D.I.Y. Swing Set

Erik and I did a lot of screwing this week. I mean because we were building a swing set (get your mind out of the gutter). Building a swing set is not easy. First you have to dig up any obstacles, then level the ground, then get out all the parts and wrap your mind around the directions. Oh, and there are also kids and pets to attend to and distract you during all of it. But now it's done. Halleluiah! Now we can get back to normal, only better because now we have a swing set in our yard.

Remember when I blogged about Sage's favorite swing? This is what I did to it.

It was a good rusty clothesline, but it had to go. It was sturdy, which was nice when Sage would swing from it, but it was a pain to dig it up. It took me 4 days, digging about 45 minutes each day. Then on Friday (last week) we toppled it. Anyone want a rusty clothesline? It's free!

(That's a popsicle stick in his mouth, I don't let him smoke in the yard.)

On Saturday we hauled it to the shed and the rest of the day was spent leveling the yard (hard!). The kids were pretty good at entertaining themselves.

We moved McKenna's playpen to the shady spots and she just played with toys. Sage sometimes joined her and made her laugh (he's good at that) or read to her or organized all her Little People (the new-fangled fat ones) or teased her and made her cry. He's such a brother.

On Sunday (evening, because the days are way too hot) we started to build it.

Sage did a lot of reading. He reads a lot for an almost-6-year-old.

Monday and Tuesday we worked for a few hours when Erik got home from work. On Wednesday we worked into the wee hours with spotlights on so Thursday the kids could wake up and see this:

It was like Christmas morn, in August.


We did more work to it today - staked it to the ground, moved the sandbox, installed some accessories the company threw in for free. There was a telescope:

and a periscope:

neither of which actually magnify anything (how lame!) but don't tell Sage. We also moved the sandbox under the platform and installed a steering wheel so he could drive it into outer space.

I painted his old swing to match and hung it in the middle. No more accessories now. It's full.

Holy plastic and wood, Batman! It's still surreal to see it in our yard.

Thank you Nana and Papa for the birthday(s) present! (Next time give them something smaller, with less parts, please.)

Yo Pillow Pillow!

My favorite part about Comic-Con this year was when I got a t-shirt signed by DJ Lance Rock of Yo Gabba Gabba fame, as well as Erin Pearce, the voice of Toodee and inside of Brobee.

I lucked into a place near the front of the line at the Nickolodeon booth and then waited for an hour for my turn. I didn't mind though. The kids were safe and happy upstairs in "Comic-Con Kids Camp" and Erik was wandering around the expo floor doing his own thing. It was actually pretty Zen to just stand and stare at all the freaks and not have to corral any kidlets or get caught up in the crush of crazy comic book fans jockeying for the coolest freebie. When I got to the table and introduced myself, DJ Lance remembered me right away from oldskool Felt Clubs we did together years ago. That was nice. He's famous now! And rightly so. Yo Gabba Gabba rocks. I predict cult status in the future, if it hasn't happened already.

I asked him to make it out to Sage and McKenna, his #1 fans.

Sweet! I knew exactly what I was going to do with it when I got home. Fast forward a few days. . .

First, I cut out the important parts. . . (It's kind of hard to tell what it is at first glance, but it's his hat, glasses, and collar - you just have to imagine the rest.). . .

Then I stitched them all together, stuffed it generously, and turned it into a pillow (the perfect shape for hugging, I might add).

I also added "Yo Gabba Gabba" on the back.

Now whenever the show comes on they can get out their pillow and dance with their very own DJ Lance.

Break it down!

tap tap. . . Is this thing on?

I'm back! I think. We'll see. It was a nice little break living the non-blogging life - no pressure to get a post in before midnight, no having to upload and resize pictures, no taking the time to find the right words, no worrying if I'm coming across as show-offy or stupid. I forgot what it was like to just live and not have to package everything into interesting little paragraphs accompanied by neatly cropped and color-corrected pictures.

