Rhymes With Magic

Paper Flowers

2012-03-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

It was February for-e-ver and then it was over. Oops. I'll get the free monthly pattern out quick as I can. See why I'm not self-employed? I'd STARVE!

Folk Hearts on Books!

2012-02-26T14:22:00.001-08:00

Here is what I've done! These are folk hearts - longer rather than rounded - and they are sooooo easy to do! I will be making these patterns available in my Etsy shop later this week. I have tons more heart patterns in my sketch book which are just bursting inside of my head. I am so grateful to Maria J for her help with solving the pattern problem! She is my hero today... :)

Hard-Hearted Hearts

2012-02-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

I have burned out my brain trying to create heart patterns for folded books. My hope has been to make a 7" heart for wedding decorations, but I haven't figured out how to make it simple enough for people to make their own. The way I'm doing it now requires eyeballing the marks and folds because you need too many marks too close together to put on a fore edge. Curses. And my prototypes keep having only one perfect side of the heart- NOT BOTH. It's more of a broken heart right now. :(

But I found these great eye-shadows at Rite Aid for $4.99 which are the same colors as my watercolors. I look like I have a skyscape on my eyelids. :)

Watercolors in a box, ready to work on...

Future Library Programming with String Art

2012-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my supervisor asked me to do a teen program this summer. I offered to do string art. I showed her my blog (eeps!) and was given permission to look for stuff we had at the library on hand to make up a prototype.

I found four boxes of thumbtacks from fifty years ago down in the basement. I found craft thread in the children's workroom (friendship bracelet activity?) and I'd brought a book from home to play with during breaks.

I decided to string three different layers and this is the result... She liked it!

Heartstrings - a Love Day Book Tutorial!

2012-02-14T23:56:00.000-08:00

Remember how I talked about string art the other day? Well, that first one I've been working on has been taking FOREVER!!!! I'm still not done putting all the nails in it and my fingers hurt. Soooo... I decided to try another tack. Literally.

To make a string art heart you will need:

1 book
1 screwpunch (if you like)
pencil to draw design
enough tacks (GET IT? A different tack? Hi-LAR-ious) to space evenly in 1" intervals around your design I used 35, I think. Mine were also upholstery tacks because I had a few left and I'm *really* tired of all these bits and pieces of stuff around my house. Ugh.
Metallic crochet thread (or any darn thread you choose)

To begin...

Draw a heart (lightly) on the best cover of your book. This particular book was red (appropriate for V-day), but was icky on the front. I used the back. I'll say it's symbolic if anyone notices...

I then used my fancy dancy screwpunch to make little holes on the cover through the buckram. I spaced them about 1" apart, but I did not measure it - just eyeballed it. I started at the point on the bottom so I could make it centered. I use my screwpunch to take off the top layer of fabric. It makes it easier to stick the tacks in.

Put the pins in. Upholstery pins are pretty long so I could put them in snugly but still have them sticking up enough to wind thread around. Yes, there are two different textures of pins. It's symbolic.

See? They stick up a little

I chose silver metallic crochet thread to use. I bought it at Michael's a few months ago, thinking I could actually crochet with it. It's AWFUL for crocheting. I had to think of some way not to have wasted $6. This is perfect for using up weird threads.

Tie your thread on the bottom of your heart. I tied it twice (square knot). Then I used a dab of clear nail polish to make sure the knot didn't come out.

Start stringing your thread up to the center of the heart. I wound it around once all the way before going down to the next tack. Make sure you do the same type of winding around all the tacks so they don't look goofy (symbolic).

I took the string down from the top and wound it around the tack to the right of the bottom point. Around all the way and then...

... back up to the top, but to the LEFT of the point. I'm stringing in opposite directions from the center points. I'm going right on the bottom and left on the top. It makes the pattern. I suppose you could do it all chaotic and that, but that's not what I'm doing today. :)

Continue stringing in this way. Here I am about halfway done.

This is the end of stringing the silver thread. Carefully knot the string and dab a bit of nail polish on it. I left a tail which I taped down while the string dried. I do not think this is absolutely necessary, but I was nervous.

dab dab dab

Because I'm a fancy person, I decided to add another color of thread - metallic red! Again, I knotted my thread to the bottom point.

This time I wanted to give some definition to the heart shape so I wound the thread around the tacks right next to each other.

Continue all around the heart. When I got to the bottom point again, I did not knot the thread, but continued with this...

I took the thread up to a different point of the heart. Instead of going back down the tack right next to the one on the bottom, I decided to skip a tack and wind around every second tack.

You can see how the next winding at the bottom is the second one up on the left . I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but this is such a fun adventure that I didn't really worry about it.

Continue winding up and down every other tack. When you get up to the top right, you will have to do something weird. In order to still wind around the top right curve of the heart and then go to the next tack on the opposite side of the heart, you will have to...

TUCK the thread under the tacks as you go around the curves. It works. Trust me.

Wind, wind, wind. All done!!! Tie off and dab with polish to secure. I only let it dry a moment before I cut off the tails of thread. I wasn't nervous anymore.

Next I hammered all the tacks in all the way. If you don't want to, no biggie.

VOILA!

Here it is, all done!!! Enjoy. :)

A Girl, A Hammer and a Screwpunch

2012-02-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

I was pulling requested books at the main library the other day when I came across a book of string art. Remember that horrific 70s craft? Well, this book actually had some beautiful examples of string art. I have been mulling it over in my mind about how to do it with books. Why not use books as the foundation for the nails and string instead of wood? Duh, paper is made of WOOD!

Anyway, here is my second attempt at working on this project. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be making folded book hearts, but I'm just not in the mood for that. (I think I do best when it's not the right holiday for something.)

Here's how it looks so far...

I only have time to work on it a bit each day...

Be Still My Heart - Pattern!

2012-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! It's February and time for l♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ve!

Have a heart. As always, I'm still futzing with the patterns, trying to make them easier to construct and read, so this month's pattern looks a tiny bit different with the added circles at the ends of the lines. You'll love it. Remember, hearts, love? If you don't have it already, you may want my basic tutorial to make it easier to fold your books or read the patterns.

Click on the below picture to make it big and print it out for yourself...

I have had several people asking about wedding-related patterns and I will see how quickly I can do stuff like that and list it in my shop.

Refueling and Reading

2012-01-30T08:57:00.000-08:00

No art right now. Reading children's books. Thinking about all the tutorials I want to write: numbers, HEARTS OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, monogram letters and so much more. I need this percolating time to figure out how to do everything and then

BAM! It should come together quickish. I hope.

Hang in there... more good stuff coming soon.

Smooth Moving

2012-01-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with making healthy smoothies for myself and my family. One of the things that's been keeping me busy is preparing tons of fresh vegetables for the freezer. I bought a huge bag of carrots and heard that you could grow the tops in water. So, I tried it! It works! I also tossed an avocado pit in there, just for good measure.

Question for anyone who has done vegetable/fruit smoothies (no milk - lactose intolerant!): do you cook your vegetables first to make them easier on your digestive system?

Quiet Times

2012-01-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

Birthdays for a five-year old boy. Two weekends in a row with a 14-year old boy who nearly burned my house down because he kept trying to turn off the fire alarm instead of putting out the fire in the oven. Mothers-in-law going into the hospital and nearly dying. Work being difficult. Life being lively.

My mind will be back on art soon. It just needs some time to rest...

Looking Forward

2012-01-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

I made these paper flowers for a friend at work and her wedding. They turned out well.

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."

Neil Gaiman

I posted this quote on Facebook today and was surprised by the quick responses of so many of my friends. I quickly commented back "We should come back in a year and tell each other what we did to surprise ourselves." Then it occurred to me that I have surprised myself this past year.

I'm reading Martha Stewart's The Martha Rules to learn her take on how to run a business. The first line of the book shocked/surprised me: "In 2004, I entered a federal prison camp in Alderson, West Virginia." Here was someone who acknowledged her faults (not overtly, not dramatically, not sensationally, etc.) right there in the beginning. She talked about the women she met in the facility and how they asked her about business advice. She gave lectures and advice to many of the women and talks about their ideas in her book of business rules. The first rule is "The Big Idea."

I have had a Big Idea this year. I did my basic book folding tutorial and it was successful beyond my dreams. All the other stuff she talks about in the book is good, but it keeps coming down to your own Big Idea and if it is the type of thing that can carry you. At BYU, my art teacher always said "If you have a product, it will sell." At that time in my life, I didn't have a product. I barely had an awareness of myself. It took (and is still taking, I'm sorry to say) years for me to find myself enough to hear/feel what I have to offer the world.

What I can offer that is completely new is my book folding expertise. I know that folding books is a completely impractical art. There is nothing inherently useful about my art (and that bothers me - why?) so it's not necessary for anything. Yet, it is something that uses materials that nearly everyone has access to, those materials that are prolifically dumped in landfills or discarded in libraries and then gives them a new way of being presented. They can be made over into a new life. That life can be perfectly tuned to a particular individual and make them happy. Is making people happy enough?

This leads me into another thought: is this something that I can do for a living? People always talk about "do what you love and the money will follow." I'm not really that sure. At this time, I am responsible for the maintenance of a family of five. Brian's salary mostly goes towards child support. Mine goes towards everything else. I always wonder what I would need to be able to work from home, but I am so scatter-brained that I can't focus on what I need to do. Blah. Then, getting my husband on board is another thing altogether. :)

I wonder what I'm supposed to be doing here in this life and if I'm doing enough. I just don't want to go back to Heaven (yes, I'm assuming the best) and have God tell me "You could have done that if only you'd been _____." Whatever _______ is.

So, this year, I want to work on my Big Idea and expand it. With the success of the basic tutorial and the alphabet folding tutorial, I want to branch out into other patterns. I don't know if it will work, but I'm going to hope for the best. I will continue doing the free ones every month because not everyone will be able to buy the patterns, and I like sharing what I do with others. Martha says to share and teach freely because it does a lot of good. Yay Martha!

Wish me luck.

January Free Pattern- Little Houses

2012-01-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Better late than never! This month I made a pattern for you who have my Basic Folded Book tutorial that works with last month's pattern, too. Now you may make little houses to go with your pine trees. You are welcome. Just click on the below picture to enlarge and print out. Yes, it *is* hard to read those little tiny numbers on the grid! You are welcome again! (just kidding - sorry, still working out the bugs on this darn pattern-making thing).

Again, if you have questions, let me know. BTW, I am really liking the suggestions some of you are having for future free patterns. Thanks!

Temporarily Out!

2012-01-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

This little critter and all his friends and relations were rampaging through my body the last couple of days. It was not my friend. It made me feel like I'd done 100000000000 situps and still didn't have a flat stomach. Jerk.

Back VERY soon with this month's freebie tutorial - little houses!

2011 Reading List!

2012-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

I did it again! For the second year in a row, I've accomplished my children's classic reading list. Yay me!

Here's the quick summary of everything I read and what I thought about it. If you care about last year's list, you can read about it here. I read the last four in one week. It just goes to show what you can do when you panic.

