SouleMama

Calvin Blogs :: Super Rack

I thought about making my own superhero. Super Rack. Super Rack is a good kind of superhero. He can fly. He can climb up buildings and trees. He can swim underwater for a really long time. He is very very very very powerful. He helps people. That's how I thought about making Super Rack.

Before we made the costume, I  made this poster with all the clothes of Super Rack that I needed to make. I changed them a lot, like at first I thought Super Rack was wearing a red shirt and pants. But then I thought it should be black. And the belt in the picture is brown, but I made a red one. The poster helped me make the costume.

When I was making the mask I did not know yet about Super Rack and who he would really be. I thought I wanted him to wear a mask, but I didn't want to wear a headband AND the mask. So I'll save the mask for another time. Maybe another halloween.

I got some of the costume from my dress up - like the cape that mama made a long time ago. And the pants I sewed to be wetsuit pants in the summertime. I went to Salvation Army with Papa to get the black shirt. And I made the belt and the headband on the sewing machine.

This is Super Rack in his full costume. And today is Halloween! Happy Halloween!

Focus

Just two photographs I'm really loving right now. I'm hoping I can carry some of the concentration and focus that these convey to me - what little ones are so natural at - into the writing work I have ahead of me today.

And then...knocking on wood, and crossing all fingers and toes, Steve and I will have a solo getaway this weekend to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We're there to catch a movie tour, but I'm thinking all that extreme sports watching is going to need some balance added with thrifting, gallery visiting, shopping, and eating good food, don't you think? Oh yes. I know nothing in Portsmouth - any ideas out there?

Have a wonderful weekend!

made with little hands

The sibling gift making that happens before a birthday is so very dear to me. It's such fun to watch them dream up what they could make each other, the way they plan it out with such excitement and enthusiasm, and oh - the attempts at keeping it all a surprise (which usually entails a lot of REALLY LOUD whispering next to the birthday person). The gift-making and presentation is full of super proud-parenting moments that you remember, tuck away, and pull out when needed in the less-than beautiful moments of sibling life.

Calvin worked on this tote bag for her, making a picture on both sides of the bag with scraps of felt. I love the careful and thoughtful choices of color and design - a bird on there, of course. He started with handstitching the pieces down, but quickly - like his mama - grew tired of that and opted for the machine (he's totally rocking the machine these days). Which is why he tells everyone that this was not, in fact, handmade, but machine made. Right. She loves her bag, of course. She fills it with shoes.

Ezra's gift to Adelaide was a song he 'wrote' and played (foot stomps and all) on his fiddle just before she had her cake. I know. I melted. I really and truly melted from it all. She adored her song - she literally sat smiling with her hands clasped and ready to clap. Ack! In the days before the party, in addition to practicing his song, he told me he also wanted to 'make a pillow for her that looks like the way her birthday fiddle song sounds." Right. Okay. Ezra's always good for a curve ball, puzzler like that. BUT! We came up with this: a doll pillow he stitched - curduroy on one side and linen on the other. On the linen, he wrote (with a fabric marker) the "words" to her fiddle song. He added a button and trim, because, well, who doesn't want to play with buttons and trim?

I know without a doubt that I will completely forget about the xylophone that we got for her second birthday. Or any of the other little gifts we purchased or fretted over. But oh - these extra special, oozing-with-love gifts from her brothers are sure to be remembered by every one of us as the best gifts of all. They always are.

another kind of handmade

This was the 'other kind of handmade' beauty that I referred to a few weeks back. A gorgeous cedar-strip canoe, built by Steve's father and his partner twenty years ago, and just recently gifted to us. To say that we're happy to have this is a huge understatement - we're thrilled, honored and much more. And at a full 18 feet in length, it's just perfect for our family of five. This past weekend was it's first trip in the water in years - a short little trip in which we confirmed that the youngest among us is not such a fan of the water - not this year, anyway. (And I can now add paddling to the list of odd times and places in which breastfeeding has proved to be a lifesaver). Nevertheless, we were happy to be in this special boat and on the water, and are greatly looking forward to next weekend when we can get back out there (and Adelaide can have a very special solo date with her grammie).

