Friday Feature!

Today's Feature Friday highlights some cool artists I have recently met. While collecting promo's for the Westerville Show, I've had the chance to chat with the lovely women from Stymiepie Studios and Happy Cloud Moments. Enjoy!

This Lucite Calla Lilly hair comb would have been THE perfect touch for my wedding. Calla Lillies were our flowers. Happy Cloud Moments $18.00

Happy Cloud Moments have some beautiful glass jewelry that any fairy would covet. I love the use of color and sparkle in this piece: Princess Mori Necklace

Hand painted, personalized wipes case. We "need" them, so why not have a really pretty one!! $12.00

My kids are so into fairies right now. You can find them searching our yard for fairies or clues that they were here. This beautiful print is from Stymiepie Studios. You can find a great selection of art prints and personalized banks, pictures and frames. Check her out!

Have a great weekend everyone! Anyone have any fun plans?

moustache

While drawing today, {D} accidentally made a small mark in pen on his face. He came to show me and was SHOCKED when I drew him a moustache to hide the mark. The kids are often told not to draw on themselves, so my actions went directly against my own rules.
I guess it's a case of do as I say, not as I do!

The baby has been trying to grab it off his face all day-hilarious!

A small peak into my studio

With the studio starting to come together, I'd thought I'd share a glimmer of what's happening inside the Kunklebaby space. I've been working on some colorful new blankets. [I'll debut a bunch of new stuff at the Westerville show next month]

My curtains and a print from Art and Ghosts. I am SO in love with this artist. I have two of her pieces in my studio. Her work is beautiful, very detailed with a dream like quality.

New fabric covered bulletin board.

Quilt pieces--these two are some of my most favorite work so far.

Meow-kitties getting ready for the show. I'll have a whole litter waiting to be adopted at the show. Although if these two don't find new homes, my kids have called dibs already. I found that awesome glass jar at a yard sale for $1! Score!

Buttons and thread. That doll was mine when I was a wee one. It's from either Mexico or El Salvador [I don't remember]. It's cool and I love that I still have it.

My dress form and a print from YumiYumi- another Columbus artist. Her work is awesome and she is so nice too! I got to meet her at Tiny Canary last year.

Bits and pieces on another yard sale find. A Kromex serving tray-made in Cleveland, Ohio, my home town. It was only $2 and still had the cool, vintage box

Some books for inspirations and patterns.

Hope you like getting a peak at my work space. I spend so much time in here, I cannot wait until everything is done!

Happy Weekend!

Yay-the weekend has arrived! I don't think I have ever been so happy. It was a long week and I am looking forward to spending some time with my husband. We have the farmers market in the morning and then we are going to go scouting for textiles to upcycle at some yard sales and thrift stores. Which reminds me, I've found some awesome stuff the past few weeks. I need to take a few pictures and show it off here.

I have so much sewing to get done too! {L} is in need of some shorts/pants. Nothing from the store that fits in length, ever fits in his waist. I've given up looking and just make all his pants for now.

I have to get going on my inventory for the Westerville Music & Arts fest. The show is July 11-12, and it's coming up quick and I can't wait to mingle with some new customers and show off my new work. This will be the first time Kunklebaby will be at the event and I am excited!

Here's a glimpse at a piece I am currently working on. The fabric is from the Momo Wonderland line and it's so pretty. Floral with bold colors and shapes, but oh so girlie. -love-

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Garden Wish Flags

Lately I have been really inspired by Tibetan Prayer Flags. They seem to wander into my mind at the strangest of times recently. I enjoy reading the Maya Made blog and she made some for her family garden.

We had been talking about a few different things to spruce up the garden, and I knew this would be it. We had to put up a large piece of lattice to block the dog from the garden. We tried several other things last year and with a dog that jumps and Bowie would just charge anything....this was our final solution! It works great, but it's ugly.

I used upcycled sheets cut into squares and had the children decorate them with fabric markers. There is a flag for rain, sun, growing, no bugs and some flower ones. After each square was completed, they were sewn together with a strip of bias tape. Quick, fun and meaningful to both the kids and parents!

