Chocolate Eyes

Valentine dolls... in the shop

2012-01-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some more Valentine creations I've been making for my shop, MamaWestWind. Lately, it seems I just can't stop crafting! I'm having so much fun with it. Here is one of my favorites! A Valentine wearable baby doll. She can be either worn or displayed on her string.

This is Amia, the Valentine gnome. I was playing with cut out hearts for her underdress and cloak.

A Valentine gnome ornament in pink and purple with white needle felted accents.

And lastly, Amadeus, feeling a little antisocial.

To adopt, please visit my shop here!

Tutorial: Valentine Peekaboo Ornament!

2012-01-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

I love Valentine's Day! I love the colors and the sentiment. I remember my Mom always placing some special Valentine treat or toy at our place settings at the breakfast table. A tradition that I now do with my littles. I've been excitedly creating some Valentine's dolls & ornaments for my shop. In my creating I came up with this little peekaboo Valentine Ornament. Today I thought I'd share how I make it. This tutorial is provided for your personal use only please.

For this project you will need some felt, a wooden bead about one inch across, a pipe cleaner, craft glue & embroidery thread. Also you will need some small, sharp scissors.

First cut two heart shapes. Mine are about 3 1/4 inches across at the widest part. The felt I'm using is very thick upcycled felt made from a wool sweater. You can use whatever red felt you have on hand.

I added some little pink cheeks to my bead- which is about an inch wide and has a hole on just one end. I buy the beads in the wood craft section at Hobby Lobby, they come in a bag. I use Stockmar watercolor to paint the cheeks. Then put a layer of beeswax over it. After beeswaxing draw in the eyes. (I find the color bleeds if I don't beeswax the wood first.) I use a sharpie and make two little ovals above the cheeks. You could also use a graphite or colored pencil, whatever you prefer or have on hand.

Now, take a pipe cleaner (any color as it will not show) fold it and cut it in half. You will only be using half of the pipe cleaner. Then fold this in half again.

Fill the hole inside the bead with craft glue.

Then put the pipe cleaner inside as far as it will go.

Cut a hole inside the middle of one of the hearts.

Slowly cut out the circle starting small and making it bigger and bigger until when you fit the bead head inside it fits without the bead falling through the hole.

Blanket stitch around the hole inside the heart. Here's a great tutorial on futuregirl craft blog on the blanket stitch if you need a refresher. I begin at the top and stitch clockwise. I use 2 strands of variegated pink embroidery floss.

When the glue is dry on the beaded head twist the "arms" around the head. I do this because it provides a structure so the bead stays put inside the heart ornament.

Now, glue the bead on the back heart and add glue around the edge of the hole to really keep it solidly in place once sewn in. Use a light touch on the glue so it doesn't soak through and show on the outside.

Blanket stitch the outside of the heart starting at the top of the heart. You may want to fill it with some wool stuffing. My felt is so thick it didn't require stuffing.

Once that's finished. take a needle and embroidery thread. Knot one end and slide the needle in through the bottom point of the blanket stitched heart so that the knot is hidden inside. Then cut two smaller hearts. Since my felt is very thick I was able to push the needle straight through the center of the hearts. If your felt is thinner you can straight stitch it all the way down through both hearts. Then knot the end at the base of the bottom heart.

Now thread a piece of embroidery floss through the top of the heart and knot a loop to hang your ornament. And your Valentine doll is finished!!!

I have a couple of these to sell at my shop! One is listed now at MamaWestWind.

Happy crafting! Until next time...

Shop Update: Valentine Gnomes!!!

2012-01-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

It's been a little quiet here at the blog for a couple of weeks. Life is in full swing! Home school has begun again and I've been focusing on Valentine's creations for my MamaWestWind shop. In short, we have been busy!

Above is a Valentine Gnome Ornament!

Juliet, a Valentine Gnome, ready to play!

A lavender & below, violet heart child ornament.

And my favorite, I think, these little peekaboo heart ornaments made from a beautiful thick upcycled wool. I'm working on a peekaboo ornament tutorial to share with you! So stop back in soon!

I have a few little Valentine creations left to finish up and add, so more to come! Click here to adopt a MamaWestWind gnome or ornament.

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2012-01-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

~Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

{ this moment }

2012-01-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

~Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

Being carried away... Jane Eyre

2012-01-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

I love being carried away by a good book! I just finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte! Oh, my... I am so in love with this book. I wish I had read it slower because I would love to absorb myself in Jane's world longer. I tried to take my time with this book and really savor Charlotte Brontë's beautiful, descriptive language but it has a way of drawing you in. Savor I did, but I found there were nights where I couldn't go to sleep without reading just one more chapter.

