doodle all the day

Today I got out my favorite art supply and allowed myself to draw. It's been too long.

How is it that you can start drawing as soon as you can hold a crayon? Pretty soon drawing becomes a favorite pastime and doing it is second nature. You sit at the kitchen table and draw on the backs of old company letterhead your dad brings home from the office. You arrange a new set of magic markers in rainbow order, every time you put them back into the clear vinyl package. When your parents decide to re-wallpaper the front hall, they let you and your brothers draw whatever you want on the walls (in pencil, please) before putting up the new paper. As you're growing up, you leverage your drawing skills whenever possible, like those science fair projects that are light on the hard facts but heavy on the colorful illustrations and fancy lettering. Your friends want you to draw them stuff. You feel cool. And kinda floaty.

Eventually, after designing T-shirts for your best friend's brother's garage band and almost every program for the high school's plays, you decide to become an art major. Your parents may wonder why they are paying college tuition for you to do more drawing. You wonder what it'll be like to be in college with a bunch of other kids that can draw. Little fish, big pond. So you draw and you learn and you take your electives and you immerse yourself in art. Foundation courses, life drawing, fashion illustration. You have your successes. You have your doubts.

Long after graduation and first jobs in fashion you find yourself drawing less and less. More time in meetings, more time on the computer, less time for drawing. Sure, you doodle. You draw with your kids. You keep a sketch book for all of those goofy ideas that pop into your head. You make, you create, you design stuff. But there is no real drawing.

So you decide: this is not acceptable. You can draw and you will. You're rusty as hell but you're gonna go for it anyway. You'll never let yourself forget that time you took life drawing your senior year when it finally all *clicked*. Each pose the model took was an hour long and you were lost in the zone, drawing as though nothing else existed and time stood still. And when you were done, you loved what you did. You felt elated.

Now you will draw again for yourself. Maybe not every day, but at least once a week. Drawing for drawing's sake. Drawing to polish those skills and find that part of yourself again that made you feel cool. And kinda floaty.

Liberty Pinwheel Brooch

With Independence Day just a week away, I thought I'd whip together a quick & festive craft to share with you: The Liberty Pinwheel Brooch, or Libby Pin for short! Wear one to your July 4th picnic or make some to hand out as ribbons to the winner of the 3-legged race or the egg-toss!

This will be a words-only tutorial since it is pretty straightforward. You'll need small scraps of felt, fabric, fusible webbing, ribbon trims, a button, and a pin back. Grab scissors, a needle, thread, a marking tool, a ruler, an iron and some craft glue, too.

The following instructions are for the brooch shown above with the blue button in the center. *See notes at the end for the other version. Please read through all of the steps before beginning.

1) Draw a 4" square on the paper side of a piece of fusible webbing. Create an X in the center by drawing diagonal lines from corner to corner. Cut along the lines to make 4 small triangles.

2) Fuse 2 webbing triangles to the wrong side of a piece of print fabric and 2 triangles to the wrong side of a second print fabric. Cut out the fabric triangles following the edge of the webbing's paper backing.

3) Peel the paper backing off of the four fabric triangles and arrange them, alternating prints, webbing side down, onto a piece of felt. Align the points of the right angles together to recreate the 4" square. Using a hot iron, fuse the triangles to the felt.

4) Trim away excess felt around the perimeter of the fused fabric square. Next, cut diagonally through the felt square, from each corner where the fabric triangles meet, stopping 1/2" away from the center. DO NOT cut all the way to the center of the square.

5) Thread a needle with a double strand and knot the end. With the fabric side facing up, bring the needle up through the center of the square. One at a time, pull one corner of each triangle towards the center and tack it into place with a few stitches. Alternate corners so that it creates a pinwheel effect.

6) Embellish the center with a felt circle (fringed by snipping the edge) and a button. Hand sew through all layers.

7) Cut several trims to a 7-8" length. Arrange them on to the back of the pinwheel, with about 1/3 of the length sticking up above the pinwheel. Hand tack into place with needle and thread.