Kipling: Captains Courageous 12/11

Written in 1897 by Rudyard Kipling, this is the story of a spoiled 15-year old rich boy who falls overboard his ocean liner and is picked up by a passing fishing boat. The transformation his character makes over the next several months is wondrous - it's a typical do-good book from the 19th century - bad boy overcomes weaknesses to become a valuable man. Although Harvey Cheyne's transformation happened (in my mind) altogether too quickly and permanently, it was a relief to read a story about someone who makes GOOD choices and has consequences for his actions. Good book to recommend to boys, especially older ones.

Le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea 6/11

Snore. I read this because I've seen it for years. Published in 1968, it reminds me very much of new-age mysticism and balderdash. I didn't admire Ged (stupid name) and couldn't really see what he did that was so special. I wouldn't recommend except to kids who really like magic and wizardry. And who don't mind stupid names like Ged.

Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking 3/11

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!! Pippi is a hoot and hilarious and I want to visit her and her house. She is a good person and very sensible. Admirable! Recommend to both boys and girls - perhaps the same crowd that likes Junie B Jones.

McKinley: The Hero and the Crown 5/11

Oh my gosh. I read in Orson Scott Card's book A Storyteller in Zion (I think?) that you cannot help but put your own era in your writing. You can't get away from the mores of the society you live in. I see it all the time in 1950's SF - they always have the men working out long math problems by hand while women make coffee and ham sandwiches in the kitchen. Anyway, this particular book was written 1985 and is very Girl Power, complete with self-esteem issues and SEX (IN A CHILDREN'S BOOK!!!!). It was a really long book to listen to and I kept thinking we'd reached the climactic scene when another adventure would start. It's okay. It won the Newbery Medal, but I wasn't all that impressed. Girl book, definitely.

Naylor: Shiloh 3/11

Another Newbery book. I hate books about animals and this is the last year I'm making myself read books about animals. Especially dogs. Sorry all you dog lovers. This is a story about a young boy from a really poor family who rescues a dog from a mean owner. It's all about how he hides the dog from his family but is found out and then has to earn the dog from the rightful (mean) owner. Everyone loves it. This is what it says on Wikipedia: Marty learns that morality is confounding and must choose between two unpalatable choices: rescuing the abused Shiloh through stealing and lying or allowing Judd to keep abusing Shiloh. Good for boys. Good for dog-lovers.

Norton: The Borrowers 3/11

Little people live in houses and they call themselves "Borrowers" instead of thieves. They use all the stuff in our houses so they can survive. More power to them. Boring.

O’Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphin 2/11

Absolutely wonderful book. A tribe of people lives on this island and they decide to migrate. The girl's brother is missing from the ship that's taking them away. She jumps off and swims back to shore. The little brother (5 years old) was trying to get something he'd forgotten. And something bad happens to him that made my stomach clench and still haunts me. :( The girl survives on the island for YEARS. Apparently this is a true-ish kind of story. Excellent for both boys and girls.

Peck: Soup 12/11

This was the last book I read - I finished in on the 30th. I *really* didn't want to read it because I hated the name and thought it was a dumb boy book (dumb book, not book for dumb boys) but it was HILARIOUS. It took me less than an hour to read and I howled at the surprising funny parts and lines in the book. I need someone else to read it, too so we can share funny lines. :) Great for boys and girls, but boys especially. I might even read the next ones in the series.

Philbrick: Freak the Mighty 3/11

The cover on this book was weird so I'd never wanted to read it, but so many kids had asked for it over the years that I told myself to read it. It was wonderful. I loved the story of the two boys and how they were both misfits who really cared about each other - I love boy friendship books that show good relationships with true compassion and real situations being handled. The story makes you cry at the end. Embrace it. Good for both boys and girls, but mostly olderish boys.

Rawlings: The Yearling 4/11

I dreaded reading this 8000 page book, sure it was all about the lovely happy adventures of a boy and his deer, living an idyllic life with all things happening in a carefree fairy-tale environment. HA! Nope! It helped that I listened to this on tape because I can't read in dialect and that was very important to this story. It takes place in Florida (Huck Finn era?) and is... wonderful. I was so completely wrong about it that I can't even begin to explain how it moved me. First of all, it takes place over a year, a year in which a young boy learns a ton of real lessons that actually change him in believable ways and even changed me. It was good enough that when I came to the cassette that was damaged (#10 out of 14-ish), I went ahead and checked out the book and finished it a day later. Yep. That good. There is good and bad parenting. There is friendship and death. There is dishonesty and disabilities and oh, there is a deer, the Yearling. Excellent for older boys. This boy is more admirable than Huck Finn and actually does something with himself, unlike Huckster.

Rodgers: Freaky Friday 12/11

I've seen both movies. I like the one with Lindsay Lohan (pre-stupid). The book, on the other hand, was a complete surprise. Remember what I said earlier about books having their time in the story? This one has parenting. There was the n-word because the housekeeper was prejudiced (and it was great to see what happened to her). There was no sex and no allusion to it. There was a mother who needed to teach her daughter a lesson. The daughter learned the lesson and was better for it. The mother did not 'learn a lesson' being in her daughter's shoes. You know why? BECAUSE SHE WAS THE PARENT AND ACTUALLY KNEW BETTER. Great for boys and girls, but mostly girls.

Ryan: Esperanza Rising 4/11

This book changed my life. I am so sorry for everything I've ever thought about Hispanics before I read this story. It takes place in the town next to Bakersfield (OH MY!) and I knew all the landmarks mentioned. I know the fields and crops they talk about. I was pained to read about the growing up process Esperanza had to endure and the discrimination she experienced, but I am a better person now. No wonder everyone here reads it. I had always thought the Okies got the short end of the stick. Guess there is a shorter end I didn't know of until now. Good for boys and girls. They should all read it.

Saint-Expery: The Little Prince 12/11

The person who wrote this must have been on drugs. I couldn't understand why everyone loves it. It was psycho from beginning to end. I did learn that you are responsible for anything you tame and that anything you tame will love you. Is that deep?

Sewell: Black Beauty 4/11

Again, another animal book that I dreaded. Horsies! I listened to this one and it was strange having a female voice narrate a male horse's character. I learned a lot about how horses were treated in different walks of life. Did you know that there are some harnesses that hold a horse's head so far up that it damages their necks? This type of harness, a 'bearing rein', was popular in Sewell's time and part of the purpose of this book was to make people aware of the harm they were causing to their horses. This book led to a general public awareness of the treatment of working animals. Sewell died before publication of this book and never saw how successful it was (apparently it's the sixth most popular English-published book). I read this about the funeral: "Ironically, at Sewell’s funeral her mother noticed that all the horses in the funeral procession were wearing bearing reins and she insisted that they be removed. " Duh.

Sharp: The Rescuers 5/11

I would have been happier if Miss Bianca had been caught in a mousetrap and eaten before page two. The story would have been better. I hate this book and wouldn't recommend it if it were the last book in the world. So there.

Snyder: The Egypt Game 4/11

Very 1960's. Surprising in that it mentions child murder. Okay book. Glad I read it. Don't see who would really like it unless Egyptian stuff becomes popular again. It's about a bunch of apartment kids who like Egypt and use a vacant lot to act out their imaginations about Egypt. And in the background there is a neglectful mother, a mixed-race friendship (surprising again!) and rain. Meh.

Taylor: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry 4/11

This is the only book I did not read through to the end. As I was listening to it (dialect again), the emotions hit me so hard and made me so fretful that I became argumentative for a week with my husband and he suggested that I just read a summary of it and let it be. Civil rights injustices hurt me way too much to read. I hate the irrationality of prejudice based on nothing real - it's like when people hate Mormons because of rumors they hear (I really do only have one mom) and say we're going to hell 'just because' (insert eye roll here). Anyway, it is a very good story, but it was too hard for me to read. Because of this experience, I am giving myself permission to skip any and all books dealing with prejudice and the Holocaust. Except for Anne Frank. I will try that one. Keep your fingers crossed I don't drive my husband away.

Taylor: The Cay 10/11

Surprising! I thought this was going to be one type of book and it just goes to show me (again) how much I can be mistaken! World War II time. Boy living in Caribbean with father and mother. Mother hates the island and wants to return to mainland. Father *really* disagrees with idea. Mother and boy go anyway. Boat torpedoed. Boy adrift at sea with old black man (pronounced 'mon' :) ). They end up stranded on tiny islet in the middle of an untraveled area of the ocean - no hope of rescue. The boy was hit on the head when he went over the boat and it made him blind. The story is of him and the man on the island. The man is wonderful. He teaches the boy hard, hard lessons. The boy learns. A storm comes. The man protects the boy by lashing him between the palm on the highest point of the islet (40 ft) and himself, taking the brunt of the storm. Read it to find out what happens next.

Travers: Mary Poppins 2/11

I have no idea where Disney got Julie Andrews' character from this book. This woman is a mean, belittling, strange person who does not engender love or devotion, yet seems to earn it. I'm glad I read it, but have no desire to read the rest of the series.

White: Stuart Little 3/11

Again, another mouse that should have been caught in a trap or eaten by a cat.

Wiggin: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 12/11

I thought this was going to be like Anne of Green Gables. It isn't. It has more real life in it. A girl who lives with poverty, isn't the best at everything, isn't pretty at all (except for her eyes), but provokes people to love her and overcomes life anyway. Sweet. Good for girls. I related to it.

Wrede: Dealing With Dragons 4/11

Girl power. Yay. Stupid, trite, weak, boring story. A princess that doesn't want to marry. Doesn't like the knights and princes. Whatever. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS ON AUDIO - IT IS THE WORST DRAMATIZATION I'VE EVER HEARD. Okay for people who like light fantasies. Not good for anyone who likes real fantasy.

Wright: The Dollhouse Murders 4/11

This was the first book I read. I was delighted with the story - it was real enough to be edgy, and old-fashioned enough that I envied a simpler time. Good mystery. Blood! Spookiness! Goosebumps! Good for boys and girls - especially those looking for a ghost story.

Wyss: The Swiss Family Robinson 10/11

Okay, I've never seen the Disney version of this, but it couldn't be anymore unreal than this book. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! If you can suspend your disbelief in reality, this is a very good story. It was originally written as a book of natural history education for the author's children. It's about a family who shipwrecks on an island which is home to every climate and type of animal and plant on earth. That's the part you just have to go with. I thought I'd heard the audio wrong when they talked about flamingos and penguins cavorting on the beach together. Yep. Again, just go with it. It's all about making the most of every situation you are in and focusing on the learning aspect of it. It was actually rather refreshing. There were no terrible crises in the book and that's okay. Good for boys mostly. Young boys. Make sure to let them know it's all just pretend, though, and flamingos and penguins don't live in the same region on earth. Nor bison and kangaroos. It reminded me of the Garden of Eden, maybe.

A Tale of Sourdough

2011-12-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hello! Before I went to Las Vegas for our Christmas family trip, I used this book to try out a sourdough starter recipe. I coddled this starter for several (eight!!!!) days, following the directions as best I could. The starter bubbled and smelled very sour - I was hopeful!