So much to love about this book, but what I'm left with is an overwhelming sense of God's love and care. Odd because the book begins with such horror. (I'm sure my spiritual take on it has much to do with where I find myself spiritually.) On the outset of the book I was left wondering if I could continue reading (as Jane is so abused) but my curiosity for her welfare kept me going. Charlotte Brontë makes you care about this sweet, little child who is left completely unloved. I felt a motherly sort of hope that she'd find happiness. The religious/ spiritual references throughout the book were very inspiring to me. Jane Eyre is always concerned with what's morally and spiritually right. Although so many of the characters around her do not treat her right and the religious authority of the time seem quite uncaring and devoid of compassion. She learns more of true spiritual or Christian love from her young friend at a boarding school for charity cases. Her continual maltreatment seems to keep her focused on higher forms of love. And within Bronte's writing there seems to be a clear delineation between religious fervor and a more personal, loving sense of who God is. Interesting, as she was the daughter of a Reverend. I love this paragraph in Chapter 28.

Worn out with this torture of thought, I rose to my knees. Night was come, and her planets were risen: a safe, still night: too serene for the companionship of fear. We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence. I had risen to my knees to pray for Mr. Rochester. Looking up, I, with tear-dimmed eyes, saw the mighty Milky-way. Remembering what it was--what countless systems there swept space like a soft trace of light--I felt the might and strength of God. Sure was I of His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it treasured. I turned my prayer to thanksgiving: the Source of Life was also the Saviour of spirits. Mr. Rochester was safe; he was God's, and by God would he be guarded. I again nestled to the breast of the hill; and ere long in sleep forgot sorrow.

So many other themes within this book to think about. I haven't mentioned that it's a passionate & suspenseful love story! But even there I find it fascinating for the tension about whether Eyre's love inclination is morally right and her decision to leave when she learns of her beloved's secret. I'll be thinking and dreaming about it for weeks I'm sure. I hope to put it on the shelf, forget about it and at some future point reread and relive it all over again.

As a child I was an avid reader though didn't have much guidance in what would be worthwhile to read. Consequently I found books that were hit and miss in terms of their quality. Many of the classics eluded me. So, now as an adult I'm excited to read Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott. Also I've read of an interesting book called "Wide Sargasso Sea" told from the perspective of Bertha (the lunatic), from Jane Eyre. That sounds as if it will be a fascinating story! If anyone else has any other authors & books they'd like to recommend, I'd love to hear.

Until my next read I think I have to go find one of the many movies of, Jane Eyre at the library and linger a bit longer in Charlotte Brontë's imaginings. Until next time...

Winter Craft Swap

2012-01-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

This year I joined a Winter craft swap hosted by Nicole at One Hook Wonder. I don't know what ever possessed me to join the swap! I had a million things to do, my etsy store to stock, some Christmas presents to craft! But when I saw the swap I immediately wanted to join in the fun. I clicked, added my comment saying yes, and then sat back and thought, "Why did I do that?"

I'm so glad I did though because it caused me to think outside my craft box, if you will. I didn't want to make gnomes as I make plenty of gnomes for my store. I wanted to do something a little bit different. I thought of ornaments which resulted in a few ornaments for my store but then I came up with an idea that I fell in love with. These dolls.

She is inspired by the Grimm's fairytale, "The Star Money", also called "Star Talers". Her story is one of faith in good and she represents an innocent, giving spirit. This spirit of giving seemed the perfect sentiment for the season.

We received our swap box just in time for Christmas. And oooh, the goodies contained! I made sure I opened the box free of little "chocolate eyes" so that I could set aside a few items for their stockings. I also brought a few out for our nature table and to play with.

Here are just a few of the items we received. I love the snow flake, which is currently decorating our door, We received two needle felted snowmen, perfect for the boys stockings. A sweet gingerbread man we put in Owen's stocking. A tree and candle for our nature table. Michael says "its the best tree ever!". There were also a couple of beautiful angel clothes pin dolls that we gifted to our Sunday School teachers.

Here are a few more things we opened up to play with right away! A pond, stones & boat, two adorable Jack Frost dolls. A painted wooden tree & snowman which came with some yummy looking painted cakes, (which must be in play somewhere because I couldn't find them for this picture). This is in no way a complete picture of all we received! Thank you so much to all of my fellow swappers and especially to Nicole who organized it all! And if you would like to adopt a "Star Child" I have one last doll currently in my shop.

Until next time...

Looking Higher...

2012-01-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

I admit I've always been kind of a humbug about New Year's Eve. Can you be a humbug post-Christmas? Big deal, another trip around the sun! Why such celebration, such excess on New Year's Eve? It has always seemed strange to me. My husband and I hardly ever do anything to celebrate or even stay up to witness the New Year's coming. At the turning of the millenium I had food poisoning and fell asleep! Bah humbug!

