Little Tiger and the Milk Belly Princess

Field Trip to Zygote Press

I first heard about Zygote Press last year during a book making class at The Cleveland Museum of Art and I've wanted to go ever since.  Since 1995, Zygote Press has operated as a fine art printmaking studio on East 30th Street in Cleveland.  They offer a variety of classes for artists from children to adults and when I read about Saturday's "Mommy and Me Monoprinting" class taught by Liz Maugans I knew Little Tiger and I had to check it out.  

Liz began class by introducing us to the equipment and taking us step-by-step through a sample print. She made Little Tiger feel right at home by greeting her by name the minute we walked in the door and stacking pallets on the floor to make sure she was able to reach her work station.  Little Tiger hung on Liz's every word and couldn't wait to get started.

The first thing Little Tiger wanted to do was mix some purple paint.  I could tell using the rollers required more muscle power than she anticipated, but she was intrepid.  Once she created the perfect shade of "light purple," we went over to a table where Liz had an extensive collection of elements to add texture and visual interest to our prints.  Little Tiger selected a piece of butterfly paper and we were off to the press.

I was prepared to turn the ENORMOUS wheel on the press for all of Little Tiger's prints, but she wanted to do it herself.  I could tell it was hard work for her, but she was determined and was extra proud of her work as a result.  

Here's her first print, titled "Peace."

Pleased with her print and the purple paint, Little Tiger wanted to mix more colors for her next print.   After mixing sky blue, pink and green, she found a flower stencil and printed  "The Colorful Flower."
In her sample print, Liz showed us how natural elements could be incorporated into our prints by including a leaf on her plate. Little Tiger was really taken with how the press pushed some color out of the leaf and left a light green mark on the paper.  She wanted to try this herself, so we went outside and picked some weeds from the edge of the parking lot by the studio.

 When her print came out of the press, Little Tiger was pleased to see how the press and the plant created an embossed effect, which she is pointing to in this picture:

Little Tiger uncovered her print and was pleased to see that, like Liz,  her plant left a green mark on the paper.  This detail inspired the title of this print called "The Green Plant."

We had time for one more print and Little Tiger and I were both curious to see what sending bubble wrap through the press would be like.  On our first attempt, we set our plate up backward, but Liz helped us turn our disappointing results into something really cool by suggesting Little Tiger re-ink the flower stencil she was using with the bubble wrap and send it through again. This print ended up being my favorite for the end result as well as the cool noise the bubble wrap made as it went through the press.

After we were finished printing, I cleaned up while Liz showed Little Tiger how to "chop" each of her prints by pressing the Zygote Press logo into the paper.  

Before helping Little Tiger put her work into a portfolio to take home, Liz showed her how and why to write "A/P" on each of her prints.  She also showed her where to put her title and signature.  Doing this made Little Tiger feel both proud and professional.  

On the way home we stopped at The West Side Market for crepes.  At Little Tiger's request, we took our food up to the market's balcony where this was our view:
Since it was the Saturday before Mother's Day, the market was especially crowded so Little Tiger was happy to observe the hustle and bustle from above the chaos.  As we ate, we talked about our printmaking experience.  Little Tiger was happy about learning a new art form and I was excited about discovering a new gem in my city.  

Flowers

Here is the arrangement currently decorating my kitchen table:

In the words of The Milk Belly Princess:  "I thought our kitchen table was kind of boring without flowers, so I picked you some flowers."

I know there's a point when you have to learn to tell the difference between flowers and weeds, but I hope she doesn't need to do that for a long, long time.  

The Big Parade

Yesterday I woke up, dressed myself, dressed the girls, loaded us all in the car and headed off to Oberlin for The Big Parade.  Since 2002, Oberlin residents and students have lined College Street on the first Saturday in May to watch people proudly march with an eclectic array of costumes and floats.  I've known about this event for years now, but yesterday was the first time we were able to make it.  

When we arrived in Oberlin we were joined by my friend Laura who was there to watch her art students march in the parade.  While I thought I deserved a gold star just for getting myself and the girls there on time, Laura had a nice picnic blanket and chilled water bottles for everyone.  Her sense for detail is extraordinary.  She even thought to bring a permanent marker to put everyone's name on their water bottles so there was no confusion.  Here she is with Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess waiting for the festivities to begin.

After much anticipation, musicians, stilt walkers and a variety of floats began to make their way down College Street.  Here are some pictures of our favorites.

We would have loved this simply because we're big fans of Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  What made it even better was the people under the costume were moving up and down to make it look like the caterpillar was creeping along in a very caterpillar-ish sort of way.  

Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess were especially taken by James waving to the crowd from atop his giant peach.

Laura's students worked hard on their tribute to Edvard Munch.  It was difficult to get a good picture of the whole group, but here is a close up of the figure from The Scream.

Although I enjoyed the floats, my favorite entry had to be the residents of a nearby assisted living facility and their lawn chair drill team.  Their precision was impressive.  I hope I do stuff like this when I'm old.

Ingenuity went beyond the planned creativity of the entries.  When a float housing a group of drummers lost a wheel, some quick-thinkers saved the day with a skateboard:

I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend and taking time to savor that which amazes and amuses.

Shady Dealings

One of my favorite parts of being an adult is not having to ask for permission before starting my crafty endeavors.    The floor lamp next to our front picture window had a very plain shade.  I decided to spruce it up by branding it as a Casa de Costello original.  

Last week's tage sale treasure hunt (you can read more about that here) left me with a generous addition to my stash of embroidery floss:

The colors I chose for this project (blue, green, pink and orange) were inspired by this stained glass window that hangs in our front picture window:

 It is made of salvaged materials and was created by one of my friend Laura's art students in her Art Four class three years ago.  The little pop of orange in the lower right corner is subtle here, but can be very bright when the sun hits it just the right way.

I began this project by tracing my hand on plain white paper and cutting it out.  Then I pinned the hand print to the lampshade and backstitched around it.  I did my hand first with green embroidery floss and then The Mister's in blue.

Here's my hand.  The stitching on the reverse side of the shade is really obvious in this picture, but less so in the house.  I'm OK with that, though, since we don't typically bring our floor lamp outside.

Here's a close up of me backstitching around the pattern for The Mister's hand.

This is what it looked like when The Mister's hand pattern was pinned to the shade.  He traced his own hand and I like how he included the outline of his wedding ring.  Being married to me can be tough--I'm glad he's still willing to publicly acknowledge that he's mine.

Having said that, I could have done a better job sewing around the ring portion of his pattern--escpecially the side close to his middle finger.  The next time I do this (there are rumblings that Grammy Susan might like one) I need to make a conscious effort to make smaller stitches.  I think a little bit of quality was sacrificed in my excitement to finish this project.  

Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess' hands were small enough that I could include both of their hands in the project.  One hand from each of us circling the shade would have been better than nothing, but being able to change it up a bit adds more interest.  Here is a close up of Little Tiger's hands:

...and here are the hands of The Milk Belly Princess.

Here's the finished lamp shade back on its perch.  In the background you can see Melissa Crowe's felt play board that I made and wrote about here.  The girls still really enjoy playing with it.

Tag Sale Treasures

Since Little Tiger was born six years ago, my shopping of any kind has greatly decreased.  I dimly recall that I used to really like shopping,  but when I think back to my  pre-mommy days I can't even remember exactly what it was about it I enjoyed.    Crafting and creating feels so much better than trolling the mall and  accumlating more stuff.

The only kind of shopping I'm still fond of is the second-hand variety, but on the rare occasions when get out to estate/tag sales, what I look for has changed as well.   I spent my 20s in search of asian-inspired midcentury kitsch.   Now, as the mother of two small children, I  lack the money, interest and space for such things.     

My focus now is primarily on craft supplies.  This is not what most people want to buy at a tag sale, so they are usually available (even on the second day of a two day sale) reasonably priced, and made better than the stuff that's produced today.  Take a look at this selection of trims I picked up yesterday:

I'm not completely immune to impulse buys.  At a house sale put on by Two Sisters this weekend,  I was VERY tempted to purchase one of two aluminum doll houses.  Both were from the 1960s and included furniture. Right after I decided to stay strong and pass on BOTH dollhouses (I convinced myself they were haunted) I passed this little box on my way upstairs and memories came flooding back.

Cray -pas!  1982.  Second grade at Goldwood Primary School.  Mrs. Kristoff's class.  She was the one who introduced me to this art medium and I loved it.  Everything about cray-pas from their brilliant color the their soft texture and the smooth way they slid across my drawing paper appealed to me. I'm not sure if I'll use these (I checked, they work) or just admire them while I reminisce about Mrs. Kristoff's class.

WIP It: Button Edition

Here's what I've been working on in my free moments.  

In retrospect, I should have used pink thread.  I went with white when I couldn't decide which shade of pink to use.

This one is going to be awhile.  I thought I could sew buttons onto canvas for hours on end without EVER  getting bored.  But, eventually, I did.  I'm going to need to take breaks with this one.