Naturally, all this talk of how it was made and by whom has greatly inspired the 'makers' around here. Once I talked Calvin down from his grand plan of a canoe big enough for all of us (at least for this year), he shifted to a little bit of a smaller scale. After a visit to the woods, and then our art cabinet, we now have a little birch-bark canoe production happening. 

The future for these little handmade beauties? Inspired by the fabulous 2000 mile adventure in one of our very favorite children's books - Paddle-to-the-Sea - these boats be headed down-river soon. We can only imagine what kind of adventures they'll have on their journey out to sea. All three miles of it.

what i love :: family art

instead of dinner ...
snacks and family art night outside, with the day's beach treasures as inspiration.

Oh, Summer...

Surf's Up

There's a serious surfing vibe around here this summer. (Does being a mom of surfers mean I get to hang at the beach everyday? I'm in.) While the boys are still a few parental-induced swimming requirements away from really and truly surfing on their own (yeah, that doggie paddle isn't going to get you far when you're upside down in your boat, guys. sorry.), they're doing their best to prepare for the role of 'surfer' (which they define as both the traditional surfboard, as well as whitewater kayak in the surf - Papa's gig). They've had enough of Papa and his paddler friends around in their lives to think they fully get the role of the 'boater/surfer', uh...character.

As always, the costume is key. Last week, after some mild grumpiness about me not buying him a new wetsuit, he marched to his room to sew his own. How much do I love that he did this in defiance ("Fine! I'll make my own!")? A lot. He was disappointed to discover no capilene or lycra in my stash, but like any good tailor, he made do with what he had - cotton knit. I showed him how to trace his pants (he used his long johns to get the fit he wanted), gave him a little help on the elastic casing, and then he was off. Wetsuit pants complete. They fit, they cling when wet, they're black. All requirements are met and he's happy.

(Um, love that photo). The next day Calvin wanted a wetsuit top. He caught me in a moment when I had absolutely zip, zero, nada energy to 'help' him sew. "No problem, Mama, I can do it all on my own", he says. The result was this top (which is adorable, though I'm afraid it won't survive it's first washing) for his Little Dude (yes, that's what he calls him and Ezra sarcastically calls him 'Captain'). Truth be told, Calvin tried to make it for himself, but it didn't fit, so he 'gifted' it to Ezra, who was thrilled to be the recipient of Calvin's sewing. Heck - I'll take sibling kindness however it comes.

Next on their surf sewing plan is a gear bag for their wetsuits and other surf 'accessories' - my babes looooove their accessories. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm raising a bunch of gear-heads - but thankfully it doesn't look like they're headed for the 'expensive, brand new gear I only use once a year" kind of gearhead, but more towards the "duct -taped, ripped shorts, everyday use, DIY" kind of gearhead. I'm cool with that.

He Blogs!

HI. This is CALVIN. This is a butterfly. I made this for my first ever friend Caroline because she had a butterfly party. First, I drew it. And then I drew it on fabric. Then I cut it out. Then I sewed it. Then I put the patches on. Then I put the ears on, or whatever they are. Then I put the eyes on. And you probably know how I drew the card. Oh, and I used glue to glue the ears on.

These are our Wilburs. Do you know who WIlbur is? Wilbur is the pig in Charlotte's Web. I made the one on the bottom. First things first, I drew it. Then I drew it on fabric. Then I cut it out. Then I sewed it. And stuffed it. It took a loooooooooot of stuffing to stuff it. Then I sewed the top up.
After that, Ezra wanted one too, so Mama made him one like mine. That's the one on the top. I like the tail better on mine.

This is a cradleboard. I made it with the sewing machine mostly but I forgot how I did it. But it took a loooooooong time. I used fabric, cardboard, string and beads, and more fabric. The beads are for the baby to play with so they don't get bored. Oh, and rope for the shoulder straps.