Saturday night is our usual movie night. So last night, perhaps because it was New Year's eve, I bought a few more goodies than usual. We watched the 1930's Treasure Island and had chicken dinner and all manner of ice cream and chocolate after dinner! We LOVED the movie and had fun. We stayed up a little too late, the boys went to bed exhausted and husband and I had some much needed time together.

It occurs to me now though that New Year's Eve, less of a time of excess and watching years pass, is a time of "starting fresh" as my Mom says. In that way it can be a true spiritual renewal. Setting our minds to higher goals and emracing all the good and potential of good in our lives. I'm not talking about setting that all important goal to lose weight in the new year (even though I wouldn't mind dropping a few), or making strict or inflexible resolutions that we then drop after a week. Instead, to simply look at our intentions, purinfying them, lifting them up a little higher. Knowing moment by moment we will attain them & knowing that momentary failure does not necessitate giving up!

In that light after many years of ignoring New Year's Eve and resolutions, I set forth a few intentions for this hopeful beginning of the new year.

My Intentions...

~ To find space every day for spiritual growth. Praying moment to moment or on my feet counts!
~ To look & listen every day for the balance that is already present.
~ To love fully & be in the moment with my kids, family & friends, appreciating Now.
~ To be gentle with myself. Harsh critic be gone, she was never me.
~ To create more space for family time.
~ To give up stressing about money or anything... &
~ To know truly for me and others that there is never a moment that we aren't guided, loved and cared for.

These are a few blog posts on New Year's that I love! Cedar Ring Mama's, "Brand New" and Little Acorn Learning, "New Year's Affirmations".

What are your intentions this year?

My Boys

2012-01-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

These are some photos I took of Michael & Owen for our Christmas cards.

Michael is just a few days shy of 7 years old in these photos.

Here's our "Christmas photo" for this year.

Owen would not cooperate, so I had to catch him unaware.

He's a cutie even if he did refuse to look into the camera! Owen is 2 1/2 years old.

Until next time...

Snippets of Christmas

2011-12-31T08:59:00.000-08:00

I've neglected my after Christmas post! The truth is we've had so much fun just being, I haven't had time. We've had friends over to play & went visiting friends. My husband and I are battling it out on our new scrabble board most evenings. Plus I'm hooked on my new Charlotte Brontë book. My husband is on vacation and we've just been enjoying life.

In any case, here are some photos from Christmas. Here's our big boy Michael, proud to put the angel on top of the tree all by himself.

On Christmas morning, amazed at the milk gone and the cookies mostly gone. "Santa must have been full when he visited us!"

The stockings hung. Mine missing a ribbon to hold it up. I never found time for that project.

A flurry of unwrapping. We could barely hold Owen back. He was fun this year because he knew what was going on and was really excited. We awoke with Michael running to tell us "Santa came, Owen, Santa came!" Owen immediately ran to open presents and didn't quite understand that we had to wait for Daddy to get up and for us to make coffee. What 2 year old would? So we let them open their stockings while we found the coffee. This at 7:00 AM, not bad!

Santa brought a play kitchen! The boys were thrilled!

Santa also brought some pots and pans & utensils. Mama needle felted some play food for their stockings. I love how they placed the bird houses, just perfect for hanging the spatula and spoon.

Owen loves his doll, Maxwell! I won Maxwell, A Warm Sugar doll, shortly before Christmas at Earth Mama 101! This may not look like the proper way to play with him but it's a compliment of the highest order I tell you!

Funding Christmas came together so well this year. Much of what we found for the kids was funded by my MamaWestWind store, thank you to all who ordered this season! Also, I found trades and the giveaway. Not to mention my family who always sends such thoughtful gifts for the kids. These adorable gnomes are a few of my favorite gifts that we found at Cedar Ring Co-op. They are waiting patiently for their friend...

And here he is!

I can't talk about Christmas with out mentioning the real wonder. Miracle of miracles I got both of the boys out on Christmas morning to go to church. I had prayed about it for a week. I really wanted to go to church on Sunday but worried the boys wouldn't want to tear themselves away from their new toys. It all went very smoothly and we were actually on time for a change! It was the most inspiring part of the day for me, my spiritual uplift.

The rest of the day was spent making ham dinner, playing with the boys, watching a couple new Christmas movies and my husband and I playing Scrabble. Fun for all!

I hope you had a wonderful, love-filled holiday too!

My First Yarn Along

2011-12-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

This is my first yarn along with Ginny from, Small Things. I have been excited to get back to learning how to knit. My dear and only knitting friend has moved away, so I'm on my own. At this point I know how to make the longest scarf ever... and that's pretty much it. Last year I made a cowl each for my Mom and I for Christmas. And I've made dish rags. Beyond that, I'm stumped!

