wise craft

summer break's art and leisure

As we were getting ready for the coming week (a week of both kids back to school), I was glancing around at the "work" that happened here at home, when my kids got down to the busy business of doing "nothing". My kids are just like most kids- they would love to do minecraft, or play wii, or watch Dr. Who all day, and are usually pretty bummed (and at times indignant) that they can't. I try to remember that they need time and space to figure out what to do on their own. Suddenly the productivity comes from out of the woodwork.

Emma spent some time listening to music and painting down in the studio-

my week in instagram

I am addicted to Instagram. Have you tried it? I love the immediacy of it. The snap a photo with few words aspect, its addictive. I know a lot of folks are unhappy about Facebook acquiring Instagram (even though apparently the company has never made any money and weren't ever quite sure how they would make money). I don't love the idea myself, but I've always had a suspicion that all of these companies make their money from the collection of data from their users (us) how we each use our account. Data equals money. And I'm talking about pinterest, facebook, and twitter. If they would like to market to me, fine, its the price I pay, and I don't have to look.

Anyway, back to Instagram. I find that I snap many pictures with my phone and post to instagram, many that I probably wouldn't take otherwise with my big black camera. My Iphone 4s takes amazing photos, I hardly need to these days, the phone photos just blow me away. Mainly I'm just happy that these moments get captured. Of course, they could get captured the same by snapping a picture and posting it onto facebook, but for whatever reason I prefer instagram (which, by the way, my instagram feed goes directly to the wise craft facebook page).

All of these pictures were taken by my phone and put up on instagram this week.

 

Today's crochet assembly-

 

labels on things-

 

The wall above my desk-

 

Gracie finding respite from 10 year old boys in my studio-

 

Ian and me at the Science Center-

 

My owl embroidery progress-

 

One of Emma's scupley clay birds found while cleaning the studio-

You can follow my instagram updates here.

Its been two weeks of kids home from school for Spring Break (Emma's break was last week, Ian's was this week). Work and productivity always take a bit of a backseat when that happens. Even though we were bummed that the kids had different breaks this year (no big spring break trip to Florida like usual), I have to admit I've really enjoyed having some individual time with each of them. They each had a week with a little down time, and a little fun. That's good.

Although...

I am looking forward to next week. I am going to see the Gauguin & Polynesia exhibit at the SAM, I am going to browse secondhand shops without needing to make deals with my offspring involving rewards for letting me go there.

I know you hear me...

Oh! And I'm still posting over at habit through the month of April. Stop by!

Have a great weekend!

Blair

 

a full heart and a new family heirloom

Thank you all so very much for the positive and encouraging words following yesterday's post. My phone was vibrating and dinging all day from folks on the blog, on twitter, on facebook, everywhere. Thank you so so much. It feels so good to finally be able to tell you all about it! I will let you know all the details as they unfold.

 

For my recent birthday (I'm starting to downplay these on the blog, can you tell?), Peter surprised me with something I've wanted for years. Now I have my very own Philippe Starck Atilla, who is positioned in the dining room, looking at the door we come in through each day, grinning his gnomey grin, ready and willing to hold up whatever it is we need him to hold. I love him so much. Even more because Peter spent hours on the phone with a woman in Los Angeles with a very heavy Italian accent, just trying to purchase and get him here. (I know that man, I know his limit and I'm sure he may have reached it and kept going that day, and that, my friends, is SPEC-IAL. Just glad I wasn't there.)

I fully expect to see this in Emma's first apartment one day (IF I'm ready to pass him along by then, I may just keep him).

bad weather creativity

Crazy weather in Seattle these days! Its a short walk to Ian's school in the morning, but who knows if within that 30 minute time I will need an umbrella, mittens, a light jacket or a heavy coat, something to block the wind, and what about the sleet? There was a dusting of snow on the ground this morning when I woke up. Eh. Snow is boring compared to everything else that's been happening in the forecast.

