Berlin's Whimsy

My Space.

Even when I don't have the time to tackle my projects that sit idly by while I race through my current life, it's fun to grab a few images here and there of the things that inspire me to maintain my creative side. I'm fortunate to have a dedicated sewing space (even if it's the size of a closet--- but hey, I'm not complaining!) and even stepping into that little creative spot makes me happy.

I've never studied Feng Shui or taken to becoming very adept at decorating. However, I do know that I like my little corners of interest, inspiration, and memories. I'll focus my attention on those spots rather than the spaces that accumulate the clutter of a mom and two teens.

My house could be much more organized; for example, if I didn't spontaneously strip half my kitchen table of its placemats to cut out a sewing pattern, or if I warmed up a prepackaged meal for dinner--- so much easier to keep things neat and tidy that way. But for me, I gave up that notion long ago. It's not who I am. Instead, I have a sewing room with projects half finished; library books overflowing their designated spot; and a spice drawer that is woefully in need of resorting.

As I grow older, I recognize and accept who I am. Yep, my desk could use some organizing. And my yard could really use some TLC. But, we all posses attributes that make us who we are, good and bad. Sometiems, it takes getting older to recognize and embrace them. If you're fortunate enough to have people in your life that do the same, then you are truly lucky.

So, I'm not slob, but I'm not a neat freak, either. But, above all, I'm creative. It's not even a choice for me. It flows through me.

found and made.

I cannot help but keep my eyes firmly on the ground when I go for a hike. For good reason, too: how else would I find a little rock shard with the faintest impression of a tree...

... and ready for my outlining and defining with a pen at home...

What kinds of treasures are you finding on this fine summer day?

summer lists.

The first day of my children's summer vacation finds us sitting down to write up some summer wishes, dreams, and goals. Things like... What do you want to do this summer? What do you hope to accomplish? In the past, the list included things like 'ride my bike 10 miles in one day,' and 'make dog treats and sell them.'

As my children grow older, their dreams and goals evolve, reflecting their new interests, their emerging maturity, and my own influence, too. Additionally, their answers reflect a growing adolescent sarcasm and I try not to dismiss even those answers, wrapping them up into our projects, as well.

This summer, our list includes weekly spelling practice and a heavy focus on writing and grammar. Both of my children have a strong desire to write and I am more than happy to oblige them in this passion!

Recently, we discovered the magazine, Stone Soup, and my daughter has yet to put it down. It is a magazine for young writers and illustrators----I should have known she would immediately love it! Many libraries carry this wonderful magazine and it's worth checking out.

My daughter recently facilitated a family drawing night that revolved around one of our favorite books, The Little Prince. While she read the book to us, we each illustrated our own planet/astroid (as in the book). It felt very peaceful to listen to my daughter read to us while we all quietly slid our pencils along paper, creating our own worlds. I envision much of our summer revolving around related activities-----afternoons spent using our imaginations and creativity...

Try it!... While reading The Little Prince, ask your children what their own make-believe planet would be like? What would it look like? What would it be like to live alone on a planet? Or with one other person or creature? Who is that creature and what do they look like? For older kids, what was the author trying to convey with each new planet and its inhabitants? Who was your favorite character and why? Can you draw him/her? I'd love for you to share...

More resources...
* A Guide for Grown-ups: Essential Wisdom from the Collected Works of Antoine de Saint Exupery.

Turn a Shirt into a Skirt.

Finally, finally, my sewing machine returned home! She was put to work immediately. 

While waiting for the repair shop to open, I popped into Goodwill and found an XL Men's polo shirt to turn into a comfy summer skirt. The shirt was a nice shade of green in a stretch cotton.

The idea comes directly from All Buttoned Up.

I cut up the side seams, removing approximately two inches from each side. I had thought I would work the shirt's original little pocket and button placket into the skirt's design but I removed it at the last minute as the skirt would have been too long. The resulting skirt is 20" in length.

I sewed up the side seams, gently sloping inwards to the waist. I used the shirt's original hem for the skirt hem.

I used Angry Chicken's handy-dandy FOE technique to pull in the waist. Though there were a couple curse-word worthy moments using this technique, I definitely will use it again for more skirts---once I got the hang of it, it was fast, simple, and makes a comfortable gathered waste.

Ta-da! (I apologize for the less-than-par reflection photo)! My photo assistants were otherwise occupied today...

A String full of Whimsy.

A Sunday afternoon making things...

Pulling out the drawer full of origami papers 

creasing, folding, and blowing them into a little ball, 

to thread together into a string full of whimsy.

What I made in 2008.

 

What did you make in 2008? Well, if you wander over to the flickr group, "What I Made in 2008" you might be inspired to start your 2009 making now!  

Discussing colors.

