Inspiration Board: Little E's Matisse-Inspired Nursery

Dear friends of ours, the Doctor and her Brilliant Husband, recently had their first child. Like us, they wavered over the decision to enter parenthood. We had several conversations regarding our own experience of choosing parenthood and joys the Sprout has brought into our lives. We also talked about the honest struggles that I've had about being a woman who feels called to her profession and yet wants to be fully engaged as a mother. I am delighted for them as they start this new adventure, and I think they're going to be fabulous parents. In fact, I hope the Sprout has a roaring crush on Little E when he grows up.

In the meantime, the Doctor asked for some help designing Little E's nursery. She knew more what she didn't want (cutesy pastels and traditional baby themes) than what she did. But the Doctor had a great inspiration point---the Matisse cut-outs that she'd recently seen in the National Gallery in DC. She also had a glider they had scored on the cheap and wanted to recover. And the room had recently been repainted a soft blue that they weren't in a hurry to repaint.

I had so much fun thinking about Little E's room and finding photos in my files that I've gleaned over the years in my love affair with the internets. I stayed up late one night just playing with ideas in my head and images. Here's what I came up with for an inspiration board (top panel) and some inspiring photos of other nurseries (bottom panels).

My recommendations:
--Three Matisse Prints securely attached (velcro?) over the crib
--A simple crib with organic cotton crib sheets in a solid color and then bring in the fabulous Alexander Henry Matisse Color in Stripes fabric for additional bedding or for recovering the rocker-glider.
--I also included a link to the fabulous crib bedding at Aunt Bucky on Etsy. Even if you aren't in the market for crib bedding you should check out her great fabric combinations. Bright and shiny!
--Skip the changing table and buy a sturdy dresser instead and put a changing pad on it. For Little E's room I would love to see one painted that famous Matisse blue or the tomato red from the center print.
--Some sharp prints on the wall like the custom name prints from Jennifer Ramos or the I Like to Rock print from Jaime.
--A Calder-like mobile from PukaPuka or The Wonderland Studio.
--Storage! Kids come with a lot of stuff. Some open storage is great for displaying well-designed toys and books.


This was the perfect kind of design challenge for me. All the fun without any of the work. If anyone else has design challenge they want to send my way, I'd love it!

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Photo Credits:
Unfortunately, when I save images for myself I don't always keep the source of the photo attached. I know the one photo with cloud-painted black-out shade (brilliant!) is from Toby's nursery on a Cup of Joe. Other images are likely from Design Sponge and Etsy.

Self-Portrait, Today

The Sprout is still sick and I'm tired and queasy too.

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Thank you all for your comments. Especially when I'm feeling cut off from the world, blog comments mean a lot.

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Thanks also for weighing in on the pillow cases. As Joyce and Heather Jane kindly pointed out, it's the "lamb" colored flowers that I really don't like. I'll keep them for now, but I am on a quest to find the perfect geometric pattern with soft yellow, moss green and a lot of white. Oh dear, more fabric shopping! The torture! If you see something you think would work, send it my way!

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Several of you comment but your blogger profile doesn't have an email address attached to it. If you add an email address, I'll send you nice responses to your comments. Or sometimes they might be a little snarky, depending on my mood.

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'Night-'Night

Made: Spring Pinafore

This full-time working mama thing is sort of kicking my tail these days. Six weeks until the end of the school year means six frantic weeks of IEP meetings and touring parents around different programs and dealing with issues that have simmered all year and are now coming to a boil. It is busy.

And the Sprout. The Sprout is clingy these days and needing her mama. That keeps me busy too. Somedays I feel overwhelmed and think I need more STAFF around here. Then I am reminded and flooded with gratitude for my husband who takes on cooking and dishes on a regular basis around here and my fabulous sitter who takes care of the Sprout as if she is her own. I am blessed in the midst of this busy-ness.

I do want to blog a bit to remind myself that I have been carving out moments to be creative and to MAKE. This is a picture of a little pinafore I made the Sprout right before her first birthday party. I love that Alexander Henry fabric. It makes me smile. I made my own pattern by tracing off another little jumper she had. I am inordinately proud that I now feel confident enough in my own pattern-making and sewing abilities to tackle these absolutely-simplest-ever types of children's clothes. Perhaps more complex projects are in store?! Six weeks from now?!

Links for the Week

Some things I'm loving right now:
--This guy makes cool stuff for his kids and he's an artist and lives in Portland.
--Must make this for the Sprout: The 90 Minute Shirt
--I believe a person's bookshelf is a biographical sketch. Jane Mount does too.
--This TED talk about optical illusions (via Simply Robin) boggles my mind. Some day I hope to study color theory more thoroughly.
--Continuing my map obsession, Cara sent me a link to these great rugs.

