOT knit the outfit, but darn, it looks cute together, and that hat was tough to photograph. I'll have to get some pictures of the little one wearing it when he arrives. (And yes, Jennifer, I will really be plaguing your boy with my camera. In therapy years from now, he'll be saying, "All I can remember from my early childhood is this odd click-clicking sound. It was relentless.") Anyway, really cute little hat, and so easy.

And here's a glimpse of another little project that I'm pretty excited about, and need to get cracking on. Let's hope it turns out!

folksy.

I feel like 2008 has thus far been a complete whirlwind. There has been much happening here, but at the same time, nothing really to blog about, and no brain cells to spare to blog with. Crazy stuff, people.

I thought I'd better make some appearances here, though, to show that we are alive and well. My sister came over the other day, and we decided to start plowing through my recently organized craft supplies and actually make things. And we did. I wish I had a photo of the bird mobile she made. Too cute.

I decided to make my first stab at working with wool felt. So I tossed a couple of 100% wool sweaters in the washer on hot, dried them, and was ready to slice them up and create this little guy:

The whole idea of making a sheep out of wool makes me happy. It's so full-circle, in a silly kind of way. And I have to say, I was really digging the wool felt. It was so very easy to stitch up, and it just felt good to be using recycled, real materials rather than synthetics.

I'm not entirely sure if I like this sheep, and think I will use a different design in the future. But still, in a folk-art sort of way, he's growing on me.