So recently I bought, A First Book of Knitting for Children by Bonnie Gosse & Jill Allerton. I also bought their second book called Knitting for Children. These books are wonderful inspiration and the instructions seem simple and clear.

My first project is a horse, from the first book. We shall see how it goes. Also I'm reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, a Christmas present to myself. I found this beautiful copy at our local book store for a steal. I'm already hooked on it.

Everyone send me some knitting mojo please! Until next time...

Our Christmas Eve Baby Turns Seven!

2011-12-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is such a special time for us. We have so much to celebrate! Michael's Birthday is Christmas eve day. It's always his day. We only begin to think about Christmas in the evening when the boys receive one Christmas Eve present. This year Michael asked for birthday bash cake (something my Mom got us hooked on) with pink icing! I find it terribly cute that he asked for pink icing as he's just coming out of a "pink is for girls" (picture a scrunched up nose) phase.

Michael is now seven years old and is growing strong and tall right before our eyes. A few weeks ago he came up to me with a swagger in his step and with a very grown up voice he said, "Mom, you know, I'm almost all grown up. I'll be turning seven!" I couldn't help but giggle as I told him he is certainly right! Lately, he's all about being grown up. His Christmas eve present was a pair of pajamas (as is our tradition). This year we got him a pair of plaid flannel pj bottoms and a packet of boys white t-shirts like his Daddy wears. He was really excited about his big boy garb.

We thought it fitting to get him a knight and dragon for his seventh Birthday.

We're so proud of you Michael! Happy seventh Birthday!!!

Christmas at Our House... (the real story)

2011-12-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas! The beauty of Christmas lights, the piney smell of our Christmas tree and cookies baking, the giving, loving spirit of the season. There's so much to be grateful for and enjoy.

I love that Owen is fascinated with our ornaments and lights. I love that he places his been bag chair right under the tree and curls up with a blanket to bask in the beauty of it. And lest you think it's all just rosy and perfect my little angel tore apart this ornament just a few moments later.

My husband and I fought when putting up the tree and lights, as we do every year. It's silly and short lived. Years from now my kids with marvel about how Mom and Dad fought every year when putting up the tree. Just like I laugh at the memory of the time my Dad threw the Christmas tree out the door, lights, ornaments and all! (but that's another story.)

This is what Owen was doing as I was trying to take the perfect pretty photo of him sitting on our beloved horse in front of the tree.

And trying to take the perfect photo of Michael. Here he is exhausted after a day of playing and fighting. They do seem to fight more lately!

And though these are gingerbread cookies and much easier to cut out than sugar cookies. I must admit I despise cutting out sugar cookies but I do it every year anyway because I love them! When I was in labor with Michael I made sugar cookies because I just had to have them for Christmas! By the end of the cookie making process I was throwing the edge bits and all on to the tray. I always say it was because I was in labor but really it's what I want to do every year anyway! No labor to blame it on.

And while I wish I could say that I spend hours frosting and making just the perfect batch of cookies, the truth is I could care less about how they look. Don't get me wrong I love to bake. But, I've never had patience when it comes to how my baked goods look, just as long as they taste yummy. Give me a plain cookie and a bowl full of frosting to dip them in and I'm good. (Sorry Mom, I know you tried to teach me.)

Instead, today we danced to Johnny Cash while our gingerbread men baked a little too dark. I made the frosting too runny and while I'll win no awards for how these cookies look, we love them anyway.

And that is Christmas at our house!

{ this moment }

2011-12-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

***

This week I'm grateful for...

reminders to slow down & enjoy the season.
those moments I've taken that advice!
silly boys and trying to get that perfect photo (?)

What are you grateful for?

Until next time...

Shop Update: Gnome Clothespins & Tutorial too!

2011-12-11T15:28:00.001-08:00

I've been having fun painting clothes pins lately! I've just added these to my etsy shop, MamaWestWind. They are awesome little clothespins to hold your play silk collection. They're easy for children to pin and un-pin for themselves at clean-up time and displaying the silks on a line at their eye level means the silks are always accessible to the children. I've found that friends coming over are always attracted to the bright colored rainbow on the wall! So needless to say they get played with often. These little gnome pins are also just fun for play & imagining with as well. For those who would like to make them yourself I'm offering this tutorial for your own personal use.

If you'd like to buy them check my shop. If when you read this you don't see them at my shop, convo or email me and ask and I will make you some.

You can find packages of clothes pins at your local craft supply store.

