Simple Gestures

Waldorf Doll, part 2

2010-11-23T22:17:00.004-05:00

Sorry, no pictures of the doll here tonight. My camera's downstairs, I'm upstairs, and I should be sleeping not typing or crocheting.
YES, I'm finally making the hair for this doll. It doesn't look quite like hair. I'm not even sure it's supposed to look like it does... in fact, it looks very much like a chanterelle mushroom. I probably did something wrong. Oh well. At least it fits along with the rest of the doll, which has a head that's too big, arms too long, one leg longer than the other, one eye bigger than the other, and awful seams across the shoulders that I'm POSITIVE are not supposed to be there.
But this doll has been made during late hours at night.
My back hurts. My bum hurts. my eyes are getting crossed...
I must be a sucker for punishment or something though. I'm crocheting for the very first time in my life and it's with mohair. What was I thinking!
It's actually getting a little better, though. I'm getting faster even on my second night of work.
Of course, when I knitted something for the first time, other than a straight knit scarf, it had to be a sheep, with all sorts of weird new directions going on. Oh, I CAN post a pic of the sheep!

It's supposed to be felted, but alas, it didn't work in my washing machine. I suppose if I knew at the time that front loaders DO indeed work if you put the item through a number of times, then it might have been felted, but I already stuffed it with horrible stuffing, as opposed to the wonderful wool I use now. and sewed it shut and the seam has disappeared...

The internet is a wonderful thing... Being able to look up videos and directions for different knitting, and now crochet, techniques!
But I must continue on with this incredibly s-l-o-w work of hair...

Waldorf Doll, part 1

2010-11-19T23:17:00.004-05:00

So many different things going on... Starting a Waldorf Doll for one of my little ones. I'm this close to chucking it and just buying him one! I never imagined it would be this difficult. It's such a simple concept, but I'm having such a struggle with it. The pattern has a very small seam allowance for such stretchy fabric! It won't turn on the machine... one thumb is rather pointy compared to the other one. And don't get me started on the head... The darned thing came out too big and so the "skin", when pulled over the head, doesn't fit that well - very tight! Not to mention that because of this, the face has taken on a certain neanderthal likeness... almost flat-faced, though the forehead protrudes a bit too much.
Ugh. I'm not loving this project too much at this point.
And this is after my machine didn't work when I got it out after year's break from it. It's freshly home from the repair shop, but I'm still fighting it.
I'm hoping it gets better from here on out.
Perhaps he won't mind if the clothes are just sewn down onto the doll so noone can see it's wonkiness!! Christmas is right around the corner...
Of course, maybe it wouldn't be turning out so bad if I found some other time to work instead of after everyone is sound asleep... is it really 11:30pm?!
*Heavy Sigh*
I'm thinking, when I make another down the road for the other kiddo, I'll cut out to allow for a bigger seam, then TRIM the excess so the seams don't bulge.

I'm back... sort of.

2010-10-02T14:16:00.004-04:00

I can NOT believe it's been this long since I've touched this blog. February 2008 was the last time I posted something?! It's been that long since the mobile swap. Wow.
In the meantime, I've had another kiddo, health problems, financial problems, house repairs, general ups& downs. But that stuff will always be happening here and there, so....
I'm going to try and have another go at this.
I have plans for my etsy store, which I opened in May 2009, but never did anything with.
I still haven't done anything with it, but I have plans. Now to just create again (and find the time to do so!) and load the store up and hope people stop by.

Done!

2008-02-20T23:37:00.010-05:00

Was it really February 1st that I posted last?!
I guess so...
It's been really tough, though. I just haven't had the time to post! I've barely even been able to browse through the blogs I enjoy. But I DID get the mobile done finally. I wish I could get some advice from other bloggers out there... Is there anyone else out there who has/had very young, dependent children at the same time they started to blog and start creating? How did you manage your time? How did you get it all done?
It's definitely tough.
But anyways, I did it.
I hope the mobile survives the trip.
Fun it was, though.
Rolling the copper wire through the old rolling mill to get some funky curvy do-dads to hang the mobile from... punching out the copper and trying out the blue patina again:

It's a bit of a stinky process, however. You have to sprinkle the copper with water and salt, and leave it enclosed with an open container of ammonia for a while. But the blue is really pretty!
The mobile grew somehow... it turned out a lot bigger than I planned! It's a bit of a jellyfish, I guess:

Ah! Isn't the wallpaper grand?! And the shades too! Especially the broken one!!
Alas, I have no pleasant area to take a photograph at the moment, and my camera is a simple one. But here are a few more pictures of the mobile for the swap, before I sign off:

Here I go!