Finally the day came to make the dough. The directions said to take it out of the refrigerator (where it was in a "firm dough" stage), break it up into six pieces (no more or less :) ) and mix it up with the dough ingredients.

After a rise, a rest in the garage overnight and another rise the next day, they looked like the above picture.

And then I baked them. They looked beautiful!

I only cut myself three times with the bread knife as it slipped over the hard crust. It looked pretty in the middle. Rather heavy, like it didn't really rise that much. And, bummer, not really sour! :(

Still, it made a wonderful soup bowl. And I'll just have to try, try again...

My Desk

2011-12-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

Really? It's been more than two weeks?

It feels like a hundred years since I've had any time to myself. I don't mean that I haven't had alone-time; I've just not had any days without commitments - family in hospitals, family dying (Brian's grandpa - very expected), funerals, finals, grading, last-minute Etsy orders, lots of visits to the post office, making presents for family members, work potlucks (being at three different branches means three potlucks to participate in) and family vacation.

This year, Brian and I took the kids to Las Vegas for Christmas. Instead of presents, we do family trips or outings. We only have the kids for every other weekend and there is never enough time to play with their presents so we decided to start giving memories instead of things. Two years ago we did Disneyland. Last year, we went ice-skating with hot chocolate afterwards. This year we went to Vegas to watch the Condors lose to the Wranglers. It was FUN! The Vegas crowd is so different from the Bakersfield crowd. Ours is funner. Theirs is funnier.

While in Vegas, I got to see the Bodies and the Titanic exhibitions at the Luxor. WOO HOO! I spent nearly all of Saturday after the exhibits babysitting Kiff who got the stomach flu. I thought it would be fun in the hotel room all by myself, but - well, Las Vegas smells bad. I was pretty bothered by the cigarette smoke that was EVERYWHERE and in everything. Bleh.

Tomorrow night we have Brian's family Christmas and I have to make a million cookies for Brian's dad, whose name I drew this year. He's the kind of guy that you can't buy anything for because he already has it. In fact, he has a nicer one than you knew existed. He likes my chocolate chip cookies, so I'm making him a ton to keep in his freezer. Money cannot buy my cookies because there aren't any like them in the stores. ha ha.

Because we've been so busy with everything, we forgot to buy a tree. My house is a bit forlorn-looking. I think that I need to put up twinkle lights. That will make it feel Christmas-y in my house.

Here's hoping you are all well this season!

Kusudama Flower Ball

2011-12-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

I learned how to make these flowers after seeing the eight billion tutorials (here's the BEST one) put out last year but was reminded about them when I saw a fellow Etsian featured in People magazine for her kusudama flower ornaments. Part of me hates when something becomes popular because I worry the value of the object lessens. Here is a lesson for me: do what you find beautiful. Again and again, if you want.

Here's how my desk looks after working this weekend. I don't even have the finished products on it!

December Pine Tree Folded Book Pattern

2011-12-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

My favorite thing about this month's free pattern is its versatility. Pine trees are appropriate for so many themes and times of the year. If you want, apply star charms to the tops of these trees for Christmas decorations! Ink the top part of the tree green and the trunks brown. Leave it naked for a subtle look. (That's me... subtle.)

Click on the below image to make it big and print out the pattern for yourself! I'd love to hear from people who've tried it and see their results!

Kern Canyon in the Fall

2011-11-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

It's been very gray here in Bako for the past several days. We didn't let that get us down this weekend as we decided to go to the river together as a family and shoot things with beebee guns. Actually, the boys shot things. I looked for rocks. Did I spell beebee right?

The river was really low and quiet. It wasn't that rushing torrential flood that we had most of the summer and was a welcome sight. I always get worried about losing my kids to the waters. This time the rocks were so far out of the water that we could nearly walk across in some spots. Still, with it cloudy, you never know if a sudden rain is going to change everything and kill your entire family in the process. Yes, I think thoughts like that.

I found the neatest looking rocks. At first I thought it was a white-spotted red sock, but then I noticed that all the rocks had those polka dots on them. The granite is just really weird in this part of the river. I'll take pictures of the polka-dotted rocks and post them later... I'm such a tease!

With the water so low, I was able to walk further down along the river's edge and look at stuff. This is as far as I can go in this direction because the log blocks my way. I thought the hole in the rotting wood was pretty. There was also a spot where you can tell water eddied and piled up a bunch of wood. The wood is all worn into lovely rounded shapes. I think this particular piece sums up how I felt...

Quick Peek into December

2011-11-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a teaser look at next month's freebie tutorial... :)

Flower Brooches

2011-11-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

Using the same shapes I wrote about in yesterday's tutorial, you can also make these brooches.

I used about 21 circles for these brooches. Fold them all up into the single basic shape. I received an email from a friend today and she said it is called a preliminary base. I am taking her word for it because she is much more learned than I when it comes to origami. I don't know the words, I just fold.

Holding one shape closed, put a bead of hot glue along one folded edge.

Put a second shape on top of the first one. Then glue the rest in the same manner.

After you've glued as many together as you like - I did 21 for the pink buttoned one - glue the ends together to make a hemisphere.

I have a badge maker that I bought last year to make badges for my Etsy shop (a goal for 2012?). Using that, I covered several badges with kraft paper and glued the hemisphere to the badge. Then I glued a button that matched the paper to cover the hole.

A word of caution: beware of putting pink or red buttons on old book paper brooches. They look a bit anatomical. I need to change the pink button on the left brooch. The paper is much lighter than in the picture and it looks, uh... youknow, nudge nudge, wink wink.

I wore the middle one to work today. It weathered getting snagged by my seat belt, hugged by my son and squashed by books. All in all, a sturdy piece of work, a definite keeper.

As long as I don't accidentally make any more basooma ones ...

Paper Ball Ornaments - Tutorial

2011-11-19T23:02:00.000-08:00

I've been up to many lovely things lately. Since I figured out how to make these paper balls, I've been obsessive about trying all sizes and styles of circles. The other day at the library, I used their large balloon die-cut to make big circles. That's what I used to make that huge paper ball in the above picture. It's about 7 inches (18cm) across and would make a very nice pumpkin-like decoration for a Thanksgiving table or Halloween next year...

Here's how you make them:

Materials:

Paper (I used map paper from an old encyclopedia - it has a feel like glassine)
Circle punch (I made several different sizes of circles for different-sized balls)
String or ribbon to hang (if desired)
Hot glue and glue gun

Time:
about an hour or so for your first one. Less on all the subsequent ones.

The toughest part of this craft is the folding of the circles into the base shape. Once you get it down, it's soothing to make these while listening to a good book on CD in bed, eating chocolates and cuddling next to your sleeping husband. I'm listening to A Discovery of Witches and eating salted caramels from Costco. It's pure joy. (And the husband is nice, too. :) )

You will need about 45-75 circles. The larger the ball, the more circles you'll need. I used 45 for the small ones and 75 for the huge one. If nothing else, make a number of circles that is a multiple of three. The ball itself uses three circles glued together to make a single half circle shape, the basic unit for the entire ball.

Here's how the circle is supposed to look all folded

Take two circles and put a blob of hot glue inside one edge of the bottommost circle. I am calling the one closest to my palm the bottom one. You can see how much glue I used in the below picture.

Do the same with a third circle onto the soon-to-be-middle circle. I put the glue on the same sides of each circle so they would all lay the same direction. You can see from the below picture that I tucked the circles in the same place both times.

Ta da! One unit done. Have a chocolate.

Continue making segments. I just keep making them until I feel like I have enough or am just too impatient to make more. A word of caution here - the number of segments you use affects the end product. The more segments you have, the fuller your ball will be. The fewer segments you have, the more open your ball will look. Neither is wrong - they are just different.

I then glued the segments together with a line of hot glue on the long edge which will be the middle when it opens up. I didn't worry about gluing down every single circle to the one next to it. It's not necessary to hold the shape, but you be the judge. Perhaps I'm just impatient.

When you've glued a stack together, let the stack of shapes relax open into your hand. If you are going to put a ribbon or string on your ornament, now is the time to do so. Blob a bit of glue on a length of ribbon and adhere it to the folded sides of the stack where it won't show when you glue the final shape together. To close it up, put a line of glue along the middle like you are adding another segment. Very carefully, place the open circle's halves together so they form a ball...

Ta da! You can see that I didn't use that many segments for this example. It has a much more open texture or pattern on it. I forgot to put the ribbon on this one, too. Pretend it's beautiful.

Here's a selection of ones I've made. You can use different types of circle punches for different effects (duh). I used a scalloped circle punch for the mid-sized balls. I think these would look beautiful on a tree, in a bowl or in a display. If you live in a non-snowing place like Bakersfield, you can also throw them at your loved ones.

Not that I've ever done that. :)

Trading and Bartering

2011-11-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of bartering. There are times when handmade objects are worth more than money and they feel better when you trade for them. I am making this book for my friend, Julie, in return for the beautiful cake she made me last week for my son. I've learned how to make prettier letters (lower case) that wouldn't be hard to translate into a whole alphabet. Hmmm....

Paper Ball

2011-11-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

Look what you can make with a bunch of paper circles while you watch three different Shakespearean plays! I've seen Phiona Richards at Rare Notions use these shapes to make jewelry. After the amount of time and effort it took me to make this ball, I'm leaving the rest of the making up to HER. I see why it's worth buying some things!

November Free Pattern

2011-11-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy November to you all. Here is a tutorial for all you book folders out there for an acorn. I hope you enjoy making it. It was a lot of fun (and hard work) to put it together.

Hopefully this will get easier over time! I have to keep relearning things!

We Have a 14-year old in the Family

2011-11-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Brian's eldest son turned fourteen. I have been around this kid for nearly seven years and it's been an interesting time. We're still getting to know each other and sometimes don't know what to make of the other. He's sooooo into sports and I could be happier scratching out my eyes than listening to endless rehashes of past sporting events. Still, I wanted him to have a happy birthday. A friend of mine from the library traded me a book for her mom (oops - I need to finish that!!!!) in exchange for the cake. I definitely came out the winner...

Here's the birthday boy in all his silliness. He looks a lot like Brian when he was fourteen. Except for the eyes - he has his mother's eyes. (ooh, how Harry Potter!)

Here's the rest of the crew. Kenneth was keeping a steady eye on that cake. He wanted to eat one of the decorations very badly.

Sneak Peek for November

2011-11-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a little peek at what is in store for all you book folders in the next few days... I finished folding up the prototype this morning and it turned out better than I'd hoped! Now I just need to fuss the pattern up and it will be ready to post... (December's is in the works, too!)

Here's another sample of my crocheted stones. I am trying very hard to allow myself to use the types of rocks we have here in Bakersfield and not seek only for the smooth, flat river stones I've seen others use for this craft. The rocks here are rough and crystalline. They are also mostly browns in color. Isn't it hard to see how you slavishly copy others because that is "the right way to do something" and fail to do it either the way you have at hand or allow yourself to do it the way that is "you"?

