Tuesday, July 20, 2010

New Yudu Shirt

Max is sporting the newest t-shirt design, from an old sketch. Who doesn't want a creepy long necked bug crawling up their shirt, right? Or maybe it's just me. I think I need to make some bags with this design because the image is so crisp on cotton fabric. It looks good on the knit, too, but the details are even sharper on the cotton. I bought the 220 screen to use on paper, and I'm curious to see how it works on fabric, too. I think I need to make a trip to Goodwill to buy a bunch of test t-shirts. I also think I need to get a better squeegee for the Yudu. I'm getting some over saturation and I think it's due to the hard squeegee. I just can't believe they want $15 for their "deluxe" one, which should have been standard. Well, I guess that's what coupons are for.

A brand new adventure started yesterday - homeschool. Not just any homeschool, though. The kids have signed up for a magical journey at the Hogwarts Academy. Since they are both so crazy for everything Potter, I decided our first unit will be everything Harry. Their classes include Herbology (botany), Potions (chemistry), Care of Magical Creatures (zoology), Transfiguration (arts), Magical Math and Enchanted Reading. My trick now is figuring out how to balance the homeschooling with work (I'll still be teaching a couple of days a week) and my art. Heaven knows how I'm going to fit the cooking, cleaning, and gardening in there, but that's the magical part, right? So please forgive me if the posts are a bit irregular over the next few weeks as I get this new schedule all figured out. I'm confident though that it will all come together, like magic! ;)

Friday, July 16, 2010

Through the Eyes (or lens) of a Child

Max loves to take pictures, and knows more about my Hipstamatic app than I do.  Now, a look at the world through the eyes of a six year old:

and my personal favorite...
Hope you have an illuminated weekend ;)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ice Cream for Breakfast


Yes, they did have ice cream for breakfast this morning, even with a few jellybeans or chocolate chips on top. It is almost the end of our summer here, so you have to enjoy it while it lasts, right? Here in allergy house, our ice cream is more coconut cream, but fabulous nonetheless. It's such a simple and actually pretty healthy recipe (minus the jellybeans, of course), that I thought I'd share it with you.

Coconut Ice Cream:

1 can unsweetened coconut milk (not the light version)
approx. 3 cups cold vanilla coconut milk (the kind in the carton)
1/4 - 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
1-2 tsp. vanilla
freshly grated nutmeg

In a 4 cup measuring cup, add one can coconut milk. Add enough vanilla coconut milk to make 4 cups. Stir in sugar to taste (the coconut milk is pretty sweet, so you don't need too much), vanilla, and nutmeg. I guess I grate around a teaspoon - I've never measured. Pour into ice cream maker. It should be ready in 20 - 30 minutes.

I have an electric ice cream maker that I received as a gift many years ago and I LOVE it! You have fresh soft serve ice cream in less than 30 minutes with hardly any work. I highly recommend one.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Art Travel Cases

This is what my table looked like Friday night. A stomach bug got to me yesterday, so I wasn't able to finish all of the projects, but I did finish the art travel cases.
I have seen smaller variations of this on various blogs, but I wanted something that could hold a fair amount of items. I also wanted a zippered case, so pencils and pens of various sizes would fit. This was an upcycled and use your stash project - the outside of each case is a cut off pant leg from some trouser jeans of mine that I made into shorts. The denim is very lightweight, so it was easy to sew with.  The case measures approximately 8x10 inches.
The inside pocket can hold both a pad and a paperback book, and the zip pouch is pretty roomy. This is Max's version - Madeline's had cat fabric, of course. The kids were pretty excited about these, and I look forward to taking them on car trips, appointments and vacations. I love having things ready to go in a little case! I've taken about half the photos for a tutorial, but the 1 am sewing got the best of me and I didn't get pictures of the finishing steps. Hopefully I'll get together a tutorial the next time I make one! Now it is back to the sketchbook, so I can silkscreen some shirts tonight.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Contemplation

I played for a bit in the old art journal while watching Bravo's Work of Art last night. Are you watching the show? There are some very talented artists on it; my favorites are Miles and Abdi, although Jaclyn's been doing some great pieces lately. What I love even more about the show, I have to admit, is Miles' discussions about his OCD and sensory issues. I hope it makes people more aware of what it's like to live with sensory issues, how the environment assaults their senses in a way that is hard for most of us to understand. People with sensory issues respond to under/over-stimulation in a variety of ways. Miles likes to sleep when he reaches sensory overload. Kids usually get hyper, or, like mine when they were younger, have a total nuclear melt down. I don't think the other artists really understand it, and one is outright hostile about it, accusing him of "acting" because he's fine in the apartment. Well, the apartment is small, there are fewer people, less noise, and less stimuli. It's also a familiar place, which is key to people with sensory processing disorder (SPD). New environments offer the threat of unknown sensory experiences, which provokes anxiety. Miles usually becomes overwhelmed in the larger, noisier places like the work space, the warehouse they visited, or the large urban car showroom. He finds comfort in the little darkroom he built in the studio, just as my son loves the "secret hideout" he made in the space between his bed and the wall. The public may be quick to judge those who are different, and yet, in spite of it all, Miles is an amazingly talented artist. Being a mother of two kids with sensory processing disorder, I TOTALLY get it. Maybe this will shine a little light on the issue, and makes at least a few more people sympathetic to the struggles people with OCD and SPD go through.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Red White and Blue (and the sewing machine, too)

We had a lovely Fourth of July, and I hope you did, too. We had to have some patriotic shirts to go with the sparklers, didn't we?

This is what the dining room table looked like on July 3.

Some patriotic appliques...

An image cut from a favorite too small t-shirt and appliqued on to a new larger one.
This plain white shirt was bought for a school concert last year, but of course Miss M won't wear a plain white shirt! The petals were cut from some very small fabric scraps - it always feels good to use every last bit. Then again, it just encourages me to keep every little bit, so my closet overflows. I just cleaned out my fabric stash last week and could not believe how much I had accumulated and forgotten about (including these last two t-shirts waiting to be appliqued!) Half of me wants to save every little bit for future use, and half of me wants to get rid of it before it becomes clutter. So I save until I run out of room, and I purge. Then I watch one of those shows about hoarding on Discovery Channel, and purge again!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Friday Bits

Well, the sketchbooks finally came out again this week. Nothing earth shattering, but at least pen met paper.
The kids got out theirs, too.

Madeline made a dalmatian costume from one of the kid creative cards I posted here.

But mostly, I've been spending long mornings in my pajamas, reading in the backyard and drinking coffee. You've got to savor summer!