But now I have no record of the things we did this month. Like 4th of July fireworks at the CBS Studios:

or our hike:
to this place:
???

or the trip we took to see the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center :

or how I volunteered at the Handmade Nation art auction at the Poketo studio.

I never told you about the countless playgrounds, library excursions and playdates we had:
or the homeschooling we did:

(. . . or tried to do. . . he's a bit of a daydreamer.)

I didn't do a big writeup of Comic-Con 2008:

or tell you about our stay on Coronado Island:

and our visit to the Wild Animal Park:

Sage's hair is getting long. So is McKenna's:

Well, not that long, or purple, but wispy and blond. But it's there, in case you were worried.

I'm still here too, in case you were wondering. Thanks for sticking with me. I now return you to your regularly updated patchwork world. . .

Handmade Nation Silent Art Auction

I'm going to break my silence here to post about this event happening Saturday at the Poketo studio in Los Angeles.
All money raised will go to to help director Faythe Levine complete her independent film Handmade Nation, which explores the rise of a new generation of craft in America.

I'll be there helping out - if you stop by, say hi! And buy me some cool new art!

Please Stand By. . .

I think I need to take a little blog break. Don't worry, nothing's wrong, I just have some other things I want to focus on for a while. I won't be gone too long. Thanks for taking the time to read my random ramblings and thank you especially to those of you who write back - it means a lot to me. I promise I have a lot more ridiculousness left to share, so stay tuned, a patchwork world will return in a moment.

McKenna on Monday

We've got a stander on our hands, and a walker and a climber too. No Made by Monday today because it seems I didn't make much except for those cloudy curtains I already showed. I did make that shirt McKenna's wearing though. Well, I didn't make it, but I put the picture on it. It came from a pack of 3 vintage Avon iron-ons I found at a yard sale on Sunday. It ironed-on remarkably well for being 25 years old. It says, " A Surprise a Minute." Yep, that's her.

Welcome to the Swap-O-Rama-Rama

I have a tendency to throw myself into chaos from time to time. Today was one of those days. This is what happens when you throw hundreds of pounds of clothing into a gymnasium. . . or was it an auditorium? It was a big room.

. . .then add 10 or so designers to help you refashion your new old clothes into art.

You could screenprint with Aldo:

You could redesign a t-shirt:

or make your own tote with Lori:

You could hang out with Sean in the monster madness corner:

or add some stencils to your stuff:

or how about some L.A. Craft Mafia stencils?

Here's what went on at my applique'in station:

These are some things I learned today:

#1. It's not a good idea to stick a sign like this on your beloved vintage dress form.


Like it? Take it! I meant the clothes. When they were gone, all that remained was the dress form with that sign on it, so of course it got snagged. Luckily, a volunteer noticed what was going on and after sprinting across the crowded room I got it back. It was an honest mistake. If I saw a vintage dress form with a sign like that I'd say "Well alrighty then!" too.

#2. Assistance is a good thing. By the time Jenny showed up I was a wee bit crazy. Observe:

But together we kept the chaos under control. When I found out she was going to be there, I envisioned us leisurely cutting out templates, talking crafty gossip, and stitching appliques on all the funky clothes we could find. Ha! It was more like a whirlwind of scissors and scraps and sewing machine-hopping and people-helping. It was all we could do to exchange crazed glances across the tables and laugh.

But we survived. We even got to hang out with Sonja for a bit. I met Sonja at the Craftmas Bizarre last winter - yet another crazy show. It seems there are some people I only hang out with at extremely busy events. Sonja has written two awesome craft books Just for the Frill of It and Beadalicious. Jenny's got a Sew Darn Cute book coming out in the winter. Me? I got nothing.


Now for the applique fashion show.


Whew! I need a bath. Check out Jenny's Flickr set for better, less dark pictures. I took the old camera today because I didn't want to lose the good one.

The funny thing is, as much as I love thrift stores and rummage sales, I wasn't even interested in getting anything today. It was more fun watching other people get the good stuff and cheering them on from the sidelines.