Weather like this has sent me running for yarn and crochet hooks, looking forward to doing things like steam pressing quilt block seams.

There was a time a few years ago when I would tinker with things around the house and secretly vow to myself inside my head that one day I would be able to sit around and point out a whole list of things that I made, all over the house.

Guess what? I think that dream is a reality. Handmade abounds in this house, in every room (in multiple places, in fact). Handmade gifts have been, and continue to be, given.

In celebration of the complete overflow of handmade and redone vintage pieces around me, I will be adding some handmade items to my etsy shop very soon, I'm hoping next week in fact. I will keep you posted.

For now, thanks for the continued support and enthusiasm for what I do here on the blog, it means a lot to me!

a good room made better

It has taken a lot longer than I ever imagined it would, but we are the proud owners a double vanity sink in our bathroom as of today. I had mentioned that we used to have a single pedestal sink in this bathroom (which is the master bath). It was crazy, one small sink in the middle of this wall that is big enough for what we have in there now. The existing shower was great, the existing tub was great, the hexagonal tile, we never considered changing anything else. But refitting the bathroom vanity has been pushed down the priority list for many years. Eleven, to be exact. There was never enough money for what felt like a luxury, never enough time, something was always more important.

I feel like we have a whole new bathroom now. It makes sense in there now. Its amazing. I celebrated the vanity installation by scrubbing the tile floor with a toothbrush. And then polished it. And then took a nap. And then went out to Anthropologie and bought the towels I've been secretly coveting for months to add a pop of color over the tub. And one menagerie glass for each sink.

This bathroom hasn't seen this much love in a very very long time.

(Other details- The stump by the tub is one of two I DIY'ed, which I have talked about here and here. These are still holding up nicely, the one in the photo split a bit, but its still great. The black and white illustrations above the tub were done by Peter's grandmother, the piece above the towels, "Wave" was done by yours truly.)

newest granny

Another new crocheted pillow for the family room.

I get first choice though ; ).

still corralling legos

I just looked back at this post and realize that, years later, we are still trying to control Legos in Ian's room. And so so many more have come into our house since that earlier post. We no longer use a play table in the middle of Ian's room, but we still use those inexpensive IKEA drawers (labelled the same- angles, weird parts, bricks, flats), plus a separate box that contains mini-figures and accessories. Last summer, after a Lego engineering summer camp, Ian started adding Lego power functions, so we need a proper place to store those.

This is the one toy category for Ian that has kept his interest since he stopped obsessing over Thomas the Tank Engine.

This, and basketball.

Over the weekend Peter and Ian added 2 more shelves using inexpensive shelving and brackets we had here already to make a total of 3, on the wall above his bed. A place where Ian can keep the special sets, builds, etc that he doesn't want broken up at the moment (or doesn't want mom to step on when she comes in to say goodnight). This kid loves his organization, he spent Sunday afternoon getting them all set up, one category per shelf. Told us all about it at dinner last night.

He still has the quilt I made for him on his bed below, which has always looked a lot like Lego bricks.

the sink used to be here

We are in the midst of putting a double vanity in our master bathroom. This is truly exciting, an 11 year process for Peter and I, exactly 10 years and 11 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days to make the decision to actually do it, justify the money, and exactly 1 day to find something we both like. (17 years of marriage and we are getting this compromise thing down!) Just stage it in the garage, have the plumber come and replumb for 2 sinks instead of 1, and put it in, maybe repaint (finally!).

Um, hold it right there. Not so fast.

We now have a plumber, an electrician, a friend who's handy, a friend of a friend who's possibly handy, all joining in. The power is completely cut off of that room, just look at my tub and its "light"-

This was taken on Sunday, middle of the day, but it was cloudy and rainy. That's the only light we have in there to speak of.

You can imagine what my makeup must look like at this point.

Nothing is ever easy is it?

