crafting with children / everything else / sewing projects / work in progress

take and replace

"Take and replace." It’s my new mantra with Emma and Mary these days as they deal with Elizabeth, who now wants to come crashing in on whatever they are doing. Playing with schleich animals? She wants to sit in the middle and suck on the giraffe. Drawing at your desk? She wants to stand up beside you and pull the papers down to shred. So I’ve taught them "take and replace." Take away what she has that you want. Replace it with something else she’ll like.

Maybe that’s what Martha Stewart is doing with the new special issue of Martha Stewart Good Things: Kids ? Take away MSKids, replace with MS Good Things? This special issue is good–full of some old favorites that I recognize from my MSKids back issues and some new things, too. Having the issue in hand makes me realize how much I miss Martha Stewart Kids. It makes me want to do something…. like write a letter to Martha or Jodi Levine. Or start a new blog–a petition begging them to bring it back!! There are other good children’s magazines out there. Wondertime has filled the Kids-void for me, but it isn’t as craft-heavy, which is what I loved about MS Kids…

I sat with the issue last night and went through and made a list of a few of the projects I want to try first–the button bracelets, wrapped pencils, decorated bobby pins. So much good stuff.

P1010003

I’ve been an embroidering fool this weekend. I got started on an old bird drawing of emma’s that I found which has wing bars. I got it all filled in with the colors she suggested, but then got a little stuck. I’m not sure what direction I want to go from here–a pale grey to fill in the other parts, leave them "blank"? But it made me glad I did a practice run before jumping in with the other sketch. I also need to use less strands of floss in the smaller areas like the beak and dark crown. This is all a fun learning process for me.

P1010005_2

**my pictures look so blurry in typepad this morning. they’re much better in flickr today. hmm.**

And this morning, just because I wanted something to work on while I drank my cup of coffee, I did this drawing I found buried in my sewing basket. Now Mary is begging for me to do something of hers, too. I’m going to have to make a trip to IKEA this weekend for some cheap frames, if this keeps up. They want to draw everything on fabric. Thank goodness for cheap, but simple muslin cloth.

And speaking of birds, check out these amazing felted birds I stumbled upon last night by Lauren Alane. Aren’t they amazing? These kill me. She just updated her shop and sold out, but may be updating again this week, according to her blog. I wish I’d found them earlier. They would have made sweet little valentine gifts for the girls.

It’s freezing cold here today. Although I remember, when I lived in Wisconsin, thinking these temperatures being what we called "relief". It’s in the twenties. I remember being happy to see double digits again, back in my Wisconsin winter days. Brrr.

stay warm…..

"Take and replace." It’s my new mantra with Emma and Mary these days as they deal with Elizabeth, who now wants to come crashing in on whatever they are doing. Playing with schleich animals? She wants to sit in the middle and suck on the giraffe. Drawing at your desk? She wants to stand up beside you and pull the papers down to shred. So I’ve taught them "take and replace." Take away what she has that you want. Replace it with something else she’ll like.

Maybe that’s what Martha Stewart is doing with the new special issue of Martha Stewart Good Things: Kids ? Take away MSKids, replace with MS Good Things? This special issue is good–full of some old favorites that I recognize from my MSKids back issues and some new things, too. Having the issue in hand makes me realize how much I miss Martha Stewart Kids. It makes me want to do something…. like write a letter to Martha or Jodi Levine. Or start a new blog–a petition begging them to bring it back!! There are other good children’s magazines out there. Wondertime has filled the Kids-void for me, but it isn’t as craft-heavy, which is what I loved about MS Kids…

I sat with the issue last night and went through and made a list of a few of the projects I want to try first–the button bracelets, wrapped pencils, decorated bobby pins. So much good stuff.

P1010003

I’ve been an embroidering fool this weekend. I got started on an old bird drawing of emma’s that I found which has wing bars. I got it all filled in with the colors she suggested, but then got a little stuck. I’m not sure what direction I want to go from here–a pale grey to fill in the other parts, leave them "blank"? But it made me glad I did a practice run before jumping in with the other sketch. I also need to use less strands of floss in the smaller areas like the beak and dark crown. This is all a fun learning process for me.

P1010005_2

**my pictures look so blurry in typepad this morning. they’re much better in flickr today. hmm.**

And this morning, just because I wanted something to work on while I drank my cup of coffee, I did this drawing I found buried in my sewing basket. Now Mary is begging for me to do something of hers, too. I’m going to have to make a trip to IKEA this weekend for some cheap frames, if this keeps up. They want to draw everything on fabric. Thank goodness for cheap, but simple muslin cloth.

And speaking of birds, check out these amazing felted birds I stumbled upon last night by Lauren Alane. Aren’t they amazing? These kill me. She just updated her shop and sold out, but may be updating again this week, according to her blog. I wish I’d found them earlier. They would have made sweet little valentine gifts for the girls.

It’s freezing cold here today. Although I remember, when I lived in Wisconsin, thinking these temperatures being what we called "relief". It’s in the twenties. I remember being happy to see double digits again, back in my Wisconsin winter days. Brrr.

stay warm…..

12 comments on “take and replace”

  1. It’s funny you should mention the cold Wisconsin winter. I just took my dog outside and nearly froze… it’s -1 today in Wisconsin. Wish I had those double digits.

    I just love those birds. I love the idea of working on something crafty that’s a bit more permanent with kids. And drawing on fabric is always fun!

  2. i want to throw martha in the back of a panel van, drive her into the mountains, duct tape her to a chair and then have a conversation about MSK and Blueprint.

    not that i feel strongly about it or anything.

    still loving your birds! freezing cold here, too.

  3. What a cute idea with the embroidery. A collaborative effort is always fondly remembered.

    Put on some wool socks and get a quilt and cuddle up and read with the kids and hot chocolate! Stay warm yourself, too.

  4. i love the embroidery, molly. i am all about muslin – the perfect embroidery cloth in my mind. and i use three strands of floss – seems to work ok for the main drawing and the details.

  5. What a simple solution to grabbing hands (grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts – Depeche Mode flashback). Very cute birdies – Emma must be proud. I got something in the mail today…

  6. Molly, those are so sweet. I think my favorite is the equestrienne and all the clover beneath. It reminds me of all those horse and horses and horses I drew and drew growing up! I’m sure she’s filling a binder full of horse drawings already. Soo cute! 🙂

  7. Oh, how glad I am that we live in California! Cold to us is 40 degrees! 🙂 Yesterday it hit 70, and should be about the same all week!

    Wish you were here! 😉

  8. I miss MS Kids so much too! I buy all of the little special issues that she puts out, even though half of the ideas are already in the back issues that I own.

    I’m seething upset that they cancelled Blueprint. I never read Baby, but I know a lot of people were up in arms about that as well. It seems that MS Omnimedia just isn’t up to giving their new magazines an honest chance. Too bad.

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