Here's hoping you're having a great week!

I'M hoping to get some crafting done. If I could just keep myself from collapsing onto the couch at the end of the day....

Crib Quilt, Part III (Stalled)

Since my last post I have travelled half way across the country and back, worked several busy weeks in the Highly Litigious School District, spent time with some of my best friends in the entire world, thoroughly enjoyed time with the Sprout, and had a nasty head cold that put me to bed early several nights in a row. Needless to say, Life is happening and not a lot of Making.

So here is the crib quilt in it's current state--half quilted on the sewing machine. And there it shall remain for at least a few more days.

I hope you are busy Living too!

Crib Quilt, part II

I didn't get a good shot of the quilt back so you'll have to wait to see that later, but here's my "quilt sandwich". Don't ask me to really explain what I'm doing in these pictures or to defend my technique in any way because, frankly, I don't really know what I'm doing. I only know the slightest thing about quilting through a) growing up underneath quilts being stitched by industrious Mennonite women and b) reading lots of craft blogs.

If you want good blogs on quilting skewed toward the modern interpretation of quilts, so far my favorites are Tallgrass Prairie Studio, and Oh, Fransson. Both of these bloggers are generous with their sharing of techniques, tips and tutorials.

Basically my only thoughts on laying out a quilt are: Wood floors are very helpful. Cleaning the wood floors before putting a white quilt down on them would also be very helpful. Curious ten-month-olds and large brown dogs with dirty feet are not very helpful at all.

Crib Quilt, part I

Almost one year ago, I started piecing wonky log cabin blocks for a crib quilt for the Sprout. In the evenings after a long day in the schools, I would drag my pregnant body to the sewing machine and put together a block. I intended for the finished quilt to have 12 blocks and I worked slowly and steadily up until block 9. And then two things happened: 1) block 9 was really ugly and I got stuck on it, and 2) I had a baby.

Fast forward to January 2010. I am determined to finish this crib quilt while she is still in a CRIB for goodness' sake! I still had the first 9 blocks hanging on the wall in my studio/office (also known as Craft Hell because I am tormented by it's disorder). I finally decided to just throw out block 9 and piece a new block. And I did. And then I didn't feel like piecing any more wonky log cabin blocks. So I didn't.

Here's the top to the crib quilt. All 9 blocks of it. The light situation these days in the Pacific Northwest is just pathetic, so let's pretend that this quilt top is perfectly pressed and that the sunlight is streaming in from the window on the left, ok? Squint your eyes a little bit, it helps. There you go.



More coming soon, peeps.

Umm...Yeah...I'm a Little Slow

Ummm....so.....I'm about to post about a project that I started long ago. So very, very long ago. Let's jog your memory.

Remember these inspiration quilts?



And remember this stack of fabric?



You say you don't remember them!? Well, maybe that's because I started talking about this project in NOVEMBER 2008! And, yes, I've had a baby between then and now, but really that is NO EXCUSE for taking this long on a project.

Now that I've jogged your memory, stay tuned for updates on this work in progress later this week.

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Note to self: You blogged about it. Now you'd better go work on it. People are watching. Come on now! Scat!

Another Photo

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Originally uploaded by ndmiller

Another Lazy Day's Skirt

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Originally uploaded by ndmiller

I feel like I never have time to be creative anymore, but then, here and there, I find a minute or two and a bit of inspiration and something comes of it. The Sprout had a red onesy and some black leggings and it was just begging for a little skirt. So one night after she went to bed I cranked one out in less than an hour. No pattern. Just the memory of making a few Lazy Day's skirts. Little people clothes are so forgiving...especially those with elastic waists. I sure hope I have more to share here or I'm going to lose the loyal few "followers" that I have!

Here's hoping you're using YOUR creativity!

Creative Baby Gifts, III

I just had to show off this tag blanket that my mother-in-law made for the Sprout. I didn't make it but can you tell that I helped pick out the fabric? Hah! It's my favorite Spotted Owl from Alexander Henry! The Sprout likes sucking on all the tags, and I like looking at the lovely owls.

Made: Amy Butler's Comfy Jumper Dress

This is The Comfy Jumper Dress from Little Stitches for Little Ones. I am so in love with this "Spotted Owl" fabric from Alexander Henry that I bought it in several different colorways. You can be sure you'll see it again around her.

