ZIP Update

You might ask how that "zip" project is going
these days. After all, it is now the half year marker
for the 2012 Resolution Word
in which I plan to bring zip into my life in three ways
by lip-zipping, zippy surroundings and using actual zippers in my craft projects.

The results are in:  there have been some ups and downs (pun intended)!  I had a good four
months with using zippers in January, February, March and April with the projects shown
here: two dresses for Miss E with back neckline zippers - one needed repair after wearing. 
The zipper flower pin sits in my jewely box.  The zipper-pocket-in-the-back monster is with
my nephew and is hopefully still enjoyed.

May and June were busy!  The zipper use was in a felted wool mitten.  Only one zipper, but
8 animal characters: all to go with an "activity set" based upon the book THE MITTEN by
Jan Brett.  Miss E fell in love with this book and the plot in which a young boy loses his white
mitten made by his grandmother and the forest animals crawl inside one by one.  The mitten
keeps stretching until the little mouse lands on the nose of the bear,  The bear sneezes and all
the animals fly out of the mitten and the boy is reunited with his mitten that is now much
expanded!

Most of the animal patterns were found in the book COUNTRYSIDE SOFTIES by Amy
Adams.  (Thanks, Patricia, for this book!)fun books!)



Now it is July, and I am happy to report that my long-saved 90 inch pink zipper (rescued
from my girlhood sleeping bag) is repurposed into a fun catch-all bag.  I simply sewed the
zipper sides into a continual seam based upon an online tutorial.  Voila - a bag that can
accommodate craft supplies and also amuse one by unzipping and zipping practice.    The
unzipped zipper, before sewing, is shown as the pink heart around a place setting of our
china on the dining room table, just to give you a scale as to how long the zipper is.

One challenge I am having is making these collage pictures.  It's taking a lot of time to
download my pictures to an online sight, create a collage and then right-click save to
post.  Any ideas? 

Wishing YOU zip as you go about the business of summer --- stay cool!

Miss E Crafts for Daddy

She very much wanted to make something for her
Daddy after having made something for her Mommy!

This time, it was a catch-all jar for nails, screws and
whatnots.  And this time, I outfitted her in an apron
just her size.  Every crafter needs an apron after all.

(Please ignore the picture of her standing on the chair, parents.)

Judging from the looks of the
father/daughter team, I'd say
the gift was a success!
(This happened on Father's Day while we were near the cabin.)

Pink Suitcase Chronicles #49: Older-saurus

Once again, we gathered in Michigan at the family cabin to
celebrate five --- five --- birthdays in one swoop: John, Jed,
Kari, Anne and Wes.  Because one in the group is crossing from
the twenty decade to the thirty decade and might be considered
to be a "dinosaur" the theme was obvious!

This year was different than other years when we celebrated at
the White Stag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  This time, the kids
wanted Lou Malnati's pizza from Chicago and wanted to have
the party right at the cabin with their grandparents.  Lucky for
me, we live in a town with a Lou's take-out and the pizzas were
frozen and ready to pack in our cooler.  The cakes were purchased
and personalized in Iron River and ready to go.

Ellie was the inspiration for our main activity of watercolor painting:
it was her idea to do this as a party activity!  Quite fun, actually.

The dinosaur heads/hats were found at Dollar Tree. The volcano
was made ahead of time at home with a tutorial found online that
suggested using plaster of paris.  None of that was found in the
basement household supplies but there was powdered grout and it
worked pretty well as a substitute.  I painted the volcano with
acrylic paint and sealed it with a glazing compound.  After the cake
was served, the volcano ingredients were mixed and then the
eruption took place, much to Ellie's delight.

Finally, it was time for gifts. Even Ellie got one...check out what
her MeMo made at the end of this post! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
YOU FIVE
AGELESS WONDERS!

 

The Crafting Gene?

I've had my hunches for quite a while now that Miss E just might

have the crafting gene that I seem to have been born with.  She asks

for crayons, paper and play-doh whenever she visits. She knows her

colors and has her favorites.  (Not white, that's for sure - she always

wants it taken out of the pack and placed away from the other colors.)

Recently, we had a just-the-two-of us Girl's Night
and there was a secret plan of making her Mommy a gift.
I purchased (at the local thrift shop) an 8 x 10 white picture frame
and brought out the bin of pom poms.  Miss E had fun sorting
them into pastel colors, sorting out the reds, greens and bright
blues to the side.  Then out came the glue - she couldn't wait to get
going with that!

All around the frame went the pom poms.  I put the glue down
and she stuck the pom pom on the glue.  And so on until the frame
was covered.  Yes, I thought to myself, she is keeping going until
the project is complete!  This took about 20 minutes, and she
was still ready to craft more...so we moved on to the wrapping
paper for the gift then and there.

Two flower-shaped cookie
cutters were used to print
on the white paper.   She
wanted purple, so I mixed
together the red and the blue
paint.  A cork was used to
print the flower centers. 
The paper was ready, but had
to wait overnight to dry.

The first thing we did after
breakfast the next day was
to put the picture in the frame,
then into a box and then came
the wrapping.