With that thought I asked myself why I was copying crochet patterns at all - why I was insisting on doing uniform rows or rounds. I prefer asymmetrical and freeform sometimes. At least, I did last night... Here's my first foray into a more organic crocheted rock. The shape of the rock is more triangular and it is sooooo smooth. I love touching the back of it. I experimented with crocheting on top of other stitches, using long threads to connect (I guess you could call them really loose stitches) sections and mixing up the lengths of everything. I rather like how it turned out. I'm not sure the picture does it justice - it looks a little bulky, but it isn't at all...

Free Tutorial Coming!

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Don't fret - I haven't forgotten doing a free pattern for folded books this month. I just haven't been able to finish it yet to take a picture to give to you. Puh-ray for the Heather... to get her act together.

In other news, I've been taking it easy in the evenings by working on crochet therapy. Here are a couple of lovelies that I've finished. The blue one is going off to a very sweet little girl who keeps taking her momma's rock for now...

Happy November!

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

October went out of my life very quietly. I was not feeling well for a couple of days and slept as much as I could. Alas! No art was finished!

Still, the Eddys celebrated Halloween for the first time in their own neighborhood and we enjoyed watching the parade of trick-or-treaters all evening. Last year we weren't home for some reason and Kiff still didn't understand the concept of it all. The other two kids were a little old for trick-or-treating so we didn't encourage it for them - we'd had a church function where we let them gorge on candy.

This year Kiff DID understand all the hoopla. For the last week, he's been asking how many more days until Halloween. He's been learning the days of the week and it's been fun to watch him do the weekday song and add in his own bits. Anyway, here are the Eddys celebrating in the ways they do best:


Brian is so uncomfortable in front of the camera. He can't help striking a pose!

Brian has a fog machine and a ton of glycerine he got for free at work. He made his own fog juice and played with it all evening. We sat in the front yard eating pizza at a card table. He turned on the fog just as people would start walking up to our house. The kids would go to the front door and Brian would put on a deep voice and say, "Happy Halloween." from the gloom. Scared some kids silly.

Balloon Boy! Everyone thought he was from Up. Oh well.

I took Kenneth out trick-or-treating. As we walked up to the first house, I quizzed him on what he was supposed to do: knock on the door, say "Trick or Treat!" when they answered, say "Thank you" and "Happy Halloween" as he walked away. I was a bit choked up as I watched him walk up by himself (he's not afraid of anything!!!) to the door and knock. My baby is growing up!

When the woman answered he launched into song: "Trick or Treat! Smell My Feet! Give me Something Good to Eat! If you don't, I don't care, I can see your underwear." I froze. He said 'underwear' to a complete stranger.

After a hard night of begging for candy. He's pooped.

We cut off all the balloons when we came back. Then we attached glow sticks to them and let them go into the night. We hope they scare people into thinking they see UFOs.

Once Upon a Time There Was a King

2011-10-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Donations at the library are funny. When a new rabidly-awaited title comes out there are HUGE waiting lists for the very small number of copies we have in our system (we're poor - don't ask). After the requests have all been filled or canceled due to people buying their own copies, we start getting those best-sellers as donations. First they trickle in and are madly added to the collection to fill holds. Then a few more come in and we use them to replace the too-soon dead copies we have. Then we get in millions.

This happened with John Grisham's The King of Torts. A few years ago we began noticing that we were getting several copies of this book in donations. Just when you thought you'd gotten rid of the three or five just put on the table, another dozen would show up. We were starting to send them to Goodwill and then my co-worker began piling them secretly in my office. I was out on the reference desk one day when I came back to my office to find a stack of seventeen of these babies teetering precariously in the middle of the floor. I think we got up to over thirty before the floods eased...

Since that idyllic time, both that co-worker and I have been transferred to other branches and departments. Marcus (said co-worker) is now the bibliographic librarian for our system. I felt his office needed a little spiffing up. At the last big book sale by the Friends, they had a cart with books marked FREE! This little gem was there and I grabbed it quick and made a present for Marcus.

I quickly made this up for him as a reminder of those fun times before we grew up and had the responsibilities we each enjoy now.

Latest Work

2011-10-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was able to get in touch with an old friend of mine from college. It was great to talk to him about art and find out what he's been up to. One of the things I remember most from my experience in art school was that something like 90% of all art school graduates never do anything with their art.

I like to think that art, while not a full-time vocation for me, is a way of life instead. Everything I do seems to be done through the filter of beauty, simplicity and truth (I hope). It's very close to my testimony of God, too, I guess. I'm lucky I have talents that make me so darn happy and can make others' happy,too.

Good to hear from you Paul and I can't wait to see your work soon!

It Depends on Your Perspective

2011-10-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a few pieces for a company who is putting together an online boutique of sorts. They originally asked for three different patterns. I worked on them all last week and took quick and dirty pictures of them to send for their approval. Their responses were great. They liked the top of this one and the front of another one.

When I looked at the top of which they spoke, I saw their point. I guess it all depends on perspective!!!

My Bedside

2011-10-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is what it looks like right by my bed. I usually take over Brian's dresser because it's closest to my bed. He's good about it and never complains. I need to remember that when I see his socks out in the living room each night.

Changes

2011-10-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

Heads up! I'm turning off comments on my blog!

It's been a growing sensation for a while now, but I'm feeling a little too exposed to the world with everything and need a bit more privacy. Blogging will continue, but if you need to talk to me, please email me. At least the whole world won't see what you have to say - just us two. It will be cozy, just you and me.

This is all the result of a lot of in-depth soul-searching and reflection. Hopefully, I will be able to focus more on ... I don't know, but I'm hoping it's good, whatever it is...

Hoar

2011-10-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Oh the things we do for friends who are going through a tough spot. And, yes, I DID spell it right. hahahahaha!

The paper is from an 1850's Harper's Bazaar bound magazine from which I laminated two sheets together with Wonder Under. I then embroidered and embroidered while I listened to scriptures and felt twinges of guilt.

Creepy!

2011-10-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is actually the fifth attempt at making this book for a friend of mine. The first time I tried making it with an 1850-ish copy of Harper's Bazaar that was all moldy and crackling. No good. The paper wouldn't fold well enough. The second try was a smaller book. I couldn't get the words to look right. Third try: a Frank Slaughter book (with apropos titles like "A Night to Murder" and "Death at Midnight") with italic letters THAT YOU COULD NOT READ AFTER I'D FOLDED the book because the letters were too intermingled. Then I tried stenciling it onto a simple patterned book with ink. The ink, instead of being blood red was strawberry pink. Not creepy in the sense that I wanted. And it looked very stenciled - not at all folded bookish. The fourth try was another stencil - this one actually was much nice because it was on a "press forward" patterned book. The paper for that was not so compactly together that you could read the word when looking at it from the front. You could only see it when you looked at it from an angle. Still, it wasn't a folded book!!!!

So, fifth time's a charm. Yay. And I used a copy of "The Complete Kama Sutra" that I'd had laying around the house for a couple of years. I knew it was perfect when I picked it up the other day and perused its contents. Um... creepy. And I knew the friend's grown-up sons would get a kick out of the book and try to unfold it when she wasn't watching. Which they promptly did. Suckers! Creepy!!!

Skull Folded Book Pattern

2011-10-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Presenting my first free pattern! This builds on the information presented in my Folded Book Tutorial available in my Etsy shop. Just click on the picture below to make it big and then print it out. You need a 19-mark fore edge pattern on your text block. I used 1/8" marks.

Small Gift

2011-09-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

A small gift for someone who helped me out a lot. It rhymes with 'magic'.

In other news, I've figured out how to make the freebie pattern for October. Now I have to draw up the pattern and finish the example book to take a picture of... It should be ready on October 1st!

Huge Granny Looter

2011-09-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

This rock must have a solid metal core - it's HEAVY. It's only the size of my fist. Granted, I have large man hands, but still!

Again, making these is sooooo relaxing. I gave a little one to a friend the other day (who doesn't read my blog) and she looked at it, looked at me and then asked - tentatively - "what do I do with it?"

I told her to put it outside and let her chickens play with it. Oh happy chickens! Unfoul fowl!

Skull in Chains

2011-09-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

So... I finished the filet crochet of the skull and attached it to the book by chains. It's so metaphorical, isn't it?

It still takes me a long time to crochet the design and I'm not sure I have the patience to do it for larger books. Still, I don't want to give up on the idea. I love the mixture of the thread and the paper. Hmm... we'll see.

Skull Filet on Book

2011-09-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on Google image search to find a cross stitch pattern that I could modify for a filet crocheted skull. While working on it in four different places (oh wait - only three - work, couch, bed) I came up with this. Perhaps it would be better to not cart it all around creation. I ended up decreasing accidentally and having to make up for it weirdly. Dunno, maybe that's all part of the charm.

It's 9:15am and I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes. Guess who's not ready?!!! Off I go for my last week at the Rathbun branch. As of next Tuesday, I'll be at the Northeast library - only a mile from my house! It's a lovely place with great memories, but it is hard to leave a place like the Bun that I love so much... I'm so glad that Heaven is real and I'll get to be with all my friends there. Or in Hell, if we all go there. :)

Filet o' Flower!

2011-09-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Filet crochet sounds soooo fancy, but it's actually very simple and right up my alley - being made with grids and all. This is my first attempt and I know exactly what I want to try next. It will involve skulls and books.

Oh, my life is so good. Curse work and how much of my time it takes!

(Bless work and how it pays for my house, car and food!)

A Blast from the Past

2011-09-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in the office of the new head of the library when I spied a stack of papers on her nearly empty bookshelf. When I asked what they were, she said they were a donation she was going to give to the Friends. Then we looked at it together. How old is it, I asked? Together, we looked at the title page and figured out the Roman numerals.

1723. Oh. My. Goodness. She asked if I was interested in having it. I told her that I would very much like to have it if the Friends were willing to sell for a price I could afford. A few days later, it was mine. For $5.00.

Before everyone freaks out about my doing anything to or with this book, relax. I don't know what I'm going to do with it until I find out its worth. I found a copy in the UK for $300, but that was in good condition. I am not sure who to speak with about this, but I will eventually find out. The covers from front and back are both missing and several pages have fallen out. The binding is loose and you can see from the above picture that it is coming apart.

Right now I'm loving having something so old. The paper is divine - a laid paper that you can see the embossing from printing. I love the esses that look like effs. I love the fact that so many people have touched this book through the ages, people who wore different clothes, spoke different words, knew different things than I know. I wish I could see its past...

Inspiration - Carl Larsson

2011-09-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Every so often I run across an artist whose work resonates within me. Carl Larsson is my latest inspiration.

I think I saw his work in an old magazine (Victoria?) and it had pictures of his home. Oh. My. Goodness!!!

He does things in his home that I've thought of doing and then thought, "oh no, that's just too different." Well, you know what? It turns out that some of the things I like are liked by people I admire. The time has really come for me to stop being afraid of being me and just let myself be.