8) Cut a small diamond shape out of felt. Snip 2 small slits, open the bar pin, and pass the ends of the pin through the slits. Apply glue to the back of the felt diamond and press it onto the back of the pinwheel, sandwiching the bar part of the pin back.

* For the red brooch with the cherry print, the square I began with was 5". Also, I did not cut the square of webbing apart into four triangles. I fused the whole square to the cherry print fabric, then cut into the square along the diagonal lines after I fused it to the felt.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and are able to make a few for the holiday! Please let me know if any of the instructions are unclear and I'll do my best to clarify.

random acts of camp-ness

We're back! We spent the last 3 days camping at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. We had hot sunny weather and lots of new experiences with the kids. Every year they surprise me a little with what they are capable of, whether it is keeping up on their bikes or teaching me a new card game (and winning!).

Our last night was interrupted by severe thunderstorms. We had to literally shake the kids awake and run to our van for cover. After about 40 minutes the worst of it passed and we regrouped back in the tent for the rest of the night. Ah...nothing like mother nature!

Here's a random list and a few photos of our days away...

Relaxing on the beach, watching the kids body surf for the first time

Getting a wonderful case of sunny, salty, windblown beach hair

Meeting a few jellyfish and feeling the sting

• Setting up camp with kids old enough to pitch in and help
  
• Stretching out in the hammock after the hard work of setting up camp
• Card games, reading and knitting

• Eating the best tasting blueberry pancakes and turkey bacon, alfresco
• Getting more bug bites than you can imagine

• Riding bikes from our campsite to the beach
• Visiting the fishing pier to see the catch of the day
• Climbing a WWII observation tower for an incredible view of the park

• Collecting shells stones and beach glass
• Digging for little sand crabs at the edge of the surf
• Seeing dolphins swimming in the wild!

• Eating Dutch Oven Pizza for dinner, made in the fire pit.
• Enjoying gooey s'mores for dessert!

• Taking a sunset stroll to the beach to look for horseshoe crabs
• Observing lightning in the distance as a storm approaches

• Creating great family memories
• Hugging happy, tired, dirty kids!

Hoping you find time this summer for a little magic and mother nature for yourselves!

s'more camping

We are heading out for a few days of camping again. This time with just our little family of four, our tent, our bikes, and a few important provisions. I'll see you back here at the end of the week!

balancing act

Summer vacation. The kids are out of school and we all begin that shift in routine. I try to embrace it with positivity yet there's no denying that balancing working at home with kids at home is a challenge.

neighborhood Smoke Tree, photo taken with my iPhone

I am always touched by Blair's great perspective on summer with her kids on Wisecraft. Last year I was inspired by her Summer Rules that gently outlined some routine for the season without being too rigid. We've adopted a few of them, such as daily reading, playing outside, screen time limits, and trying to do things for themselves first.

I so want them to have the kind of summers we had as kids! I loved those days of exploration, running around the neighborhood until the streetlights came on. Although this neighborhood is full of kids, most spend their summers in camp or at the members-only pool. It's become a real challenge to provide the opportunity for a spontaneous "find your own adventure" scenario. (We have a great park behind our house but apparently there's "nothing to do" out there.)

Last year I adapted an idea came across on craftzine blog for a Family Summer Center. The boys helped me make it by stamping letters with paint onto fabric and pinning it to an old bulletin board. It has pockets for Places (go/went), People (see/saw), and Books (read/read). Everyone in the family writes things they'd like to do over the summer on a piece of paper and puts it in the appropriate pocket. After we do it/see it/read it, the paper moves over to the other pocket. It's great to use on days when we want to do something but need ideas. There's also a spot for goals and accomplishments. Last year's big goal was the boys learning to ride their bikes. I think my personal goal of "organize the craft closet" will be an annual event.

Summer has so much promise for great moments together as a family without all of the demands of the school year. And far too soon the days of having my kids under foot will be over. I need to remind myself of that. (Like when water balloons end up in the house or when the groceries disappear twice as fast or when I've applied sunscreen for the 100th time...right?)

What do you do with your kids over the summer to keep them happily occupied? How do you balance work time and family time without feeling guilty that you are short changing one or the other?

