Aug20

the pseudo-disney lunchbox

Posted on by
the pseudo-disney lunchbox

This summer we took my older two daughters and our niece to see “Brave.” They all loved it (and so did I — how nice not to see yet another princess-y princess). So when school was starting my girls asked for Merida lunch boxes. Unfortunately Disney puts yucky PVC all over their lunch boxes. But I couldn’t talk the girls out of Merida. So we compromised: Lands’ End ick-free lunch boxes (with coupon!) and half a yard of Merida fabric. I ironed on some interfacing that I already had and cut out patches that I edged with bias tape (another stash supply), and then hand-stitched them onto the bags. It was pretty easy, and the girls are happy. Win win.

I hear this laminated cotton is food-safe, so I may make some sandwich wraps and baggies, too. You know, in my loads of spare time.

Aug17

tetrahedrons + zombies

Posted on by
tetrahedrons + zombies

Look! I am making a mini village of pyramids! Technically, these are a specific type of pyramid called a tetrahedron. I intend to use these as models for some molds (my first try at molds) because I want to make super light, translucent versions of these.

I started on this two weeks ago, when I went to the KC Clay Guild to renew my membership and roll out some slabs. I intended to turn the slabs into pyramids during my next work night. So, the next week, I put on my apron to work, and the power went out. So no working that night. The kids were up half the night because their night lights and sound machines were not working. And the zombies. SO, I put these together during this week’s work night — with two-week-old slabs that I had babied with a lot of spraying. So far they seem to have made it.

Because of that same power outage, the monthly demonstration/workshop at the clay guild was moved to this week. Paul Donnelly demonstrated how he puts together pieces like this with a combination of throwing and slab work. He said something about how important it is to figure out the timing of when you work on the different stages of a piece. I, of course, was thinking about my two-week-old slabs, sitting there getting old and ruining that crucial timing.

I’ve almost got enough work to justify a bisque firing. I tried some new clays, so I’m hoping I won’t have the crazing problems I had last time. Please, please, please let me, let me, let me. Let me have a successful glaze firing. (Sing along.)

Aug9

easy fun

Posted on by
easy fun

I’ve been away for a bit. There was a wedding in Wisconsin (my cousin’s), a funeral in Kansas (my great aunt’s) and a baby in California (my sister’s — today!). There was a possibly broken finger (courtesy of that never-ending pile of gravel), a 20-year high school reunion in Indiana (unattended — too much travel), and a power outage (see our long-exposure-fun-without-electricity photos). There were photo backdrops painted. There were La Palomas consumed. There were many, many forms filled out in order for my children to head back to school/preschool. And many checks written.

End-of-summer stuff, good stuff, bad stuff, wonderful stuff, life stuff.

(Note: Our “Easy Fun” dude is a Dick Daniels piece that we love very much.)

Jul16

not clown buttons

Posted on by
not clown buttons

Here are some gigantic buttons I worked on during my last work night. They aren’t intended for clothing. I’ll show you soon what I am doing with them. All of this rolling-pin work is making me want a slab roller though. I need to renew my membership at my local clay guild so I can pop over there and crank out a pile of slabs. I have some other slab ideas I want to start on, too.

Speaking of the KC Clay Guild, I noticed that they are going to have a workshop with Meredith Host in November. I’m pretty excited about attending that. I have gotten out of the habit of going to the monthly workshops at the guild, and I need to remedy that. There are a couple other workshops around town that I would love to attend, but don’t know if I’ll be able to work it out financially or time-wise. At this point in my work, I feel like I need to invest more time than money into this and just get the basics really worked out. I am quite the education-junkie though, and I always have been, so I’m always interested in more classes than I can take. This year, I took an online class taught by Diana Fayt that was truly wonderful, so I’m also tempted by the new Creative Bug offerings.

Education. Junkie. (I suppose there are worse things to be.)

Jul15

clean

Posted on by
clean

So, I’ve finished my cleanse! I ended up doing 16 days of the full Clean cleanse (but 17 days off alcohol and 18 days off coffee — I tapered off of those early). In order to slowly add back in enough foods to eat dinner at my cousin’s upcoming wedding, I ended the cleanse a little early. You can’t not have wedding cake at a wedding, right?

