Bling Bling does not equal Love

It's not the size of the diamond nor dreams one promises to fulfill, but the reality one brings that matters most. Money comes and goes, and dreams are never ending, but the qualities of character one has now... those are everlasting.

Nana Bear has been telling everyone how she wants an engagement ring and could she wear one to school and ask a boy to marry her.  All very cute for a 5 (and a half) year old and Tiger Daddy and I don't know whether to laugh or cry at these stories.  What I do know is that between the tween shows on TV (which we don't allow Nana Bear to watch) and other outside influences, I have to be ever vigilant about instilling a non-materialistic outlook in my children.  I even have family members telling us that Nana Bear should not accept engagement rings less than 1 carat.  If I personally believed that, Tiger Daddy and I would not be married, and I would not have these two wonderful children. 

Now, I'm not saying that financial stability shouldn't be important or shouldn't be a factor in choosing a spouse.  I knew that Tiger Daddy and I would be able to live a comfortable life with pretty things even if we didn't yet have those things (and in some cases we still don't).  I had faith in us, in our collective ability to carve out a good life.  And everyone is different and has different desires in life, different qualities they want in a partner. My list of needs in a partner will be different from yours, but I hope that Nana Bear (and Dare) learn that the important things in life and in marriage rarely come from money and a rock on her finger will not ensure that her mate will take care of her, nor is it in proportion to how much her mate loves her. 

Weekend Crafting w/ Pictures

My (Weekend) Creative Space:  I'm cheating this week and posting twice to Kootoyoo. Sorry, but while the week has been consumed with crocheting Easter Eggs, my weekend was a whole different animal, but probably much more satisfying crafting.  I got to tick off another goal and make progress on another goal. Yippee!
We were pelted with rain and hail and lots of wind this weekend, but it was a fun, productive and ultimately beautiful weekend for us.  We were busy bees with a lunch with my grandmother for her birthday, Nana Bear's school had a fundraising Auction, and lots of errands and chores to get ready for our upcoming vacation starting this Friday. 

Saturday morning I hurriedly sewed a silk/fleece scarf for my grandmother.  She is currently living in an assisted living facility for Alzheimers.  This was the first birthday since she moved. I did visit her on Friday, her actual birthday, and brought mini cupcakes (store bought) for her, the other residents, and the staff.  But on Saturday morning, while Tiger Daddy changed the oil on the car, I decided I would make the scarf for her to wear when she goes for walks to help keep her warm.  It's been quite brisk here even though it's now officially Spring.  It was not my best work by any stretch, but the fabric is beautiful and suites my grandmother well. It is a pink kimono silk printed with cherry blossoms. Typically, kimono fabric comes in 14-15" widths, so I got two yards and cut the fabric into two 7" strips.  I have one more strip and was thinking that I might embroider beads onto the fabric on the printed blossoms.  We'll see.

After lunch, while the Bears napped, I finally finished these make-up bags from Sew Like My Mom.  I had intended to give them as gifts at Christmas but lost the iron vinyl and really ran out of time.  Of course, a week after Christmas I find the vinyl, but not the time to finish them.  These bags are truly simple to make and come out looking quite nice. Some notes about the tutorial: 1) Iron-Vinyl is not really my thing - it is very light weight and doesn't feel durable to me, so next time I think I may try regular vinyl. 2) The vinyl is slippery, so you do have to be aware when sewing. 3) When cutting the corners, cut 2.5" from the end with the seam and 2.25" from the folded end to get an even line when sewing the corners. 4) Being such a rudimentary sewer, I did use my zipper/pressure foot.  5) I added a handle.  I think that I will try these for x-mas again, but this time for the guys as they look like dop kits.  I will use heavier weight material, possibly oilcloth and vinyl combo depending on the patterns available.  This is a great tutorial - very easy to follow.

My first attempt w/o a handle.

My second attempt with handle.

