Pointillism

I've been fascinated with pointillism ever since my sister brought home a pointillism clown face drawing she made in elementary school. She carefully explained that if I looked closely the entire picture was made up of itty bitty dots and not "drawn" in the traditional sense (at that age I think 'Traditional' meant bright orange color crayons). This past weekend I worked on this portrait for a little girl we sponsor. I hope she likes it. I've done portraits as far back as I can remember but have only recently been branching out to do portraits in pointillism. I like the feel of it, but am still a bit shaky. One of the drawbacks of using Ink was that I could not erase when I went to far up her cheek so she looks a little like she has the mumps, but I hope she will like it anyway. Her name is Kalkidan and she is the second child we have had the honor and joy to sponsor. We sponsor her through World Vision. SO, it's a bit rough around the edges, but do you think she will like it? Take care and wherever you are Have Fun!

Recycled Crayons

Yesterday with the help of three fabulous helpers, we made recycled crayons. Fun new shapes can be easy on little hands and less fragile. I used flexible silicon ice cube trays to make the long crayons, and chocolate molds to make the zoo animal faces pictured.

First sort your colors out, like colors with like colors.

Next peel off all of the paper and chop them up using a knife. My helpers also smashed them in a plastic bag with a hammer. That worked very well. The smaller the pieces the faster the crayons will melt.

There are many ways to melt crayons. I use the double boiler method because the crayons are less likely to burn or ignite. Crayons melt between 128-147 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the chopped/smashed color crayon pieces in a soup can and put it on the stove (I put it on high) in a pan of water.

Stir the pieces as they melt (I used old chopsticks). You can see some bumps in the yellow where the crayons are not completely melted yet. We poured the yellow crayons this way. There were bumps in the finished crayons, but I kind of like them that way. The other colors we waited till the wax was smooth like milk before pouring into the molds.

Next pour your wax into the molds. Careful, it is very hot. The crayons will harden quickly so you have to work a little fast.

Beautiful colors Thank you helpers, this was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy your new crayons.
Have fun!

Leather Collar Artist

Hello, I have to share an amazing artist with you today. Geralyn of Design a Collar.com on Etsy makes the most amazing collars for your four legged friends. They are beautifully stamped and painted, yet rugged and fairly priced. Geralyn will work with you to make sure you get exactly what you are looking for. The green I requested was a tricky one. We wanted this collar to be a light feminine color because Muse is always being called Marley, Sport, or Buddy when we go out. This is the collar she made for Muse's birthday. The stamping, playfulness of the colors, and letter type she used are all beautiful. She sent us three collars in all to make sure that the collar was exactly what we wanted. The two that we don't want will be donated to the Humane Society. Another thing to note is that Muse played with her friend Mickey out in the yard with the hose yesterday. The colors did not run or stain her fur and the collar retained it's shape very well. It did not stretch or shrink even though it had a water hose typhoon blasted on it. Muse loves her new collar. It is more rugged than her cloth one yet it is also lighter. In just one day I've noticed that she has not been scratching around her new collar. Her old collar made her neck itch. Maybe using natural leather instead of the synthetic cloth is helping her. I don't know, but I do know that she seems to be more comfortable.
Thank you Geralyn for your beautiful work, attention to detail, open communication, and incredible patience.

If you want to spoil your pup or have an extra special one of a kind collar Please check out her store. Take care, get outside and Have Fun!

Chopsticks Made Easy

I love chopsticks. As a child I always insisted that we use them whenever we got takeout. This post is how to make easy chopsticks for people who have a hard time with them. I was trying to make them for a friend the other day but could not remember how. That night she went out to eat and someone made her a pair. She was kind enough to show me how it's done.
You will need:
- chopsticks with wrapper
-or chopsticks and a piece of paper cut to the size of a wrapper
- and two rubber bands,

Fold the wrapper in half lengthwise.

Roll the wrapper up tightly.

On the end of the chopsticks tie a rubber band and insert the rolled wrapper.