I used the pattern pieces from Amy Butler, but, as usual, I find her written directions a bit confusing. I skipped a whole section about a "front band" and a "back band" because I just didn't get it. I also finished it more carefully on the inside so there are no exposed seams against baby's skin. The directions left some of the seams exposed which doesn't make sense to me if you're going to fully line it anyway. It's not that much more work to finish it with the seam allowances to the inside (Does that make sense? I'm not used to writing much about HOW I sew.)

I made the 9-12 month size so it would be big enough to get plenty of wear out of it. I figure the Sprout can wear it over a long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings this winter.

I also made bloomers out of some tangerine colored Amy Butler fabric that goes great with the owls (see post above for photo). Too bad the dress is so long that you can't see the bloomers :)

Things I would do differently next time: The whole bodice is just odd with the buttons on the back side and the odd notch down the middle in the front. I think I might try to draft my own bodice and switch the buttons to the front, make the neck a tad deeper, and get rid of the "notch". I also realize that making a drooling baby's bodice out of linen is probably a mistake. Every little drop of spittle shows up instantly. Ah well, it's still pretty darn cute, if you ask me.

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We're leaving for vacation to visit our family in the Midwest. I had a bunch of half-finished "draft" posts sitting around so I'll be scheduling them to post while I'm gone. Happy August!

Refashioned: Wee Shoes

BEFORE:
This pair of fugly pink leather shoes was part of a giant box of hand-me-downs that came my way for the Sprout. Pink I'm not so fond of. Pale pink ribbon roses that are shredding I'm even less fond of. So I thought a little refashioning was in order.

AFTER:
Darling black and white yo-yos, plus a red felt flower help the pink become less offensive. Now I'm in love with these little shoes and I think I'm going to have to make a wee dress to go with them so the Sproutie can show them off. One small problem: it's hard to predict what size the Sprout will be when she can wear these shoes. Her feet are long and narrow so I'd better get hopping on an outfit before her feet get too long to wear the shoes.

Transition

According to my blog counter, you may be one of the 24 poor souls who checks this blog on a daily basis and recently you have been checking it in vain. No posts, no posts, no posts. That does not mean I haven't been living creatively though. With a newborn, every day requires creativity...What novel movement or device will calm her today? What can I do to amuse myself while I feed a baby, change a baby, calm a baby, try to get the baby to go to sleep (repeat and repeat and repeat)? How can I sneak just a few more minutes of sleep?

Although I haven't been posting, I've done some thinking about this blog. I have two blogs: barkdust shared with my husband (where all the baby pictures reside) and beesnest. Originally, my intent was for this to be more of a private journal, but, with time, it has morphed into an art/craft blog. Keeping two blogs sometimes seems like more work than it is worth and I've considered merging this blog into barkdust.

However, I'm holding on to this blog for several reasons. The main reason is that this blog keeps me accountable for learning new skills and practicing my creativity. That may seem silly, but there have been periods in my life (graduate school, for one) when I didn't take the time to "make" and it was not good for my spirit. I believe the Creator has designed us to create, and art and craft are a form of worship for me. I need to keep this blog because the thought that other people check this blog motivates me to be more creative, and I need to keep this part of my life alive even more so now that a child dominates my life.

All that to say that, no, this will not become a mama blog. Yes, I am going to keep posting here. Yes, I'm doing well and I AM finding little pockets of time to make things. So there will be new posts coming soon although they may come a little slower and more infrequently for a while. Thanks to the 24 of you for being patient with me during this transition time.

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Here's the birth announcements for the Sprout. I was tempted to use one of the fancy online photo card services but most of them cost about $2 per card. I wanted to spend less than $1 per card including postage while still having an attractive, high-quality announcement. So I made a trip to PaperSource and cranked up yee olde inkjet printer. The lovely, heavy paper is Ecowhite and the envelope is Papaya from the PaperSource. The wallet prints are el cheapo (and el crappy) from Walgreens. By my calculations each announcement cost $.25, the photo was $.25 and the postage was $.42. Grand total: $.92 per announcement.

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Question: How much personally identifiable information should one share about oneself or one's child on the internet? I know I'm careful to make it difficult to match my physical address and phone number to my online identity. I'm trying to decide if I should blur out the particulars of full name, birthdate, etc. for the Sprout in this picture. Any advice out there?

Creative Baby Gifts, II

We got a package in the mail the other day from our friend, Kris G., in Indiana. In the package were two of these "books" for the Sprout. They are simply foam core with black and white images made from black sticky felt and Sharpie.

