SouleMama

the puppet peeps

 
Have you met our puppet peeps? It's quite possible that I've posted them before, but a quick search by me turned up nothing. So I figured if I can't find them on my own site, then probably no one else has either, if they're even here. So let me introduce them to you.

From left to right, we have: The Princess, The Sorceress, Josef, The Farmer, The Captain, and The Song and DanceMan (who's round rim glasses have gone missing). Josef was our first - made by local artist and puppeteer Nance Parker. Inspired by that one, I made the rest a few years ago. Ezra was just a babe at the time, and when he napped, Calvin would dream up these characters and we'd both go to work making them. Being a lover of the details (even at 3 years old) he loved the process of making these puppets almost as much as I did. They were quite time-consuming, especially considering how 'folk' and simple they are in style, but I remember being nearly consumed by each one until it was finished. The heads are all papier mache - we used a variety of trial and error paper/paste combinations, and techniques, which got more elaborate and improved with each one (The Farmer was our first, and Song and DanceMan our last).  Once the face shape was complete, the 'dressing' of the puppets was enormous fun with both knitting and sewing, as was painting on the faces (I used gesso, then gauche, and then a sealant). The process was great fun for me in that it was a little bit of a lot of different mediums - perfect for my crafty short attention span with not a ton of skill in any one area.

For a while after making them, I kept them in a basket on the floor amidst all the other toys. I wanted to be all cool and chill with them being played with, dragged around, stuffed under the couch, and eventually trashed by the kids. But, um, I wasn't cool. I got a little attached to them. They're my toys too, you know. And so now they sit here atop our craft cabinet - safe from the random stepping-on, but always in sight, and always at hand for a puppet show whenever anyone gets the urge. Our puppet peeps have told many a story in the past few years through the minds and voices of my littles, and I think they have many more to tell. And I also think they're ready for a few new characters to join the troupe. We're working on it - there's a fierce debate around here between King Arthur as a boy, and Agustus Gloop. Together, I think they could make for quite the interesting puppet show.

accessorizing

"Can we make some of these, Mom?". Because really now, what's a knight/squire/metalsmith/etc, without his accessories? Nothing apparently. This weaponry is the latest subject of much of Calvin's artwork - his 'drafts' for what we're supposed to be making together. Which leaves me with a stumped,"'uh...." response (for so very many reasons). I mean, I can make a lot of things. But a flail? Oh. my.

New house rule: Make your own weapons.

My son. The pacifist. Ahem.

"Bird With a Hat on His Back"

That's the title of this new piece of art that was hung at our house this weekend. A collaboration between Ezra and I, that was meant to be a companion of sorts to a similar one I made for Calvin a few years ago (really? years? oh my, it's flying by).

I cannot tell you how much pleasure I've had watching each of my babes come to art in their very unique and personal ways.  Ezra, my fellow lefty - very free form, and abstract and imaginative. Calvin - so precise and always exact, quick, and imaginative in a quite different way. Calvin wouldn't draw anything unless he could make it appear as he thought it 'really' did look. Ezra, on the other hand, will draw a grey circle in the middle of the page and call it, "an ice cold pizza on a snowy day, and I'm hiding in the snow with my friend Simon and a scary monster, and the sun is shining bright." My realist and his brother the abstract. Makes for some interesting conversations between the two of them, let me tell you.

So this is Bird with a Hat on His Back, and I love him. I love all the legs that are on all of Ezra's drawings. And watching him add all those legs is the best - he'll just keep adding and adding and searching for spots to squeeze just one more leg. He's had an explosion of drawing lately, and I'm gradually collecting a few of my favorite creatures to make him his very own drawing quilt like his brother's.

But for now we have this piece, hanging in our dining room (which doubles as our art room, game room, and reading room. It's cozy. Even with that green paint that is so painful to photograph against. Sigh.). As for the process, I embroidered on linen (using transfer paper to trace his drawing and letters), used patchwork pieced edges, and quilted it. Backed with linen, and a linen binding (linen as binding was kind of a hassle, I must admit). I handsewed a strip of bias binding on the back to slide a dowel through for hanging.

You know, I've done enough work with their art by now that I would think they'd tire of it, or atleast be nonplussed by seeing it around. But, blessedly, the look on Ezra's face when he saw this on the wall was just the one I hope for - pride in himself and his 'art', with a love-smile tossed my way. Success.

getting my fix, in small doses

When there are days at a time that I know I won't be getting to my sewing machine, or have much of a chance on the needles, or in a sketchbook, or *some* kind of creative outlet, I start to get a little twitchy. These are the days when I'll grab at any little thing to get my fix on. Such was the case with this tea tray. It starts innocent enough...I was drawing with Ezra, and spotting Adelaide out of the corner of my eye as she unloaded dishes from 'her' kitchen dishwasher to 'my' dishwasher. I saw her pick up this thrifted wooden tray and was reminded of the ugly cornucopia painted on it - and just like that, the creative synapses started jumping at the bit. I looked at Ezra drawing his animals. I looked back at the ugly tray. Starting to get a bit excited, I survey the scene. Can I do it? is there time? Calvin's in the other room with what appears to be several more stacks of construction paper to go before his cannon is complete. Sweet. And Adelaide has a basket full of dishes to go. "So Ezra....," I say, sidling up with probably crazy eyes, "wanna draw me some animals and I'll make them into a new tea tray for you? huh? huh? wanna?". Thankfully, the answer is an enthusiastic yes, and it's less than a minute before the mod podge is out, brush and scissors in hand, and I'm moving with a mission. Ezra and I chat about his animals (the horse in a cradle being my favorite) as I slap the glue on and paste them into the tray, layered on top of one another rather hastily. Moving with speed and fervor, the tray is complete, the brush makes it's way into the sink, the paper scraps into the trash, and the Mod Podge back in the cabinet just as the entertainment value of the dishwasher has run it's course, and a marble comes shooting out of the cannon towards my head. 

