While She Naps

Back Home

We're back from Connecticut. We had a nice time with my in-laws and my twin nieces, Jordan and Ellis. Little Stella met everyone and was very well-behaved. Roxanne went on a hunger strike for some reason, perhaps due to feeling overwhelmed at meal time by sharing the table with two other two-year-olds, but she's eating again and all is well.

A day at the beach was a big hit with my starfish-loving daughter

and Charlie and I got away by ourselves on Sunday during naptime for a litttle shopping at the New London antique mall where I found these three pieces of vintage fabric

I've already cut into the white and blue floral for a new softie I'm working on. The really great store in New London, Agent, was closed, though, so we'll have to hit it another time.

I love summer. Really, I do. I'm not sure how I ended up living in New England where it is so cold most of the year. My garden is starting to bloom, the pool is open, a nice breeze is coming in through the window above my sewing machine. All is well.

Collage #4

While walking in Brookline yesterday I picked up this random scrap of paper. It caught my eye because of the grid. I think it is some kind of sales and commision record that became scrap paper because it had an aol email printed out on the other side.

During nap time yesterday I made it into this collage which incorporates one of my vintage flash cards - sour pickle (the flip side of the card rather confusingly just says "adjective") as well as a drawing of a plastic dinosaur from my sketch book. Collages are a fun exercise after making dozens of soft toys. It is very freeing to just cut and stick things in place and think about color and composition (always my weak area) instead of hiding seams and making tiny stitches.

We are off to New London for the long weekend to introduce Stella to her twin cousins and her aunt and uncle and to spend some time with Charlie's parents. Have a nice Memorial Day everyone.

A bit of everything

Let's see. I started pumping once a day so that Charlie can give Stella a bottle in the evenings in the hopes that she will like taking a bottle enough for me to leave her with someone else once in a while. So far so good, except today I was pumping and reading some blogs at the same time and managed to spill about a 1/4 ounce of breastmilk all over my jeans. That brought me close to tears. I think the sleep deprivation may be catching up with me.

We went to the library yesterday and I finally was able to make it upstairs to the craft aisles before either baby freaked out. I found Jean Greenhowe's Miniature Toys (1980) which has a few good ideas in it, despite the awful rosette toys on the cover.

I like this leaping pony

this bear in the cottage

and this man in the moon.

Interestingly, there is a pattern for shoes for a straight legged doll similar to the shoes I was making for my bears a while ago.

But my favorite page has to be this one with the Owl and the Pussycat. I love the owl's eyes and that you can take them in and out of the boat - Roxanne would love this. And these guys appear to be egg cozies, too. How convenient.

I also got Paper Quilting: Creative Designs Using Paper and Thread by Bridget Hoff.

Most of the projects in here are not my style, but there are some lovely studio shots and a few good sewn collage ideas including these two

And today I broke down and bought a double stroller. I've been resisting this purchase because we already own four strollers, but I need to get out walking again (a month has gone by and that "baby weight" is still with me). At least I bought it at Magic Beans, an awesome independent toy and baby gear store. And while in Brookline I found these super robot stickers

that remind me of Mimi's awesome robots.

And, finally, the auction basket is complete. I'm delivering it on Thursday afternoon.

Whew! That's certainly enough for now. It's always those days that I think I have nothing to say that end of being so long winded.

I don't care for long dogs

Roxanne is obsessed with this horrible anthology of stories by Margaret and H. A. Rey. Over and over again we have to read about Katie Kangaroo and Whiteblack the penguin and Cecily G. and Elizabite. Seriously it is mind numbing, but one of the stories, "Pretzel", is actually pretty funny. It's about the longest dog in the world (hence the name) and his efforts to court Greta, the dog across the street. Greta wants nothing to do with Pretzel and no matter what tricks he does or what presents he brings, she just replies, "I don't care for long dogs."

Inspired me to draw this in my sketch book

and to make this

He's not quite as long as I had originally intended and this is his second muzzle (Charlie said the first one was "about 2/3 too big and I think he was probably right).

Here's his back.

South End Open Market

As some of you may have noticed, one of my bears has been featured on the front page of Etsy all weekend. My shop was chosen for the front page by the folks at South End Open Market, a DIY handi-craft market open every Sunday from May through October in Boston's South End. We had never been before so we decided to check it out today. With two kids in tow (one eating a cereal bar in the umbrella stroller and the other curled up in the sling), we headed over this morning, and it was really neat.

