colour therapy

Days are long at the moment, and too often the temptation is to simply fall down at the end of the day and bask in inactivity and slob-dom. But when I spotted this beautiful colour theory project that Merrilee had used to make Valentine's cards from, all that red gave me a giant burst of energy.

My version was not-for-cuts, on a big-kid sized piece of watercolour paper.

I started out with a test sheet, to make sure that I could manage to draw straight lines, and liked the colours I'd picked... good job I did practice, as it ended up looking rather like a sample of Eighties' lipsticks. Orange you glad orange isn't still in fashion? 

(Note: after a brief Google search, it seems orange lipstick is slated to be the big thing for Spring 2011. Shows what I know about fashion)

Moving onto the real deal, I drew up a grid in pencil, making each square 1x1".




And then the colours started to appear.

At first I found myself over-thinking it, and imposing rules on myself: no two adjacent squares of the same colour, not more than two orange squares per row, not more pinks than reds, and on and on. 

It became rather much more enjoyable when, fifty or sixty squares in, I thought "sod that" and started to feel the colours. Well, that and I started to slop so much paint onto the brush that it tended to drip into another square before I reached the one I was going for.

Repeat after me: "Free your paintbrush, free your mind."

There really was some kind of perverse satisfaction in letting the paint ooze out of those tidy little squares, in seeing the splatter, in getting paint on our table in allowing mess.



Definitely a satisfying way to spend an evening, and even more exciting, when I woke up this morning all of the paints had dried into completely different colours -- better colours, in my opinion.

Now it's pegged up in the living room -- a reminder of the energy that colour can summon up, even on the long days.

Mossy March Madness Wreath

We're welcoming in the spring this year with a plump and springy moss wreath, inspired by Alice in Wonderland. 

Dare you knock on our door and fall down the rabbit hole?

The Second Annual Bird-Brained Blanket Project

What better way to spend a hot and humid Texas summer than knitting a heavy woolly blanket?

Last year at this time, I was just beginning Tilly's basket-weave baby blanket -- a labour of love in dusky pink, on the tiniest needles known to man. Ten months, it took. I actually started to hate knitting for a bit.

But this blanket is different. Bigger needles, brighter colours. In fact, I'm using up all the sorry little left-overs of other projects, knitting them up into long panels which I'll join together. It feels doubly wonderful to be making something out of stuff that's getting in the way anyway. It's like a patchwork quilt... but with no seam pressing.

The finished blanket will hopefully be something like the lovely ReadyMade one above, but perhaps just slightly pinker, as so many of the wools started out as Tilly hats and cardigans.

So, it promises to be a warm summer, no matter what the weather has in store!

baby blue

A second dress, to correct the mistakes of the first -- this version has no hidden holes where I re-did the binding, a proper hemline that doesn't come unfolded, and a Thai hill-tribe pompom for back-closure because buttons are so last week.

It's blue, blue completely blue (save for the red pompom) because I love how wearing blue makes Tilly's eyes seem extra blue, and because the fabric looked just like the one Lotta herself used in Simple Sewing for Baby.

So, my apologies to you, strangers in the supermarket who think that even the smallest dot of blue means 'boy', I really hope your heads don't spontaneously implode when you see a baby in a blue dress.

rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

Easter in the Year of the Rabbit -- surely there's never been a better excuse to go bunny mad. I love these soft, stuffed rabbits with their colourful ears and hearts and their kind little faces.

sources: 1. Molly's rabbit finger-puppets, 2. felt rabbit rattles,

3. grey felt rabbit, 4. stuffed retro rabbit

I'm hoping to invite a rainbow of felt rabbits into our home this year -- if they turn out well, you know, they can stay up all year long!

The Year of Miffy

miffy [mif-ee] 

1. n. a rabbit with her own series of children's picture books, by Dick Bruna
2. adj. informal. touchy, easily upset

When I was little, my parents called me 'Miffy', partly because I loved the sweet little rabbit and her rhyming adventures, but mostly because I was (apparently) a strong-willed little terror who miffed whenever things didn't go my way. 

Now, as everyone knows, little terrors always get what they deserve. Eight-month-old Miffy Jr. takes after her mother both in her regard for the sweet little rabbit and her rhyming adventures, and in her tendency to have a bit of miff from time to time.

(Is there any better phrase than "having a bit of a miff"?)

So, with a bit of freezer paper, I put together a little bag for Miffy Sr. (yours truly) to use for lugging around all of Miffy Jr.'s necessities. Because, you know, without snacks, drinks, hats, jumpers, spare socks, cloths and a large selection of toys, we're all prone to a bit of miffiness.

Miffy Jr. loves to carry her books around in her new bag, and apparently the tough canvas in just perfect for chomping on with new little teeth.

Start Now and Be Ready for the First Birthday

With Tilly just having turned eight months old, you might think it's a bit soon to be thinking about her first birthday. 

But, the list of things I want to make for her to celebrate is as long as she is, and growing at the same speed, so the earlier I start the better the chances are of some of it actually happening!

As Tilly has a lot of friends turning one before her, I thought I'd share our little list of plans, in case it sparks an idea in someone else. Our plans fall mostly into two categories: traditions I want to start now and repeat each year, and things that will be special just for this year.

Traditions to repeat:

• Create a photo book of all the "Tilly Tuesdays" from the year (she was born on a Tuesday)
• Take a photo of Tilly with her favourite stuffed animal each year
• Write her a letter (and hopefully get Justin to do one too)
• Have her colour the same picture each year
• Do something at 7:23pm (when she was born)
• Write a story book, featuring Tilly and Bella
• Take a photo of all three of us in a photobooth
• Record what a typical day in her life is like at this age
• Make a party dress

Special 1st birthday ideas:

• Make a felt crown, a la Soulemama
• Make a felt envelope, to be used for the birthday card/letter each year
• Put together a "zhua zhou" tray -- a Chinese tradition supposed to predict the child's future career

Yes, it's quite a list -- you can see why I'm starting now!

The first thing I wanted to tackle was sewing a dress for Tilly. One of my favourite memories of birthdays growing up is the beautiful rose-covered dresses my Mum sewed for me. Having never sewn any clothes before (except a skirt for our Miko Rabbit!), though, I thought I'd start with an easy pattern. Tilly's gingham dress above is my first attempt, using Lotta's Simple Sewing for Baby. It really was simple, turned out pretty well (it's wearable!), and taught me a lot about fun things like armhole bindings and how not to hem.

I'm working up to trying a pattern from Fiona Bell's Sewn with Love. Hopefully by the time Tilly is five or six, I'll be up to making that lovely dress on the cover, below.

Do you have any special birthday traditions, or favourite memories of a celebration?