I really don't mean to complain. We are so lucky to have this bathroom all to ourselves. In our previous house, our bedroom was so small we needed fairies to decorate it, not even an inkling of hope for a bathroom. We stood sideways just to get between the dresser and the bed. So having this bathroom as part of our bedroom is really wonderful. It was fitted by the previous owners before we bought the house and, overall, I really like what they did. Its neutral, white (love white bathrooms) and the hexagonal floor tile is classic, works with everything. But they put in one pedestal sink. Made no sense. There is ample room for a double vanity, and there is no storage with a pedestal sink. So, we are really glad this is all finally happening.

But in the meantime I will think about how every little thing costs money and will continue to nervous crochet more grannies each night.

At this rate I will soon have enough of these to cover a king sized bed.

Thank you for all the really nice feedback on the granny tutorial, by the way!

This week I am also thinking about Emma's room. Now that she's a teenager and all, her room depserately needs an update. (But first it desperately needs a huge cleanout.) I have been collecting ideas on a pinterest board just for her room. Its going to be so fun to collaborate with her on this!

But did I mention that first it needs a huge cleanout?

reluctantly in the numbers

I have fallen down the rabbit hole of tax preparation and deadlines this week. As luck would have it for a numbers-adverse maker like myself, I am the crypt-keeper of the books for our consulting business. (I am forced to do this by marriage, otherwise I'd run the other way.)

Somebody is determined to make a numbers girl out of me yet.

Funny, but I always see this time of year heading for me and yet I still am caught off guard. Maybe I like to convince my misery into a neat little month-long (or less) package, not draw it all out the whole year prior.

But I actually think after a couple of days with my head pointed straight at our Quickbooks file, I think we are in good shape for our accountant. Time-consuming though. I looked away from the computer today for an hour to eat lunch and do you know what I did? I watched an episode of Hoarders. It was so gross, I almost threw up a little of my lunch before it was over.

Why do I subject myself to these shows??

(My house did look incredibly clean afterwards.)

I got the granny circles sewn together while I watched (they felt practically sterile). I am so in love with the way this project is coming together. Its almost done, Ian helped me pick out some buttons today, which will finish it off into a pillow, for someone special.

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Thank you for the nice words about Emma's work. I'm so proud of her. She's in the studio working on a new project as I type this. She inspires me in so many ways.

 

cold and hot

 

Snowmageddon fell upon Seattle last week. I'm not sure what the official amount was, and I didn't really blog about it while it was happening because we were just kind of here, dealing with being a little cranky once the excitement wore off, and coping with a lot of togetherness. School was cancelled all week, Peter worked from home, and we were just. together. alot. Don't get me wrong, its really lovely to be snuggled in your house all together for a day or two while it snows. That's cozy and actually recharging in many ways when it happens. But five felt like a lot. Still, we stayed put, other than walking when we we needed to get out and move around. Most of Seattle roads just aren't driveable with the snow and ice combo we get. This sums it up nicely. It was very pretty though, Gracie and the kids acted as if magic were actually happening. And nice to slow down, now that we're speeding back up.

I did realize a few things that I want to remember-

• If your car hits ice and starts to slide uncontrollably, try to get it stopped by heading for a smallish ditch instead of the car in front of you. Because if you're in Seattle, three nice men will immediately get out of their cars and give you a push out of the ditch and get you on your way. Immediately. (Thank you three nice men.)
• I really do appreciate fresh vegetables and nearly teared up when I finally got out of the house to buy some.
• Regardless of what anyone in your house tells you, it IS a good thing to have a hoard of fabric and yarn (be it ever so slight, I swear). With a stash, you will never have idle hands, you can occupy yourself with pretty colors and cozy texture, even when you're stuck in the house for five days and nights.
• Extended cable and instant Netflix is a pretty thing.
• People with tonsils swallow really loudly. Just sayin....

I worked on granny circles in all sorts of gorgeously hot colors while it snowed outside.

Gracie hung out with her feather hot pink feather.

The snow melted almost as quickly as it came, and we're once again out and about and scattering ourselves around the city.

I might miss it a teensy bit.