Week 1 August 19, 2013

Montessori Homeschool, a set on Flickr.

Happy Halloween :: Prayers for all touched by Hurricane Sandy

This little guy is about 24" tall and he is made of cheese cloth and a bit, or well, a lot of starch. Go here to find the tutorial.

Happy Halloween!

First, prayers, hugs, and thoughts of encouragement go out to all those touched by Hurricane Sandy this weekend.Our family was lucky enough to be spared and we are giving thanks. May God help the courage, strength and souls of those picking pieces of this world in these moments as I type these words. It can't be easy, but we hope that with the hope, love and compassion of all in this great Nation that we call all rebuild together.

Light is shining through the wet dark bare branches of the trees this morning. It is cold out, and a bit raw. My government working husband is tele-commuting today since we don't know that public transportation will be able to get hime to and from his office safely. I am breathing a sigh of relief that I can actually have a moment of time to breath deep and write the words that come this morning.

I found felt bags just like these in our local grocery store. The kiddos demanded we bring some home, but Mama of course said, I can make those!! A bit of felt, embroidery floss, a sewing machine and those pictures I took with my phone, these replicas past the kid-test.

I've been working on things as of late. Just as the winds and the rains swept in fear and humility to nature, they also swept in my artistic streak and so putting pencil in hand, I started preparing for the Advent season that will soon be upon us.

Just a peek...More to come and of course a little sharing. :)

Hugs and Prayers,
Abbie

Links I'm Loving :: Eyes Opened and Sharing Creativity

Jean, The Artful Parent has a new e-book out The Artful Year: Autumn. Through Monday, October 22nd, you can purchase her book for what you are able to pay...If her regular price is out of your budget, click through to her site and you can name your own price that you can afford. Just remember that e-books take time, energy, and passion to create for all of us. Be generous and the few dollars you'd spend on a latte to the mom who is sharing her talent!

We Were Blind: How a Homeless Couple Taught Us to See...by Tony Kriz via the Huffington Post. I so need this constant reminder to keep my eyes open and my heart at the ready. Every individual really is a human being with feelings, fears, loves, and talents that can amaze you, grace you, and bring life to spirit. Remember that when you look into the eyes of the next person you do not know and offer them your love and grace right back.



A creatively made home...a home decore/lifestyle e-course via Jennifer Rizzo Learn how to turn your house into a celebration of what matters most; family.

Why the crazy sacrifices are worth it...from Ann Voskamp. You'll need tissues to watch these videos...but please do...it floods your eyes with tears and your soul with thanksgiving and joy.

Halloween Bucket Fun

This fabric + a little time + my sewing machine = this treat or treat bucket.

Small handles = very functional
Duck canvas = no need for interfacing, fusible anything...
Halloween prints = fun.

Not from a pattern. Just a little playing around. Sewing, for the sake of sewing. Put aside the camera, shun the thoughts of another blog tutorial and just stitch. It was quite wonderfully organic. And very relaxing until I had to figure out how to piece together the orange trim from not-enough-scraps from another project.

The kiddos sure were surprised. And they began right away filling their treat buckets with everything not-Halloween; aka, cars, babies, and trains.

What are you stitching for Halloween?

Printing on Fabric...

First I treat the fabric with this solution... (Faux Bubble Jet Solution by Rebecca of Gather Yer Roses.)
And then I used her tutorial to print my image onto the fabric.

Make a tote, affix said print out where you like, and voila, and wonderful adornment.

Here are a couple more images you can print on any fabric you like...

  

You can download U & Me here. And Mercy & Love here.

Oh, and the Him & Me image is here.

Please use for personal use only.

Blessings!

A Big Thanks for Your Tote Bag Sewing Help

I am so overwhelmed by the positive responses and promises of help I've gotten for the Giving Bag collection. Thank you to all who are sewing, embroidering, and collecting out there! My goal is to collect 200 tote bags for The Giving Heart charity in Richmond, Virginia and I've already received my first few in the mail! Thank you! The bags pictured above are ones I made of duck cloth canvas and are waiting for children to decorate them!

If you are interested in donating, go here to find out more. Here are a couple of the mentions I've found around town! (If you've blogged about this donation drive, send me a note at abbieipark(at)gmail(dot)com.  I'd love to hear from you!)

Simone de Klerk - Quilting and Stitchery and here too!

Mollie Johansen - Wild Olive and new patterns here too!

The Choate Family Blog posted great pictures of the girls sewing!

Leslie - Leslie's Art and Sew

Make and give to others more than you yourself would like to receive.

Links I'm Loving :: Giving Thanks and Stitch and Send

This weekend a little sand, ocean, Christopher Columbus, a muscle car show and drag racing the lights until 2 am, OC Maryland, family time with grandparents, a little unplugged time, end of season Maryland blue crabs, and then returning to a crashed laptop, a skin rash, and a head cold...so are the ups and downs of this ride called life. 

Coming up soon, some progress news on The Giving Heart bag collection, other crafting for charity ideas, and that fabric printing how-to I promised. My, so much to do! Hope you are moving right along too!

Here are some of the links I'm loving...

As always, love, love, love, Ann Voskamp's inspirational words...Best Tips for Effective Time Management...don't miss the video at the end...a wonderful, awesome reminder.

As I am starting to feel harried by our carpool schedule and the bits at home, school, and a head cold...I wonder if this would be the best stress remedy for it all...

We were never meant to work seven days a week by Kevin Martineau of Shooting the Breeze via The High Calling.

Wild Olive designed some great simple embroidery patterns for the Stitch and Send project for charity! Stitch a simple embroidery patch, and send it to me to be affixed to a tote bag for The Giving Heart charity of Richmond, VA.

I have fallen in love with these 2012 Christmas wall art pieces by between You and Me! Head on over to their Etsy store for more information.