Crafting with Love

My kids really inspire me so often. Their hearts are so pure and generous. Mia and Vivienne looked at the mailing from Heifer International and decided that they wanted to raise money to give animals to families in need. They decided on a goal of getting one flock on chicks and one goat, which amounts to $140. Vivienne spent several days making five-finger knitted scarves. This girl can knit up a storm. She listened to the Narnia Chronicles on CD, and knitted six wool scarves. Mia had a wonderful idea of taking  blank note cards, and the handmade seed paper that her Grammy made with her over the weekend and created beautiful greetings to sell. Then, I consulted my friends and decided to share a vending table with Ines in front of the local health food store. The weather was miserably wet and chilly, and after a few hours of little traffic, the kids spirits were getting down. We stopped inside for hot cocoa and returned to the table. All of a sudden, we had a stirring of interest. Some ladies came and delighted in Mia's beautiful cards, enjoying her artistic drawings and sweet words. They bought some. Then a woman with her little boy bought the first scarf. The kids were excited again, and more shoppers stopped. Some friends came by and purchased items, and before we knew it, the girls had raised over $100!

Here is the seeded paper drying. The green paper has an herb mix, and the pink has a flower mix. Mia cut them into shapes and drew around them. Later the seed paper can be peeled off the cards and planted in the spring. I didn't remember to photograph Mia's beautiful cards before they sold.

Here are two books that my friend, Tracy suggested we look at. One Hen and Beatrice's Goat. Both are about the wonderful changes in their lives that came from the addition of a farm animal.

Jasper is getting crafty these days, too. his favorite thing is to make paper airplanes and other paper/tape "origami" creations. He just recently started representational drawings, here he is working on his latest masterpiece.





Another of Vivienne's crafting. She woke up early one morning and sewed an entire baby blanket by hand. One side is cotton velour, the other is soft flannel fat quarters from my favorite fabric designer, Anna Maria Horner. Vivi plans to donate it - we have a box in our neighborhood for collecting warm blankets for charity. (I am thinking of quilting over it a bit to make it super secure, but alas, my sewing machine is missing a part... curious little boy hands, ugh.)

I got inspired to get makin' after attending The Big Crafty show. My favorite finds (among so many talented artists!) were Katie Daisy and Dana Fesenfeld at Chomp. I took a poufy beanbag chair (which has been waiting for months to get revamped) and covered it with fab Irish wool sweaters, hand stitched and then needled felted over it. It makes a cheery seat by the fireside. I think it is time to bring out the knitting needles. Today was our first snow flurry!

Happy Crafting to all!