New Project.................

I've not been in the mood to blog this week and this is why:

This past Monday a fellow school mom and I hosted our second craft morning. I sent out an email to all families and announced it at last weeks parent meeting. 1 MOM ATTENDED, again. Yes, just 1, again. My initial feeling was disappointment, then I was ticked off, then I was frustrated, then I was confused. As I explained to families, the purpose for these circles would be to get to know one another, make crafts for the program to sell at a future craft sale and also to talk about our program for next year. Both the other mom and I are on the Administrative Council so we know a lot about admin and finance at our school.

I know just as well as anyone that we all have busy schedules - heck I work on Monday and asked my boss if it was ok that I came in late so that I could attend the circle. It's just hard when I KNOW that there are mom's who could come but choose not to. Do we give up? Do we keep scheduling these? Ack, I am just so frustrated. Our Waldorf crafts are very popular in our community, help to promote our program and raise LOTS of money for us - which in this economy with all of the cutbacks is crucial. I know that I need to get over this, I am SUPER dedicated to Max's school, I attend probably 5-8 meetings a month, and I need to realize that to many people it's just not that important and that's ok. It's not ok, but it is :)

Well, the three of us forged ahead. We taught mom #3 how to make the Waldorf Doll head and we are now in the process of making lavender gnomes & babies. Right now they are all just heads and bodies, once I put them together I'll put up a pic. I have a subject in mind for tomorrow, just have to plan it out in my head.

HOPE & PATIENCE are my words for the week. Lately I've been wearing a necklace that says Patience one side, the other side says "Patience is a tree with bitter roots that bears sweet fruits" - my new mantra.

A Break From the Rain.........

Today is beautiful, blue skies and an ocean breeze.

Time for some outdoor exploration before the rain comes..........

In gratitude.

The Weekend & Crafting for a Cause................

This weekend was great! Saturday I took my 'mom day off'. I sauntered around to all of my favourite thrift shops (spent $0) and then went and saw a movie. I saw a chick flick - He's Just Not That Into You (I love Greg Behrendt) and ate the wonderfully awful Kettle Korn. Sometimes you just need a few hours to yourself when you can do whatever you want in your own time. Coming home feeling just that little bit refreshed can make a big difference. :)

On Sunday, Max, my mom and I went to visit my great aunt at her care home. She loves it when we visit her, especially Max. The truth is that my great aunt is 86 years old, is very frail and thin, and looks a little scary. It's amazing that Max has never seemed to notice. He walks right in, gives her hugs and kisses and talks to her just as if she looks like everyone else. Maybe that's why she loves to see him - he looks past the facad to the person that she really is inside. Seeing him with her always brings tears to my eyes.

This weekend I also finished this Felt Wee Folk kit that I found in my stash.

Monday

A fellow Waldorf mom and I got together this morning to discuss starting regular crafts mornings for our school parents. In the world we live in today gathering to share knowledge and build new relationships is more important than ever. We feel that starting these mornings will benefit our community in many ways, three of which are:

#1: By meeting together outside of school parents are given the opportunity to build new and stronger relationships.

#2: Gathering and sharing a common skill or craft.

#3: An additional goal for these mornings is to help parents to contribute more to the Crafts Faire(s) that we participate in. In our community our 'Waldorf' crafts using all natural fibers are unique and have sold very well. It is our hope that parents will learn new skills/crafts and participate more in our Faire(s). By putting our skills '0ut there' it is a great way to 'advertise' our school and reach out to our greater community.

Of course there are many additional benefits to these mornings, we are excited to find out what they may be! Our hope is that periodically the group would concentrate on one theme or project such as: a group knitting project, making ornaments/items for our Holiday Faire........... Have any great project ideas? Please let me know, this is new for us and we can use all the help we can get!

My husband and I bought this gnome house from Bill at Heartwood Arts many years ago. These are some of our most chrished items. See the tiny gnome? He's about 1/3" tall.

My favourites so far......

My very favourite items that I have made so far are my wool felt mushrooms. I was cruising around online looking for inspiration and saw a picture with a felt mushroom in the background. Aha! I had to make one and at midnight I was finally done, it wasn’t perfect but it was mine. I was so excited I ran into the bedroom and woke up my husband insisting that he had to admire my new creation. Needless to say he thought that I was nuts.

For my original wool felt mushroom I did not use a pattern and I still don’t, they all end up just a bit different. I was inspired by one blogger (can’t remember who, but I’ll see if I can find out) who sewed grass on the stalk so I do that to some of the ones that I make. When I reluctantly sold some of my mushrooms at a school craft booth they were the first to sell, I was very proud and pleased that others loved them too.

I did buy a Simplicity pattern at the craft store the other day for a felt mushroom pincushion. I'll give it a try and see if I like it better than my own.

Here is a picture of some of the other fun stuff that I have worked on recently.I love the gnomes, my son does too! The ones on the far left and right are great but the cutting took forever. I am not sure if I'll let my little guy keep them for play or if we'll keep them for our nature table.

It's hard for Max to watch me make things that he loves, he always wants to keep what I make even when it's a gift for someone else. I guess that's life when you are a 2nd grader and a spoiled only child!