The first 14 days of the cleanse were not great, I must say. The first week was quite painful, with lots of aching in my legs and lower back. I had such bad chills every night that I was sleeping with a heating pad in the middle of July. I kept finding new rashes (my wrist, my inner arm, my ankle). I tried remedies like Epsom salt baths and magnesium supplements (these two are essentially the same thing), but they didn’t really help. The second week, I just felt really foggy. The only mistake I made was accidentally eating some sweet potatoes, which I guess you are not supposed to have despite one of their lists only banning “white potatoes.” (I guess sweet potatoes create mucus?)

But days 15 and 16 were quite good, and I can see how going the full 21 days would be no problem. My constantly stuffy nose cleared up, my skin cleared up, I didn’t wake up completely exhausted like I usually do (even after a full night’s sleep), I wasn’t bloated anymore, I stopped getting daily headaches and I lost 5 pounds. I felt good enough that the idea of adding foods back in was worrisome. But I want to know which foods agree with me and which ones don’t.

So far, alcohol makes me more prone to headaches (which I knew) and dairy makes me tired, stuffy and bloated (which I suspected). Today is coffee. That’s my first macchiato up there — in my itty-bitty-kiddy handmade mug. I’m trying to switch from lattes to macchiatos in order to reduce the amount of dairy/soy I have. I don’t like almond milk in my coffee. I just finished that coffee, and I’m already feeling the tummy rumbles from that little dab of milk.

I’m also now completely wired — hence the wordiness of this post. Maybe I should have made it a single macchiato.

Jul8

keeping it casual

Posted on by
keeping it casual

My children spend a great deal of their time in their pajamas. Playing outside? Pajamas. Fourth of July fireworks? Pajamas. Visiting Gram and Grandpa? Pajamas. I’m not sure why I don’t just buy them an entire wardrobe of pajamas.

Anyway, here are the girls inspecting the fairy garden that Gram has started for them. As soon as the temperatures cool off, we want to visit the fairy houses exhibit at Powell Gardens. Gram has a good start with a fairy door, a little couch, some steps, and a river of magic dewdrops.

We had a relaxing evening at Gram’s tonight, and the weather even cooperated with her broken air conditioner. Tomorrow will be busy though. Both older girls had small accidents over the weekend that will require doctor visits: one fell on her face while dancing and knocked a permanent tooth a little loose, and one was accidentally bitten by my mom’s dog, who likes to bite splashing water (but got the foot doing the splashing). So tomorrow will be x-rays and antibiotics. And pajamas.

Jun29

decals + smoothies

Posted on by
decals + smoothies

Here is a Photoshop document I put together to try out some decals on my pots. This will be an experiment! I don’t intend to use the full images. There will be lots of slicing going on. They will become less ocean and more color and line. But still ocean-y. If they work at all. We shall see.

I would like nothing more than to be transported into one of these photos right now. The beach is my happy place, and I’ve been a little crabby today. A couple days ago, I started my own version of the Clean cleanse that Blair mentions here. I’d been thinking about doing something like this ever since I had my food-allergy reaction a couple months ago. So here we go. 21 days. (roughly) No coffee, alcohol, wheat, oats, dairy, eggs, soy, or a whole list of other foods. Liquid foods for breakfast and dinner. I’ve been making my own smoothies rather than buying the expensive Clean stuff. I just stick to the Clean Elimination Diet ingredients and try to get a good number of calories and a balance of protein/fat/carbs.

After a few weeks, I’ll add things back into my diet one thing at a time and see how I feel. Maybe I will get some sort of clue about why I haven’t been feeling so great lately. If anything, it will be a good reset. That is, if I can get through the first few days. Crabby.

Jun26

staycation

Posted on by
staycation

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece all came out to visit us for a long weekend. So I’ve been away, relaxing with them, making and eating peach crisp and chocolate chip cookies, swimming, going to the movies (“Brave”: so good!), hanging out on the deck, and catching fireflies. (You can see the firefly catchers above. I was playing around with Instagram on Chris’s iPod.) This year we can’t afford plane tickets to anywhere, so we’re grateful for visiting family. The girls were pretty bummed last night when everyone went home, especially poor Charlotte. She’s our sensitive girl. We’re all getting back to normal today: sunscreen, swim lessons, PBJ on the pool’s picnic tables, laundry. (Laundry that I should really be folding right now.)

Jun19

new fiona

Posted on by
new fiona

The new Fiona Apple album is out! I’ve listened to it about ten times now. Thumbs up! It worked well for both throwing pots and walking. (And of course, just sitting and listening.) Here’s a live performance of one of the songs.