mommo

Inspiration

Isn't it yummy? This is a detail of one of my Inspiration boards in the office.  I really don't know what to call that room. Office seems too dry, Studio seems to not right and craft room doesn't quite work either. At any rate, its up in my creative space.  I love that buttery yellow enamel flower pin. And that postcard of the girl with the orange came from miniswap with the lovely Strikkelise last year. I have had the postcard below it of the sweet peas since College. Thats a long time ago. ('91) Here is another shot

Another great enamel pin.  I got a handful of those great old vintage bubble wands at a sale last summer and they are just so cheery and architectural.  The red is a tiny bit of red foil with a tiny velvet flower stuck through it. I love the contrast of the matte metallic with the matte velvet. And that sweet little yellow floral print is a tiny piece of vintage fabric I have had a long time- no doubt from some estate sale.  And one more for you:

We bought this on our honeymoon almost 10 years ago.  I loooooove it. I used to live in Hawaii and I love all things Hawaiian.  What a beautiful people and culture.  It hangs above my desk but I am starting to think I want to put it somewhere where more folks will see it.  One day, when the kids move out and I need a distraction from missing them so much I will make one of my own. Of course the big one tells me he is going to always live with me.  I suppose when he gets bigger I will want him to get out on his own but for now it's nice to think about.  Have a great rest of the week!

I love Valentines Day!

I really do. Its all fun and frilly and pink and sweet and all about love.  What could be better? Plus its quick and dirty- not too much build up, just a fun fun glitter filled day.  So in honor of Valentines Day, leave a comment and I will pull a name or two at the end of the week and send out a little pack of treats from the Froy and Olo Valentine stuff.  Its all good and sparkly!

Check out my bargain!  I decided it was time to upgrade the set up for L in his room so I went hunting for a second hand desk so he would have more room to work on things in his room.  Funny thing is, now that he has it, he puts just more stuff on it and has about the same amount of space as his little tables! That boy is a world class pack rat.  After he helped me peel all the kisses for the Christmas cookies he decided that he would start collecting candy wrappers.  I had to put the kaibosh on that one, but that gives you an idea of the level of his packratedness.  So I didn't find a desk but I found this great sewing table for FIVE DOLLARS!  It was such a steal.  It has the part that comes out on the top so you can turn your machine upsidedown for storage.  He doesn't need a desk with a hole in the top so I took this and gave him the desk I had my machine on.  We are both thrilled with our "new" furniture. 

Has anyone had the lemon truffles at See's ? Oh they are so good and lemony. Go try one next time you are near a Sees.

So the hubby and I had a talk last night about the fact that we tend to sabotage ourselves and wouldn't it be nice to make things easier for ourselves instead of always harder? I was mainly talking about how he tends to do things that make things more complicated for me. Let me say that he is a world class Dad and fantastic husband but he could use a tiny bit of fine tuning in the paying attention to the details area. So today, I go to the center where M goes to school after work to do a half hour on the treadmill before I have to pick her up.  I go pick her up and discover that my Hubby forgot to leave the carseat for us. (He drops her off) Hmmmmm.  So she and I had to walk home (25 minute walk)get the carseat and then I had to stroll her back to the center to get the car.  Today was grocery shopping day so I had to run to get that done before the bus came for L.  Phew. Did I mention that I had put an extra carseat in the car for just this sort of thing. And did I mention that this weekend he took it out of the car because... well, no reason really.  So at any rate, at the end of it all, I have to say that I walked for close to an hour and a half today and it really was a beautiful day. Sunny and 48, blue skies- lots of critters on our walk.  So even though I feel like he again complicated things, today was actually a pretty nice diversion. But don't tell him that.

SNOW DAY!!!!

Check out the view from my bedroom window! I woke up at 6:00 and peeked out and it was starting to get white- a few hours and a few inches later, we have a bona fide snow day!  My hubby had to go to work this morning early and will be home soon and then I will really relax and completely enjoy the snow day.  People here can't drive themselves out of a paper bag in the snow so its pretty hairy when we have winter weather.  At 7 I had already decide that regardless of what the schools decided, we were staying home to play in this! The crazy sort of distressing part is that the schools decided to stay open until 9:00 and then called a snow day. Well, by then, half the kids were at school and had to find ways home.  On the news they even asked that people go out and check their local bus stops because parents had left their kids there on their way to work and no buses were coming.  So in other words, the newscasters gave a shout out to all the pedophiles and let them know that sweet children were there for the plucking ,stranded at your local bus stop!  I am sure the district will be in hot water over this.

This is the sweetest little Japanese Snow Bell tree and in the spring, it is so fragrant.

