molly irwin

gotcha covered

 

For Christmas, the kid's clever Aunt Kathy filled up a large tin for each of them with a dozen fun small gifts. Of course they were just as happy to have the containers.  

I immediately knew just what I wanted to do with Martys.

A trip to Paper Source today (with a quick hello to Elise) for the robots and dots, and we now have a properly covered storage tin for his growing collection of little cars. He proudly carried the big robot roll to the car, all the way home, and into the house. He totally loves them.

print addiction

 

My print collection is getting out of hand. (Click image for annotation.)

I'm not a saver of all things, but I do put aside catalogs, brochures, postcards, tear sheets, business cards, and professional print collateral of all types. Most of these are keepers.

They help spark ideas for both graphic design projects and family keepsake mini-books. Sometimes its the paper quality, the fold, the size, the layout, or a typeface. Other times it's the content itself that grabs me, as with the Amy Butler promotional piece to the lower right. 

I probably won't be making an inspiration board from these. Having them up on the wall is a bit too distracting at present, but oh how I love to rifle through (and edit) on a weekend.

weekend goodies :: snickerdoodles

 

 [1. mix  2. shape  3. dredge  4. flatten  5. bake  6. cool + eat ]

"Joy's soul lies in the doing." William Shakespeare. 

Have truer words been written? I found them this morning with the publisher's imprint in my 1997 copy of the Joy of Cooking. Wherein can be found this recipe for snickerdoodle perfection.

This warm cinnamon-y, soft-centered, crispy-edged confection has been deemed by all in our home "THE best cookie Papa has ever made."

Following is a short-cut recipe, adapted from the Joy. He cut the sugar because we don't like our cookies too sweet.

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snickerdoodles

2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)

1 + 1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

 

for dredging:

1/4 cup sugar, mixed with 4 tsp. cinnamon

Bake at 350, 8-11 minutes on parchment lined sheets.

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Personal advice: double the batch. You'll be glad you did.

edit: 2 sticks of butter = 1 cup (US measure)

inspiration in shelves + sweater follow-up

 

[links and photos credits, here.]

As I go about book-marking 'favorites' from other's flickr photo-streams, it is almost like tearing ideas from magazine pages; an enormous visual delight.  Here is a little bunch, collected over time and without conscious purpose, but apparently I want organization and color in our home. Oh boy do I ever.

If the weather holds this weekend I hope to paint a little nightstand and lamp combo for our girls room. Perhaps I can share that next week.

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Also, thank you for your enthusiasm over the sweater set re-purposing.  To address a few questions ...

1) I am hardly the person to provide a sewing tutorial, being a complete novice and all. This should give you all hope to just set about trying and see what comes of it. What little advice I have to offer was provided in the comments, but I'll repeat it here:

"It's all just trial and error, playing with fittings and making it up as I went along. I used a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine (as advised by my Mom) to allow for stretch.

The mittens are cut from ends of each sleeve. The hat from the front side, and a (short) scarf from two 5" widths of the back, sewn together on the short side, lined with cotton knit.

It's an old Gap sweater from the thrift store. I picked up a couple (mostly wool) to shrink and felt for projects for a couple dollars a piece.

The flower is inspired by Heather Bailey's, found here. I cut it free-hand in five layers, added some loose petals, and a folded circle for the inside bud.

There's another hat in the works now. I have two daughters and well, you know how that goes."

2) I'm a strong believer is using colors and textures that you love, so that you love the results as well.  I think had a sewn a test project on less than favorite fabric, I might be less than happy with the finished piece no matter how carefully stitched.  You've got to get your excitement going, and the textiles do that for me.

3) There are a bunch people doing amazing things with sweaters and felted wool from whom I've gathered inspiration. I should call attention to both Lisa, of Lil Fish Studios, and Betz White, who has a new book, called Sewing Green, coming out very soon.  Also see the 'made from recycled sweaters' group pool on flickr for endless ideas.

Happy weekend!

sweater set

 

When Helen selected a blue coat this fall, I knew she could use a new hat and mittens to match, or more specifically to coordinate. We don't go for too matchy-matchy around here. 

