Spring Break Kick-Off

Hi everyone!  Hope your weekend was fantastic!  Mine was long, but good.  Easter service at my church was really good - I'm so blessed to be a part of a great church family.

 If you've known me long, you will understand that I absolutely adore my creative 5 year old, Spunky.  He often has very long-winded explanations about his drawings - what each detail is, and what it is doing, complete with sound effects.  He gets very involved in his stories.

He is a funny kid.  Very quirky.  Very unique.  And yes, he does stick his tongue out when he is drawing.  This is what I call his "thinking face".

He drew me this one in a very light yellow marker - with green grass as the only other color (I turned it b&w so you could see it).  I was thinking about making this an embroidered piece, then I wondered if it wouldn't make a better 3D stuffed toy?  I'd love your opinion on that.



We are beginning our Spring Break around these parts today.  So there should be tons of creative things happening at our house.  We haven't colored eggs yet, so I'm thinking that will be tomorrow's fun.  Then I was thinking of decorating rocks with chalk.  That might be fun, too.  And the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium is AMAZING, so we'll probably end up there, too (especially since we've got a new Polar Bear exhibit).  Maybe I'll take pictures.  I've been seriously neglecting my camera lately....

...so today, I pulled it out to take an impromptu family photo (minus me, of course).  It was horrifically cold and we were not prepared for the wind chill, so we had a very short playground experience (with an even shorter photo shoot - this being the only one where Sunshine is not crying because of the cold).

Happy Week-after-Easter (or Spring Break) (or both, as the case may be)!
:) Caren

Odds and Ends

I've just been working on my sister's chair cover thingies but the machine I'm using keeps snapping the thread.  I gave up in frustration after the fourth time I had to re-thread it. Some day I will own a sewing machine - one capable of doing at least a zig-zag stitch.  But what right have I to complain?!!!  My friend loaned me (indefinitely) her grandmother's sewing machine.  What a dear, sweet, trusting friend.  

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things". (Philippians 4:8)
This verse gives great insight on keeping positive, and how to stay that way.  I could grumble and complain, but I'm not going to.  And since you are reading this, I'm going to let you see a bit of my thinking about "such things".  In pictures!

 First off, this past year I was thinking about a "label".  I kind of like this one.  It's my own design and a professional could probably do better.  But for now, it will work!

Then there are the many embroidery designs I've done.  Like this one.  I kind of like it, too. Here's how my first attempt turned out:

Not the greatest (I was trying to figure out which way I liked to wrap the letters).  But it's a fun start, right?

And then there's fabric.  Does fabric make you happy, too?  Well, these gems are from my quilting friend Brooke, and I made this piece of loveliness with some of them:

(And my Sunshine looks so adorable in it.  I love this fabric - thank you so much, Brooke!!!)

Here's a UFO from my pile: a quiet book.  These are the pieces for my OHIO TIC TAC TOE and PLANT THE VEGGIES pages.  The tic tac toe pieces are buckeyes and ladybugs (state tree & insect) and velcro on/off.  The Veggies are carrots, potatoes, and beets and are inside pockets.  If any of you have made quiet books before, you know how much time they take.  I really do want to show you the finished pages, but that will have to wait for a bit.  


And still keeping on the "such things" theme, here's some more:

A sweet "Mermaiden" I made (from Hilary Lang's book Wee Wonderfuls).

And a couple of pincushions.  The one on the left is a porcupine (I made his nose a little too platypus-ish, but he's still cute.) 

Alien Blobbies (another cadamsCREATIONS original)

And here's the robot I made for Spunky when Sprout was born.  He actually designed it (pretty great for a 4 year old, if you will pardon my bias!)

And the "E" bag I made for my sister.  I was so impressed with how well this bag turned out.  It was one of my first bags!

OK, I know this blog is about my crafty stuff, but here's a little randomness about me:

I love big fat fluffy squirrels.  (These were in my back yard.)

And last (but not least) for the day:  I love my Sprout, who just recently turned one year old.  He's grown so much!  I remember when I found out I was pregnant he was about the size of a blueberry, so we called him "baby blueberry".  Then he was born and had to be in NICU for a little bit, and when I took him home he shrunk.  And kept shrinking.  On his 23rd day (after losing almost 2lbs) he was hospitalized.

Oh yes.  Look at those eyes!  He's beautiful.  Anyway, he's better now, and growing like a weed (hence the name Sprout).  He started standing on his own on Christmas day, and just took his first step (toward me!) today.

This was at his birthday party - after he devoured his cake (though I'm not sure how much of it actually got IN his mouth!)

Oh, writing this post was good for my heart.  I am so amazed at the things that my hands have made in the past year (that's about how long I've been sewing) and grateful for the friends I have (new, old, creative, and not-so-much). And just thinking about the growth and development of my youngest child (and my other two as well, but that's for another day....) makes me smile.

Hope your life is full of "such things" to think about.  I encourage you: keep those good things in your remembrance.  It will do your heart good!

Blessings,
:) Caren

Traditions Around the World

(source)

The poll from my readers on Monday's giveaway post was so enlightening.  First of all, a HUGE thank you to all of you who commented.  I had people from HALF of the United States (25 states!) as well as Austria, Canada, France Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and the U.K.!  (And that was only the people who told me where they were from.)  I think it is a wonderful thing that you all, though you are so far away, can be as close as my computer!  