And here is the fron yard with the huge star ball spewing Sweet Gum Tree.  You know those little burr covered round pods you find on the streets? We have thousands of them all year. I rolled my ankle on one the other day and was so agravated.  We let the kids pick them up for a penny a piece to make some extra money. The tree itself gives us a ton of shade right over our bedrooms in the summer which is great.  I don't really believe in air conditioning so its a nice tree to have.  Enough of this sitting in front of the computer, its time to go play in the snow!

Favorites Part 2

 

It is so cold here! Some of you probably don't think 20's is cold but we do., The good news is that the sun is shining and it is incredible outside.  Clear and cold. I can handle that. So on to more favorites!

1. Favorite tip I learned this year:  this is so simple and I can't remember where I heard it, but if you get egg shells in whatever it is you are cracking eggs into, just use another peice of the shell to scoop it up because shell is attracted to shell and it just could not be easier.  Another thing about eggs we learned this year? If you take a freshly laid egg- very freshly as in if you have your own chickens and not from a store egg- if you throw it up high in the air and let it fall onto the grass, it won't break.  Our neighbor does this for the kids and they love it.  Trouble is if you are four and throw it pretty high and it lands on your head, it WILL break. Also a good tip.

Favortie Kid Craft:

Even still when I see this hanging from the hook in his room, all worn and pilly, I smile.  It is the bug bag you see at the top.  He drew a bug and then cut out felt peices and we sewed them on together.  It is my hands down winner for favorite Kid Craft.

Favorite thrited find.

This is tough because the thrift Gods smiled upon me plenty this last year.  My favorite sale was this crazy sale this mom and her daughter had and I got books from my wildest dreams for the kids for pennies.  Beautiful books, and some really great toys for just nothing.  The family was fantastic and I ended up having a really touching conversation with the Mom. It was just good all over.  I really can't narrow down to one find but one of my top finds was this kooky little tea set with the weiner dog.  Not from a good sale overall, but a fun find none the less.

And lastly, Here is something I made for M's fourth birthday:

It is a slipcover tent that fits over a round card table. I use a funnel on the top for the peak and to keep the flag upright in.  It been lots of fun and its easy to store because it all comes apart.  The best was at her birthday party. All of her little friends piled in together and sat in there for a half hour just giggling and giggling.. All the girls and her best friend who is a boy.  When you would peel back the door to peek inside, the hot funk of 7 toddlers would practically crawl out!  It was really funny.  We put the camera in there and took photos and got some really funny shots.

So that will do it for now!

The best laid plans...

Not that I had any really big plans this week.  But plans or no plans, it all went out the window with a sick sick little girl. I dropped her off last friday at school all peppy and normal and picked her up two and a half hours later with a fever. Pretty much spent last friday with her sleeping and puking, puking and sleeping.  Basically thats how this friday has been too, just throw some croup, bad cold and MONSTER ear infection in the middle and there is the week.  This girl does not complain.  Her pain threshold is legendary- this is the girl who pulled her own stitches out of her chin once before announcing, proudly, "I be a Doctor!"  She has had major surgery and been poked and prodded so much its silly.  Usually when she gets an ear infection we go to the DR. for something else and she says, "Did you know she has an ear infection?".  This one took her down though.  The Dr. took one look and said it was the worst she has seen in a month. I felt horrible. Now we just have to keep the antibiotics down or she has to get an enormous painful shot.  Keep your fingers crossed she stops throwing up.  O.K. Enough barf talk.  I figure most of you are moms and are used to it so sorry to those of you who are sensitive!

My intention this week was to review some of my favorites from 2006.  Favorite projects, Favorite thrift finds, that sort of thing. So  here is part one of the favorites of 2006 recap!

1. The picture at the top of the page is not only one of my favorite pictures of the year, it was our best weekend away of the year. We really had such a ncie time.  Just an hour and a half away at the coast.  We really don't get out much and it was such a nice reminder that we should do more things like that as a family.

2. Just plain Favorite: the rock patio.

It was a lot of work clearing out this area and getting things right but I am so thrilled we did it.  We spent so much time out there this summer.  It was really wasn't expensive because we used pea gravel.  Originally I wanted flagstones but the area has horrible drainage so that ,coupled with the cost, got us turned onto pea gravel.  The little patch of dirt just beyond the blue bench had huge tomatoes,basil and flowers by mid summer.  So so nice!  If you want the dirty details and how tos, here is the link.

Also from the summer, 3.  Skirt and doll for our friend's 5th birthday.

