Recapping the past 3 months

No post since January? Sheesh. Where has the time gone? There used to be a time where I documented nearly everything I made. Lately though, a lot of what I do soon disappears into the world like it never even happened. It's time I record a few creations for posterity's sake, lest I forget them forever.

One of my recent creations that I'm most proud of is this:

 

Well, not necessarily the banner (which was bright and sparkly and probably my biggest kokoleo banner yet) but the show itself. Several of my PTO mom friends and I organized a talent show at our kids' school. No one could remember the last time there had been one at the school so we were starting from scratch. It was a success! We had 32 acts and over 300 people showed up. I was in charge of the stage crew and got to see the look of pride (and relief) on the kids' faces as they walked off stage. Sage and McKenna did a comedy routine called "the BIG-un-ATOR 2000" where McKenna hid inside the "machine" and Sage put small items in one side, it shook and made machine noises, and larger versions came out the other. In the end he put a doll in and McKenna popped out.

It's funny how some of the most significant and rewarding projects I do are the ones I do for free. Still, I gotta make a buck somehow, so I've been teaching craft classes at local schools for a non-profit company called Eastside Enrichment.

Puppet-making, cartooning, egg-art, jewelry making, puffball creatures, mobiles, etc. - these are the activities we've explored over the weeks. I'm even busting out crafts I learned at summer camp 25 years ago. Anyone remember these?

I'm also teaching a "Learning with Mother Goose Class" at the community center and it's a hit! Every month it's filled to capacity and sometimes even has a waiting list. I've spent a lot of time this year creating a curriculum - researching Mother Goose rhymes, organizing them into themes, and coming up with a craft for each class. I hope to continue this class next year with a new gaggle of preschoolers. I rarely remember to take pictures in these classes, but here are a couple. I'll try to share a few of our projects on my blog in the future.

I haven't forsaken kokoleo though (however neglected my Etsy shop may seem). I'm still taking commissions and doing occasional seamstress work. I'll share my latest personalized pieces tomorrow, but here are some recent special-order outfits I made:

A baby gift for a "surfer family that likes funky stuff", and this outfit for a birthday gift for one of McKenna's friends:

The party was a "Monster High" theme so I made a skull applique of the logo and made a fringy skirt to match. The patch is the invitation that I printed onto fabric and sewed onto the skirt. A kokoleo-meets-Monster-High original.

One of my most important projects though, is top secret. I've seen a need in my neighborhood and am making an effort to enact change for the good of my community. It's a project I've been dreaming about for years but just recently joined forces with the right people to possibly make it happen. I don't want to say too much for fear of jinxing it, but hopefully I'll have good news to share someday soon. Fingers crossed!

The Day We Made a Mosaic

Back in January I wrote this blog post about my vision for a mosaic in our Children's Park. Guess what? We did it! I applied for a grant through the City of Renton's Neighborhood Grant Program and it was approved. We were awarded $700 to install a one-of-a-kind mosaic in our park. My goal was to have it be a community-driven project (I certainly couldn't do it alone) and have as many people in the neighborhood as possible contribute items to be included in the mosaic. Here's the blurb I wrote for our homeowner's newsletter:

Victoria Park Receives Art Grant

Our Children's Park is a hidden gem in Victoria Park. Last year, a group of parents came up with an idea to create a mosaic in the park. A proposal was written and a grant was applied for through the City of Renton's Neighborhood Grant Program and it was approved! The Victoria Park Homeowners Association has been awarded $700 to create a one-of-a-kind community-based art project in our park.

We want you to be a part of this project too! The idea is to create a mosaic around the bench that faces the swing set. In it, we plan to embed colorful marbles, tiles, rocks, and tiny trinkets. We are asking every person who lives in Victoria Park to contribute one item to this project. Items should be no larger than 2 inches across and non-biodegradeable. Examples are: A rock from your front lawn, a marble, a plastic or metal toy, a broken tile or dish, and other small, solid trinkets. Please note your item will not be returned, but instead it will be embedded in cement and on display forever in the Children's Park.