The Golden Egg

After all I've written about her in this space, there shouldn't be any doubt in anyone's mind that my mother (aka Grammy Susan) is AWESOME.  BUT in case there is, let me erase all doubt right now.  While other people got chocolate eggs for Easter, check out what my mama put in my Easter basket:

What's that?  You can't quite make out the contents of the egg because of the sun glare?  I know, but I wanted you to see exactly what I saw on Easter morning before I opened it up to reveal:

An Easter egg full of vintage buttons.  So much more colorful and appealing than mere chocolate.

Tapestry Table Deconstructed

Since there was some interest in how to make a tapestry table after yesterday's post, I thought I would take apart ours in an effort to show you how to make your own.  

Full disclosure:  this was a GIFT.  I sent this picture to my mom after I found out that Blueberry Forest Products was no longer making their Tapestree Table.  She has an amazingly gifted carpenter friend who made my girls a balance beam and a rabbit hutch for their stuffed bunnies and I was hoping he would be willing to take on this challenge.  Fortunately he was!   Here's what I know about the construction of our tapestry table.  

Although there are other ways (like this) to make a tapestry table out of a pre-existing piece of furniture, our table was made from scratch specifically to hold large pieces of fabric for sewing.  There are a total of six closures that fasten the top of the table to the bottom, two on each of the long sides of the table and one on each of the short sides.

I had to undo all six fasteners in order to remove the top frame from the rest of the table.  The top frame comes completely off.  The underside of the top frame has a groove that goes all the way around and looks like this:

I'm not sure how this groove was made.  Like I said yesterday, I know next to nothing about even the most basic carpentry.  I'm showing you this in hopes that I'm giving you enough information so you'll know what tools you need to use.

When the top frame is removed, the table looks like this:

Each of the four wood pieces on the perimeter of the table is sitting in a groove on top of the burlap.

These wood pieces are completely removeable.  Although these pieces are not equal in length to the sides of the table, the two pieces for the long sides of the table are longer than those for the short sides. 

When the burlap is removed from the table, the bottom frame looks like this (sans the little pink shoes--someone was VERY WORRIED about what I was doing to her new toy).

The groove goes around the entire perimeter of the bottom frame and is identical to that on the underside of the top frame.  

Taking the tapestry table apart was easy.  The tricky part was putting it back together.  I found it impossible to simultaneously pull the fabric taut, set the four wooden pieces on top of the fabric in their grooves and set the top frame back onto the table all by myself.  My mom said it was a two man job, but even when we worked together The Mister and I struggled.  

The Mister (in his wonderful think-outside-the-box way) had a better idea for putting the table back together.  Leaving the top frame face down (with the groove side up) we set the four wooden pieces into the groove before covering the top frame with fabric (so, from the bottom working up,  top frame face-down, wooden pieces, fabric--got it?).  Then we turned the bottom of the table upside down and set the bottom frame (with the groove side facing toward the fabric, table legs sticking up in the air) on top of the fabric , wooden pieces and top frame.  It took a little bit of wiggling to get everything set in such a way that the six fasteners could close snugly, but without forcing them.  Then we turned the table upright.  

I love this toy and hope Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess will enjoy it for a long time.  The only challenge comes in putting the table back together after changing the fabric.  I'm not sure how else this could be done in a way that would still allow the fabric to remain taut enough to sew.  If anyone out there decides to take on this project I would love to see your results, whether you copy our table exactly or make some modifications of your own.

Tapestry Table

I'm still at the stage in my blog-reading (and maybe I always will be) where it is possible for me to find a new blog and be blown away by the fact that

#1 Ohmygoshthisblogisamazingitsliketheauthorispeakingrightotmeandnooneelse

and

#2 This blog has been around for YEARS without me knowing about it.  

When this happens, I add the blog to my reader and make a mental note, to go back and read ALL of the old posts as soon as I can.  One of the discoveries I was most excited about during the past year was a blog called Sewing School.  Amie Plumley is the co-author of a book by the same title and her blog chronicles the sewing adventures she has with her children and students.  The projects on her blog, like those in her book , are engaging and challenging without being frustrating for young sewists.  

Right after The Experiment ended, I was catching up on her older posts when I read this post.  I actually gasped when I saw her photos of students engrossed in their work at the Tapestree Table.   I decided that my first major toy purchase in a year and a half was going to be a Tapestree Table.  