Rather than settle for something from the store, I decided to make them.  I don't knit (yet), but there has been a small collection of sweaters accumulating on my laundry room shelf just for the purpose of making things. 

We chose this cotton/acrylic v-neck because she has sensitive skin, and after several fittings the three-piece set came together quickly; just in time for our weekend trip to the snow-belt.

In the car on the way I made the two-tone flower cut from two other felted wool sweaters, finishing and gently curling the edges with a blanket stitch. It gave the whole look a kind of vintage appeal.

 

Even though the thumbs are long she loves them. Good. Room to grow.

today I ...

   

 

1) I finally took the tree down. One benefit of puting the Christmas tree up late is leaving it up a little longer. Another? We can now happily say that Christmas is not one year away, but a mere 11 months. Think of that!

2) hestitated to take a picture of Marty because I thought "I already have one of him in almost that same spot." Then I realized that photo had been taken almost a year ago, so I clicked away. He's changed quite a lot from two to three. The morning light really makes the most of his bed-head.

3) finished up a hat, scarf and mittens for Helen, made of a re-purposed sweater. She'll be putting that to good use this weekend as we decided that 20 degrees just isn't cold enough for us, so let's road trip north about 400 miles for even colder temps and warm family. Pictures of that will have to wait until next week.

January has a way ...

 

... of making me want to strip everything back to a bare minimum, and:

• enjoy the fermentation of bread and savory potato soup, 

• live in my softest mohair cardigan with jeans and boots (or slippers),

• cut felted wool into shapes and do hand stitch work, 

• make a collection of dry, brown plant remains before they break away, replaced by new growth.  

• remove unnecessary document files off the hard drive.

• listen to instrumentals and emotive vocals

The photo above is a bit of a new homeschooling project we're calling 'winter becomes spring.'  Using photography and illustration we're creating nature journals, documenting our observations as the season changes. 

We're sharing our discoveries and drawing tremendous inspiration from Lori's new space, In Heywood's Meadow.

a dream swatchbook

 

When our bodies sleep our minds are still active. If we're lucky, we dream good dreams. Even luckier, and we remember something of that portion of our life at rest, from which we can draw inspiration. I've decided to start paying more attention to those mini stories we tell ourselves. That's how i see it.

Have you ever noticed no matter how much you try to relate a dream tp someone, the listener simply can't picture it? Our dreams, whether they are messages, subconcious thoughts, or twisted recollections of the days events are private.  It's your visual, and yours alone. We each hold the intellectual rights :)

 

Such vivid images can be an exclusive source of material for artwork, story-telling, or any creative genre. I decided to make a neat little home for dreams I want to remember, for safekeeping. 

Here's a couple of swatches:

  

I hesitated to share them, but they can't be analized. They're just the bit I need to make a mental vignette and nothing more; just enough to spark that view back into focus. I started by typing a few, but mostly I'll just jot down the thoughts on waking.

 

This is a tiny cardstock book; just 2" x 5.5". The design concept -- an intentional absence of color and a hole in each black sheet, offering a glimpse into another place -- is a nod to the pinhole cameras we made in high school photography class, and the dream-like photos they produce.

serious play :: tim brown

it's the small stories

Over the last few days I've been deleting and cleaning up files and folders on my hard drive.  In doing so, I came across a couple of things I wrote about a day here or there, some of which have photos to go with them, some do not.  I loved finding them.  I surely would not have remembered that the girls had a name for the big sledding hill, or when Marty began a unique sideways tongue twisting thing that he does.  I was swept back to those moments; so happy to have sat down to jot a paragraph or two on an ordinary tuesday.

It's those small stories that make up a life.

I'm going to do more of that writing this year. starting yesterday.

There are a couple of projects out there that are doing just this. If you haven't seen HABIT yet - go there now.  Also, I mentioned Lisa's (365) mornings before, but it's her words coupled with the photos that make me feel like I'm stepping right off her (new) front porch. Especially her last few stories from this week. 

It's not all going to be public, and I haven't set aside a daily commitment, but I need to do something more on a regular basis. My friend Frances has said that I live "close to my heart." I like that. I'd like more of that.