2008-02-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

There have been so many ideas rattling around in my head for this mobile swap, but until a couple days ago I still hadn't really started anything. I decided enough is enough! Stop thinking and just start doing!
So, I'm doing. I'm learning to "trust the process".

I'm not sure where this is all going yet, though I have some ideas. I'm still experimenting.
In the meantime, my husband can continue to think his wife has gone off her rocker... I mean, who wouldn't think that when they come home and see all available eating utensils covered in wet paper?! But if it's one thing I discovered as a student, it's to not be afraid to use whatever is at hand. ANYTHING can become a tool!
So I will continue to experiment until a mobile is created. But I'll have to get some copper going for it soon too...

Clean up

2008-01-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

Just as I was about to finally bring the boxes of Christmas decorations down to the basement, after they'd been lazily sitting around for a couple weeks, I remembered I never documented the ONE project I did accomplish over the holidays... the topper to our tree. I quickly dug it out to photograph so that Murphy's Law wouldn't squash it during the year in storage. I would like to last for a while longer so I can tell the kiddo someday it's AS OLD AS HE IS!
You'll have to pardon the quality of the photos, as I don't have a proper set up and my camera is a simple one.

Even though I had a bugger of a time with the wings, it was fun making this angel for the tree from scraps... tough at times, however, with a 4-month old (at the time) with velcro hands on my lap. Speaking of which, methinks he just woke up!
Signing off...

Revisiting my childhood...

2008-01-18T21:47:00.000-05:00

... and learning how to play again!

I remember how as a child I used to love creating. In school (at a young age) I would love mixing paints in art class just to see what new colors I could come up with. And at home I loved sitting at this big table my parent's made in the basement making all sorts of things. But as I got older things changed. I guess I became too self-conscious and worried about what other students would think and what other students were doing. In my studio classes, I didn't take full advantage of what was at my disposal. I didn't experiment that much. Didn't explore or push myself. Wasn't adventurous. Boy, I'm not painting a good picture of myself!! HA

Even in liberal arts classes... it wasn't until after the class ended, maybe months later or even a year, that I read the books I was supposed to read IN class. The seed was always planted in class, but it was afterwards that things started to happen. And I usually enjoyed the books later on too! I just seemed to lose that freedom and spontaneity I had as a kid.

I also remember always wanting to be one of those students that carried a sketchbook around with them, or camera, or notebook. But no. It was always heavy and in my way. After being carried around, unused for a couple days, it was promptly removed.

But no more!!!

Now I have all these empty sketchbooks at my disposal... I will fill them up. Really I will!

I'm looking at all these projects going on (or past) in the blogging world, which most everybody already knows/knew about - project 365, the noticing project, Encyclopedia of Me Meme to name a few- and am eager to try them at some point, to some degree, in my own way.

First things first. Right now I'm eager to get started on my first swap:

I think this will be fun, and it's the perfect thing to start me off. Not sure what I'll be doing yet, haven't yet received all the necessary info, but looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I have a HUGE bag of fabric scraps in the trunk of my car from my mom, and there's plenty more where that came from that I can pilfer from. She'll also be giving me one of her extra sewing machines (hubby will be happy I can hem some of his pants!) Of course, I haven't sewn anything since high school, so she'll have to refresh my memory... so sad!

And I also have to dust off my studio:

It's become a bit of a storage area, wouldn't you say?

Lots of dusting off!!! It truly is a sorry state of affairs...

Greetings!

2008-01-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm Tara.

... a wife and mommy living in the New England area.

I've been lurking for a while through various blogs and finally developed the bug... to blog and craft again. So here I am! I almost don't know where to start though, so I suppose I should just try and dive right in.

Somehow. In some way.

Perhaps I'll try a swap to get my feet wet? A little direction to help me get past this huge creative block I've built up over the years. At the same time, there are so many things I'd like to make for the house, my son and husband, friends and family, and more.

All I know is that it's been too long since I've created ANYTHING and I know I need to get back into creating again. (Just add it to the long list of other things I'm trying to juggle at home... heh.)

I expect it will be a little slow going at first, what with a 5-month old boy and a house falling down around me! But here I go giving it a shot....