It's ready for giving to Mommy now, and Miss E was pretty

excited about her secret gift even though her glance looks a

little ??? in the picture.

Can't wait for more adventures in crafting with Miss E,

that's for sure!

Re-Fashionista!

Somehow, I just can't seem to let a good piece of clothing go! 

Take a look at what Miss E is wearing as she stands on the chair: 

it used to be one of my Mom's favorite shirts.

    (This is what the shirt looked like before I chopped it up.)

Using Butterick B5020, this is the finished product.

    



On a couple of the embroidered flowers I placed a backing of orange and hot pink fabric.

Also, green fabric was placed behind some of the leaf shapes.

To make the shoulder ties, I used the same pink and orange fabrics.
You can see the underside of the dress with the colored patches here.

This project reminds me of one of my favorite children's picture books:

I Had A Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn (illustrated by Julia Demos)

in which a little girl has a dress that she loves and her Mama keeps altering
it into other clothes as she grows.  Miss E is going to have that happen as long
as her MeMo can operate a sewing machine!

In case you are interested in how others are refashioning clothing, check out
this website:
http://refashionco-op.blogspot.com/

Happy Re-fashioning!

A Zippy Posy

Gray day + ZIP "word of the year" = Posy! With a little time on my hands, I made a cheery little project. First, I cut out 6 little circles from a scrap of yellowish fleece. I used the bottom of the spray starch can as my template because I was too lazy to look elsewhere. Four circles were folded into quarters, then stitched together to make the petals in the middle. Next, a half of a metal zipper (9") was coiled to make the posy center. This was stitched to an unfolded little fleece circle and the top part of the flower was completed. On the bottom of the posy, another unfolded fleece circle was stitched. Two little leaf shapes were cut from felted wool and attached the the bottom of the posy. Lastly, the pin back was stitched to the bottom of the posy. Voila! A cheery little posy that can be worn as a pin or attached to a bag or hat. The pin back could be omitted and instead stitched directly to something or glued to a gift package. In mini size, it could even work as a barrette with the clip stitched to the back. Now I'm up to date with one zipper project a month.

A "Bad" Zippy Project

Back in November, nephew Jackson (age 7) visited us and, knowing that I like to sew, drew me a picture of "Bad" SpongeBob with the request that I make a custom one for him. After he made his drawing, we discussed the color scheme and details. Because it was the holiday season, Jackson had to wait a bit for the fruition of his design to be turned into reality.

Now that "Bad" is done and the recipient has taken ownership, I can publish the pictures of this fun project!

I used felted wool from shrunken sweaters to complete this project. Both machine and hand-sewing were employed.

"Bad" has a removable hat.

The socks were made from actual socks that were cut to size.

And, due to this being my year of zip, I put a zipper down the back of "Bad"

with an inserted pillow that can be removed and the inside can be used as a secret storage place

for Jackson's treasures.

I hope the two pals have a long, happy relationship

together!

Resolution Word for 2012

First of all, here's to a Very Happy New Year for all readers of this blog! Thank you for checking in on this little spot every now and then - I do so appreciate your companionship and comments along the way! Now that the holidays are past, and the new year is here it is time to reveal my Resolution Word for 2012.

I have been pondering this word for some time now.

Instead of coming up with a list of things to try to accomplish in the year ahead, I choose one word to inspire my thoughts and actions to make me a hopefully better "being" as the year unfolds. The word of last year was Turnover and it was meant to turn(me)over with my eating and exercising habits. Throughout the course of the year, this inspired me to lose over 20 pounds, so I'd say the word was a powerful one! (And a true challenge, to boot.)

Being one who likes to create things with my hands, I knew that my word had to include a reminder to stitch, sew and seam. It's been a long, dry spell for making garments requiring buttonholes and zippers, and I now have a very special little girl in my life to serve as my model.

Another definition of my word includes being active and involved as I zip through daily activities and keep up to motivation to sty fit and healthy.

Still a third definition involves an action of closed lips. Remember as a kid when your teacher or Mom made an action of index finger and thumb touching and silently made a pass across the lips as if signalling, "Zip it up?" That's a goal for me to achieve as I might be thinking unkind thoughts to keep them to myself.

Without further ado, my word for 2012 is zip.

That's right. ZIP!

And I might even make some zipper flower pins along the way! I do have quite a few colorful zippers in my stash...

Have you thought or your own Resolution Word yet? I'd love to hear about it.

Advent Calendar: Second Generation

Back in the mid 1980s, I spent a whopping $4.50 for Vogue pattern # 2794 and made two fabric Advent calendars (tucking one away for future use) for young Anne and John.

Each day, a felt ornament would be attached to a Christmas tree festooned with forest animals and birds. It was a competitive "sport" to see which kid could get the favorite ornament - and of course, there were ornaments that were more appealing to each child.

Ah, sibling rivalry!

Many, many years have passed since that Advent calendar was hanging in our home.

And now it has gone to a new home in which a little girl seems to be very happy about having it.

To all I wish a very happy Advent season!