I was skeptical that Sproutie was ready to read books just yet, but I put the book down by her blanket during floor time and, wouldn't you know, she turned toward them and stared at them for several minutes without interuption. As she's gotten a little older she's gotten even more into her "stories" and will stare at the shapes for much longer than she'll look at anything else besides real human faces. In fact, I think she thinks the smilies ARE real human faces. Yesterday she had a whole conversation of cooing and grinning back at the smilies.

I think this is a really creative baby gift. Thanks, Kris! Mind if I copy your idea sometime?

Green: Baby Skin Care

Happy Earth Day!

I'm still geeking out over skin care products over here and trying to figure out what brands are safest for use on the wee one's skin.

Here are some of the skin care products that have managed to accumulate in our bathroom. Let's see if they follow the "rules"--no petroleum products, no parabens, no fragrance, and use less.

Product #1: Johnson's head-to-toe baby wash ("#1 Choice of Hospitals") appears to be full of petroleum-based chemicals. The only understandable word in the ingredients list is: water. Contains sodium laureth sulfate (a Nasty) and "fragrance". FAIL

Product #2: Johnson's baby shampoo is so similar to the body wash that it's interesting that it is marketed as a second product. Same problems. FAIL

Product #3: Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash is "pediatrician recommended" and has oatmeal in it. Surely, it's good for the skin. Let's check it out. It's fragrance free so that's good but it has "PEG"s in it which I remember are Nasties and also mineral oil which is a petroleum product. FAIL

Product #4: California Baby Shampoo and Bodywash. Oh I hope this one is ok because it smells heavenly. No fragrance, no parabens, only one ingredient that isn't in "English". The Cosmetic Database ranks it as a "2" which is low hazard. Yay! PASS

Product #5: Weleda Baby Calendula Lotion. I bought this at Mother Nature's, our local hippy, breast-feeding, cloth-diapering mama store, so it better be ok. Uh-oh, it has "fragrance" but then explains it's from natural essential oils. All the other ingredients seem ok. The "fragrance" earned it a "4" on the Cosmetic Database but since we know where it comes from I feel ok with this. PASS (too bad I don't actually LIKE how it smells--too strong for me)

Product #6: California Baby Super Sensitive Everyday Lotion. No fragrance and I really love how California baby writes their labels--everything has it's "big" name and then an interpretation in "English" for those of us who weren't science majors. It looks ok plus it gets bonus points for using many ingredients that are certified organic, sustainable or renewal. PASS

After reading the labels, there's the whole "Use Less" rule. Frankly, babies don't really need much in the way of skin care and shampoo. So far most of the Sprout's messes are easily cleaned up with warm water. I think I've used about 6 drops of the California baby shampoo so far and that's mostly because I like how it smells. I've used about the same amount of the lotion to "spot treat" some dry spots. I'm sure her need for product will increase as she gets older, bigger and dirtier, but for now it is easy to use less.

The moral of the story appears to be "read your labels, read your labels, read your labels". I'm glad the California Baby products did well because they are readily available (Target) and they smell great (as in: floral but not very strong at all).

I'd love to get some comments on this topic. Do you read your skin care product labels? What do you look for? What products do you recommend? What should I do with the products that fail my "rules"? Keep and use them? Give them away (That seems hypocritical: "Here, it's not good enough for MY baby but use it for yours.)? Destroy them in some way?

So click on that "comment" button and let me know what you think! And have a happy rest of your Earth day!

Green: Choosing Nontoxic Skincare Products

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day and tomorrow is Earth Day. Coincidence? Maybe, but I've been thinking about how humans are the only species that knowingly poison our own and ruin our own habitat. I'm not trying to equate the Holocaust and the decimation of the environment--they're different kinds of cruelty. But both require(d) humans to be indifferent and passive to a known danger. Because I can do something about the environment, at least the environment of my home and my local community, I must act. Even if it's in my own micro-cosmic way. (But isn't that what it will take? Each of us cleaning up our own little corner of the environment? Voting with our consumer dollar? Talking to our friends about it?)

I've blogged earlier about my attempts to move away from toxic cleaning supplies and laundry soaps, but with a new baby I've been thinking more about bath and skincare products. Coming home from the hospital, we were given a bunch of freebies from the big baby products giants...some disposable diapers, baby lotion and shampoo, etc. Despite the implied endorsement of the these products by the hospital, a recent study found possible carcinogens in baby toiletries.

So, I'm wary about toxic chemicals in my home, but how should one choose bath, body or baby products? We've been trained to check food labels to avoid high fructose corn syrup and saturated fats. Are there similar ingredients we can learn to avoid in skin care?

