My Space

Out of every one in the family I think I consume the most personal as in keep out no kids allowed space in the house. I'm pretty lucky hubby is so patient. Upstairs over looking the back yard where the kids play is a bright open sun room, in there I have my all my sewing and paper crafts. I love being in there I can watch the kids outside and create at the same time.  It is so peaceful . . . until it is intrupted by a screaming kiddo lol. 

Down stair in the dungeon, err I mean basement I have my pottery studio, it is maybe a year old, I love the space I hate where it is located it needs so much more lighting too. If you know about clay you know silica, the main ingredient of clay can float in the air for hours so having it in the house at all means lots of cleaning and since it is not where the kids play I feel better about having it my home at all. It being in my home is also part of the reason I don't mix my own glazes. 

Kiln opening

I opened a completed glaze firing this past week. I always feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for my kiln to cool off enough to open. I'm still new and unfamiliar with all the glazes I have and actually owning and firing everything my self so it is still a big surprise for me to open. All of my past openings have been met with about 50% disappointment even when I do follow the test tiles I made and don't experiment I ruin a lot of my pots by glazing them.  The good thing about those past openings was that for there was 100% learning so finally I opened and . . . I'm happy :) 

Cuteness

My husband and I were sitting next to one another talking when our three year old trotted up to us, at first she said nothing but grabbed use both by our head, turned our faces to one another and smushed us together saying "now it is time for you to kiss" with out protest we accommodated her demand and kissed each other to which she encouraged "theeeere you go guys, good job, that's how you do it" she patted us on our heads and trotted off.

American Girl clothes

About a week before Christmas I was thinking about what else I might give the girls, my older daughter has an American Girl doll that looks like her and my youngest was getting hers. Looking around on the Internet I found a talented lady who makes American Girl doll clothes patters. I bought a bunch of patterns that looked like they might be easy to alter to change the look and some patterns I just hade buy! (The little jeans, i love them, they even have pockets!) I spent about 40-ish dollars on theses patterns, there were a lot of free ones offered too. I started by printing them, then gluing all the patterns to card board I recycled from work. I have a healthy stash of fun fabric and some clothes I had saved from when the girls were younger. I quickly got to cutting and sewing mostly at night while the girls slept. If I hadn't been under such a time crunch I think it would have been a lot more fun than it was but here are some of the outfits I made them.

The winter coats were made from an old tommy hilfigure coat my oldest received as a gift then handed down to her sister.

The black shirt, skirt, tank top, dress and leggings were all made from a shirt I once wore but found too tight for my style.

All the denim things were made from various old jeans once worse by my husband and or son.

I didn't have to do any altering of patterns , except for the gown, I didn't have enough fabric to satisfy the pattern so I got creative with the bodice.

The leopard print items were made with scraps I had left over from a costume I made my youngest last year.

The belts were made from odds and ends I found in my sewing box and left over straps.

They were thrilled to get them. And I love watching them dress their dolls, they both have American girl bitty babies and the cloths fit the babies as well tho not as we'll but an okay fit to please the girls.

Science Inspired Art

What started out as a science project ended as an art piece. I poured some vinegar in an ice cube tray and added a drop of different coloured food colouring. I covered the bottom of a small container with baking soda and let my daughter drop colours. She loved watching them sizzle. I had to change the baking soda dish a few times she loved it so much. Then she asked if we could paint a picture like it. So we eye dropped some paint and used straws to blow some of the drops around. I got very messy but she created something I think turned out so pretty.

How I make my smoothies

I start my day with a smoothie, the other day I took photo's of the fruit I cut up cause I thought it looked so pretty. I'm not going to look what the calorie count is or the nutritional content cause I don't want to read something that will ruin my morning smoothie for me, so I'll just explain to you I make them so quickly.

When I see fruit I love on sale I buy a lot of it, bring it home and cute it up, or if I notice the fruit I bought for my kids lunch isn't looking as perfect as my kids want them to be I prepare these little snack sized baggies. (You can use the per cut frozen stuff I guess but I find they have less flavour)

Usually in a Baggie I put a half banana or third of a mango with or with out a couple berries, or a half a banana and a quarter mango you really do not want to put too much in your baggies, about as much that would fit into a half cup or so. Once they are chopped and ready I pop them in the freezer to wait for me to be ready to have my breakfast.

In the morning while am toasting the kids toast I pull one of these fruit baggies out, break it up and toss it in my fake bullet blender then I add

a small single serving of yogurt any brand any flavour (I like vanilla)
1/2 cup of ice
1/4 water (you want the water to help cut some of the sweetness out but if you like sweet then replace with juice)
1/4 v8 splash juice (but any juice will do, I just like the splash because it boasts a serving of veggies too and I don't have to taste them)

While I butter up the toast I let that mix, by the time I'm done buttering I'm ready to sit and enjoy my breakfast with my children.

New Potter

I got my 6 year old on the wheel, she is amazingly strong and so focused no issues with centering the clay. She is so confident, she moves fast which is fine but her quick movement led her to have a hard time pulling up, too fast and too confident, her challenge will be slowing down and softening her touch. Together we managed to make a tiny pot, it is so cute, there were a few other wiggly pots that we both loved but the walls were just too weak and didn't make it.