angry chicken

puppets & my puppet theater

I really love the Magic Cabin catalog. I have only ordered two things from there, both doll making kits, and I loved them both. I highly recommend the kits for Waldorf-y type dolls. I learned so much that I can make them on my own now, so it was well worth it. But I mostly use the catalog for ideas to make my own toys like this puppet theater that hangs in a doorway. It seemed so simple and with the price plus shipping, I knew I could make it cheaper.

Here it is. I didn't mean to copy it so much, even down to the fabric, but I loved the stripes. This will be for the girls for Christmas. I added some valences and some ball fringe. It hangs from green cord, similar to the photo. It was cheaper to make, but would have been cheaper still if I hadn't bought extra fabric, ball fringe, etc. The total came to $20. Pete is the puppet master back there.

 

Look at that puppet! That one came from Magic Cabin too. She's really cheap, but you have to feed her. I made a matching case, because, you know, I needed a matching case for the theater. You just roll it up and pop it in. I think they will really like it. Sadie is asleep on the sofa, so it will be a surprise, because Delia can't talk. ha!

So, puppets were a really big thing for me growing up, but I was really really picky about what the puppets looked like and most puppets really freak me out a lot. Like all the ones on Mr. Rogers scared the hell out of me (sorry Calvin!) and I would show some examples of freaky ones here, but I can't. I can't even have them on my weblog. However, here are some super cute finger puppets I found-

 

 

all these finger puppets come from Folkmanis. I need to start making some (I see red current has some great ones she made, scroll down) Who knows if I will get around to it. I need to start sewing the girls autumn clothes here soon, so we shall see what I have time for. I actually really love just using socks for puppets, and just adding button eyes. And paper puppets, taped to sticks. I can tell this is going to be a thing with me for awhile. I promise I won't make any creepy ones and post about them.

***Tie One On aprons are due by the end of the day Wednesday. And several of you (all my friends! why are you all so bad?) have not e-mailed me your preferred photo of your mini-me submissions. If you don't, I will choose my favorite and you will have no say, so there. ha!

eating sand

our short beach trip to Manzanita was so nice. the weather was amazing, almost too hot, which is very rare on the Oregon coast. the beaches were full of very pale or very badly burnt people and there was volleyball and beach umbrellas! we couldn't believe it. above here is my self portrait tuesday.

here's our favorite sand worm, miss delia. she was such a trooper. she ate sand, pizza, and absolutely refused to wear a hat.

this driftwood house was incredible. we went to Nehalem Bay State Park to check out the yurts there for upcoming trips (Stephanie, is this where you all were two days ago??) and found this amazing driftwood house on the coast of the bay. There were several like this and sadie decided she was moving in. It was so cool. Then pete almost got hit by an airplane. He swears. well, I didn't even hear a plane, but he was walking delia down for a nap and walked past the air strip, which is right there on the bay. I'll note here that delia didn't wake up during any of this said plane encounter. hmmm.

the beach at Manzinta. Really lovely white sand. but pretty unbearable wind this day. lots of sand in the eyes which then stuck to the sand glue we applied to the kids (also known as sunscreen) again, delia in no hat. this makes me crazy.

it was so nice to skip town. Pete works at home, and I craft and run kingpod at home, so on the weekends, it is hard for us not to work-unless we are gone, which is what really needed to happen. we are headed out again in a few weeks for a long weekend much farther south of this town-can't wait, but not expecting any sun that time.

 

quilt monday-japanese redwork

We are back from the coast and it was wonderful. Photos tomorrow, but first I have to talk about quilts. I found a great fabric shop in Cannon Beach called Center Diamond that had a ton of books I had never seen in person before, very exciting. But even more exciting was the two huge baskets of Quilts Japan and Tsuchin Patchwork they had (they will ship these, too.) These are so hit and miss for me, so when I can actually see what is in them first, it's so helpful. This one, (ISSN 1346-955X, I can't seem to find the ISBN, will this help? I don't even know) from May 2005 is all about redwork and is sooooo good. I love redwork but have never done it, partly because I'm not super-into the Sunbonnet Sue designs you normally see, but this magazine puts a whole new spin on redwork I find most pleasing. . .the photo above has sweet bunny pillows. I like the red/white reverse design on each.

here's a big tote and a wall organizer. The tote is so funny. If you look real close you can see on the small photo on the back of the tote is a furry doggy butthole. wow. never really thought I'd type these words together, but I just did.

a bit too sweet for me, but I love and admire the needle work on this. really beautiful. I also like the shape of the bag, with the tiny pleats. And I love the tree.

yes, a dishcloth apron (hint) and kitchen nice-ness

This page made me a bit goofy. There is a lot here, like the sweet pin cushion, such a simple and cute shape.The sewing basket, okay, I need to try this with plastic or wood handles like these. Very intrigued by this idea. That bunny in the basket is a pin cushion with a pocket for scissors. Excellent. This portable sewing table (?) is really nice and I have to find tape measure ribbon, like this red one. And look at the jaunty bunnies dancing on this basket. too dang cute. I want to try a quilt or project just with one color, like red. It's so striking to have red, white and maybe that natural linen color.

vacation

we are off to the coast (manzanita, oregon: population 529) for the next few days. pete is on vacation and we are excitied to be leaving town. I keep inventing projects that take up all my time and he is tearing up the yard, and just took out a huge tree (!) so, I think we should leave while we are still somewhat sane. I will try to remember my carmea this trip. see you all next monday!

***mini me aprons are due end of the day next wednesday- sew this weekend and have fun! (no swearing, ha-ha.)

my vintage vera

I washed all my vintage Vera textiles over the weekend. All this flickr activity has been making me go through all my collections stashed away in closets. It's so wonderful actually digging this stuff out and looking at it. Most of my Vera textiles come from my grandmother, grammie's mom. I can't really separate the two in my mind actually, and when I was little, I sort of thought my grandmother was Vera. All her linens were Vera, and all had that little ladybug and looked hand-drawn. I never saw them anywhere else but her house and they were so her. I think that I sort of thought she designed them all. You know how small brains work. My grandmother's passion for orange was insatiable. Her taste seemed to be frozen in about 1968 (a very good time, I'd say) and browns, oranges, and marigolds were her colors.

I actually didn't know that Vera did anything else but orange and harvest colors until I starting really researching it as an adult. I had been holding off on washing these linens from her because she had them starched and pressed and they smelled so much like her-cigarette smoke along with Shalimar. I didn't want to wash away the memory (she passed away 5 years ago, and her birthday was last week) but I washed them anyway, and I'm okay with it. I have a few more on flickr you can take a peek at. I am so happy I have these, they really are the most "grandma" thing I have.

 

 

quilt monday-sewing notions

I love looking through sewing and quilting catalogs. My mom always has a ton lying around her house and I read them when I go over there with the girls while she is at work. With Pete working at home, we often leave the house for the day because of all the yelling. So, I fantasize about all the notions and tools I want to buy, some I think actually would be cool and useful and some probably not so cool or useful, but you never know. I love the look of these pins, but it may be just the tins. I'm convinced that I need them. I'm sure it will help my sewing.

okay-I do seriously want one of these. Does anyone have one? Thimbles are so hard for me to use. I always try and then just use the next finger over to push the needle in, the one without the thimble, because the thimble feels funny on my finger, so I don't use that finger as much. sorry for the freaky photo.

this is a quilt book that sounds cute, although who knows, but I like the example quilt shown here with each block framing a vintage hankie. (hankie is such an odd word) I really like this idea. But where are all the cute hankies from? I never see any vintage ones this cool.

and this I would like to have, although can't I just make my own out of cardboard? It's a template set for making scallop edges. I love scallop edges on just about anything. Quilts, aprons, paper, tablecloths, you name it. I love them. So, this I love. there are 6 sizes, that's what I find so exciting. okay, that's all. I feel like I am on QVC.

 

rockin' in kidville

This may be one of these "I am the last to know about this" posts, but just in case someone else doesn't know- there was an article in the local paper today about a groovy couple in S.E. Portland here who host a radio show for kids called Greasy Kid Stuff, only playing adult cool music. Like Lou Reed, Yo La Tengo, LL. Cool J, and the like. The show airs in New York and New Jersey on WFMU Saturdays from 7-9 AM. I'm sure there is a reason that they live here in town, but have the radio show back east, but I have ADD sometimes and didn't read that part.

you can stream the show any old time of day from the radio station and get a complete listing of back playlists. I love the internet. There is a good article about them here, too. And, you can buy a CD of their favorite mixes, which is what the photo above is all about, here at this shop. I am very excited and trying not to feel mildly uncool that I didn't know about any of this and had to read about it in the newspaper. Any Indie cred that I had is fading quickly around here.

up to no good

I have been running amock over at flickr in the last 24 hours. I had to get up last night and go pee (I can't make it though the night anymore since having babies-curses!) and couldn't go back to sleep. so at 3:00AM I started some new flickr groups regarding apron love. check out the details on Tie One On and join up! And just so you know, Pete is on vacation for awhile now, so I was able to rest up, I'm not that crazy.

swim-swim

swimming on a hot day

zoom!

thank you!

thanks for all the great feed back on the aprons and the small quilts. It means so much to me. For the cards, I think the best thing is going to be to do 2 images first, and then in a couple months the other 2. Then they all will be on cardst, but I won't have to spend tons of $$ upfront to do all 4 at once. yes. that is the answer I think. And Susan brought up an interesting idea about making prints of the images of the quilts. hmm. I've thought about this before and wasn't sure about taking a textile and then making a print of it and framing it. . .then it's like a framed quilt only it's a "picture" of a quilt-and what does that mean? I can't quite decide yet, which is why I think the cards are perfect for now becasue they are cards. nice and simple. I do think I need to figure out a way to reproduce the quilts however, in some way.

on an unrelated note, here are some things I am looking at right now-

this amazing pillow from Sarah, which came in a box filled with goodies. amazing goodies. so many that it will take me forever to show them all, so I think I will just space them out. thank you, Sarah. I just saw this exact pillow here in the magic cabin catalog. Sadie says this is a "little girl with orange feet."

Pete and I stayed up last night web window shopping for the girls b-day/Christmas. God, being a parent is so great. The toys!! we found these which we will have to get. I'm so happy the scarves are knitted! We are Gaspard and Lisa FREAKS (I know many of you are, Hillary, you even had some fabric with them, huh?) We don't have all the books yet, which makes me so happy, because we love them so much, we can look forward to new ones. I love the "no morals, kids are up to no good, are crazy people, and have horrible ideas, and it all goes to hell in the end." mentality of these books. really wonderful. I was thinking about making these myself, but I'm not sure it will happen. I guess I could try, or if I get these and the quality is bad, I can send them back and make some. hmmm.

I really want  (oh, I mean Sadie really wants, ha-ha) this set of metal dolly furniture. sooo sweet. It's from here.