Granted, it's not the slow, thoughtful and detailed creative work that is so enjoyable. But sometimes, the rushed little fixes are all I can get. And I'll gladly take them.

And Ezra loves his tea tray just the same.

in and out

{in} :: new fabric. Very sweet floral from Heather Bailey's Freshcut. And new (I think) prints from Heather Ross. Couldn't resist the VW vans - that was my first car, after all.

{out} :: capes, crowns, and tunics to clothe a kingdom. Well, really just for the five incredibly creative kids in Calvin's homeschool cooperative.

{in} :: A new / old storage for toys. A vintage (and broken) hair dryer removed, and wooden trees and cars put in.

{out} :: out of an afternoon of soapy water, lots of thinking and much chatting with Ezra, we get five felt balls. Definitely worth it.

A very very happy weekend to you!

Wintry Wonderland

Welcome to Wintry Wonderland! This has been Calvin's ongoing project for nearly a month now. Put together entirely on his own, with some borrowed from their farmhouse, some from a few trips to thrift stores, and plenty of crafting (thank goodness for Sculpey and pipe cleaners). He's spent hours staring into this village, imagining and working (it's on a dresser, in perfect view from his top bunk). Anyone that's been to our home lately, or is coming here, is getting the grand tour. Would you like one? (Granted, the tour from Mama is not nearly as detailed, animated or entertaining as the maker himself. But still.)

First up, the mountains. The Rocky Mountains. Where the animals and gnomes gather. Oh yeah, and Santa and his sleigh (and the horse pulling it) too.

Coming down from the hills, we enter the village. A meetinghouse (complete with angels singing inside), and a bakery, and a park. Really now, doesn't every village need just these things? I think so.

Let's close in on the park. The ice skating rink, with the skating snowfriends. The one sitting down on the bench? Yeah, he's putting his skates on. Love that.

And just outside of the village, nestled amongst the trees, is the home of these beautiful people. Gathered around the Solstice fire "for warmth and light", playing some banjo, hanging with the animals, and roasting some marshmallows.

Calvin told me the other day that he wished he could "jump right in there for a visit" and I agreed that it would be a lovely time.

my little elf

My little elf, staying up later than usual, plopped under the holiday tree working, working, working away on his gift projects (in this case - pipe cleaner ornament pins, something he learned to make in a class, and not from his supposedly-crafty mama). It isn't always that he wants to craft with me, which I think makes it all the sweeter when he does. Tonight, he's peaceful, content, and reflective. The house is cozy, quiet and softly lit, and it's just the two of us crafting and chatting. I watch him as he gathers his materials, sets them all up rather methodically, and begins to work with such intent. Counting, lining up, and listing off the people he wants to give them to. His silent focus is interrupted from time to time with meaningful questions about the people in our lives - it tells me he's thinking hard about the person he's creating for. He chooses carefully which color he thinks they'd like best, or whether a ribbon or bow is just right for them. Little things. Important things. I can see the excitement in his eye, the flurry with which he works, and can hear it in his voice when he anticipates what it will feel like to hand his special treasure to it's lucky recipient. And my own heart swells a little at his spirit of true kindness that comes from nowhere but his own heart. I look down at my own handwork to be gifted, which was beginning to feel tiresome and like a chore, and I am reminded and inspired. My little elf. My little teacher.

saving the day

When a desperate 10am phone call found her house quiet and happily crafting these dolls, it didn't take long for me to hop off the phone and onto Kiddley to claim some of our own crafty family mojo. In just a few minutes, with some glue and ribbon and fabric, the day was saved. Ah. These are the Dress Up Ornaments by Sarah of The Small Object. It kept everyone in my house busy working away for hours (And perfectly fitting for my babes - Calvin's responsible for the glam, and Ezra's responsible for the tactile fab hair). 
Have you been over to Kiddley as much as I have lately? They're totally rocking my world this month with all the fab holiday crafting ideas. Next up, we're doing Fiona's Paper Garlands!

remember: pinch pots

I'm so grateful for this blog for the way in which it's changed what I photograph. Before blogging, I don't think I would have been so mindful of 'documenting' the tiny details of our home, and our lives. Now (and even without the blog at this point) there are lots of photos like the one above. Years from now I'm sure these little pinch pots will all be broken, lost, and otherwise erased from my memory of all the many things that happen each day in our family life. One of those many little things that I think I could never possibly forget, but then, of course, we naturally just do. But now I've got this little bit of a photo to jog my memory, and to remind me of the sweet fervor that Calvin has at this small little moment in time for making pinch pots - out of any and all forms of clay, and to hold any and all small objects. They're throughout the house, and I love them while they're here, and I'll also love remembering them when they're gone. The tiny little mundane snippets of a childhood that are precious in my mind. Like these pinch pots.

Getting Ready...

First, we gathered.

Then we crafted.

And tidied.

And now we'll feast.

Now, join your hands,
and with your hands your hearts.
- Shakespeare

Wishing you a beautiful day full of feeling, getting and giving much gratitude and joy.