My husband and I have been talking about traditions lately, because we would like to start some with our children.  We follow Jesus Christ and want to give our children the understanding of why we celebrate Christmas, but aside from the spiritual, there are things that are just plain fun to do during this season!  That is why I asked you about your traditions (that and the fact that different cultures are very interesting to me!).  So here's what I found out from you, my dear readers, in those comments.

(source)

First of all, there were several holidays mentioned, including Winter Solstice, Christmas, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Easter, Hanukkah, and Yule.  If you are looking for traditions to start with your family, maybe you could adopt one of these:

Giving and receiving presents, putting Santa's footprints in talc on Christmas morning, attending church or temple services, advent calendars, watching "It's a Wonderful Life", putting up a nativity (or seeing a live one), putting up a tree (better yet, cutting your own tree and/or greenery), decorating, hanging lights (or driving through neighborhoods to see theirs), caroling, and drinking hot chocolate.

St. Nicholas shoe

Some more traditions involve St. Nick's shoes, having family devotions, sending holiday cards, seeing "The Nutcracker" (or dancing in it!), Christmas pageant, cleaning and/or painting the house, making gifts for others, inviting others for dinner, "adopting" a military family for the season, reading special stories, such as "The Velveteen Rabbit", "Twas the Night Before Christmas", or the Christmas story from the Gospels in the Bible.

Wow.  That's a LOT of traditions right there!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!  I've saved some of my favorite comments for last!  

Did you know that in Austria, they do not have Santa, but they have "Christkind"?

Sunrise - Christchurch, New Zealand

Or that New Zealand sees the sunrise first in the world? (How cool would that be, to have sunrise church service on the beach overlooking the ocean?!!!)

(source)

Or, did you know that in Germany, they do not do any washing during the "Rauhnächte" (rough nights), which go from December 24 to January 6 as it's said to bring bad luck to hang washing up to dry because who knows what strange creatures might use them to play tricks on you ...  

Here are a few unique traditions from the U.S. that you may want to adopt, like:
- Have Thanksgiving dinner, complete with spaghetti for the vegetarians (or baked tilapia (fish) for the "health-conscious") 
- Go out to a restaurant for Christmas breakfast and "leave an obscenely large tip".
- And last, but not least, is the tradition that I am going to start with my family today:

Making garlands for the Christmas tree from Fruit Loops! 

(You knew I'd be adding in some home-made creative stuff here, right?)

So from my family to yours, Merry Christmas.  May the light of God shine on you, no matter what holidays or traditions you hold to!

:) Caren

p.s. - Stay tuned to cadamsCREATIONS - the winner of the giveaway will be announced later today!

My Workshop

Just in case anyone is interested in where I work, here's a short tour of my workshop.  The tour is short because, well, it's a corner of my living room.  Not much there.  So - on with the tour!

My sewing machine is a Singer 99K (that black cast iron beauty) c.1953.  It's my friend's grandmother's.  The booklet that came with it says it is the first machine to have optional electric foot pedal!!!  The serger is a Bernina.  Both of these machines are being loaned to me.  You can see a bit of the table I use - it's a pedestal table - the side flaps fold down.  But mercy me, that Singer shakes the poor table like an earthquake!  (MY LUNCH is the back is actually a box from JimmyJohns that says "Jimmy Lunch", and it is full of Fall & Christmas fabrics sent to me by my friend Brooke!)

Speaking of fabrics, here are some of my fabric "mini-bolts".  I wrapped my fabrics around comic book backer boards and now I can actually see what I've got!  The bigger things, like the sheets and shirts and stuff (shown on the left) are just folded.
And to finish off our tour (see, I told you it would be a short one!):

Then there are my UFO's (UnFinished Objects) - like this old lady head.  She's going to be a kind of muppet-like doll with a humongous mouth that eats stuff (there was an old lady who swallowed a fly...).  I'm hoping to get her done before Christmas so I can give her to my son's kindergarten teacher.  And speaking of my son (not that it has anything to do with my workshop, but I thought I'd share):

Spunky lost his very first tooth!  My baby is growing up :)

Have a great day, all - I'll be announcing the winner of the Silly Mama Quilts giveaway on Friday.  If you missed the post, feel free to check it out here.
     :) Caren

Link Parties, Contests, Community, and Family

Once in a while a girl just has to hear from her readers. This is one of them. Do any of you, sweet readers, participate in link parties or contests? I know it does increase traffic on your blogs, not that I'm really concerned about that with mine, but I think I have some fun crafty ideas and I like to share them with others. So I've linked up my Patchwork Horse (see my previous blog post) with a couple of link parties (and entered into the "Crafting with the Stars" - WHAT?!!! am I insane?!!!).

And what do you think about the online community of crafty people? I personally have "met" so many wonderful bloggers, full of encouragement and ideas. I could give you a list (if you're interested).  So...just curious about your experiences.

And just so this post has a little something fun to look at here's my little Sprout. Yep, standing. He's crawling now. Can't sit up by himself but he's really working hard on standing! (Just turned 8 months).

Doesn't he look proud?  And yes this IS my little Sprout - grown into 18 month clothing already!
Have a great day - oh, and look for my giveaway post (my FIRST giveaway!) later this week
:) Caren