Little by little, donations were dropped of in a basket on our porch - coins, toys, broken jewelry, seashells and rocks - and over the course of the summer I began amassing mosaic materials at thrift stores, yard sales and antique shops - marbles, tiles, and polished glass stones.

In mid-August we finally broke ground...

and the friends who encouraged me to apply for the grant came out to help us.

There was no going back at this point. We dug a 12 ft. by 12 ft. hole 10 inches deep. We couldn't leave it like that for long, so we scheduled a date when we could all meet again and install the mosaic. Over the next two weeks I shopped for supplies, arranged for cement delivery (54 bags!), bought water and ordered 10 large pizzas to be delivered that evening. A few days before we were scheduled to install the mosaic, I stopped by Upton Glassworks in downtown Renton to ask if they had any broken bits or leftovers that we could include in our design. To my surprise, the owner, Paul Sullivan, brought out a big heavy box full of beautiful glass orbs and said we could have it. Free!

I knew then that we were ready to begin our project. These were the big, beautiful, colorful, Renton-made objects we needed to make our mosaic complete.

September 16th was the day we converged on the park with shovels and wheelbarrows to make it happen.The kids helped mix cement (but soon learned how tiring it was and quickly left to play on the playground while the grownups did the dirty work.)

While the big strong men mixed and poured the concrete...

The moms started laying out the materials and coming up with a design so we could easily transfer it when the cement was ready.

And suddenly it was! 

Everyone quickly tackled certain parts...

The area in front of the bench ended up a "sealife" theme with fish, crabs, frogs, turtles, an octopus and a mermaid...

surrounded by an ocean of clear, blue, and green marbles...

and a "barrier reef" of seashells.

Then we moved on to the marbles...

 

And finally we let the kids place their toys and all the trinkets we'd collected into the cement.

Then we had a pizza party. (I factored this expense into our budget when I applied for the grant.)

Yeah, my neighbors are awesome. I'm pretty lucky to live here.

A week later we applied a few layers of cement sealant to strengthen and weatherproof it. I also threw in some glitter to add some sparkle.

 

And now it's done!

We walk past it everyday on our walk to school...

and remember that one day in 2012

 

...when we made a mosaic.

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue...

(Shout out to Carole King in the title up there.)

That tapestry I posted last Thursday? Soon after I posted it I went in my studio and turned it into a skirt:

 

It inspired me to seek out my collection of tapestries that I had stashed away. To my surprise I found another Dogs Playing Poker tapestry, same theme, but a totally different rendition. Years ago I had tried to turn it into a skirt but didn't like how it was turning out so I stashed it away. Looking at it again, I realized my mistakes, took it apart, and reworked it in the same style I made that first one.

After that skirt I was on a tapestry kick, so I made this one:

and then this one:

and then I made a dress:

Sage likes that one. He said, "You should wear that to church!" Ha. It would turn heads, that's for sure.

I also made a bag:

and a pillow:

And now, sadly, my tapestry stash is depleted.

And I also just realized that these technically aren't tapestries by the Wikipedia definition, just printed cloth. Oh well, they're in the tapestry tradition so I'm going to keep calling them tapestries.Real woven tapestries wouldn't nearly be as soft and wearable as these.

Save the Owls

I made this pincushion the other day:

I found the ceramic owl and trunk vase at Value Village and though I try to avoid acquiring knick-knacks at thrift stores, this guy spoke to me. It was something to the effect of , "Whoo whooo... hey yooou... take me home and make me into something newww!" So I did.

It originally held a tiny bouquet of ugly fake flowers which I immediately tossed. I filled the empty trunk with beans and hot glue to give it weight and attached a plush patchwork sphere on the top.

I also made this guy...

 

Who who whooo needs a place to put their pins? They'll be flying into my Etsy shop soon.