That goes for making things, too. I get a little bogged down by Pinterest and other things because I see all these things and think, "I can do that!" Well, of course I can do that. Many people can. But sometimes it is better for me to focus on something that only I can do and maybe forego that other item or purchase it from that person.

Today I decided to treat myself to this:

Instead of chasing the beautiful things of the world and trying to hoard everything, I'm going to choose beautiful things carefully and collect a few here or there and try to remember to make my own beautiful things to share with others.

Ooh. That was almost too syrupy. Blech.

Dum de dum de da...

2011-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Doing much, but nothing big. A whole lot of little, bitty, itsy things. Above is a special order I just finished...

Two nights ago, I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. No lights for me. I can do some things very easily in the dark. In the gloom, I noticed an upside down cup in my sink. Groggily, I picked it up and put it on the side of the sink, intending to figure out its purpose in the morning. *snore* Back to sleep.

A few hours later, I woke up and turned on the light. I got up to go into the bathroom again and saw a 5-in slug making its way across my carpet into my bathroom. I picked it up with a tissue and went out to the living room to show my husband. Hey! Look what was crawling INTO my bathroom! I should have been tipped off by his utter lack of surprise. He says, Are you sure it wasn't crawling OUT of your bathroom?

He'd found the slug in HIS bathroom (why? how?) and had given it to me. As a surprise. Because of the deep and abiding love he has for me. And the respect! Honor! Value! Hmph.

And there have been thunderstorms here in Bako. Beautiful, loud, majestic and just plain fun. The kind of thing that all the idjits in your neighborhood come outside at 4am to look at in their pj's just because it's so rare. I could hear laughing and oohing and aahing coming from other backyards. I heard a child cry and a mom call out "Wasn't that awesome?!" to turn around their fear. I took Kiff out of bed to come outside, but he just slept in my arms. Nature schmature.

School has started again for Taft College and the first real assignments were handed in last week. I revamped all the assignments and quizzes this semester to do two things: 1) fix the misunderstood areas that people KEEP MESSING UP ON and 2) change them so I can correct them much. more. easily. I get paid for two hours' work each week. Divide that pay by actual time? Eek.

I came home last night and Brian said, "go see Kiff's room." So I went. It's amazing how that kid thinks. He's using the monopoly money to make a race track. The car in front is called "Heather Feather." For me.

Poppy Rock

2011-09-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've just about finished stocking up my Etsy shop with all of my sale items. All the leftover beads either went into the trash (oh. my.) or on my desk for me to make up into interesting earring combos for myself. I like mixing and matching the words and fonts (Librarian+Nerd).

Tonight we watched HP #4 (my least favorite movie cos they changed so many pointless things and left out Dobby and Bertha Jorkins) and I stitched a paper present for a friend. I took more than a week off from sending her a postcard a day so I'm back to work. It has been so much fun doing this that I need to find someone else to start doing this for. Perhaps I'll not do one a day, but I'll still have a month-long party of post.

Sweet Peace

2011-09-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

There is something about crocheting that makes me feel serene. Repetitive movement? Tight focus? Tactile yarn and needle? On Sunday last, I put in Harry Potter #1 and watched (listened) to it. Then #2. Then #3. I crocheted several stones and a sand dollar, practicing with most of my yarns and a carpet thread (for variety!).

Up To No Good... Well, Not Really

2011-08-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Guess what! I did some administrative housekeeping in my Etsy shop and found that I have a huge albatross of stock that I do not need. In looking over my sales over the past 18 months, I've discovered that I have a standard core of best-sellers (word jewelry-wise) and a shift in focus from jewelry to book folding.

I have decided to keep a core of word jewelry stock in my shop for book- and library-lovers (and myself). It's about 40-odd items' worth. The rest? Well, for $5-8 a pop, they are yours. After they are gone, they are gone. I went through all of my extra beads (printed, not rolled) last night and dumped everything that isn't part of my core stock. Now I have to go through my existing stock and list what I have so I can free up my mind for other, more important things.

Those important things? Mostly folded books and patterns. I want to try to have free ones on my blog and more in the shop to sell for 99¢-$4.99.

Wheat Sheaves

2011-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hey look! Woo hoo!

Granny Looting Explained

2011-08-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I heard about the rioting and looting going on around the world. If *I* were to do those things, I'd at least have a bit of style.

I might even have to throw it twice if it just bounced off a window.

And, this one? It's just pretty. I'd leave it in place of the TV.

If It Holds Still, I Crochet It

2011-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Bones that I found in the desert. Little did this animal know it would bring me so much joy after it died.

Book Origami is BACK!

2011-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

I have been thanking God in my prayers so much lately that my brain has come back.

I have seriously missed it. Depression is like death inside. I envy those people who can pour out their grief into art and doing. Me, I barely exist... Bleh.

Anyway, I took pictures of all my books which are finished. It was weird to go through the house and find all the half-folded books I've squirreled away on random shelves and dresser tops. My hubsand is very patient.

Here are a couple of pictures of what I've put in the shop. Just to prove I'm living again.

Books Books Everywhere and Not a Word to Read

2011-08-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is what my patio table looked like last night as I was getting ready to use the last bits of daylight to take pictures of my eight million folded books to list... Please note the cat under the table. He's the photobomber.

As I look at this picture, I notice the bits of debris under the table and on the table and around the patio. How do people keep their homes immaculate? I suppose I need to budget for someone to come in and do it for me. That wasn't how it was growing up, though. My parents had seven kids. It was our job to keep stuff clean. There were only a few times my parents paid for some work to be done and then it was a Really Big Deal. Other than that, we were do-it-ourselfers. Perhaps I need to look at my childhood more closely and see where so many of my customs and assumptions come from and reevaluate them for MY life.

And while I'm at it, I'll wish the patio was clean.

Crocheted Curiosities

2011-08-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm getting the hang of this crochet thing. I found this pretty sand dollar in my collection o' stuff and decided to work some magic on it.

It's feeling like I'm beginning to wake up. This afternoon I actually deep cleaned my kitchen. I'm feeling more like my old self again. I was even able to get my act together enough to take pictures of all my finished folded books so I can start listing them in my etsy shop. And look who photobombed me... Hello Ron!

Crocheted Stones

2011-08-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Although this might be considered one of those crafts that has no real purpose, I find that crocheting on stones is very soothing. In my next life, I am going to study geology because I like rocks so much. It's another reason I'm so glad I live in Bakersfield. We have fabulous rocks and rock formations so near to us.

Anyway, if you search Google for crocheted stones, you'll see beautiful examples. These are the first I've tried. The little one is with a sample of fine paper twine I received in my order from Paperphine. Being as it was my first attempt, it has NO discernible crochet pattern - just a bunch of loops. I think I'll call it Fine Art. Fancy-schmancy-if-you-can't-understand-it-you-aren't-cool kinda art. Oh yeah.


Art. Fine FINE Art.

The next ones were made after several attempts to read a pattern - which I finally did! Yay me! I still have no idea what a picot stitch is (yet), but I believe in being resourceful and soldiering on and that's what I did.

This is helpful for me to do right now. When bad stuff is going on in life, I'm not good at 'doing' and 'suffering' at the same time. I'm apt to just look out the window and not get anything done. I'm living in squalor right now because I can't bring myself to clean up the kitchen quite all at once. I really need a wife. :)

Nargles Make My Brain Go Fuzzy

2011-08-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple of things going on in life that are weird right now. My dad was put into an assisted living home last week and I am concerned about him. It's caused a bit of a division in the family and, as eldest child, have had the burden of uniting the siblings (there are seven of us) and trying to soothe everyone. (edit - I've received emails from friends concerned that my siblings might be being difficult - NOT SO!!! My siblings and I have been working together to figure out a solution to a situational problem with something else - please pardon the vague-osity- and THEY ARE WONDERFUL! Love them! Love them!) It's not working. I find that my emotional burdens make creativity stall. I sit and stare into space, ruing that I'm wasting time, but not having any ability to do anything. I have nargles in my brain. I swear that's why I can't (yet another edit that I didn't catch at first...) think or act coherently right now.

A friend of mine in Hawaii has been having a streak of bad luck that is the worst I've ever seen for someone who's not willfully living wickedly: first, her partner was laid off; second, they had to move into a new rental that is much less desirable of a location than their house on the hill that she loved; third, a dog was killed right in front of her at that new house less than a week after she got there; fourth, she got an unexpected pay cut at work. I think that's the worst one. Hello! Work the same amount and get paid LESS! Woo hoo!

Anyways, I've been working on sending her a postcard a day for a month. I'm about a week into it so far. Since she reads the blog, I cannot show the postcards I'm sending. It's just as well, though. Some of them are stomach-turning. (Holly - just wait until you get the applehead one!!!). I've been collecting funny pictures from donated books at the library and sending them to her along with watercolors and pretty things. You know, just to help alleviate the effects of the curse she's under. It gives me a reason to make art and crafts that I've wanted to make but really had no use for. There's a volcano or two around there that she can sacrifice them into.

Hence, no pictures... shhhh!

Experimenting with Patterns

2011-07-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

I am looking over different designs I've found, trying to figure out which ones would make good freebies. I'm torn between the idea being simple and yet still being fun. My original 30-step butterfly looked terrible on the first run. So I filled it out a bit. Now it's 70 steps. Hmmm...

What do you think? Maybe I need to make smaller motifs that really are only 30 steps. I think this one looked weird the first time because the taller a motif is, the more pages it needs horizontally to look full enough to hold the shape. Maybe I should just do 1-1 1/2" patterns.

Here's the finished 70-step butterfly:

Plain and unadorned

With colors... What do you think?

Permission to Make Art

2011-07-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

This article, How to Steal Like an Artist is amazing. I've seen the link on Pinterest for a while now, but took time to read it this morning when a person linked it on Facebook who didn't seem like the type of person who would link something like that. It was coming from a different perspective. Weird how things are.

So, I read it. And I am different now. I have been given permission to be me - a person who works a day job, who is married with children, is not thin and beautiful, reads children's books, loves cats and baking and flowers and art - and use all of those things to create beautiful things.

The most important thing I read in this article had to do with sharing secrets. People love knowing HOW to do things. Sometimes they like your secrets enough that they'll buy your stuff. Think Martha Stewart. She tells me how to make a beautiful home. Mary Engelbreit showed me people's studios and art processes. I learned their secrets and wanted to know more about them. And, yes, I've even bought their stuff.

So, what secrets can I share with you? I am thinking about having some free patterns for folded books here. You all need to know how fun this art is. I also think I'd like to teach people how to make the word beads I have in my shop. They are soooooo much work that I'd like people to see how they are made. Hmmm... the wheels are turning.

Flowers Flowers Everywhere

2011-07-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

More of the evening watercolors I do while my son is dipping his head into the kiddie pool "changing his hairdo". I also fend off cats (we have 16) who drink my paint water. Maybe it will sterilize them ...

This one is a work in progress. I'm going to add a few more layers of colors. I tried putting a flower everywhere there was an "o" to give it a really random feel. I like the composition.