I got the fabric for a steal at Joann's and the doll pattern from a Japanese craft book.  I was so happy with how it turned out and the recipient was pretty happy too!  I love the fuzzy blue hair.  I am almost done with a halter top for M out of the same yarn.  Hopefully it will feel softer to her than this (though that is very soft!) so that she will wear it more than once.  So that is all for now- part two to follow. Enjoy your weekends!

Creative Inspiration

I have been thinking a lot about creative inspiration and finding that balance between creative and money producing.  I have always worked in creative fields (apparel designer and now color design as well as my business). There is always that tango between process and product- between inspired and commercial.  It can be very challenging as well as draining at times. Thats one benefit to having your own business, you get final say in design but I think the real final say always goes to the person buying (or not buying) the fruits of your labors.

So how do you keep fresh and juicy with ideas given all the constraints?  In thnking about this, I keep looking at my son. He is this walking, moving creative force.  We have spaces set up in three of our rooms here (his room, family room, a space in my office) dedicated to his creative pursuits. Even with these spaces, his efforts spill out to nearly everywhere he moves.  From a very early age I noticed that you could give that boy a roll of scotch tape and amazing things would happen.  I love watching him. He really truly enjoys the process as much, if not more, than the product.  He takes such pride in his work. The space in his room is always changing but this is what it looks like lately.  He has his things taped all over the walls- animal cracker box with staples in it, little paper pockets he made to store pens... it really is something. And his supplies don't ever have to be fancy.  If he has a straw or a box or whatever, it gets used.  When we made peanut blossoms at Christmas, he took the foil wrappers from all the kisses to be used in his projects announcing that he now collects candy wrappers.  Nevermind that he has never tasted chocolate because of his milk allergy-it was all about the wrappers. I love that he set up another little space so that his sister can sit and be creative alongside him. So he is my inspiration today. To be inspired to find joy in my creating. 

New Year New Look!

I finally ponied up for the higher priced fancier blog so I could start a second Froy and Olo blog and as a bonus, I get to customize.  The F&O blog is to have fun downloads and news specifically about F & O. I will let you know when it is up. 

We try to think of a theme every year- something to build the year around though we are usually trying to be a bit cheeky and corny with our themes to keep it light.  This year though, I just keep telling the hubby that it has to be about slowing down and focusing.  I am so over the whole multi taking- do it all and still look happy and healthy mom mentality. Guess what, I can't do it all and I am officially done trying. So a lot of this slowing down and focusing goes hand in hand with accepting and detaching. Accepting that I can't possible have a house that is always spotless.  Detaching from the idea that I would need to. Its all so ridiculous.  I thought about the fact last night that after summer was over, there were still about 10 plants in their pots that I had intended on planting. What a waste on so many levels- waste of money, waste of beautiful plants, a waste of mental energy with the feeling that I really needed to be planting those plants!  So as I trudge along deeper into this New Year, I am focusing on slowing down and slowing down to focus and I am excited to see what is going to be revealed to me by doing these things. 

Here are a few of the things we did for the holiday that we had lots of fun with. First of all, we made crayons ala Kiddley and decorated artist pads to give to the kids friends.   We had a ball doing this and the recipients all seemed to love their big chunky swirly crayons.

Secondly, these are what became of the goopy caramel I made from Country Home magazine.  It didn't set up and ,though extremely yummy, was so goopy it really wasn't edible outside of the standing with a spoon and pan of caramel outside the fridge kind of eating.  I was in good company though, Molly had trouble with hers too. I ended up putting melted dark chocolate into little candy cups, putting a blob of the caramel into the cup and squishing a salty nut into the center. The combination of dark dark chocolate, sweet caramel and salty nut was so very very good. I may make these again for Valentines treats for friends.  This baking project below was the one the kids enjoyed the most- we made stained glass cookies.  By this time I had had enough baking so we bought a ball of dough from our local bakery which was by far the way to go! Then we just had to roll them out, cut little holes and fill with crushed lifesavers. They looked so great and were super yummy. If anyone wants the details on how to do this, let me know. These are already on the schedule for Valentines Day because the kids loved doing it so much.  I even bought Lifesaver story books (Fake book full of lifesavers) half price after Chirstmas so we are set.

I hear some peeps form downstairs so I am off. I took a healthy child to preschool, I picked a sick one up. I swear, two and a half hours and 101 degrees later.  She will be so so bummed when she realizes she is going to miss her friends birthday party tonight. She has been looking forward to it for two weeks.  It almost makes me want to fill her full of Motrin and send her anyways! That would be wrong, wouldn't it? I am kidding- I am the last one to intentionally spread illness.  Instead we will watch movies and snuggle all day. 

A happy happy New Year to all of you!