First, lightly sand the clothespins. Sometimes they are a bit rough. Sanding keeps them safe for little hands and if you sand the inside, the wood won't snag your play silks. I take sandpaper and fold it in half and then putting it inside the pin slot, lightly sand both sides at once. After sanding, paint them. I like watercolors because I love the translucency of them. I use Stockmar watercolors and mix them with a little vinegar instead of water to help the color stain the wood. (Warning, if a child puts them in their mouth, the color will start to come off). Make sure you use a non-toxic, AP certified watercolor or other paint of your choice. Stockmar is non-toxic of course. I've also had fine results with Reeves watercolor, also AP certified. And Reeves you can find at your local art supply store.

After painting, lightly sand with a buffing paper to make them smooth. Watercolor gets into the wood fiber and raises the wood fiber a bit making it slightly rough. Buffing will make them smooth again. Beeswax the pins. Here's a recipe for the beeswax finish. This will hold the color in better and maintain the moisture in the wood.

Add a layer of beeswax and let it sit for a half hour or so and then clean it off and buff them with a dry cloth.

Now, time for the hat! I use 100% wool felt.

Here is the shape of the hat laying flat. (sorry, no pattern, I don't know how to do that on the computer

quite yet.) Start sewing with the knot inside the top of the hat. Of course you could simply glue the hats but I'm always afraid it will look messy or that it could be easily pried apart my wee fingers.

Fold the hat to make the gnome hat shape.

I'll let the pictures do the talking now.

Knot the end on the inside of the hat.

Then glue the hat on using craft glue.

This is the way it looks from the back.

And from the front.

And with some friends!

Don't forget to add the eyes. I use a sharpie marker in blue or brown and add them after the beeswax layer so the color doesn't run. You may want to wait to do the eyes until after the hat is on to see where you want them.

And now you have a lovely set of gnome clothespins for your little ones!

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-12-09T07:38:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

***

This week I'm so grateful for...

an unusual snow day
being reminded of the usefulness of indoor plumbing
time together with our good friends
silly moments & the funny things kids say

What are you grateful for?

Until next time...

Watercolor Painting Unfinished Wood

2011-12-07T12:04:00.001-08:00

As I write this my hands are freezing (now that my computer is in the garage!). It''s been unusually cold here in the Southwest and our pipes even froze yesterday! So anyway, I hope this post makes sense as I'm going to try and very quickly type it up!

I love buying unfinished wood decorations at our craft store and painting them with watercolors. I bought this one just to decorate our house but this is also a fun, inexpensive way to involve kids in gift giving. All of what I bought was 50% off. So this little "Joy" decoration was less than $1. (actually on second check it was $1.50, still a bargain.)

I bought Michael unfinished wooden ornaments and puppets that he can paint and give to his friends. I think both of his packets were 50 cents each. He was fascinated with mixing the colors and ecstatic I gave him watercolors he had to mix himself. Usually I give them to him diluted in jars, in just red, yellow and blue. The mixing happens on the paper. So this was new and exciting for him. He's still working on his so I don't have any pics of his finished work.

I decided to make mine rainbow colored with watercolors. I started with yellow on the tree and then working quickly added blue in areas over top to make the tree green. Then I added red and yellow over the "J-O" section letting the two mix to make a subtle orange. The same with the "Y", I added yellow and blue letting the two mix to make green. The key to this technique is just to work fast and mix as you go. Watch the color as it changes and be flexible. The watercolor often does what it wants. You can mix the watercolor with vinegar to make it stain the wood a little better.

I added another layer in bolder colors after it dried. I also made sure to paint the back just in case I would ever hang it somewhere you might see both sides. After it dried thoroughly I applied beeswax over top and then buffed it off with a rag 20 min later.

And now it hangs on my entry way door. Not the outside door by the way, wood and watercolor would not be happy in the elements. Anyway, this is a fun, quick & inexpensive project for adults and kiddos alike.

Until next time...

Advent: keeping it simple & meaningful

2011-12-02T13:20:00.001-08:00

This Advent season is the first Advent we've celebrated. Sure, we've had Advent calendars before, the chocolate variety and the story variety. But this is the first year I've truly felt the spiritual ideas of Advent deeply and wanted to celebrate the season with simplicity but meaning. So to celebrate the beginning of Advent we made beeswax candles. We will light a candle every night at mealtime and say our advent verse.

This was my first time making candles. I used this tutorial at Here We Are Together.

We had beeswax that I bought last year in New York and local desert beeswax as well. We were fascinated by the different colors and smells of the wax. The New York wax at the top has a deeper color and a more woodsy, strong smell. Our local, lighter colored wax has a beautiful delicate scent. Both are lovely. But since New York is my home and who doesn't want to be home for Christmas (as the song goes) we chose the woodsy New York scent.

They came out lovely but a few of them have deep cracks in them. I'm sure it's some newbie mistake. Does anyone have any thoughts on why that happens?