This one isn't my favorite drawing-wise, but I'm happy with the composition and the contrast.

Book Page Watercolors

2011-07-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize until I was browsing Pinterest yesterday that so many other people do this same thing - use book pages to paint upon. Don't judge me badly! The whole point of this painting exercise was not to make a single drawing, but to make a mass of drawings. I've been seeing so many people do things that look beautiful en masse. I want to see if it makes a difference even when my drawing skills are rather ordinary.

The paper in this book is de.lis.cious! It takes pen and pencil and water so easily and beautifully. At first, I found myself not wanting to use any of the paper because then it would be all gone and where would I get more? But I finally had a talk with myself and persuaded Me that it is OKAY TO USE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL UNTIL IT IS ALL GONE.

So I'm using it without fear now. And when the paper is gone (have I really ever let myself use up anything in my life for fear of running out?), I will be satisfied.

By the way, last night I had to get off early from work for a 5-minute dentist appointment. It was lovely. I went shopping at Costco after that and came home at 7pm to a quiet house. I got all of my art supplies and went into the backyard to paint. The light was perfect. The temperature was perfect. And the most beautiful birdsong was happening. Don't tell me Bakersfield is ugly. I just won't believe you.

Imagine a Clever Title Here

2011-07-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Finally I have a camera again and can take pictures of dictionaries reflecting my red shirt in the morning light...

And I have been drawing again. I think I'm going to put some paint on this one... maybe.

The Woes of Technologilessness

2011-07-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Alas, I have been without a camera for nigh on a week now. I would love to show you the dictionary I'm folding little by little in the evenings. I'd love to show you the new hearts I've been folding (and making a tutorial for!). It would be great to do all of these things BUT I DON'T HAVE MY CAMERA.

Aah... technology. How I do love/hate thee.

Still, in other news: My 101 goals. I made a huge breakthrough this weekend with one of the most important ones: #50. Use or lose stained glass.

I lost it. For a few months(!) now, I've had 10 or so of those small plastic bins stacked up in my HALLWAY that were filled with different colors of glass. It's been probably 15 years since I've done anything with glass, but I couldn't bear to toss it - it was expensive! I used the stacks in the hallway to remind myself to think of something wonderful to do with the glass. I could think of lots of things to do with it, but it was all so contrived and useless...

And then I had a talk with my dear sister-in-law. About letting go. About freeing ourselves.

And so it went. I smiled THIS BIG.

Intentions

2011-06-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Having a blog is like being a glutton for punishment. You say things that you are doing or are going to do or whatever and, so often, nothing comes of it. I see that when I was growing up, I would say over and over that I was going to do something... but often did not. My husband says he knows I'm serious about doing something if I say it three times. Hmm... so perhaps it is not a sin to say you are going to do something and not do it right away. I just hope that I didn't seem like the type of person who was all talk and no action - or a person you couldn't depend on doing what they say they will do.

I mention this only because when I put something here on my blog, I probably seem like I'm doing whatever it is I'm posting about ALL THE TIME. The truth is that I'm not. I'm waking up in the morning, trying to exercise to lose this 80 lbs I've put on since I got married, fending off a four-year old who insists on TAKING ALL OF MY THINGS AND SCATTERING THEM AROUND THE HOUSE WHILE I AM BLOGGING, getting dressed for work, driving to work (while worrying that my car will make it), working at a place that I have philosophical differences with and having to comfort and placate patrons and employees who are bound and determined to be unhappy about this or that, driving home (hoping my car will work), taking care of a million cats, remembering to water my fruit trees and chase a four-year old who (see above) while my husband works on his novel (of which I really enjoy reading the rough drafts), reminding my husband to have scripture study (which has turned into lectures from well-known researchers rather than scripture), realize that after I'm finished doing all of this I'm too tired to focus on art and go to bed where I'll have the energy to work crossword puzzles, but not do art.

So, I think a lot about art. I blog about it because I WANT to do it. I write about it to remind myself to do it when I can. So I don't forget to grow while I'm living.

The picture I've posted above is a piece I did just recently using a different type of book (tallish) and a variation of two ways of folding the same pattern. I love the endless variety you can have just by choosing to fold a point or an open fold. It's so weird to see how everything changes...

Folded Block Letter Patterns

2011-06-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Okay World, here is my heart on a platter for you:

I have listed my Folded Block Letters tutorial on Etsy. It includes all the patterns for the complete alphabet with a few variations thrown in for good measure. This one only took FOUR months to do instead of a year. I'm getting better!

Next on my agenda - hearts and circle patterns.

Word Work

2011-06-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

There are times when I cannot work on folded books because I'm back to the jewelry. This was a special order for a neat lady who had looked through all my sold items on Etsy and begged for the return of a few old favorites...

C is for Many Things that start with C

2011-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Cloop is the sound a cork makes coming out of a bottle. And now you know. Please see the Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged Second Edition if you don't believe me.

I think I'm going to add a few more pages to the left side of the letter to give it more definition. And I need to fix that bizarre long bottom page on the lower right. It makes it look G-ish.

B is for Better?

2011-06-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm plodding along with this new scrollwork alphabet based on vintage cross stitch patterns. They are about 80 steps each. I made this one last night while watching "Miss Potter" - probably my favorite movie right now. I love seeing movie sets of artist's studios. They are always so beautifully put together and romantically lit. Right now my desk has three folded books, three old moldy books to make into Halloween designs, two trays of beads in different stages of doneness and a plastic drawer with my jewelry-making supplies - most of which are spread out on my cutting mat, making a special order.

Neither beautifully adorned nor romantically lit. Still, that's life!

A is for AAAAARGH!

2011-06-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm experimenting with some new letter patterns. This is a capital A. Honest. In person, it looks great!

The problem is, you can't see it in a photo like you can in person. In a photo, you can only see one side of it. Hence, the AAAAARGH!

Dusty Olive Paper Flowers

2011-06-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

I love paper punches. You can't make me confess how many I've accumulated over the past couple of years or so (has it really only been *that* long?). Please don't make me confess.

Work for This Week

2011-06-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

What I've been up to lately - another piece of Press Forward (done correctly). Now I just need to get the corrected pattern out to all those people who bought my tutorial. :)

Alphabet Tutorial

2011-06-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is the fancy "how-to-read my pattern" page

BOOYAH!

I have finished with the rough draft of my Folded Alphabet Tutorial. I am in the process of trying to convert this sucker to a PDF so I can send it out to some people to look it over before putting it in the shop. To make sure there are no inadvertent bad words in it and that type of thing.

Encyclopedia Finished!

2011-06-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! More than 1000 pages folded. I am amazing.

At first I wasn't keen on the tabs, but they look kinda cool now.

It's pretty from the top, too!

Close up and personal...

New Work

2011-06-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Question: How in the WORLD should I name these things? So many titles of art are pretentious. So many titles *I* come up with are pretentious! How about numbers? Dates?

I don't want to be pretentious. I want to be regular-people like. And the pictures aren't turning out well. It's CLOUDY outside. Son! Go get your jacket! After all, it's still JUNE in Bakersfield! Weird.

Encyclopedia Foldeum

2011-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I started working on this encyclopedia/dictionary a couple of weeks ago while driving to the coast. It's been a bit of a chore for two reasons: 1) the pattern I followed out of my OWN TUTORIAL WAS WRONG and 2) it's a really big book (more than 2000 pages).

Now I need to get in touch with everyone who's bought my tutorial and send them revised directions (I figured it out at church yesterday - yay church!). Ugh.

I'm working on this piece a little bit every night while I listen to lectures about the church presidents given by Truman G. Madsen. (count all the prepositional phrases in THAT one!) That's what Brian and I have been doing each night. It was supposed to be scripture study until I pointed out that this isn't scripture. Now we're doing it for the learnin'. Cos we're eddy-cated peoples. So there.

Pretty Pretty

2011-06-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

It's very pretty here at my home right now.

I'm loving it.

Ever-lasting Spring

2011-06-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

This was the sky when we returned from the beach on Saturday...

We rarely have much of a spring in Bakersfield. It usually goes from bone-cold to skin-peeling hot in the course of about two weeks. This year is different and we have perpetual spring. I can't explain the wonder I feel each time I wake up to clouds outside my window. They are so rare that I simply gape at them. Yesterday, I looked at the upcoming weather report and announced with the same type of glee usually reserved for long-awaited pregnancies or engagements that IT'S GOING TO RAIN THIS WEEKEND.

You might just have to live here to understand.

I Love Nerds

2011-05-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Add caption

A sweet special order I finished up this morning and plan on shipping tomorrow...

Nacho salad - one of my favorite parts of holidays. I've planted an avocado tree in my back yard and can't WAIT for it to start producing... Me loves avocados, but they're way too expensive for everyday.

I'm a nerd

The Eddys at Cayucos Beach

2011-05-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Looking out at the Pacific Ocean - I love California!!!!

Brian and I have wanted to take the kids to the beach for a while now. Kenneth quotes Bugs Bunny a lot and keeps saying "Pismo Beach! And all the clams you can eat!" So, to ensure that we heard that quote a LOT, we planned on going to Pismo. I was sure I was going to have hours and hours to do art, so I packed a lovely bag full of paper, watercolors, origami books and a huge book to fold.

Of course, we got impatient going to Pismo and ended up stopping at a beach that was on the way and looked just as good - Cayucos. It sounds fancy, no?

I ended up folding most of this on the trip to the coast. It's my Press Forward With Steadfastness pattern. The wind was rather incessant and I had to turn my chair so my back was to the wind. Still, my pages kept flapping around and I quit after a little while. The pages started looking a little worse for the wear and I'm excited to see how this one turns out because it's so HUGE. (Reader's Digest encyclopedia - about 5 inches thick... yeehaw!)

Behind Kiff is a 1 gallon jar of pickles. Alex ate about half a jar...

Brian trying his hand at boogie boarding. I got the board the night before at Goodwill for $4!

Kiff doesn't mind sand all over his face. I felt completely exfoliated (and sand-blasted) by the end of the day.

The Young Eddys

There wasn't as much swag on this beach. I'm used to finding tons of shells and rocks and fun stuff. I brought home a ton of little bitty rocks that I'm still cleaning up (they are in the sink as I write this). Brian noticed that the beach was full of these really strangely-colored light green rocks. We collected several to put on our firepit in the back. After a stop at the candy store (taffy, Jelly Bellies, rock candy and handmade chocolates), we picked up dinner at McDonalds and blasted music all the way home (lots of Weird Al and Beatles). We came home to weather that was spookily similar to the beach - cool and cloudy. Weird weather this year, but I'm not complaining...

Stitching on More Paper

2011-05-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

If you are good with many false starts you may continue reading. Remember the photos I posted a while ago with the stitched paper? The darn thread is so slippery and fine that I'm ho-hum about the project. The paper twine that I bought from Paperphine is still taunting me with its "there-ness" and I'm trying to use it again.

