Lantern Moon

I made it to the yarn shop today - I needed some things to work on over the holiday weekend!  While there I realized that I'm probably the only knitter without one of Lantern Moon's gorgeous baskets for my yarn, so I was only too happy to purchase one - especially knowing their social and environmental policies.  

I picked out one of the rice baskets, and I was a little worried about fitting it on my bike, but the top part of the rice basket folds down easily and it conformed perfectly to the shape of my bike basket.  Problem solved! 

I bought enough yarn to finish my project, and a few extras, too!  This beautiful cotton yarn was on sale, so I snatched up three skeins.  

Read more...

Bits and Pieces

Well, my petroglyph lesson (mentioned here) was a big hit with my class!  They were very engaged in the lesson and had a ton of questions to ask - but the the best part was seeing how excited they were to create their own cave drawing!  They couldn't wait to feel the sandpaper, use real artist's pastels, and tell everyone what they were going to draw.  We put all the pictures on the wall to decorate for our first parent night.  

I'm determined to get to the yarn shop on Saturday!  I simply have to finish this project - it drives me crazy to see it sitting on my desk half finished.  

These are some photographs I took a few days ago while riding my bike - a cool, bubbly fountain and a shadow cast by the intense Arizona sun.  

Read more...

Still Life

Ribbon from the antique store!  Too pretty!

Thanks for all of your kind comments on my last post!  I'm so happy to have made it in the paper!  : )

Also, my swap partner received the bookmarks I sent her!  Check out her blog for photos of her gorgeous quilts!  

Read more...

News

I'm in the news!  My piece was featured - in a huge shot - in this weeks Tucson Weekly.  The article is about the Please Touch Again! exhibit at Tohono Chul Park, which opened this week.  

Yay!

I really wanted to get some more yarn for this project this weekend, but I just haven't found time to bike down to the yarn shop.  I spent today running around gathering materials for an art history lesson I'm giving to my Montessori class this week.  Each month I'm going to give a lesson on an artist or period with an accompanying project!  Since this is the first lesson, I'm starting at the beginning with cave paintings and petroglyphs.  I found some great books at the library with photographs of the Lascaux caves and we're going to make our own cave paintings using sandpaper to simulate the texture of a cave wall!  I'm going to have them draw with kid's oil pastels, but I think crayons would work just as well if anyone wants to try it with children of their own.  

Read more...

Awesome stuff showing up in my mailbox

I don't get a whole lot of mail, but when I do it's awesome!  These portraits of characters from The Office are a perfect example.  Andy is my favorite.  You can find these prints and A LOT more in elloh's etsy shop.  

I also received my birthday surprise order from mushroommeadows!  So cute! 

Read more...

Bike Ride

This is a photograph from the bike path I take to work every morning  - I love riding alongside the dry riverbed.  This bridge is one of my favorites along the trail.

  

Read more...

Prize

I received my prize from the Dabbled contest - one of Dot's great illustrations!  Yay!

Thanks for all the nice comments on my last post - I really love hearing everyone's thoughts and opinions!  

Read more...

Work in Progress

I love these colors, and need to buy more yarn to finish this project!  For now it's a work in progress...

Read more...

A tiny bit of sewing

I finished a small sewing project from Bend the Rules Sewing this week - and I know I've been using this fabric a lot lately!  I only have a tiny amount left, so I'm using it up on little projects.  

This is the No-Cash Wallet and it was really fun to make.  The only change I made was to use a snap press instead of sewing on a snap and covering it with a button.   

This was a quick pattern to complete and it's great because I prefer a small, streamlined wallet that I can put in my pocket or a small bag.  

Read more...

Swap!

I finished my bookmarks for the swap and I kind of want to keep the owlie one for myself!  : ) 

It's been a crazy couple of days around here, we lost power after a huge storm on Wednesday night and it wasn't restored until this morning.  Also, I've been hard at work readying the classroom at the Montessori school I work for because school starts on Monday!  The head teacher and I have been busy for the past two weeks preparing materials, organizing, and planning activities.  I'm looking forward to meeting the students and getting a feel for what the class will be like this year!

Read more...

Brilliante

Thank you to The Sometimes Crafter for giving me for this award!  I'm so happy to be one of her seven nominees!  

Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

2. Link to the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs for an award.

4. Put links to those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs for the people you've nominated.

I'd like to give the award to these seven blogs:  Quirkology, Girl with Curlz, Smoothpebble, Art + Craft, The Small Stuff, Sew Fab Martha, and Affectioknit.  I really enjoy reading each of these blogs and seeing what their authors are up to !  : )  

Read more...

Casting on!

I'm attempting to create my own knit shopping bag pattern using a skein of yarn leftover from the cowl.  If it turns out well, I'll be posting it here!  I'm also working on finishing my bookmarks for the swap at Ibby Bee... and I need to think of something yellow to make for Bunzi's Monthly Makings, too!  I'd better get busy!

Read more...

Fresh Air and Sunshine

I've been taking a closer look at some more desert plants this week - the more I see the more interested I become!  The shapes, colors, and textures are so varied and interesting.  Here are a few that I find particularly inspiring ( I love all the repetitive clusters!)...

Read more...

A little more book origami...

Read more...

Contest

One of my crochet pieces received an honorable mention in the Dabbled summer contest!  You can see all the winners here.  I especially like the narwhal print that won third place!  

Read more...

Nest

Sometimes I like to distract myself with a spontaneous projects!  No planning, using whatever I have on hand, having fun. 

So, I crocheted this nest using strips cut from two plastic bags (I've been saving them because I liked their colors) and made the eggs from leftover cotton yarn.  I used a scrap of flannel fabric to sew the backing and added a hook so it can be hung on the wall.  I like it!  

Read more...

Book Love

There's a new book in my collection!  This time it's Kyuuto! Lacy Crochet, which is a Japanese craft book with English translation.  The projects are simple, pretty, and functional and the photography is everything you would expect from a Japanese craft book - so beautiful!  I'm really bad at reading/following crochet instructions, but I had to have this for the inspiration and gorgeous pictures if nothing else.  I even bought a teeny-tiny crochet hook to try out a few of the simpler patterns!  

Here is one of my favorite photos from the book: 

Read more...

Against the Sky

I'm much more aware of the sky since moving to Tucson - it's so much bigger, brighter, and hotter than I'm used to.  I find myself looking up a lot more and seeing more things against this huge, blue backdrop... 

Read more...