This is our nature table. We've started it by adding stone elements. We have the beautiful quartz crystal that ties in nicely with the chapter we're reading in the Festival of Stones. A Madonna and child stone that I made when we decorated rocks with melted crayons last summer. We also chose a black Onyx stone egg that represents the darkness of winter evenings.

I really love the nativity stable I found at Target for $2.50! It's simple and small and just what I was looking for. I also found the "Peace" ornament for half off at our local craft store. It's unfinished and I was going to paint them, but I actually think the raw would is so beautiful in it's simplicity.

Mary & Joseph are currently traveling around the room. I plan to tell stories of their journey. Currently they are just plain peg dolls, but I hope to craft them as a surprise and just let the boys happen upon them.

We've added a few simple decorations. We always like to add a string of lights on top of our wooden beam. We made a garland a couple of years ago with found pine cones and hemp string. This year I added the unfinished wood ornaments. One says Joy and the other Hope. The other ornaments are the celestial and snow child ornaments that I have made for my etsy store.

One of my favorite decorations is this angel/ star garland I found years ago.

And this little angel is a new addition this year. I have fallen in love with Georgian Wooden Toys! I was helping my friend Becca add these lovely wooden toys & figures to her Waldorf co-op, Cedar Ring Circle. I couldn't help but buy a few!

So in any case we are enjoying the season. I hope you are as well!

Until next time...

Holiday Shop Update!

2011-12-02T12:32:00.001-08:00

I have been a busy bee as of late, creating all sorts of winter peg dolls & ornaments. This year I participated in my first Waldorf winter craft swap. It was so much fun and very challenging to make 15 items! I didn't want to make something I had already made, so it took some experimenting. In the end it was such a great experience and helped me to come up with a few new items for my shop. I'm not going to reveal exactly what I"ve sent as I want it to be a surprise for those 15 other gals in my swap. I can't wait to see what they've all made and I'll blog about it here when I get my box of winter Waldorf goodies!

So anyway let me introduce all of the new characters in the story of MamaWestWind! The above regal pair are King and Queen Winter. They are larger than the average gnome at around 5 inches tall.

Nicholas the winter gnome is also a large gnome.

Here is Borg, the Tomten.

Oliver & Noel the elves.

A celestial ornament.

A snowball ornament.

The Star child ornament, inspired by the Grimm's fairytale The Star Money, Or Star Talers.

And a snow child ornament. Please visit them at my shop, MamaWestWind. Also become a fan here at my MamaWestWind facebook page. At 200 fans I will be giving away a peg doll!

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season. Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-12-02T08:47:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

***

This week I'm so grateful for...

this little puppy & dress-up!
accomplishing a huge amount of work for a winter Waldorf swap.
Christmas presents coming together in unexpected and fun ways.
a relaxed & enjoyable start of Advent. Less is more.

What are you grateful for?

Until next time...

Handmade for the Holidays!

2011-11-28T13:51:00.001-08:00

Hi all! You may have noticed this icon on my sidebar.

I'm participating in a handmade directory for this holiday season. Just click on the link on my sidebar to see all of the shops involved. Here are some of the businesses and their beautiful works.

Heidi at HumbleLuna, you may remember the awesome dragon costume we have from her skillful hands.

Look at this darling appliqued onesie made by Taryn from Green Mama Design.

Erin at Dandelion Dream and her printed Organic T-shirts. I love her squirrel bag too!

Tonya at The Vermont Branch Company. Wouldn't a pair of these be fun!

And of course my shop, MamaWestWind.

Please go check out the directory as there are more fantastic shops included as well!

Until next time...

Shop Update and a Little Clarity

2011-11-25T08:03:00.001-08:00

I'm so happy to say, that as of recently, I'm on the computer less. Computer time is a bit of a struggle for me. With my etsy business and all of your lovely blogs and a little part time computer work I was doing, I could be on the computer all day long. Yikes, I have trouble balancing it. After some inner work & searching for a way to organize my life a little better, angel thoughts~ solutions came in such gentle and unexpected ways.

Believe it or not all of my crafting and business supplies used to be stored in a closet. I thought I'd be able to keep it clean and organized but instead it became a place to throw it all and shut the door on the mess. Mean while my house became my business crafting area. The same place we need to home school, eat meals and live in became my work space as well. As you can imagine this just doesn't work. Not to mention I would try to sew between making a meal, homeschooling, cleaning, changing a diaper, dealing with an argument. This left me feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I didn't feel like I had enough time to just be with my kids or enough time to craft. Finally a friend of mine came over with fresh eyes and some suggestions. Yay! I've moved my business into our studio/garage, formerly the man cave! I've also worked out some designated time with my husband to work on it. The final piece of the puzzle came when I realized I didn't want the computer in the house either. So, now business and crafting is in the studio/garage, homeschooling and living in the house. Phew! What a relief! The house has been staying a bit cleaner, the homeschooling a bit more focused. And oh, the relaxation of a studio day! I can watch movies and sew, listen to NPR without interruption! I love it!