I love face to face meetings with crafters whose blogs I read or whose Etsy shops I scope out. Today we saw Katie Rowley who makes lovely paintings with india ink. She showed us how she draws backwards letters on her fingers and then prints them onto her paintings. We also sawMary from hollypopshop. She has beautiful flower pins made from kimono fabrics. And we met Jen from the sweetest pea. I just love her white owls. And Katy from muchachaK whose birdie hair clip is featured on Etsy's front page this weekend, too.

It turns out that this weekend is super busy around the Boston area. Lots of towns have open studios yesterday and today, including Newton and the South End, too. So while we were in the city, we wandered around this great open warehouse looking at all sorts of artwork. Just as Roxanne's patience was wearing super thin we ran into our next door neighbor. It turns out that she's an artist (how is it that we've lived here for nearly two years and I talked to her dozens of times in her garden and never known this?) and she had her work on display. Now I think I'll have to have her over for a cup of tea and a look in my studio. So a busy and fun morning full of lovely things to look at.

My little sister, Rachel, is graduating from law school today. I remember so clearly the day she was born and now she's nearly a lawyer. Congratulations, Rachel! Now I feel truly surrounded by lawyers - my dad is a lawyer and so is my brother and now my sister, too. So don't mess with me, I guess.

I mean seriously - that's cuteness.

Bear for William

A sweater bear I just finished. He is made from muslin instead of wool - I thought I'd try making one from a non-stretchy fabric. His body is made from a thrifted pillow case. He is being mailed off as a gift to my friend Robert's new son, William. Robert and I dated my senior year in college and have remained friendly. He is a doctor now and a scientist and he and his wife, Gwyneth, just had their first child. I hope William likes this little bear.

Ooops, seems I forgot

May 3rd was my one year blog anniversary. Slipped my mind. Guess having a baby on April 25th sort of overshadowed it a bit. It's hard to believe that I've had While She Naps for a whole year. This blog has been a lot of fun for me. It provides me with a wonderful sense of purpose every day, even if I don't post every day. Knowing that While She Naps is there, in cyberspace, motivates me to produce, to create, to get back to my desk and to my sewing machine and make something new. And when I feel tired or frustrated, I sit and read the wonderful crafty blogs I check every day (all 89 of them!) and suddenly I'm ready to start again.

Over a year ago I sat in a coffee shop on a rainy night with Charlie and told him I was thinking of starting a blog about crafting and cooking and sewing and gardening and anything else that I was working on while Roxanne was napping. While She Naps has certainly touched on all of those things, but primarily it has become a blog about making soft toys.

Over the course of this past year I've learned so much about how to sew and how to construct softies. I still have a long way to go to be able to really make what I see inside my head, but I can feel myself getting there and I can see how much sharper my skills have gotten. Thank you to everyone who comments and reads, to those of you who found me just recently, and to those of you who were here when I first started, who stuck with me when I took a blogging break for over a month because I had such severe morning sickness and who are still here. Thanks also to everyone who has bought a stuffed toy from me this year. It makes me feel so good to know that other people are enjoying something I've made.

Okay, enough sappy stuff. Here is a little sock monkey made from a pair of girl's socks I bought at the Christmas Tree Shops last Saturday for $1. She is going into the auction basket.

Yes, there is still crafting going on despite the mighty rain

Today is the sixth day in a row of cold and rain. Mister Sunshine is hiding (according to Roxanne) so we can't go to the park. We're feeling rather cooped up here, but despite the gloomy weather we've managed to try a new pub in Ashland this weekend (it was excellent - especially the chips and curry) and to go out for dim sum (Uncle Cheung's in Framingham, if you live near me - so tasty!). I've been working on a few more goodies for the basket. The auction is being held by the Wellesley Newcomer's Club at their annual clambake in early June. I'm hoping people are in to soft toys and place some bids. These two sweater bears are my latest additions.

I bought a lovely hamper to hold everything at the Christmas Tree Shop yesterday that is lined with green and peach striped canvas and has a little bow on the front. After looking around and being disappointed in the Easter basket grass at A C Moore today, I decided to pop some cardstock in the paper shredder and make my own (I think this idea originally came from a Martha Stewart magazine).

I think one more lamb and then perhaps a sock monkey and it'll be all set.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I told Charlie no gifts for Mother's Day this year - all I want is to get some sleep,to have some time to craft, and to not have to clean up after everyone. So far, so good.

brown and orange fish

The second fish is done. This was the last of that marvelous brown tea towel from I found at a yard sale last summer. I've been hanging on to a scrap of it for a long time, but I'm glad to see it in use on a project now.