If the twine is too thick and unwieldy, I figured that I just need to use bigger paper with bigger holes. So here:

I took a page out of a large encyclopedia dictionary. I layered two pages together with some kind of Wonder Under-type stuff. Then I poked large holes with a dart. (Of course I used a template I printed off the computer)

The paper twine is heavy enough to use without a needle. The problem I keep having is that it is so stiff it doesn't pull through the holes easily. Several holes have ripped while I've pulled the twine through. I don't know if this one will work either! It also doesn't lay nicely on the paper. It looks nice in this shot because I've only done a few. The ones after this are getting wonky. Oh well. I'll take another break from it and see if I can come back to it fresh...

In the meantime, I let the boy play with the dart because there is nothing more fun than poking holes in things.

I Am the Cheese

2011-05-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have learned how to make cheese! With a kit from here and a gallon of milk and a half hour, this is what I ended up with:

I used to see the fresh mozzarella balls in the deli cases back East when I lived in NY. I believe I even tried some. Still, it was too expensive for me to buy again.

All it took was a gallon of whole milk, the rennet table, citric acid (which I already had on hand for making homemade dishwasher soap) and cheese salt. I made this late in the evening so I could not take pictures of the process. Needless to say, it's rather unappetizing to watch. Milk tends to do gross things.

The next day I took my cheese from the fridge and made pizza. With pesto sauce made from the basil in my windowsill. With dough I made with my bread machine. Yay me! Another goal from the 101 DOWN!

Even the boy likes it.

A meal with a view...

Fame and Fortune, Here I Come!

2011-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm in the local paper today! Woo hoo! Fame and fortune HERE I COME!

I admit to harboring a secret fantasy of quitting the library business to be a designer/artist full time. How this would be accomplished, I don't know. Maybe a patron from the library who is so impressed with my kindness will leave me all his money so I can retire...

Does anyone else feel that way? Is it normal to not like working outside of the home? I would also love to be with my kid (that wasn't an afterthought, by the way!). At this time, he's learning things from his aunt and cousins that I wish he weren't...

Perhaps all of my dreams will come true eventually, even if it's not in a way I can imagine.

Poppies

2011-05-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pictures of flowers I took when I went to San Diego the other day. Poppies are some of my favorite flowers...

Watercolor Sundays

2011-05-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

Thursdays are good days. That is the day that our library puts all of its unwanted donations and oldie, moldy stuff out on carts to be taken away to be recycled. The carts are piled high with books, flattened cardboard boxes, old magazines and other detritus which accumulates in even the most organized libraries. Oftentimes, I see something that strikes my fancy. Since it's going to recycling anyway, I pluck it for my own...

I found this interesting looking book on the pile a few weeks ago. It's an old poetry book and was down in the basement until it was allowed to die. I was surprised that it had last checked out in 1952 (according to the slip inside) and that fines used to be two cents a day. Now fines are a quarter per day.

I was looking for something new to do with my watercolors when I picked up this book and took a look at the paper inside. It was soft and toothy - perfect for watercolors. I drew a quick and easy sketch on the paper and tried a few splashes of color. I am no good at creating fine art on the fly and show my unnaturalness for painting when I do so...

It feels a lot like hot press watercolor paper - the paint goes on kind of slippery. It holds color very well and I rather like the way the text adds (wait for it) TEXTure to the painting. (pause to catch your breath)

I also messed around with a set of really cheap watercolors I picked up at Michael's for $4.99. It's their container which interests me most. After I use the colors in the pans, I can put my own tube colors in there for portability. Aren't the colors yummy, too? I don't have any candy colors like are in the box. I made up a sampler of all the colors to see how they were. Surprisingly, most of them have good saturation. Several are opaque/gouache style paints and I don't mind. I'm hoping to treat myself to all new tube paints this year. Maybe I'll try some new colors, too.

A Different Perspective

2011-05-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

If you put your camera down underneath the flowers and point up, you see the world from their perspective. Rather awe-some, no?

Butterfly Wings

2011-05-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

There are so many variations you can do with a single pattern. If you take a simple circle pattern, you can alternate doing some open and some closed folds. The end product is butterflies! (was that proper grammar?) Anyway, this is where some chalks in different colors would look lovely on the folded edges...

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

My mom was the young wife of a Navy chief who served tours of duty on board ships. I was born when he was in Naples, Italy. He and my mom had discussed names, so when I was born, he sent her a telegram wishing her and MELANIE lots of love. Apparently, mom changed her mind when I popped into the world. I wonder how life would have been different if I'd been a Melanie instead of Heather.

Growing up in the Navy was nomadic. We moved every three years or so until I was 14 years old. I never really got to set down roots anywhere and longed for a life where I could just STAY. At 18, I left for school. I moved back and forth between home and dorms and apartments for the next five and a half years. After that, I moved between home and apartments every year or two.

Then I got married. Brian has lived in Bakersfield his whole life. He's been to Germany where he served a short mission for our church (he got sick and had to come home after only 3 months) and he went to Japan for his best friend's wedding. Other than that and a few places in California (oh, and Vegas), he's been a homeboy.

I looked forward to settling down in one place after marriage. I moved to Bakersfield for what I hoped was the last BIG move of my life. I was married to a wonderful guy, but still was homesick for something... I didn't feel rested or secure or at home.

Eleven months after we were married, I found out I was pregnant. It was 11pm and I was six weeks late. That had happened before so I wasn't really expecting to .. uh, be expecting. I took a test and couldn't believe it when two lines appeared... I was pregnant. I yelled at Brian to wake up and celebrate with me! I called my Mom and told her. Surprisingly, she was still awake...

My pregnancy was a blast. I was nauseated for two months and then I delighted in amazing everyone with my get up and GOGOGOGOGO! I couldn't wait to feel the baby move.

When I was five months along, I was up in Modesto visiting my mom. We had gone on a walk together and when we came back I laid down on the hide-a-bed in the living room. I felt the most peculiar sensation in my belly. Usually after a walk, I can feel a bubble-popping sensation in the muscles in my legs. I call it carbonated legs. That feeling was in my belly. I told my mom and she said, "That's the baby." I lay there for the longest time giggling at how funny and WONDERFUL it felt.

After that, I wasn't alone anymore. I had a buddy with me all the time. Work was fun because I had my baby with me. Sometimes, when my stepdaughter lay her head on my lap, the baby would kick her. That was fun, too. :)

It turns out that I wasn't going to be able to have the baby naturally, so a C-section was scheduled for January 19, 2007. I decided to work up through Tuesday, the 16th, the same day as my last doctor's appointment. Dr. U said I wasn't dilated at all and that I was good to go for Friday. I went home that night happy to have that last bit of alone time before the kid got there and also give me time to get ready to go to the hospital.

I went to bed that night intending to have a lovely relaxing day the next day. I'd clean the house, pack my bag, watch a movie and do Heather things. Around 2am I got up to use the bathroom. Just as I got in the bathroom, my water broke. It was the most peculiar sensation... And it wouldn't stop. Again, I had to wake Brian up... YEE HA! As I stood in the shower doing disgusting things, he called the hospital and got the go ahead to bring me in.

"Where's your bag?" he asked me. As I dripped in the bathtub, I reminded him that I had been SCHEDULED FOR A C-SECTION AND WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL BEFORE FRIDAY. My bag wasn't packed. So Brian put things in a bag for me. I was held hostage by my bodily fluids and tried to think what to ask him to bring. Puzzle book! Underwear! Chocolate! A book! MAKEUP!

I swaddled myself as best I could and we made our way outside in the cold and dark of Bakersfield in the dead of night. "I'm going to have a baby!" I kept saying to Brian. "Yes, you are..." he said smiling at me.

We got in the car and Brian broke every traffic law in the land. He was practically daring an officer to stop him. He went through 35mph zones at 70-80 and ran every red light. I told him I preferred to make it to the hospital whole, but Brian was charged on testosterone.

Once we were at the hospital it was a bit of an anti-climax. I wasn't in labor. Brian had brought me the wrong things in my bag and I hadn't had a shower. The nurse allowed me to shower with my IV bag on the wheeled-hook thing. It was hard to wash my hair, but I did it. And then I put on makeup. A friend in Modesto told me that her sister insisted on a full face of makeup and keeping her artificial nails on while giving birth. (I didn't realize that they didn't allow nail polish once upon a time...). My mom had always looked like death warmed over in her after-birth photos. Not me! I was going to look FABULOUS.

It was a good thing, too, because Brian had done something that made me spitting mad. His family is fond of dropping everything and camping out in patient's and waiting rooms for hundreds of hours at a time. I wanted to be alone with my husband and enjoy this. I did NOT want his family to be there until they absolutely had to be. When I came out of the shower, he confessed that he'd called them. It was 3am. "But don't worry!" he said, "I told them to be here at 6 am." They were there within 45 minutes. Needless to say, it was good he had someone to talk to because I certainly wasn't ever talking to him again...

My doctor happened to be on duty that night. I told her I'd missed her so much I came in. hahahahaha! I'm hilarious! Because I'd had ONE STINKING OREO at midnight, they wouldn't do my emergency c-section until 8am.

Just before 8am, they took me away. (My mom had moved to Utah just after that visit to her a few months before - she was on the road driving to me at that minute). I was nervous about the epidural because it sounds DISGUSTING to be injected in my spine... It wasn't so bad. And then my legs went numb. For some reason, it made me wacko. I started yelling at everyone that I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS AND I DON'T LIKE THAT! I noticed that the doctors and nurses ignored me and kept getting things ready. And then I didn't remember anything else until someone said, "Heather! Kiss your baby!"

A warm little head was put up next to my lips and I kissed obediently. I started becoming more aware and was sane again. And there was a baby squalling in the corner being cleaned. I. Had. a. Baby.

That night they brought the baby into my room to stay the night with me. I know they expected me to leave him in his trolley, but after Brian fell asleep and I was on my own, I got out of bed and picked up the little bundle and brought it back to bed with me.

It was the first time I'd been able to look at Kenneth Calvin George Eddy all by myself. I laid him down next to my face and fell asleep with my baby by my side. And he didn't suffocate or anything. He made the funniest little noises like a baby goat. He wasn't pretty and I was surprised by that. But I felt so ... intrigued by him. I didn't love him terribly yet, but that didn't bother me. I knew I really LIKED him, more than my sisters, more than my mom and dad, and even more than Brian...

Here was someone who would always be a part of me and might be like me and understand me when no one else would... I haven't been homesick once since.

Coastal Inspiration

2011-05-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

My sister April is a nanny in New Jersey. This past week, her family flew out to San Diego for an extended stay. Brian and I took the opportunity to crash on her hotel room couch and see some of the sights. (The family had given her a private room so she would have time by herself)

Our first site was the San Diego temple. It was on my 101 goals to-do list. Check! With the three of us we were able to do sealings for tons of names April had brought with her. She's so proud of herself for finding all of them through Ancestry.com.

There were beautiful poppies in bloom. I took many, many pictures. I might hurt you with all the pictures I took. Be prepared.