I'm so thankful to my friend for helping me see it all with fresh eyes, to my husband who is willing to share his man cave & the clarity that has come with designating space and time to these different areas of my life. I can't say it's all perfect and organized but it's so much better than it was. This will help me too to find some focused time to blog a couple times a week, instead of just whenever I'm inspired. It's such a relief to be on the computer less and have more focused time during the week with my kids.

So, yesterday I had some studio time and was able to get a few things done.

Please come and visit my rather unconventional angels, at my MamaWestWind shop. They are painted, bees waxed & wood burned with a little sewing in there as well. My favorite is the rainbow angel. They are a beautiful addition to your seasonal decorations or a good personal reminder to look for those angel thoughts all year round.

Until next time...

{ this moment } & Gratitude!

2011-11-25T07:42:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

***

This week I'm so grateful for...

My bug collector & the other "bug" too.

My light-hearted husband.

Family & getting to connect with them even if long distance.

A wonderful Thanksgiving at home filled with gratitude, yummy goodness, fun & relaxation.

A bundle of new Waldorf books coming my way!

What are you grateful for?

A Donsy of Gnomes Winner!

2011-11-19T20:14:00.001-08:00

I am sorry to post this a little late this evening! I was trying to get my littlest to sleep and almost fell asleep too. I'm so glad I awoke with a start!

Anyway, the winner of Sieglinde De Francesca's A Donsy of Gnomes and Kit N Tale is Emily Holzer!!! Congratulations Emily! Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you so much to Sieglinde De Francesca for making this giveaway possible.

A Reminder, "A Donsy of Gnomes" Giveaway!

2011-11-18T10:42:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I'll be choosing a winner for the grand prize of Sieglinde De Francesca's book, A Donsy of Gnomes and one of her adorable Kit N Tales. It's not to late to enter! Good luck!

Until next time...

Martinmas, then and now

2011-11-12T20:49:00.001-08:00

Last year at Martinmas we were at my Mom's in New York. (I never blogged about Martinmas last year so thought I would include it in my post this year.) We had just visited the Aurora Waldorf school and it was such an inspiring visit. While there, one of the teachers invited us to come back to celebrate Martinmas with them.

So we got to work on our lanterns! I saw lantern handles like these while touring the school. We decided to make them from wood that had been cut from my favorite childhood tree.

This tree used to be so beautiful. It lives in the yard in front of my Mom's house, the house I grew up in. It was the ancient beautiful tree that shaded our yard & provided endless fun & comfort. Before we came home it had been hit by lightning and largely cut down. Sadly, we had plenty of wood to choose from for our lantern handles, though it's so meaningful to me that they're made from my beloved tree.

So with lantern handles sanded and beeswaxed and glass jars tissue papered we set off for our adopted Waldorf school.

We went early and had a little picnic in the outdoor play area.

When everyone arrived we had some storytelling around the fire.

Michael and my Mom.

Then we set off for the woods on our lantern walk!

Pumpkins lit our way. It was quite magical. Michael asked to go again and so he and I circled the route again. Just let me say, "Wander tripping little gnome" from my favorite lantern song, is right! We were tripping all over the place. Mostly in the uneven grass coming out of the wooded area. Michael loved it!

(On the right, check out the lovely little Saint Martin figures my friend made the boys.)

This year for Martinmas we celebrated on our own. There isn't a Waldorf school in our area here in the Southwest. I do wish there were, but also I was thankful to experience the festival on our own this year. The Waldorf school was fun, the stories were good, the little snack they served, the lit up pumpkins, the dark woods all so magical! But what's that saying about feeling alone in a crowd? I had a sense of loss there, wanting to be apart of the group but also feeling left out and alone. This was my experience and of my own making I'm sure, because my little ones didn't seem to have that sense at all! They were just grateful to be there and so full of energy and excitement. But in contrast, this year Martinmas was personal.

Our chalk board drawing was of children on a lantern walk. I told the story of Saint Martin and the beggar.

I drew this crayon drawing inspired by the moment when Saint Martin felt compassion for the beggar. We also read the chapters about Martinmas in The Festival of Stones.

