giddygiddy

a strong shoulder

I have been wanting to sink my teeth into a funky little sewing project. (It's been far too long...)

Somehow I managed to make a little dress that is a cross between Joan Jetson (The Jetsons) and Joan Collins (the star from the hit 80's show, Dynasty -  in case you are too young to know). Notice the dramatic shoulder enhancements?

The project was completed yesterday and my girl wore it all afternoon.  Those strong shoulders must have made her feel pretty powerful because I saw her bossing the neighborhood kids around.

the calm (before the storm)

My life is about to get crazy busy... so today I siezed the moment and did some exploring with the girls.  It was a nice a reminder to notice the little things. (Even if the little things meant wierd slimy algae growing in a pond.)

Werkman - Poetry in Typepography

At the moment, I am feeling inspired by the avant garde typography of Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman.

Werkman was a Dutch typesetter in the 1920's and 1930's.  I have read that he was the first to really push the conventional forms of typography.  As you can see in the photos below, letters become non functional symbols that he arranges in artful compositions.  This work was considered extremely experimental way back then. 90 years later, it looks like Poetry!

And by the way, Werkman's artistic contributions,  involvement in Nazi resistance and tragic death is quite the story all on its own. (whoah...that last part was kind of a debbie downer, wasn't it?)

on my desk

DIY: Yarn Font

I am so excited to share with you my newest and quite possibly the easiest DIY project!!  The idea is to create colorful words or letters with 2 of the most accessible materials in your craft drawer: yarn and pipecleaners.

We had so much fun with this. My girls made their initials and then tackled their names.  And I'm graduating beyond single words to actual phrases. (I'll show you this soon.)

By the way, this project is my contribution to Bloesem Kids this month.  I love how Irene at Bkids connected this idea with a tactile approach to teaching alphabet letters to young children. My kids are older so this didn't dawn on me, but now that she mentions...yes I think it would be pretty neat for very young preschool aged kids too!

THE DIY:
step 1.  connect your pipe cleaners by twisting together and then shape your word.
step 2. Start tying yarn pieces around the pipe cleaner and then wrapping loosely several times til desired thickness is reached.
step 3. Once the pipe cleaner is covered in yarn, it becomes even easier to reshape the word or letter.

We had so much fun with this. My girls made their initials and then tackled their names.  And I'm graduating beyond single words to actual phrases. (I'll show you this soon.)

By the way, this project is my contribution to Bloesem Kids this month.  I love how Irene at Bkids connected this idea with a tactile approach to teaching alphabet letters to young children. My kids are older so this didn't dawn on me, but now that she mentions...yes I think it would be pretty neat for very young preschool aged kids too!