Canvas Gardening Apron Tutorial

(This is the kind of photo your 10 year old takes when you ask him to please turn off the TV and come outside to take a photo of his mother, it'll only take 5 minutes. Thank you, Honey.)

I told you I had another canvas tote transformation coming, and this is it! I'm calling it a Gardening Apron, but it can be used for pretty much anything. I'm thinking I'll use it most for when I have a booth at craft shows to keep a calculator, pen, pad, etc. at hand. Like the last apron, this is repurposed from one canvas tote. I added a frayed-edge appliqué to spiff it up a bit!

Start with a canvas tote that is about as wide as you want your apron. Go on, just hold it up to your waist and eyeball it. Mine was about 17" wide. One side of the tote will be the apron front. The other side of the tote will be used to create the pocket. If your tote has an ugly logo on it, the pocket will most likely cover it up! You'll also need a heavy duty needle for your sewing machine.

Use a seam ripper to take off both handles and set them aside for later.

Cut down the side seams and open up the bottom gussets.

Use the top hem of the tote as the top of your apron and pocket. Decide how long you want your apron (mine is 12") and how long you want the pocket (mine is about 7.5"). Cut rectangles accordingly.

Now is the time to add appliqués, before apron assembly! I cut out 2 large flowers from my Picnic Floral print in organic canvas. I also had some scraps of green linen I cut out for leaves. Leave 1/8" - 1/4" border of extra fabric around your motifs when cutting out. Once I decided on the placement, I pinned the motifs onto the pocket rectangle and the main apron rectangle. Make sure you leave at least a 1/2" of space at the bottom and side edge of the pocket to allow for seaming later.

Next, top stitch around the shapes. Stitch the bottom shapes first by lifting the overlapping ones out of the way as you go. To fray the edges, you'll need a squirt bottle and some kind of stiff brush. I used a fingernail brush, but a suede brush or old toothbrush would work also.

Spray the appliqués with water, then gently brush the edges to fray. When I'm done, I like to throw it in the dryer for a few minutes then trim off the really long scraggly bits.

Next, place the pocket rectangle, right-side-down, on top of the wrong side of the main apron rectangle. Pin the lower raw edges and sew across.

Fold the along the seam, bringing the pocket to the front and press. Zigzag stitch or serge the side edges together. Next, fold the side edges to the back (1/4") press and pin. Top stitch the edges, slowly and carefully as layers of canvas can be thick to sew through.

Take one of the tote handles you set aside earlier to create an apron strap. Cut one end at an angle, zigzag/serge the end. Cut the other end straight, zigzag/serge, then pin to the back of the top edge/side of the apron. Stitch (slowly and carefully!) in a square around the end of the strap. Repeat with the other handle to create a strap for the other side of the apron.

Now you're done! Tie it on and stand with authority with your back to the garden that mocks you with it's overgrown zucchini plants (with teeny weeny 'inis), and prolific bok choy that you don't know what to do with. (Just kidding. I love our crazy little garden. It's coming along nicely and I'm happy to eat whatever comes out of it.)

Hope you use this tutorial, share pics if you do! Don't forget BBQ Dad and Little Leonardo with my Utility Apron Tutorial and my Little Artist Apron Tutorial from last week.

Little Artist Apron - DIY

I'm glad you liked yesterday's Father's Day Utility Apron tutorial! Today's variation: Little Artist Apron for kids!

My kids love anything that makes them feel like a "real" artist. I love anything that keeps paint and markers off of their "real" clothes. :)

You can make one for your budding Picasso by using my Apron from Tote tutorial and a smaller tote, like this orange one that measured about 14" wide x 12" tall. Be sure to try the apron on your child as you go to determine length, pocket placement, etc.

The tote handles were way too long to be used as a neck strap. For better fit and safety reasons, I added a Velcro closure. Just cut the handle strap at the top edge of the tote/apron and stitch a square of Velcro. Stitch the opposite strip on the end of the strap.

Perfecto! That was fast, easy and fun. Better yet, I saved a little Monet by making it myself! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I have yet another idea for repurposing leftover canvas totes...so stay tuned!

Apron from Tote Tutorial: for Father's Day!