I love looking out the window and watching the children's artwork dance in the breeze. Whenever I am in a grumpy mood I stare at them and realize how much I have to be joyful about. I love the creativity and love that is always present in our home.

Shop Update

Some fun new things have been added to the shop, including the Blue Lotus Gift Set below. I have more ready that I will be adding throughout the week. Lots of pretty girl bibs and some really great blankets for baby boys.

I also have a number of works in progress, like the mermaid blanket shown. Although I'm not sure it will ever make it to the shop because I am SO in love with it. Hmmm....maybe we need to put in an order for a baby girl. Then I'll have a reason to keep it...other than for myself.

Faces

The many faces of {L} enjoying the festival. We had some some smiles, drool, shock, anger and boredom. He's super dramatic and always making silly faces. It was fun to just sit fora bit and capture them!
Enjoy your day-smile, laugh and giggle.

Egyptian Royalty!

{D} is really into zombies, vampires..and Mummies! He's been asking to go to the latest exhibit at the art museum.



We have been so busy that we just didn't have time to fit it in. I was so excited we made it for the last weekend.

At the very end, they have a room filled with clothing, crowns and head pieces that all showcase the clothing of the emperors and queens. The kids were thrilled to dress up. I snapped a few quick photo's in their new roles. {M} said ALL day long, I'm and Egyptian Princess-that's so cool!



It was fun and the pieces they had were really interesting.

Columbus Art's Fest 2009

The annual Arts Fest was this past weekend. It was so much fun! I got to see all kinds of awesome, unique artists, listen to some music and have fun with the kids.

We typically only go once, but this year added another trip. Friday night we checked out all the work and just kinda hung out. Saturday we hit all the kids activities and finally got to see the Egyptian Exhibit at the Columbus Arts Museum.

The kids made tie-dye flags, origami books, badges, bug masks and had their faces painted. {M} went with the Egyptian princess, and {D} picked and arm plate with the eye of Ra. He didn't want to smudge his work with his sunglasses-lol.

{L} was happy as always. He spent the day waving at dogs and other children....and smiling, at everyone!

Summer Weather!

The roses are blooming, the plants are growing in the garden, seeds are sprouting, kids running-plenty of simple fun to be found in the yard.

It's so fun to watch {L} experience everything for the first time. The other day while planting, he was really interested in the dirt and mud. I gave him a clump so he could feel the texture and weight. He took a GIANT bite! With a mouthful of mud, he ran off. After chasing him and having to extract the dirt [yes, you'd think he would spit it out-no] he has a dirt smile for the next hour.

It's silly memories like that I cherish. Taking the time to stop and think what is really important is so useful. Sometimes when life seems difficult this will help us realize things are not bad after all!

We value the time we have together more than any objects, or a bigger house. We don't need more stuff, just each other. I think Summer is a great time for this. Children can play with grass, bugs, dirt-lol. It's the time and experience that makes it fun, not stuff!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! We will be visiting the Columbus Arts Fest. So many great artists showcased there and a HUGE section for kids to create and interact. They have a tent for the kids to purchase art donated by the artists. It's so awesome. Only kids are allowed inside and the most expensive pieces are $5. This starts the love of art early! My kids are always THRILLED to bring home their very own original art. [Mama too].

One of my favorite events in the city....and in a few weeks, Comfest! YAY!!

Presents for Daddy

Over the weekend, my lovely husband turned 30!! He was totally not into his birthday this year. Hitting 30 was a milestone, he would have rather skipped-haha.

I tried to make it special by making all his gifts. The kids made these cool pen holders for him. They are always asking what he has on his desk at work and if he thinks about them while gone. It was a super easy, fun project! The base is empty soup cans that would have gone into the recycle bin. They use a very small amount of fabric and you could even use repurposed fabric with great results and minimal $!