On the way home from school, my kids & I discussed color. My kids discussed which color was "best" and why. My son's favorite color is red. He told us why red was the best color: it's a primary color, Christmas color, part of our national flag, a lucky color in some cultures, and it's the color of our blood. My daughter likes blue and she explained why: it's also part of our flag, it can be a Christmas color, it is a primary color----do you see a pattern forming here?----and it's the color of the ocean and the sky. We talked about the special things in life that wear my kids' favorite colors: apples, cherries, and strawberries; blueberries, robin's eggs, and blue birds.  

And I thought about color in nature---how certain colors are ubiquitous (though still beautiful), such as green and gray. By contrast, other colors can startle when found in the muted colors of nature, such as the fragile light blue of a robin's egg against the drab colors of a bird's nest, or the color of the blue jellyfish valella velella when blown ashore on a tan sandy beach.

I received a gift certificate for my favorite local knitting store at Christmas (thanks to my beau) and cashed it in today on color. One of my all-time favorites, a certain shade of light blue: close to robin's egg blue but with a tad more green or the color of a tropical paradise's warm waters... When I saw the yarn, I knew it must come home with me. And when I returned to my car with my children fresh from school, the discussion of color began because of this yarn. 

I now reflect on our discussion of color as I contemplate future painting (of the house variety) and crafting projects (of the knitting variety)...

Warming up.

Before tackling my holiday sewing projects, I decided to get some utilitarian sewing out of the way in an attempt to get back into my sewing groove. You see, I was a little afraid my non-sewing brain wouldn't easily transition into processing detailed sewing instructions, accurate fabric cutting (math---eeeek!), and creativity... Therefore, I decided to make some quick little projects to warm up.

 

We usually use cloth napkins around here but I don't relish washing and folding them repeatedly. It's inevitable that our napkins get mixed up and I wind up tossing them into the dirty clothes before needed. 

These simple holders are my attempt at identification and reducing my laundry-----not only that, but they are very quick to make and use up fabric scraps (yippee)!  

More about cloth napkins...

Finally.

Dare I admit this here, on this blog, supposedly a place of creativity and sharing, that for a couple months now, I have not had my sewing machine anywhere near my house nor my vast collection of cookbooks. My spinning wheel has sat idle and my knitting needles are in a box in my garage along with my yarn stash. I have questioned myself periodically about this-----how these things could have been so very important to my life for so long and then set aside so easily. So willingly. I wondered if my creative muse would ever return----had it been replaced by frantic schedules and heavy responsibilities?

Just like an every-so-often wave on the beach that reaches far past expectations, engulfing in-progress sandcastles and smoothed out beach blankets, I caught glimpses of my past creativity within my new routines but never did it stay-----always it subsided back into the ocean of possibilities. I could not expect it any longer but I waited all the same.

Only within the last few days have my hands felt the need for texture and making. What sparked the change? I don't know. I wish I knew. It certainly is not an overabundance of time. But the need was powerful enough to outweigh my time constraints and responsibilities. Sometimes the soul needs soothing in whatever means necessary.

A dear blogging friend of mine, Margie of Resurrection Fern, and I agreed upon a little creative swap of sorts last spring. We would exchange a skein of our handspun yarn and create whatever we felt inspired to create from the resultant twisted fiber. I received Margie's skein (pictured above) a week ago and was immediately struck with thoughts of the beach. Swirling waves of blue and green, full of life and transition... What does this mean in terms of an end product? I have yet to work that out (yes, Margie, I'm admitting that here and now) but at least I now feel compelled to tackle our project...

Winner and sharing an idea.

Bare with me, this is a long post!

Gosh, peanut butter must be one of the most versatile foods out there! What a lot of interesting food combinations you all shared. Thank you so much for sharing and providing some fun reading over the weekend. Some of your comments provided more food combination ideas and others, well, I'll leave them for you to enjoy...! I was also pleased to hear from so many of you----hi!

I used the trusty Random Numerator to come up with comment number 24: Jessica. Jessica shared her husband's love of peanut butter and onion... Hmmm, that's another one I must leave to his own enjoyment! Nevertheless, congratulations, Jessica!

***And here's a bit of sharing. The prizes in this drawing are a little part of a larger project I'm only now embarking upon. Perhaps it will be a book, perhaps a mail-order series... I'm not sure yet and I'm truly thinking out loud here.

Even so, I feel that all of the ideas that have been flittering about in my head these past few months have come a little closer together with an embrace of recreating the vintage family kitchen in crafts & cooking.

The project includes: favorite family-friendly recipes; baking hints, resources, and ideas; my own vintage-inspired embroidery designs with linen projects; an apron design I'm working on; knitted projects for the kitchen; pyrex & vintage kitchenware collections with recipes for your treasures... and hopefully much more! Though I don't know where this project will take me, I hope to share these ideas with you in one form or another.

And can I ask, what do you think? Are you interested in seeing a project like this? I'd love to hear from you either via a comment or email: berlinsmith AT yahoo DOT com.