Saturday night was Nana Bear's elementary school fundraiser.  She is part of a special program through the public school system that teaches the children about Japanese culture and language in addition to the normal school cirriculum.  I went through the program when I was in elementary school as well.  The program has evolved into an even better experience and I have been extremely happy with our experience.  While the program gets some extra funding, each year it seems that the public school budet gets slashed, and in order to keep the unique properties of this program intact, there is an auction.  In addition to items familes donate, each class does an "art" project to auction off to the parents.  Each child goes home and tells their parents they must have the project and begs them to get it for them. Well, Nana Bear's class project went for $650!!!  Tiger Daddy and I agreed that one year we would set aside bucco bucks to bid on one of her class projects in earnest, but it wasn't going to happen this year.

Japanese Relief: In addition to raising money for the school, we also raised money for the relief effort in Japan by holding a Jan Ken Po (Rock, Paper, Scissor) contest at the Auction.  I've never seen a more lively game of Jan Ken Po in my life.  It was quite fun.  Combined with individual donations for the relief effort, the school raised over $3,000 to send to Japan. 

Sunday: This Friday we leave to visit Tiger Daddy's family in the Northwest.  His grandmother was recently diagnosed with cancer AND had a stroke during surgery.  She is on the mend and her prognosis is good, but a visit to her home and to see the rest of his family is long over due.  I was going to make a photobook for her on Shutterfly, but now there is no time to get it shipped before we leave.  So I have been wracking my brains to figure out what to bring her.  I finally decided that I would make one of my fleece/brocade blankets.  So off to Joann's we went, found beautiful sari material (a poly blend, but beautiful and soft) on sale.  I pinned her blanket and Nana Bear's blanket, which for me is the hardest/ most time consuming part.  Next, will have to find time during the laundering and packing to sew both blankets before we leave.  Pictures also forthcoming.

The wrong side of the sari fabric for Grandma's blanket.
If the wrong side looks that good...

Meanwhile, I hope everyone else is enjoying the first days of spring and celebrating with a little crafting.

A Little About Me

It's been almost a month of posting on this blog and it's been quite enjoyable and fun.  Thank you to those have visited and especially those who have left comments and well wishes.  I really enjoy the crafting community and finding such wonderful inspiration from you fellow crafters.  You all inspire me not only with new ideas, but to keep crafting on a regular basis.

Just a little bit about me and crafts:
I was blessed with crafting grandmothers and aunts and an inventive mother.  For almost as far back as I can remember, probably when I was about 5 years old, my mom and I would make holiday themed gifts - valentine cards/gift baskets, Easter baskets, Thanksgiving place cards, etc.  These would usually include stickers, glue, pipercleaners and other "easy" crafts as my mom would say. While my mom denies being crafty, she underestimates her creativity to keep kids busy.  She was a preschool teacher so I think that really helped. 

When I was a little older my grandmothers taught me how to crochet, bake, quilt, and various other crafts, and my mom and I did some basic sewing together.  I have to say that I am quite an uncoordinated person and not very precise so most of my projects didn't turn out quite they way I had envisioned them.  Quilts rows/columns didn't quite match up and my dresses and skirts just didn't look great.  I was more successful with baking and it is one of the things I love to do with Nana Bear. 

After the carefree days of college (read: when I had time during the day to goof off), I only crafted when necessary, ie Christmas time and for my wedding.  I'd say for the past 10 years I would start thinking about Christmas gifts that I could make in September and October.  Then I would have a rush of crafting adrenaline in November and December as I rushed to finish my projects.  Each year the projects have become more and more elaborate and more and more projects go unfinished.  But, those that get done have been quite rewarding.  Finally, last year I decided that my crafting skills are much improved since my childhood and my crafting imagination has begun to blossom as well and here I am, blogging about crafts. 

The Players:
Tiger Daddy - my wonderful, extraordinarily-good-to-me husband.  The man is like MacGuyver, so he can pretty much think me out most jams.  And he has be super supportive as I embark on this journey to open an Etsy shop or some similar thing. 

Nana Bear - my precocious, exuberant 5.y.o daughter.  We fight like cats and dogs at times.  She is wise beyond her years and people say she is a carbon copy of me, which scares the dickens out of me.  She loves arts and crafts and yearns for the day I will teach to crochet. 

Dare Bear - my little 2 y.o. daredevil son.  He loves trains, planes, and automobiles and basketball.  He speaks his own little Darelish language, which we have only partially figured out, much to everyone's frustration. 

We are happy, tired little family creating wonderful memories together.