I made this chainsaw because Mama says I can't use the real one. In this picture, I'm cutting a piece of wood up. I used cardboard, and plastic, and stickers, and duct tape and string. Oh, and I drew on it with wax crayons. I found some of the things in the recycling bin and the rest of it was in the art cabinet, except the plastic soda cap was in Grampie's recycling. You can't see the bead, though, in this picture, but it's right by my foot on the end of the pull - cord. It says ECHO because that's what Grampie's chainsaw says.

That's all I have to say. Goodbye.
CALVIN

 

I've been waiting for this

I've been expecting this for a while now. But like many other things in parenting, home education and life, I knew all I could do was to 'leave the door open,' wait for him to come to me, and then guide ever-so slowly and patiently. And let him to take the lead. So, earlier this week, when Calvin came to me with a drawing of a costume (in the foreground of the photo), and said, "I want to make this," I was rather caught off guard. Half-thinking, and half on parenting auto-pilot, I said, 'Well, lets eat breakfast first. And then I told Ezra we'd paint. And then..(blah blah blah)...and so maybe tonight when you go to sleep I could work on it, or Saturday afternoon might be better."

"No, Mama. I want to make this. I want to sew it. I drew a picture of it, and I looked at the costume book, and I know I can do it."

"Oh. Oh! YOU want to sew it! Oh! Well, you could do that. I could get you set up for that this morning", I sputtered out as I quickly gathered my wits and slowed down my excitement before it turned him off from the idea completely.

So that's what we did. I brought down my old sewing machine, and plopped it right down on the same table where it had lived for years before I had my studio, where I sewed with it day in and day out of his early years as a babe. The same machine that my grandmother gave to me, and on the same table that my great grandmother - a seamstress herself - sewed every single day. His great - great grandmother.

And then before I got swept up in a sentimental ride of it all, I was brought right back down to reality by a six year old learning something new. Needles to thread. And rethread. A baby to keep occupied (by 'helping' with scissors and pins, naturally). And as little explaining as I could manage to give from my corner of the room where I chewed my fingers like a nervous mother, where I worried that clothing might not be the best 'first' sewing project. But I know this little guy well enough to know that too much instruction will completely turn him off (hmmn...I don't know where he gets that), and that he wouldn't begin to attempt something until he'd studied, watched and thought about it a good deal already. Which apparently is just what he's been doing, because he really did know just what to do. He traced a tunic he wanted for the shape, pinned it together, and asked me to 'draw a line' where the sewing should be (a brilliant idea, I thought), and then...he had a costume.

But, being that one tunic does not a theatre troupe make, he went right to work on one for his brother (Tiger Lily and Wendy, in case you're wondering).

And then back to the machine to make one for his sister, with excitement, pride, and creative energy pouring out of him. And so it appears that this sewing machine is going to have a home in this little corner of our home once again. Oh, this could be fun...

crafting essentials

Inside:

and outside:

There are three essential supplies that seem to be needed for nearly every child  'project' in our home: scissors, string, and of course, duct tape. And with just those three things? Well, it's pretty amazing what can be done, I do now believe. Today? A working drawbridge. And later, a slingshot (It's a very good thing we're outside again).

Thanks for visiting through my silence this week. I lost my voice a week ago (I'm feeling much better now, thank you!), and I always take that as a sign that I need to be quiet - to do more listening and watching. So that's just what I tried to do this week. I couldn't have picked a better week to do so, either - welcoming Spring, listening for the return of the birds, staying outside for hours on end for the first time in months, soaking up the sun, watching my babes rediscover their sacred outside spots and favorite projects....well, it was all wonderfully invigorating and spirit-filling. Beauty and inspiration really are all around us.

Back to 'normal' posting will resume on Monday, with some crafting to report, and a shop update on Tuesday Thursday! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

weekend art

Written and then handed off with much pride, it says "Mama".
(And then my heart grew three sizes that day.)