My joy over my discovery quickly evaporated when I learned that the Tapestree Table had been discontinued and was no longer available ANYWHERE.  My friend Laura told me that it would be "stupid easy" to make my own tapestry table (sans the silly brand-name word play)  out of a pre-existing table frame.  But then she lost me when she started using words like "router."  Although I love to sew and work with fabric I know NOTHING about even the most basic carpentry.

I shared my chagrin with my mother who contacted a carpenter friend of hers and he figured out how to make this table a reality.  On Easter morning Little Tiger, The Milk Belly Princess and I were surprised to see our very own tapestry table when we walked into my parents living room.

It is very well made and sturdy enough for an adult to lean on the edge while working.  The Milk Belly Princess was smitten.  Her first creation?  What she describes as "Rapunzel's Face."

She was a little upset that I snapped this picture before she had a chance to finish "hairing her."  I love that she is comfortable enough with language to verb her nouns at the age of four.

Mama Road Trip: Salvation Army Vintage Fabric Sale

Saturday April 14th.   I've had this date marked on my calendar ever since I read about the Salvation Army's Vintage Fabric Fair in the program of a Pittsburgh-area knitting festival I went to in February.  Even though it was almost the end of spring break, I woke up before dawn on Saturday and drove all the way to Pittsburgh to see what this fabric fair was all about.  I thought leaving at six would give me more than enough time to be there when it opened at nine...and it would have...if I'd bothered to copy down the right address.  

Although getting lost makes me cranky, the following exchange did make me smile.  Having just realized that the 1900 Brownsville Road I Mapquested was some kind of dive bar and NOT the building (or even suburb/borough/hamlet/parish/etc) where the sale was happening, I stomped into a nearby gas station and asked the sixtysomething woman at the counter:

"What city am I in?"

What I meant ( I thought, quite obviously,) was what suburb/borough/hamlet/parish is this?  Her reply?

"Pittsburgh."

Suffice to say, I arrived at the Home Economics building in South Park about 20 minutes after the sale started.  Women were already walking OUT TO THEIR CARS with big bags full of stuff.   Despite being 37 years old, in this kind of competitive shopping situation  I still labor under the delusion that EVERYONE wants exactly what I want.  So I did what any  self-respecting crafty mama would do...I stopped my car in the closest thing that vaguely resembled a parking spot and ran as fast as my little legs would carry me.  

When I arrived at the entrance there were about a half dozen people waiting outside.  It was so crowded inside that the security guards were only letting people in after other shoppers left.  Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long.  With a minute or two everyone waiting outside was allowed in.  

Just inside the door, we were greeted by a man passing out giant gift bags for us to fill with our treasures.  Despite the breath-stopping chaos going on around me, I was struck by how pretty they were.

What's in the bag?  Chanel?  Mmm, no.  Used flannel and old buttons, thank you for asking.

The sale  was crazycrowded and much larger than I'd imagined. Despite the crowds, the inventory was well-organized with signs clearly indicating the type of fabric or craft material on each table.  While the larger yardage was in the middle of the room, books, notions and fat quarters ringed the perimeter.  Each station was well-staffed with friendly volunteers who were eager to bag and price.  When I left each station, my things from that table were sealed in a small bag with the price written on the outside in black marker.  I was told several times, almost apologetically, that doing it this way made it easier for the cashiers at the end where the customers actually paid.  

The first place I went was the buttons only to find that, alas, there had been several jars of buttons, but one of the first people in the door bought them all.

"I don't know what someone would do with all of those buttons." the sweet elderly lady working the table said, shaking her head.

Oh, I do.

I had the most fun looking through all of the fat quarters.  There were boxes and boxes of fat quarters all neatly folded and arranged by color.  Many of the scraps were much larger than a quarter of a yard, but not big enough to be sorted with the cotton yardage.  The price for everything at that table was two dollars a pound.   All of this came to three dollars:  

I've been wanting to do some embroidery and bought all of these for $1.15.  The volunteers at this table couldn't believe I'd driven all the way from Cleveland.  They were concerned that I'd somehow missed a similar sale much closer to home.  Nope.  I checked. Nothing.  

I also bought some ribbon and a couple of larger pieces of fabric, but it all totaled up to  less than twenty dollars.  Yes, I know that technically I should add in the price of gas to drive to and from Pittsburgh but, no, I'm not actually going to do that.  

I would like to go again next year.  The selection was vast and the prices were amazing.  However, in order for it to be truly cost effective, I really should get a carpool together.  I was told that, when Easter isn't a factor, the sale is always the first Saturday in April.  Anyone interested?