Next we went to the La Jolla beach. It was really crowded so I was a bit self-conscious at first about doing my normal scavenging for neat things in the sand. Then I forgot about everyone and let them all see my booty sticking up in the air and the treasures down the front of my shirt as I bent over. It's my way of giving back to the world...

This is my beautiful sister April. We share a birthday. We're 8-year apart twins. She's going to go to school to be a psychologist and I think she's going to be amazing.

Stitching on Paper

2011-05-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Remember this post about sewing on paper? I have been thinking about what I want to do and have realized that I love just a few things in art - words and letters most of all. Therefore, I decided to embroider a word on a piece of paper.

A little while back, I indulged myself and bought some paper twine from Paperphine. It was kinda expensive, but I love paper, so decided to give it a try. The shipping alone was half the price of the product because it was coming from Austria. When it arrived in my mailbox, I was a bit disappointed - you know when you pay a lot for something and it's not ... very big. Yes, I know that diamonds and babies are small, yet wonderful things, but still...

Anyway, I wanted to stitch with paper twine on paper. It seemed the perfect match. Unrolling it off the spool (which is a vintage wooden bobbin - very cool - almost makes up for the high price), it reminded me of wire. It was thick and not very flexible. Hmmm... and that's when I realized that it was NOT going to work to embroider onto paper. Perhaps the twine can be worked until it is soft just like you can crumple up paper to make it fabric-like. Anyway... it was way too stiff to use like thread on something as delicate as a sheet of paper. (she said for the *second* time)

So... I dug around in my drawer of treasures and found a spool of golden brown rayon thread. It's fine and silky and shiny. It also matches the paper very lovely-ly. (say that slowly and you'll get the adverbial effect I was trying to achieve)

Because I wasn't feeling very profound on this, my first attempt, I just did my name. I don't think part of me has ever outgrown that fourth grade mentality of loving their name on EVERYTHING. I used one of my sheets of Harry Potter book paper and ironed a patch of fusible interfacing on the back to give it some strength.Then, using Word Art on MS Word, I printed out an outline of the word I wanted to use (in that same Harry Potter font - Lumos). Then I used my word template, laid it over the paper as a pattern and poked holes around the edges of the letters where I thought I would need to stitch. Hmm... that was a lesson in preparation - I hadn't thought about whether I was doing a satin or chain stitch until I started poking. Yay me!

Anyway, my fingers got SOOOOO tired poking all of those holes. I only had strength to sew a little bit before falling asleep. This morning I looked at it and still think I like the look, even for this first attempt. I'll have to finish it in a few days as I have a date with my sister in San Diego this weekend. It'll be the first time I've been back there since I was eight years old. I hope it is as pretty as I remember it being... If nothing else, I'm looking forward to attending the temple and being in cooler weather...

Dahlia Folded Flower Pin

2011-05-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

See what happens when you give a girl a circle punch and leave her alone in McDonalds while her son
runs around like a lunatic? SEE? Dahlia flowers!

And then she gives up her exercise time to take fancy, romantic pictures of the pin, making you think she lives among roses and chamber music when, in reality, she has a four-year old boy crying to have her can of Diet Pepsi and yelling "You wascally wabbit!" at the top of his lungs.

I live the goooooood life.

Flower Garden folded book

2011-05-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have a pattern called "Bachelor's Button" that uses an arc and a basic shape. I decided to simplify the design and just use a basic grid for both of these parts (instead of an arc for the stem of the flower) and - well - it looks the same to me! Without pages holding the shape in rigid lines, the stems arch naturally...

Arches and Circles Folded Book

2011-05-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Please note artistic pose. Yessirree... that's me. Artsy as all get out.

Phases Folded Book

2011-04-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

Just a few projects I've been working on that will be in the shop soon...

Kanzashi Flowers

2011-04-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

I love looking at books where they make fiddly things with fabric. It's an enjoyable challenge to take anything that can be made with fabric and then make it with paper. I found this book called Kanzashi in Bloom (at my library) which shows you how to make three simple flower petal shapes from squares of paper. You make up several petals and sew them together to make flowers.

I have been making up dozens of petals and figuring out different ways to make pins from them. Although I don't like hot glue as a major element in art, it has a purpose here in small amounts. After I sew the petals together, I dab a bit of glue on the back to hold the centers together firmly. I then sew the flowers to fabric covered pin-back badges I have made. Although they won't hold up forever if they are treated roughly, paper is remarkably strong. I wore the first one I made to church a couple of weeks ago. Of course, that is the day that Kiff wanted to sit on my lap and bang his fifty-pound head on my chest and shoulders. Most of the blows felt like they landed on the flower. At the end of the hour, the flower was still good. Take that you four-year-old!

Folk Heart Folded Book

2011-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm folding books again! This is a design based on a folk heart shape - more of an elongated form...

Treasures!

2011-04-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

The other day we had a family bring in a sad donation. They had boxes of books and magazines from their mom's house. They were cleaning it out because she was going into a rest home. I am a bit jaded about this after all these years of working in the library. People bring us boxes of books thinking that Every. Single. One. Is. A. Treasure.

They aren't. Libraries are contemporary institutions. We don't warehouse dusty tomes. That's only in the movies, folks. We have standards about what we keep and what we don't. Believe it or not: WE THROW THINGS AWAY. It's called weeding and it's my favorite job at the library.

Anyway, they were sad and so was I, but for a different reason The haul looked like garbage. Then I moved a box and saw magazines. My heart sank a little further. We NEVER add magazines to the library collection. Why people give these to us is just a groaner to me. But then I saw what they were:

Do you remember Victoria magazine from the 80's and 90's? It was The Most Beautiful Magazine Ever. Every page had pretty decorations and clothes and was sprinkled with quotes and poetry. Yes, sometimes it was a bit stuffy, but still...

I brought home ALL of them (paid $4.00 for this treasure) and put them next to my bed. That night I opened up my first one. As I went through it, all these wonderful feelings ebbed through me. It was so ... pretty. I felt invigorated with beauty. I was reminded of what I find wonderous and pretty and inspiring and comforting. I am so glad to have a dozen more to look through.

In addition to finding things that I love in there, it is also refreshing not to see some things - there was no nudity in ads, no website addresses, no mention of "green" or "climate" or "recycle" or "repurpose" or any of those words that are so overused in my day to day life.

Mental and spiritual refreshment, Amen.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-04-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday today. I decided to ask Brian for a special gift - Time for Me. I've asked that I have a couple of hours to myself on Wednesday evenings where I'm not expected (or asked) to join in activities with him or anyone else. I need time to work on my projects without guilt.

I don't know if I'll ever feel guilt-free about doing my own thing, but it's a start.

At work today I was treated to a homemade strawberry buttermilk cake with a THICK layer of cream cheese frosting. My patrons were so kind and all wished me Happy Birthday (because when they asked how I was doing I told them IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I'M HAVING A GREAT DAY! - shameless self-promotion, I know). Then Brian made fried chicken for dinner and I am looking forward to a visit from my sister April this weekend...

All in all, an excellent day. Maybe I can talk my hubby into turning in early... :)

The Golden Empire

2011-04-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Kern County is also known as the Golden Empire. A lot of the stores and local thingies around here use the words 'Kern' or 'Kern County' or 'Golden' or 'Empire' or any combination of "Kern County Golden Empire." (see note at bottom) in the names of their businesses. It gets old after a while... ANYWAY - our family went on a spontaneous trip this past weekend to the river which is just a few miles up the canyon from our house.

With all the snow this past winter, the river was running fast and furious. We found a few places along the river that didn't look like we'd all be swept away in an instant so that we could shoot slingshots and collect rocks for our back patio fireplace. I kept Kiff on a leash the whole time because he's so much of a daredevil he'd go out in the water in no time and I'd be less one son. (And one heart)

Look! Gold(en Empire- get it?)! At $1500/oz, maybe I should learn to pan for it... The sand along the edge of the river is black like lava sand. It glitters with something. Gold? Iron pyrite? Prolly.

Rushing rivers! Thumbs up! It captures the sense of awe and wonder nicely. I'm learning the girl in my ways, too...

*note
My son's name is Kenneth Calvin George Eddy. After we named him, we noticed that his initials are the same as Kern County Golden Empire. Hmm... was it the drugs?

The New Me

2011-04-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

People who have worked for the library like to stay in touch even after they go elsewhere (as long as they weren't fired). One particular woman, Elaine, came in every week. She had the most beautiful long blond hair. One day she came in with a cute shorter cut. Her daughter was in beauty school and had shorn her locks...

I began to notice other women and their hair. Women actually spent money on their hair. I am really against high-maintenance lifestyles (hair, nails, waxing, etc.), but thought: Hmm... maybe I should do something real with mine. The gray has started to grow in. Although I *love* the color of my hair, the gray is going to age me right into the librarian stereotype.

Therefore, goal number 73 was "get my hair done professionally."

I began asking around to all of my fellow library workers. The prices of hair-doing made me blanch. Still, I wanted to see if getting my hair done by someone other than myself would make a difference. But I was going to have to save up for it... or take a second out on my house.

The answer to the problem came when I went to the bagel shop next to my library for the first time. The sweet young thing behind the counter and I started talking (I never shut up) and she mentioned that her mom used to work at the library.Then it clicked. She was Elaine's daughter... I liked this kid. I wanted *her* to cut my hair.

Tawny (isn't that just the type of name a hairdresser has?) offered to do a cut and color for only $30. And she said she WOULD COME TO MY HOUSE.

We made a date. Her mom drove her. She did my hair. I felt wonderfully pampered. She washed my hair. She colored it. She cut it. She STYLED it (into a style I will *never* do again as it made me look very "Oildale"). All the time, I talked to her and her mom. All that time, my 4-year old talked to both of them. And they didn't mind. Even when he came into the kitchen buck naked. Oh yeah.

Here's me:

I like this picture. I don't look like how I feel most of the time...

I made Brian take a picture with me. He's REALLY cute here, too!

Eggs-hausted

2011-04-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about working in libraries is the relationships you can cultivate with your patrons. In one of my libraries is a frequent patron who raises chickens as a way of dealing with empty-nest issues (chickens? empty nest? hahahahahaha!). I mentioned I'd like to try organic eggs because I'd heard they were fuller tasting. She brought me in an 18-count pack the next time she picked up books.

This week I've interviewed for a job I do not want. I've gotten a tooth pulled. I've not slept well. I've had a weekend that was spent waiting and waiting and waiting for people and not getting enough accomplished.

I'm going into this next week hoping to feel more settled mentally. And then I want to use my fancy new eggs.

BREAD 3: Chocolate Buttermilk Bread

2011-04-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is a strange bread - only slightly chocolate, but kinda sour-tasting (the buttermilk). I used it to make french toast. Yummity yum yum.

Chocolate Buttermilk Bread

1 1/4 C water
3 T butter
1/4 C buttermilk powder
3 C bread flour
1 1/2 T cocoa powder
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1/2 T yeast
3 oz chopped dark chocolate

Put all ingredients (minus chocolate) in bread machine on sweet bread setting. At the beep, add the chocolate. Make french toast with the end product: