Summer Fun and a Name

We joined the little people on the road swap so this summer so we need to take a softie friend on our trips and take pictures for the scrapbook we're creating. The softie and the scrapbook will be sent to our partners sometime in August. We created this little bunny this week to be our softie. Here she is getting ready for a trip to the zoo. We haven't been able to come up with a name for her yet so we're looking for suggestions. She's made from patterned fleece with a pocket on her belly and hearts on her pocket and on her bum too! I think she needs a carrot in her pocket and a good name. Nature Girl tends to name things by colors or object name so she hasn't been very helpful unless you like Pink Blue Bunny as a name. We need some help. Do you have any name suggestions for our rabbit friend?
Here's the bunny taking a rest under a tree at the zoo. It was only in the 50's at York Wild Kingdom. It wasn't very summer like, thank goodness we packed coats!
Nature Girl, her Grandma and the bunny all went for a ride on an elephant. The elephant's name is Lydia and Nature Girl loves her. This is the third summer that she has taken a ride on Lydia so it seems to be a bit of a tradition now. We tucked our bunny friend in her coat so she could go along for the ride. This was Grandma's first ride on an elephant, Papa rode last year and I rode the year before that. I think it's Daddy's turn next year!
Since we were in York Beach Maine we walked across the street to take the bunny to the Atlantic Ocean. She sat on this rock with Nature Girl for the pictures then bounced back into the backpack so she wouldn't try to take a swim...it was way too cold!
We had a good weekend and crossed off three items on our summer fun list. Zoo...check, beach...check and see Wall.e movie...check. By the way Wall.e was very cute and had a good message for nature lovers.

A Quilt and an Award

A Quilt:
This is the quilt top my quilt guild is making for the fall raffle. I volunteered to help sew the blocks together so Thursday I spent a few hours sewing with two other guild members. I was a little bit nervous about putting the quilt together since I'm very new to quilting. There was no need to be nervous, it was a good experience! We were able to get the top done. Each member who chose to participate made two blocks for the quilt. Since the quilt will be raffled off in the fall we used batiks in fall colors. The money raised from the raffle will be used to purchase new sewing machines for the local high school. They are in desperate need of working machines!


An Award:
I was excited to be awarded the Arte Y Pico award by Lisa at Spoonful of Sugar. Lisa and Sarah have a wonderful blog filled with crafty inspiration and yummy cupcakes, so go check it out. The Arte Y Pico is awarded to blogs that you consider deserving due to their creativity, design, interesting material and for their contributions to the blogging community. If you receive the Arte Y Pico you in turn bestow it on five blogs.
So I bestow the Arte Y Pico to these wonderful blogs.

• Im a ginger monkey: Katy has wonderful crafty goodness on her blog. I love her little character softies and her mini quilts. Katy's creations make the blogosphere a better place and children(and adults) around the world happy.
  
• One Crafty Mumma: Mel has a large variety of crafts on her blog. She has gorgeous scrapbook layouts, knitting, recipes and kid craft inspiration. We love Mel's microwave puffy paint recipe. Mel's children even blog their activities there.
• Attitude Changes Everything: Pattie has an inspiring blog that demonstrates how attitude changes everything. Having a positive attitude makes a difference! Her posts are inspiring and she includes quilty goodness too.
• Jovaliquilts: Cheri has a blog filled with quilting inspiration. She makes fabulous word quilts and quilts for Project Linus. What I love about Cheri is that she likes to encourage and help new bloggers. She's been a great help to me. Thanks Cheri!
• Yarni Gras!: Val at Yarni Gras creates beautiful aprons that inspire me. She also crochets and creates softies. Her daughter is a young artist with a blog worth checking out too. Curly Girl Arts.
  

These are five blog I really enjoy reading. I think they're worthy of the Arte Y Pico award so go check them out. And don't forget to check out Lisa's blog. Thanks for bestowing the award on my blog!



Arte Y Pico Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each awardee has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award: http://arteypico.blogspot.com/
5. Display these rule

Pipe Cleaners and Fabric

We've been experimenting with pipe cleaners and the creations in the Klutz Pipe Cleaners Gone Crazy book I bought at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Nature Girl has enjoyed twisting pipe cleaners together for awhile now. She likes making snakes and dragons. Nature Girl made her own creation while I enjoyed following the instructions to make items from the book for her. It's amazing what you can make with a few pipe cleaners!
Today I was looking at Nature Girl's flamingo quilt trying to decide what to do with it. When the mail arrived it contained a package from the fabric swap. Tracey sent these wonderful fabrics! She also included some buttons and a clothespin doll which were quickly claimed by Nature Girl. I think the greens, yellows and pinks will be added to the flamingo quilt. The reds and blues are destined to be used in some mini quilts. It's so much fun getting new fabrics in the mail! Thank you Tracey! By the way Tracey is hosting a new swap. It's a tote bag swap. For more details and to sign up go here. If you post the information about her swap you could win this fabric so go check it out!

Rainy Day Sewing

It's been rainy here. So rainy in fact that we've sprouted mushrooms on our lawn. They're not desirable on a lawn but aren't they cute? Nature Girl really wanted pictures of them. As I grabbed the camera and headed out the door she said "Mommy take four, five, six, a hundred pictures." I didn't take a hundred but I took a few for her. They're so cute!

I finally started to sew the quilt for Nature Girl using the flamingo fabric Nancy sent. I decided to use one flamingo fabric on one side and the other fabric on the backside. I wanted to use fabrics that I already had. It seemed like a good idea at the time but I've used the fabrics I have that match and I don't know what else to add to make it bigger. I think it might have to remain a doll quilt.Using the scraps from the borders I sewed this kite quilt for Nature Girl's room. She wanted to turn on the fan so she could fly it. I explained it was just a decoration for her room. Orange and pink are her favorite colors and her room is painted with flowers, grass and a sun. This kite is will be perfect for her room, even if it doesn't really fly.

Craft Visions vs. Reality

I was reading Cheri's blog tonight when I saw her post about a quilt she is planning. Cheri went on to say that her mental quilts are always far more stunning than her actual quilts. I can totally relate to Cheri's thoughts because I have this same problem too. My projects always look better in my head than they do in reality! Today I worked on a few projects for swaps then started work on this little rabbit softie. In my head he's the cutest thing but in reality he looks like a sad little ragamuffin!

My favorite part is the back of the bunny. I love the little heart and tail. It's hard to see in the photo but the tail and heart are on a pocket. Nature Girl likes to stuff things in purses and pockets so I thought a pocket would be cute. She's already in bed and hasn't seen the finished project yet. My guess is that even if he is a little sad looking, she'll happily carry him around for a few days, stuffing his pocket with treasures. The picture quality is poor but here is a little doodle of what I wanted him to look like. Even the doodle is better than the reality! I think the proportions are off on the softie. The top should have been wider, his nose a little smaller and eyes further apart. So the reality of this little ragamuffin and the mental vision just aren't the same. It makes me wonder how do other crafters make their stunning craft visions into a stunning reality? Have you ever seen I'm a Ginger Monkey's toys or Lucy Kate's owls? They're original designs and look amazing! I'm not up to crafting a stunning reality yet, but I'd settle for something that looks close to my vision!

Speaking of craft vision. . . this is a mermaid outfit I envisioned. I made it for Nature Girl when she was two only to find that she doesn't like to play dress up. She loves to pretend but has never felt like she needed a costume to do that. I made the length adjustable by placing elastic string down the sides if the fins. To adjust it you just pull the strings tighter or looser and adjust the toggle to hold the string. Tonight was the first time in almost 2 1/2 years that I've seen her wear this outfit. I was excited to see it on her! She was pretending to be a mermaid who was going to get married. There was one problem. The only boy to marry was already married to me! I told her she could borrow my prince for one day!

Clothespins and Rocks

Nature Girl had a friend over for a play date today. They spent the morning painting with puffy paint, painty pens and finally acrylics. Nature Girl painted some wooden snowflakes. We attached them to clothespins with wood glue to create these decorative clips. We'll use them to hang up Nature Girl's art work in the playroom. They also make great hanging clips for mini quilts.
This afternoon we went for a walk and collected some rocks along the way. When we got home we wrapped aluminum wire around the rocks to turn them into pendants. Add a colored string and we had an hour's worth of entertainment. Nature Girl was thrilled with hers so we created necklaces for the kids next door too. We had six kids running around the backyard wearing rock pendants pretending to be superheros. Apparently the rocks contain secret super powers. They had lots of fun. Nature Girl wanted to wear her rock pendant to bed.

*Nature Girl took the photo for this post.

Attitude makes a difference

Pattie over at Attitude Changes Everything is having a summer blog contest. Pattie has challenged everyone to think about how attitude makes a difference in living a healthy life. Like Pattie I think attitude does make a difference. This weekend we were at the book store when I came across a children's book I had not seen before. I Will Make Miracles by Susie Morgenstern. It made me think about Pattie's challenge. This little boy wants to feed the hungry, help the sick, stop all wars. In the end he realizes it starts small with him learning to read and write.
I grew up listening to my mother and grandmother tell me that I could determine what kind of a day I would have each day. I could sulk or decide to have a good day despite the little ups and downs of life. This is something I still believe today and am trying to teach Nature Girl!
In this sometimes crazy world it's easy to lose sight of the things that we can control. I may not be able to fix the world's problems singlehandedly but I can try to make my little corner of the world a better place every day. It's the little changes that make a difference. Smiling at a stranger, holding a door, thanking someone for their assistance or volunteering in your community. A small kindness to someone else can make the world a better place. If everyone did one kind thing everyday the world would be a better place. So whether it's being kinder to the earth or helping a friend I'll continue to try to make my corner of the world a little better one kindness at a time. Attitude does make a difference! Kindness spreads and simple gestures do make a difference!

Note: the image came from typoGenerator. I discovered this over at Cheri's blog.

A Few Days and Some Sewing

I haven't posted for a few days. We've been busy with the flurry of activity that accompanies the end of the school year. Nature Girl finished her first year of preschool this week and is excited to be on summer vacation. We presented the scrapbook and tote bag to her teacher on the last day of school. The children gathered around her, excited to show her their page in the scrapbook. It was very cute!

Nature Girl had a little end of the year celebration for school. She got up on the stage with her class to sing two songs for the audience. All of the children have grown so much this year and it was fun to see them perform. I made us matching skirts for the celebration. When I was a little girl my mom made matching dresses for her and I. I loved them. I wanted Nature Girl to have that same experience. I love the fabric and was happy with how our skirts turned out.
I'm still working away on my list of projects to accomplish in June. I've made progress but I have also added and completed several projects that were not on my original list. Our matching skirts and this flame apron weren't on that list. My sister asked me to make a BBQ apron for her husband as a Father's Day gift. She chose the material and I did the sewing. It has flames on one side and orange fabric with a flame pocket on the reverse side.
These ducks were another project I added to my June list. I made them as a gift for a baby shower I went to today. It's hard to find safe baby toys so I decided to make some after seeing these in the Magic Cabin catalog.
After these few sewing distractions it's time to get back to my June list so I can get it finished. It's already the middle of June. Boy, the first two weeks went by fast! I have three projects that are already started and two more that I haven't begun. I'd better get to work.
By the way, I'm experimenting with another blog header. This one is part of a photo Nature Girl took in our yard this week. What do you think?

Squealing with Delight

As my husband headed out to check the mail this afternoon I told him to bring back a package with an apron in it. He came back from the mailbox with just a JoAnn Fabrics flyer. I was disappointed but thought maybe my apron from the summer fun apron swap would come tomorrow instead. Tonight my husband went to get the lawn mower out of the garage and came back with a package. The mail carrier left it by the garage. It was addressed to Nature Girl & I. We opened it to find two aprons. One for Nature Girl and one for me. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee! (This is me squealing with delight!) Afton sent the most beautiful aprons for us! Nature Girl was thrilled to have one of her own and I'm totally in love with mine! Yes, I'm wearing it right now even though I'm not in the kitchen and it's after 9:30 pm. I can't help it, I love it!!! Thank you Afton!

My apron is reversible. It's the stripe pattern on the back. It has the cutest U shaped pocket that ties in the center and has rick rack trim around it. My hand is covering the pocket in the picture so you'll have to trust me that it's cute.
I didn't plan the matching shirts but I did pick out our clothes today. I wasn't even aware that we matched until we were at the garden shop and the cashier pointed it out. We really match with our tee shirts and matching aprons.
I had my quilt guild meeting tonight. The potluck was delicious and the block swap was lots of fun. I used one of the pastel log cabin blocks I had sewn yesterday for the swap. This is the new block I got in the swap. Next month's block is a nine patch.

The fabric wrapped gift was this chocolate can filled with Lindt chocolates. The guild does a raffle each month. Tickets are a dollar each and the winner gets that month's prize. Then the next month the winner brings a new prize and the raffle is held again. It's lots of fun and the guild makes a little money. Since I won, I have to decide what to bring for the prize next month. Of course I also have to decide what to make with the blue fabric that was wrapped around the can.

Sewing Blocks & Gifts

I've been finishing up the end of the year gifts for Nature Girl's teacher. Each family has two scrapbook pages to decorate with their child's pictures. I worked on Nature Girl's last night. I wanted her to help decorate the pages but time is running short so I started it. I have room on the second page for her to write her name and do a drawing. I still need to finish putting everyone's pages back into the book then finish decorating the cover with the kid's hand prints.

This bag is the another end of the year Gift for Nature Girl's teacher. We met at the local park to get the kids hand prints on the fabric. I took the squares home and sewed them together to make the bag. I hope the Nature Girl's teacher will like it. I know when I was teaching I would have loved something like this and the scrapbook!

This is the last week of school for Nature Girl. So I have to enjoy my last two mornings of uninterrupted sewing while I can! After dropping her off at school, I spent the morning sewing blocks. These are my attempts at a log cabin block.
My quilt guild is having a potluck tomorrow night. We're also launching a monthly quilt block swap. Each month we'll be given a pattern for a block. If you want to participate you sew a block then bring it to the meeting. The blocks will be swapped and everyone who participates will go home with a new block. This month's block is log cabin. I think the block on the left will be my swap block for this month. I'm looking forward to the meeting.

These two blocks are for my guild's summer raffle quilt. I'm not sure if there is a name for this pattern but everyone makes two of these squares to add to the quilt. The requirements were to use batiks and fall colors. I volunteered to help sew all the blocks together before the July meeting so I'll keep you posted on what the top will look like. I'm curious to see everyone's blocks and how they'll look together.

Yard Sale Goodies

Saturday was our town wide yard sale. My friend MB and I headed out together to see what treasures we could find. Going to yard sales is a lot more fun when you have a friend to share your treasures with! Besides our husbands don't understand the appeal of yard sales or thrifting. At our first stop I found this great sled for $5. I'm planning to put it outside as a winter decoration.

I hit the kid craft jackpot at one sale. I found a flower press, 2 kid sewing kit/books, a pipe cleaner creation how to book, a string game book and a kids weaving loom. I even found a kid craft cube to store it all in. Nature Girl was happy with these finds. I knew she would be! I paid a total of $8 for all the craft goodies.

We spent 30 minutes last night weaving together. The loom had a weaving started so we added on from the black line. Nature Girl attended for about 30 minutes before deciding I could finish the rest. I've been wanting to try weaving. I enjoyed it and found it relaxing but of course I didn't finish it. We can work on it together another day. I think it will be fun to gather some natural items to weave in. Feathers, grass sticks, ect. I bet that would hold Nature Girl's interest!
Here are some of the goodies I brought home. The green glass platter is for me. MB and I are splitting the two gallon size ziplocks of old buttons. Can you believe it was only $3 for all of those buttons? We decided this was our favorite find of the day. I also found a new iron, two wooden chairs that match Nature Girl's play table, a few books for me and some wire baskets for a peg board. I thought they would be perfect for either my craft area or Nature Girls play area. Don't you just love yard sales and thrift stores?!!!

Fabric Fun

I received a little brown paper package yesterday. I was excited since brown paper packages tied up with string are among my favorite things!
Really I was excited! Who knew getting a package of surprise fabrics would be so much fun?! Inside I found this fabric packet from Sarah. It was beautifully tied together with the cutest tag. Sarah included a note on the tag saying she hoped we could make something with the fabrics she sent if not it could always be used for making a bird's nest. I had to laugh! She's read about Nature Girl!
I could barely contain my curiosity long enough to get a photo. Sarah included many lovely fabrics. I have several favorites. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to make with all the wonderful pieces but there is one large piece that is calling out to be made into an apron! I think that the quilters in my mini quilt trading swap group might be seeing some of these fabric pieces in their mini quilts in the coming months! Sadly, the birds won't be using any of the fabric to line their nests!!!
Thank you Sarah! The package was so wonderful that it took a while for me to realize that my poor partners aren't getting a neatly tied packet in a brown paper package. My apologies to both partners! I jammed all the fabric in a large flat rate box so there will be nothing neat about it when it arrives! Hopefully the amount of fabric makes up for the lack of tidiness and pretty packaging!


I signed Nature Girl up for the Little People On the Road Swap. The swap is still open if anyone is interested in joining. This is a summer swap for kids. You buy or create a softie, take it on vacation with you and take photos. You create a scrapbook with photos then mail the scrapbook and the softie to your partner. I think we'll have to make two of the softie since it will be sad to send it away. Nature Girl is excited about her swap. She can take some of the photos and help with the scrapbook.
She's been experimenting with photo taking again. We had lunch with a friend today and she took these pictures in the restaurant. I also ended up with several close ups of a large zit on my chin and 5 semi blurry pictures of my driver's license. My license photo is terrible so I don't want extra copies of that! When she's not looking I'll be deleting those photos!

June Recipe Box Swap

It's time for the June Recipe Box Swap. This month there wasn't a theme. The task was to post your favorite recipe. Okay that's just too hard! I have so many favorites how can I even begin to choose. I don't know about you but I'm much more likely too try a recipe when I see a picture of the dish. Since I don't regularly take photos of my food that limited my choices. I snapped a few pictures of last night's side dish, Cheesy Thyme Potatoes. These are a favorite around here. Before you start to wonder if I overcooked them let me tell you that these are perfect! Those dark crunchy bits on the sides of the dish are the best part. It's worth scrapping the sides and fighting over the last bits. Trust me!

Cheesy Thyme Potatoes

Ingredients:
Peeled & sliced potatoes
Thyme
Extra sharp cheddar cheese
Butter - approx. 1/2 stick

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. In a casserole dish layer the ingredients. Place some of your peeled and sliced potatoes in the dish. Cut butter into smaller tabs and add to the top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with extra sharp cheddar cheese and thyme. Continue to layer the ingredients till your dish is filled. Cover and place in oven for one hour or until potatoes are tender. Enjoy!



For a favorite dessert my husband suggested Tuxedo Brownies. This is a Pampered Chef recipe. Instead of strawberries we use fresh red raspberries. They are super yummy! Sorry no picture of these. We haven't made them in a while, but I'm drooling just thinking about them!

Tuxedo Brownie Cups

1 package (19-21 oz) fudge brownie mix (plus ingredients to make mix)
2 squares (1 oz each) white chocolate for baking
2 tablespoons milk
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup thawed, frozen whipped topping
1 pint small strawberries, sliced (or raspberries)
orange zest, mint leaves, melted semi-sweet chocolate for baking (optional - we don't use these)

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray cups of mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix according to directions for cake-like brownies. Using small scoop, fill each cup 2/3 full. Bake 14 minutes or until edges are set (do not overbake).

2. Remove pan to cooling rack. Immediately press tops of brownie with tart shaper to make indentations. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Loosen edges and gentle remove the brownies from pan. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.

3. Microwave white chocolate and milk, uncovered on high 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

4. Pipe mixture into cooled brownie cups. Arrange strawberry slices(or raspberries) on top. Garnish as desired. Place in airtight container and refrigerate 1-3 hours before serving.

The Wonders of a Dandelion

1. Pick it, 2. Start to blow, 3. Watch the fluff fly, 4. Pick some more, smile and start again

Today I spent hours sorting through a couple thousand photos searching for photos of Nature Girl for the end of the year class scrapbook we're making. While searching I found some great photos that I had forgotten about. The mosaic above was made with a few of those forgotten photos. I took them in May and thought they would be perfect for a mosaic. This was my first try at using Mosaic Maker. I think these photos of Nature Girl make a cute mosaic.

So this is a tribute to the wonders of a dandelion. Isn't it amazing how a little weed can be such a wonder to someone small? Children love dandelions especially in the fluffy stage. No wonder dandelions spread like crazy! Children all over the world help spread the seeds just like my daughter.

More Fun Mail

Last night Nature Girl went to her Aunt BB's overnight while my husband and I had a date night. Nature Girl was a little mopey about us going on a date out without her. In the end she had a great time spending the night with her aunt & cousins. We also had a fabulous time seeing a movie then going to dinner. It was very nice!
This afternoon I went to pick up Nature Girl. We stayed for lunch and completed two art projects which my nephew requested I bring. He loves to do craft projects! We used some of my fabric scraps to create a tree with a beehive. Nature Girl drew her own bee on her picture. Then we created a bumblebee paper bag puppet.

After the craft projects were done we ran errands. When we got home we had a nice surprise . . . swap mail! My partner Kristie from the Miniature Booty Quilt Swap sent a package for Nature Girl. She was thrilled with the crocheted baby doll sweater set Kristie sent. We immediately dressed her doll in the set. She looks so sweet! Thank you Kristie!!! Nature Girl was so happy, she kept hugging her doll saying "She's a cutie!"



I also got swap mail today! My mini quilt from the Mini Quilt Trading Swap arrived today. My partner Katie did a fabulous job!!! I love the brown polka dot fabric! Funny we both did polka dots on our mini quilts for each other. I did the red polka dot bird for Katie and I got this bit of polka dot fun in return. Thank you Katie!!! I love it!

Nature Girl Gets Mail

I went to the mailbox yesterday and found a package for Nature Girl. I carried the mail back to the house and said "Is there someone named Nature Girl here?" Nature Girl said "Yes, it's me!" See, Nature Girl is more than just a bloggy name! She was so excited to receive a surprise package from Nancy. Nancy read our post about the flamingo fabric and sent Nature Girl some fabric from her stash. Wasn't that sweet?!!!
Nature Girl loves getting mail and was thrilled with her surprises! We talked about what we could make with the fabrics Nancy sent and the flamingo fabric we bought. Nature Girl thinks they would make a good blanket. I'll add that to my crafty to do list(by the way I'm adding new projects as fast as I'm checking them off the list.)
In the meantime she's been happily draping the rainbow fabric piece(pictured here on the right) around her neck. Thank you Nancy!!!! Your kindness is greatly appreciated!