I'm no scientist but I've done some reading on this subject and here are some things that make sense to me:

1. Use less: Do you even need it? Can you use a small dot instead of a big "dollop"?

2. Avoid petrochemicals: Why would we put petroleum-based products on our skin? Especially when there are centuries of "research" on using plant-based products with much smaller environmental impact? Propyl-, methyl-, eth- or -ene are prefixes and suffixes that indicate petrochemicals. Mineral oil is also a petrochemical. Many petroleum byproducts are believed to be carcinogenic on their own or as they break down and combine with other chemicals.

3. Avoid parabens: One variety of petrochemicals, parabens, are used as preservatives and antibacterials in creams and lotions. These Nasties are hormone disrupters and probably the reason we have 6-legged frogs, intersex fish, and may be even indicated in human disabilities and diseases.

4. Avoid fragrance: "Fragrance" is undefined and unregulated. Many fragrances are synthetic and may cause headaches, dizziness, allergic reactions, and skin irritation. Fragrances are often used to mask chemical smells and to create "brand identity". When we think babies are "supposed" to smell like a certain product (Baby Magic?) then we've been suckered into the fragrance game.

This list is, by no means, all inclusive. These are just the "easy-to-look-for" and commonly-believed-to-be-harmful items that I look for on a product label. In the next couple of days, I'm going to examine common skin care products for babies and see if they pass or fail my guidelines.

If you want to go deeper and learn more about nontoxic products, let me recommend the following websites and books that help us understand the substances we put on our precious skin:

--Organic Baby: Simple Steps for Healthy Living by Kimberly Rider; This book, although very simplistic, helped me think about resisting consumerism around all sorts of baby junk, not just skin care. It has a more complete list of Nasties to avoid.
--Safe Mama bills itself as "the original one-stop child safety, product recall, health, wellbeing, non-toxic, eco-conscious resource, for parents". They have cheat sheets that review many different products and I find helpful.
--Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics are websites where you can look at the breakdown of the ingredients of thousands of beauty products and think for yourself about what is acceptable for your skin.
--GoodGuide helps you find safe, healthy and green products.
--Pure Skin: Organic Beauty Basics by Barbara Close; This (library) book has lots of recipes to make your own skin care products (I haven't tried them so this is no endorsement), but also has a chapter on the the products used in the cosmetics industry--both Nasty and Nice.

One last thing:
I heard Poisoned Waters discussed on Fresh Air yesterday and I plan on watching it tonight and recommend you do so too. Our actions through factory farming, pharmeceuticals, and common household products are poisoning our waterways. You can watch it on PBS or on-line.

Made: Baby Bibs

No, these aren't new projects. I was looking through the photos on my point-n-shoot Panasonic tonight and found a couple more waiting-for-the-baby-to-get-here sewing projects that I'd completed. The bib on the left was purchased at Plue here in Portland. Plue is a fabulous new children's boutique that carries many items made by local craftpersons. I don't remember who made the "farm fresh" bib but I bought it because of the chickens on it.

The bib on the right and the elephant bib below are ones I made using the "farm fresh" bib as a template and scraps of fabric left over from other projects. I adore this Alexander Henry Entertaining Elephant fabric and I bought just enough to make two blankets (one for Sprout, one for a gift) and have a few elephants left over to adorn some onesies and, of course, the bib.

Although I feel full of creative energy these days, I am still trying to figure out how to juggle a newborn's demands and carve out times to make. I can't say that I am always gracious about submitting my desires to a small dictator. There are more than a few comments to the affect of "Yes'm, boss lady. As you wish."* Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to finish the crib quilt and start on a couple of the other projects dwelling in my head.


*As all fans of the Princess Bride know, "as you wish" is just another way to say "I love you.")

Dollies

There will likely be a lull in the craftivity here for the next couple of weeks. We're over here busy tending to the Sprout.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share the Black Apple doll that my mom made for the Sprout while she was here. I apologize for the photo quality but the doll is precious and will be cherished. She needs a name. Any ideas out there?

Work in Progress: Crib Quilt

Remember these inspiration quilts? Remember this fabric? No? That's ok. I posted them a long time ago. Anyhow, I thought you'd like to see that I haven't totally forgotten about them. I have slowly been sewing a wanky log cabin square every so often. I'm in no hurries. The Sprout has a few swaddle blankets and won't need the crib or the crib quilt for a long time. Just thought you might like to see what's going on in the studio.

P.S. Thanks to Tallgrass Prairie Studio for the tutorial!