I found the tutorial while browsing through flick a few months back. My children had been playing in the room with me. They happened to look over my shoulder an see the pen holders. {M} immediately said, "I wanna make that for Daddy!! Pleeeease."

So we started saving cans, much to the dismay of family and my husband. He asked several times, "Just how many cans do you think you guys need...to...make stuff?"
He was excited about the finished product when he saw them.
Want to make your own? Check out the easy tutorial "here".

Happy Birthday Mike!! May the next year hold great things for you!

sew-sew-sew

We have been working on some fun new gifts. The kids made these for their grandmother. {D} made an embroidered carrot [above] and a little hand sewn pouch to keep necklaces.

{M} was hard at work on a ladybug. Embroidering with the children is really rewarding. It's something that they can work on for an afternoon and finish. They can draw their own patterns to follow or just do something free hand. Whatever they are in the mood for. I help them thread the needle and with little things along the way, if they ask. They are super proud of their work and I am super proud of the! It helps with hand-eye coordination and with sitting still. Sometimes it's hard for little one's to be quite and still for long-in any situation.

I enjoy the peaceful, quite time together. We sit and chat- {m} often sits on my lap while working. The kids have this amazing desire to learn and know everything. They ask the most interesting questions when quietly working.

Finished! It will now to be sewn into a pillow.

Grow!

I am so excited to have our plants in the ground. We have been so busy lately, that we have not had time to plant yet this year. It feels good to know the plants are nestled into their summer homes!

Besides home grown veggies being delicious, I think it's really important to teach the kids where food comes from. They now understand it takes time and work to keep the plants growing and healthy. It's been wonderful watching them grow through the years and contribute more and more to the care & upkeep of the garden. When they were smaller, they started out just helping mama water. Last year they helped plant, water, pick and weed the garden. This year they are getting their very own area's to take care of all on their own. They are super excited, and honestly so am I. I look forward to the time when {L} can start helping too.

This year, if all goes well, we will have 8 different kinds of tomato's, peppers, carrots, swiss chard, cucumbers, garlic and carrots and multiple herbs-yum!

Helping out by keeping out of trouble! The best help of all-haha. Look at that sweet grin!

Journals

I've been working on some new journals/notebooks. I love giving these as gifts.
They can be personalized to the individual! Kids like to use them to create their very own drawing books. Adults can use them from anything to actual journal to writing grocery and to do lists in them. I always have a few extras on my desk.

Start by selecting paper of your choice. You can use patterned cardstock, or use plain and decorate with stamps and stickers. I also like to use little bits of cool stuff I have laying around, like old card fronts or cool pictures I saved.

Select paper for the inside. This can be anything you choose-plain computer paper, lined, scrap, recycled, junk mail. ANYTHING! Cut them to size to match the cover. Fold your inside and outside papers in the center.

Next you want to stitch them together. Select a long stitch on your machine and follow the crease you made when folding.

Your Done!!

For an extra fun touch, I made a pocket envelope from an old book above. A great way to use books that have seen better days, but still have usable pages. Frame them, make boxes with them, or envelopes. Fun and green.

ENJOY!

THE tie

With {M} in this wedding and my husband was just in one a few weeks back, {D} was feeling VERY left out! I had a brilliant idea [I thought], that a little father and son shopping trip would fix everything. Since I was making {M}'s dress, I thought {D} would like a brand new tie. A real father son bonding time picking out a tie.

Well....the idea lasted about 5 minutes, until {D} decided he wanted a new tie-that mama MADE! He was so excited and had already looked through my fabric stash and selected a fabric. Any other time I would have been over joyed that he wanted something handmade over purchased-normally elated! I was just so behind with everything, and I've never made a tie before.
So I ended up staying up until 3am the night before we needed to leave working on last minute gifts we were taking and THE tie.

I hung it from his door knob when I was done and had a thrilled little boy in my room at 7am, requesting a lesson in tying a tie. A tired mama, happily obliged! He told anyone who would listen at the wedding, how his mama made his awesome new tie.