My five-year-old and I made these star prints using starfruit. We’re dipping everything in paint around here these days. I also think these starfruit prints would make nice starfish in shades of blue and light green and would be lovely on tea towels or other linens.
Check out the tutorial over at Alpha Mom.
Check out my guest post over at Indie Fixx to read the tutorial for this simple seashell printing project.
Here are some more photos from our rainy weekend hanging around the house. Hannah from Lily & Thistle generously sent over some of her beautifully illustrated MiniMe paper dolls for the girls which kept them happily occupied through the rain. The dolls are personalized to look like your child with your choice of skin, eye, hair color and style and her name at the bottom. I wish my children always looked as sweet as these paper dolls. They come with a sticky strip so the clothes really stay put and a CD so that you can print out more dolls and outfits (if say, your daughters accidentally tear one when they are fighting over it). Also included is a set of All About Me pages for your daughter to complete.
These dolls led to all kinds of great imaginative play involving my daughters as characters. Here, they were playing Sleeping Beauty so my older daughter made a spinning wheel. Be sure to check out Hannah’s shop to see more of the lovely artwork she has created for these dolls. So sweet.
Another project from the weekend was this zippered pouch. My five-year-old embroidered this as a gift for her friend (with a little help on that back stitch). We added some pencils and a drawing book.
And during a rain break, the kids painted some fabric with squirt bottles and diluted fabric paint. We probably should have stopped there, but we didn’t so the fabric is really covered in paint. I might make some patchwork pillows from it. Another addition to the project pile.
I was excited when STC Craft asked if I’d like to interview Kaffe Fassett for the blog tour promoting his new book Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts, co-authored with Liza Prior Lucy. They sent me a review copy so I was able to look at all the fabulous quilts.
If you’re not familiar with Fassett’s work, he is a leading textile artist who creates knitting, needlepoint and quilt designs. Head to any quilting shop and you’ll see ladies swooning over his fabric and designs. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for his beautifully designed and technically magnificent quilts shown in his books over the years.
But I must admit, this new book has caught my attention more than the others. I found these quilts to be simpler in design with the focus on geometric form. The book focuses on the sources of inspiration with photographs from around the world of places that have inspired Kaffe on his travels. From a tire yard to a mosaic wall, you can see what sparks his creativity and hopefully you in turn can find inspiration in your own surroundings. You needn’t travel far; just simply pause and look at things in a new way.
Here is my Q & A with Kaffe:
I understand that you come from a creative family. Many of my blog readers are mothers like myself, trying to nurture creativity in their young children. How did your childhood influence your art?
Interesting question. I’m working on my autobiography at the moment and addressing that question. Mom was a frustrated artist who poured all her creative urges into my education. She saw that I got to the Kabuki Theatre when on in our nearest city or the Balinese dancers or Shakespeare film knowing I’d get so much from them that I couldn’t get from Country life.
It seems to me that your fabrics often feature jewel tones, reminiscent of a traditional Asian color palette. What appeals to you about these colors? How has your interest in color evolved over the years?
When I used to try and do what I thought people wanted I did a very muted pallet. As I got into my studio and did what was closer to my heart I realised I was into a rich depth of colour but I try to evolve and antique faded tones are appealing to me more and more.
Do you make a distinction between decorative arts and fine art?
Not really. I just love what moves me and catches my eye. A great painting or a beautifully designed hat band can equally light me up. I have a great fondness for beauty in every day objects that furnish our lives and make them easier to get through.
With the emphasis on geometric forms, these quilts seem more modern to me than your past work. Do you think about how to make this traditional art form relevant in today’s world?
I don’t know if the quilts are modern or not. I just try to make them as full of life and intriguing as possible and yes the traditional art form of quilts is very relevant to today (in my humble opinion). The form is timeless, we just need to imbue it with our personal harmony of colour.
I see more and more young people trying their hand at quilting, but I think that for many it has skipped a generation. People are picking up skills on their own rather than being taught by their mothers. What do you see as the future of this medium?
I’m afraid I don’t really fret about the future. All crafts are ways to express ourselves in life. I can’t imagine we will ever out grow our need to show how we feel about living. We might get distracted for a little by all the new technology but sooner or later will all feel the need to make something beautiful.
We’ve had a relaxing rainy weekend at home, so there’s not much to do but eat. With each change of season, my interest in cooking is renewed as new produce becomes available and I crave new flavors. In anticipation of the hot weather, it’s been all about basil for me this month. So we decided to make some lemon basil ice cream with our ice cream machine. About a month ago I had some basil gelato, but I didn’t like the pieces of frozen basil in it, so I made our ice cream with basil flavoring by simmering it in the milk and then straining it, then we added the lemon flavor for balance. My kids liked this ice cream, but I have to say that my children are forced to eat all kinds of unusual things, so I’m guessing many kids might not like this. Here’s how I made it if you want to try it.
Ingredients:
Simmer the milk with the basil over low heat until the basil leaves wilt and turn brown. Remove from heat and strain the milk removing the basil. Mix in the sugar while the milk is still warm and then refrigerate this mixture. Zest the two lemons and set this aside. I always put my milk and cream in the freezer for about 10 minutes before I make the ice cream so it will be ice cold. Remove from the freezer and mix the basil-infused milk with the cream and lemon zest. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the ice cream maker. Mine usually takes about 30 minutes to turn into ice cream.
Then we made this carrot ginger mixture that I tossed in with our salad, but it would also make a great dip with crostini. My five-year-old helped me with this one. We used the food processor to mix carrots, ginger, garlic, olive oil, rice vinegar and salt. Then we mixed in black sesame seeds and added some green onions for garnish. Both of my children liked this, but they draw the line at onions, so I didn’t mix them in with the carrots. Our salad was simply red leaf lettuce and edamame tossed with this carrot mixture.
My seven-year-old is always an advocate of pretty food, so when I told her that we could carve the watermelon to make a bowl, she jumped at the idea. I cut the bowl and she used the melon baller to scoop up all these watermelon globes while making a sticky mess of the counter and floor. Then she added blueberries. This would be great for the Fourth of July. For more ambitious watermelon carving ideas, check here.