Tie another rubber band around the other side (I used two colors to show this part).
And you are done. They should work like a giant pair of tweezers. Have Fun!
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Our Garden

Hello Everyone. Normally a post like this would end up in our family blog, but since this is about a project and it has been taking up so much of our time lately I thought it belonged here. Over the past several weeks we have been putting in gardens. This is our pond that we put in last year. We just finished upgrading it and it looks so much better.
Then we went to work on this garden. Last year we expanded it to look like this and planted vegetables in it. This year we decided to move our vegetables to a different location that produced better last year and gave this garden a makeover.
The rain has not stopped for several days except for an hour or two at a time, so we worked through the rain. My Ehlers Danlos is in overdrive now and I can barely move; but it was Worth It! After a lot of hard work and decision making....

THIS is how our garden turned out! Flowers are food for the soul. We hope this garden helps feed the souls of all who see it. Take care.

EDS Awareness Ribbons

Hello, it's Ehlers Danlos Awareness month. Ehlers Danlos is a connective tissue disorder. I was diagnosed when I was 6 years old. Pretty much everything in my health is affected by this. I'll be posting more about this in Fox and Bear's den later today, but for this post I'm going to talk about the awareness ribbons. They were incredibly hard to find this year so I decided to make my own. This works for any ribbon.

The EDS awareness ribbon is zebra print (it's also the ribbon for rare diseases). This year I was not able to find any thin zebra print ribbon, but I found this ribbon. The border was the size ribbon I wanted so I cut the edge off to create a thinner ribbon.

Next I used a lighter and ran it along the salvage side that I had just cut. This seals the ribbons edges giving it a finished look and prevents fraying. Go lightly and quickly.

When you are done loop the ribbon around and pin it to your shirt/hat/whatever with a stick pin or a safety pin. This is a good simple trick to know. Take care and Have Fun!

Happy May Day!

Happy May 1st wherever you may be. This year I made fun May Day baskets with a friend. We repurposed old baskets purchased at a thrift store by gluing felt flowers on them with wooden buttons. The effect was rather adorable. This basket was made for some children who live in my neighborhood. I filled it with things people use around the world to celibate May 1st and left them a fun note to explain the items. The first line was:

"In America it has been a tradition to make baskets to hang on the door knobs for your friends with special surprises inside. Traditionally we ring the door bell and run away before you can see us. It is up to you to figure out who we are. Have a guess?"

A popular activity on May Day is to decorate a pole with brightly colored ribbon or paper streamers. Some also add flowers and balloons. The pole is usually carried in a parade and then placed in the ground at a designated area. People then dance around the May pole, holding the ends of the streamers or ribbon in their hands. Instead of a May pole we have four brightly colored pencils for you.

In London, May Day is celebrated with the children going from house to house. They bring flowers and get pennies in return. The pennies are then thrown into a wishing well. The pennies are then donated to charity. A beautiful bouquet of candy flowers awaits you inside this basket as well as pennies for each of you tied up in roles with many good wishes from us to you.

In France, cows play an important role in May Day. The cows are led in parades with many flowers attached to their tails. The people watching the parade try to touch the cows; it is believed to be good luck. Your plastic cow might be small but good things come in small packages. And besides, whoever has to clean up after the real cow at the end of the parade might not feel so lucky ;) Plastic cows fit much better in baskets.

In Germany, one tradition is for boys to secretly plant a May tree in front of the window of the girl they love. Oh my goodness, how would we ever fit a whole tree inside this basket? A pine cone with lots of tree seeds will have to do.

On May 1st, people in Hawaii celebrate their own version of May Day; they call it Lei Day. People give Hawaiian leis to each other. They put them around each others necks and sometimes give a traditional kiss. There are 4 brightly colored lei’s inside this basket. You can count them as a traditional hug from us to you.

Wherever you are in the world today; have a blessed, bright, beautiful (and warm) May. From Fox and Bear at Apple Crate Toys.