I'm in a quiet mood so I'm going to start off slow. Pencils already sharpened, ready to do homework, write lists, doodle and draw. There is a lot of potential in that jar.
Here's the list of yellow week links. If I missed you, let me know and I will add you to the participants. I also started a flickr group - feel free to join. Have fun finding the bright spots in your day.
We have power! Woot! It's amazing how much we take electricity for granted. And I am so thankful that we were spared from losing it the other night. I'd like to think all your well wishes helped so I will. Thank you.
I know that I have been going on and on about the auction quilts. What I haven't mentioned is that I was in charge of coming up with art projects for all the classes at our school. My children attend a Catholic school, grades K - 8, so with the help of a friend, we came up with 9 different child art projects. I was personally responsible for completing 3 sets (Kindergarten, first grade and third grade) and helped out on all of the others. These play tents that the kindergarten classes painted are one of my favorites.
One class painted a meadow scene on yellow duck cloth and the other painted an underwater scene on blue duck cloth. I bought the duck cloth at Jo-Ann's (I used 50% off coupons, making it very affordable, about $12 per tent) and the bamboo garden stakes at Lowe's (about $15 per tent). I made the tents using this tutorial as a guide. I should mention that it is almost a no-sew project. There is a bit of hand sewing involved, but no machine necessary. So with the help of my handy assistant and good friend, Caroline,(whose children don't even attend the same school as mine!), we got them assembled and ready to go yesterday.
We added lots of ribbons and ric rack as streamers and strung some plastic beads on them for good measure. They are really cheerful and very cute so I hope they will be big sellers tomorrow night.
I should have saved this photo for yellow week....remember, it starts Monday!
Off I go....the car needs servicing, some bean bags need stuffing and sewing and I am going to treat myself to a pedicure and then a nap. I hope you have something to look forward to this Friday.
All the group emails have been sent out for the ATC swap. If you haven't heard from us and you did indeed sign up before the cut-off last Friday at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time, email us at atckidswap@gmail.com. Just a reminder that cards need to be in the mail by February 28th.
Next week is yellow week. Look around you, see all the bright cheery spots in your life and take photos of them. If you plan on playing along, email me at hillroad at bellsouth dot net and I will add you to the list of participants. I am hoping that some advance notice will give you film shooters enough time to do your magic, too.
The auction quilts are finished. I don't have photos yet, but will post some as soon as I can.
We have a wind storm coming through town today. I swear I will scream and then cry and sob if we lose power again. I am still working on other auction projects and the big event is this weekend. Please, spare us. If I disappear for more than a few days, you'll know why.
I think that is it. Gratuitous beer photo below. I just can't post without something to look at. Happy Wednesday.
I think I need more yellow in my life. It's just so cheery. Maybe a yellow week to break up the February gloom? Would anyone be interested in that?
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The groups for the Kids ATC swap are slowly going out. Because we have over 900 children participating, it is going to take some time to send all those emails. If you signed up and you don't hear from us right away, don't fret. You will.
There is a Flickr group for the swap, too. Please add photos of yourchildren's creations so we all can see what creative kids we have!
Blair and I never imagined such a huge response. By the number of emails we received after the cut off, I know some people were upset that we couldn't accomodate any more swappers. I hate to disappoint anyone. Believe me when I say that I truly appreciate those of you that took the news gracefully.
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I threw my back out on Friday and ended up spending the day on the couch. I feel so much better now, but am a smidge behind on my quilt binding. The auction is this Saturday night so I best get stitching. I promise photos soon.
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Next week I am going to make something for myself. I cannot wait for some selfish crafting!
I finished quilting both of the auction quilts yesterday. Actually, the second quilt pieced was the first one quilted and that has been sitting around waiting for a binding for a couple weeks. Yesterday, I finished quilting the other one, so now it, too, waits for a binding. Guess what I am doing today? Yes, indeed-y, you are right.
Blair and I are completely overjoyed and overwhelmed at the incredible response to the Kids ATC swap. I knew it would strike a cord with lots of you, but I think we completely underestimated your enthusiasm! As of right now, there are over 560 kids signed up and there are still over 200 emails that haven't been opened. You have until 12:00 noon EST (New York City time) today to sign up. You need to email you child's name, address and age to atckidswap@gmail.com to be signed up. We plan on making the groups this weekend and hope to let you know on Monday. Please be patient with us if it is Tuesday or Wednesday - we have a lot of work to do.
Hope you enjoy a relaxing and productive weekend. You'll find me on the couch, under a quilt, stitching away. See you here next week.
These tulips are making me happy today. What has you smiling?
Hello! It's good to be back. Thanks for all your well wishes last week. The electricity is humming along and the house is warm. We were well taken care of, though. A big thanks to our good friends!
Sometime after the holidays, I stumbled upon Blair's post about Emma's artist trading cards. I was immediately enamored with Emma's work and knew that my girls would love to create miniature works of art, as well. I asked Blair if she would be interested in hosting a swap just for kids and she said yes!
So now, you might be wondering exactly what constitutes an artist trading card. No worries! Click on this link, to find out more specifics about these small works of art. The artist trading card pool on flickr might also be a great source of inspiration for your budding young artist. I found that once I gave my kids the small papers and we pulled out the watercolors and pastels, they didn't need any direction from me. They just got busy creating! It was so fun to watch how differently they approached it - Jane immediately thought of the art she has studied in school and did her own interpretation of it whereas Kate looked around the room and drew what she saw and later pulled out the Ed Emberley books and started painting again.
My girls were really excited at the idea that they could send their drawings and paintings to other children and then would receive some in return. I think the idea of mail, addressed to them, certainly added to their excitement. So Blair and I have put our heads together and have created a swap, just for kids, to share artist trading cards with one another. Each child will be part of a small group and will create mini masterpieces (2.5" by 3.5" small!) of their own to send to similarly aged children all over the United States, and hopefully, around the world. If your child would like to participate, here are the guidelines:
- Please send a message to atckidswap@gmail.com by this Friday, 2/6. Let us know your address, your child's name and age. International swappers are welcome!
-This is exclusively a project for children and for thatreason, we are specifying that participating children be ages 4 and up. No adult ATC's, please.
- We will divide the children into groups of 6, meaning your child will make 5 cards to mail out. You will receive your group from us on Monday, 2/9.
-Artist trading cards are all the same size: 2.5" by 3.5". Because ATC's are so small, they will fit into a standardenvelope. To keep it simple, the participants are not obligatedbeyond mailing the actual card out to its recipient (plus anyinformation about the card they'd like to add). Anything extra is up tothe sender and is not expected or required.
- Finished cards should be mailed out to their recipients no later than 2/28.
I hope you will join us. A big thanks to Blair, and to her sister-in-law Jenny, who inspired the whole thing. Jenny even created a kids atc button for us to use. Feel free to put it on your blog and link back to this post, or Blair's post, for details on the swap. I think it is going to be so much fun!