Who needs a gift idea for Dear ol' Dad on Father's Day? Who has a bunch of canvas trade-show totes laying around? You do? I thought so!

I was trying to come up with a fun Father's Day project when I spied my pile of canvas totes. Nice durable canvas...handy cotton webbing straps...then it hit me. These would make great utility aprons!

For Dad, you'll need a good sized tote. The tote I used measured about 18" wide x 14" tall with a 2" gusset. (Save the smaller ones for another idea I'll post soon.)

You'll want the construction of the bottom to be like the photo above, gusseted with no bottom seam. Turn the bag inside out to check.

If the bottom of the bag has box corners like this, use this tote for a different project, like my Canvas Tote Refab.

All set? Ok, the following steps will show you how I made my apron. Keep in mind that all totes are constructed a little differently, so use my measurements and instructions as a guideline. I tried this apron on my husband as I made it to be sure it would fit him properly. You will need:

• One large Canvas tote (with gusset bottom, as noted above)
• Scrap for pocket
• Thread
• Extra webbing, about 1 - 1.5 yards
• Fabric shears
• Sewing Machine w/ heavy duty needle
  
• Pencil
• Ruler

Step 1 - Deconstruct Tote: With the bag inside out, cut along the side seams (see "yes" photo above) trimming off the seam allowances. Open up the bag flat and decide if you want the bag's logo on the chest of the apron or hidden by the pocket. I'm going to hide the logo, so the blank side will be the top of the apron. The tote's handle will now be the neck strap of the apron. (You can always shorten it if it is too long for the wearer)

Step 2 - Shape Bib: Working from the wrong side of the top, measure 4" in from the side and 7" down from the top. Draw a diagonal line between these points with a pencil. (Click on any photo to make it larger and easier to see details) Cut off the triangles along the pencil line. Finish the raw edges of the bib and sides of the apron using a serger or a zigzag stitch.

Step 3 - Make Bottom Pocket: Remove the second tote handle using a seam ripper. Set handle aside. (You may need to re-do some of the top stitching on the hem of the bag if it starts coming apart.) With the apron right side up, fold up the bottom edge about 9" and pin.

Step 4 - Finish Edges: With the apron wrong side up, fold bib and side edges in 1/4", press and pin. Top stitch, taking care to go slowly over the multi-thickness areas like the hem of the pocket.

Step 5 - Divide Pocket: Measure and mark divisions for the front pocket as desired. I stitched 2 vertical lines about 6" apart to create 3 pockets across the bottom front.

Step 6 - Add Side Ties: The unused tote strap will only be long enough to make one tie. I used mine and made a second tie from leftover webbing from another project. You'll want each tie to be at least about 27" long. Serge/zigzag each end of the webbing tie, then hem 1". Place one end of the tie at side of the apron, about 10" down from the top edge of the apron. (Check the wearer for placement!) Pin to the wrong side and stitch a box with an X in the center. Repeat for the tie on the other side of the apron.

Step 7 - Optional Bib Pocket: Using a scrap, such as the leg from some cut-off jeans, add a pocket to the bib of the apron. Cut a 6.5" x 7.5" square (utilizing the former jeans hem), and pressed back a 1/4" seam allowance around the sides and bottom. Pin, wrong side of pocket to right side of apron bib and topstitch sides and bottom. Done!

You may choose to leave the bib area blank, add a pocket, use the original screen printed logo or add some other kind of decoration to your apron. Printing something yourself on the bib would be fun, too. Try:

• block printing
• hand stamping
  
• freezer paper printing
• potato prints
• kids hand prints!

I hope there's a great dad in your life that you can make one of these for. You can fill the pockets with shiny new BBQ utensils, tools, paint brushes, or things for whatever your Do-Dad does! It'll be a gift he'll love!

I'll be back soon with more fun ideas of things to do with canvas totes!
***Update: Little Artist Apron***

deep forest

Scenes from my weekend of camping with my sons' Cub Scout pack at Cunningham Falls State Park...








It was great to get away. Somehow I am worn out yet refreshed at the same time. I hope your weekend did the same for you. :)