This year we tried a new lantern made from Watercolor paper. We sort of combined two different lanterns in the book, All Year Round. We took old watercolor paintings and then drew on them with beeswax crayons. Then oiled the backs of the paper and formed the lantern shape. The handles are made from yarn and there's glass jars inside to hold the candle. Michael, Owen and I (Papa was at work) had homemade chicken noodle soup and biscuits by lantern light. We also cut the biscuits in half giving half to the person next to us. Owen needed some convincing to share! At first he wouldn't give me any and then he gave it all to me. Our lantern walk was just us three. I felt slightly silly walking through our neighborhood on our own with our lanterns & singing songs. But it was a lovely, cool night and the boys were excited and loved it all. And to my surprise this year, even though we celebrated alone, I didn't feel alone. In fact, I felt quite unified with all the other families and groups celebrating Martinmas throughout the world that eve. Go figure!? Anyway, a belated Happy Martinmas to you all!

Until next time...

PS: Just a few days left to enter the giveaway of Sieglinde De Francesca's book, A Donsy of Gnomes and one of her Kit N Tales to boot!

{ this moment }

2011-11-11T08:59:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

***

Don't forget to enter the giveaway I'm hosting. It's a giveaway of Sieglinde De Francesca's book, A Donsy of Gnomes and one of her Kit N Tales to boot!

Failing at Gratitude!

2011-11-10T20:42:00.001-08:00

I am so grateful, really I am! Though I'm completely failing at this November gratitude challenge! I think I'll bow out now and do a post on Fridays of my gratitude of the week instead.

However, since I'm what 8 "Gratitudes" behind! I have to catch up here.

Last time I wrote about being grateful for the wonders of pregnancy and becoming a mother for the first time. This time I want to write about how thankful I am for my next little bundle, Owen, and all of the treasures and challenges he brought. That second pregnancy though still such a wonder was definitely more difficult and exhausting. Becoming a mother for the second time was wonderful because I felt so much more confident as a Mom and not as afraid of birth. So unafraid in fact, I think it may have sped his arrival! (read more about that here.) Owen has been so full of surprises and fun! The challenges of having 2 boys continuously keep me on my toes. Rambunctious, loving, fighting, teasing, silliness, it's all wonderfully exhausting and enoyable!

I'm also grateful for ...

special, fun one on one time with Michael last weekend. (I'll write more about that soon.)

a loving, supportive husband, one that will clean & rearrange & move your business into his studio (man-cave) for you!

my growing etsy business! I find it so fun, & challenging.

good friends, the ones I can hang out with & talk & talk with & the ones I can talk & talk with online!

Waldorf and the magic, spirit & grounding it brings to my children and I.

a loving and supportive family. My mom who is not only my Mom but my good friend as well.

and last but most definitely not least! God and my spiritual path, always inspiring and fulfilling!

And there are my 8 "Gratitudes"! (yes, I'm aware it's not a word.) I'll begin my gratitude posting next Friday. Hoping the other challengers are doing better than I have! Oh and don't forget to enter the giveaway I'm hosting. It's a giveaway of Sieglinde De Francesca's book, A Donsy of Gnomes and one of her Kit N Tales to boot!

Until next time...

A Donsy of Gnomes & more {giveaway}!!!!

2011-11-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

And the lucky winner of A Donsy of Gnomes and a Kit N Tale is...

Emily, who said, "The Gnome Stories look great as do Lucy Littles, but I couldn't look through every thing yet!" I will be contacting you Emily! Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered!

So here is the long awaited giveaway of A Donsy of Gnomes - Seven Gentle Gnome Stories and another special prize! What an awesome prize it will be for one lucky winner! I've had the pleasure of getting to know a little more about the author, Sieglinde De Francesca, through an interview that I'd like to share with you.

~~~

When did your Waldorf journey begin? How did youfind Waldorf education?

In the early 1950’s my mother was introduced to Anthroposophy and Waldorf and Iwent briefly to a Waldorf school in New York. Then, when Frances Edmunds, adear family friend, started Emerson College in Great Britain he invited mymother to enroll there, so I attended Wynstones Waldorf School, also in the UK,graduating from high school there. Only after having a career in the theatre and becomingdisenchanted with it, did I remember my wonderful experiences at Waldorf anddecided to become a Waldorf teacher myself.

What are your storytelling roots? Was storytelling a part of yourchildhood?

I had had a childhood that was rich with imaginative play. But, I actuallythink that I got into storytelling through my work in the theater; throughchildren’s theater and puppetry. When I became a Waldorf teacher the storiesflowed.

"A Donsy of Gnome"s has become my new favorite storybook. How did this world of Limindoor Woods and the gnomes come to you?

As ayoung child I lived in a true colonial house in Westport, Connecticut, thehouse where Leon and Lucy, the children in the book, live. There was ahill there and a stream and meadow and woods, the same as in the book. Curiously, thearea of my childhood world that is designated in the book as Limindoor Woodswas blank in my memory. Yet, when the stories came to me, those woods came intofocus.

The woods name is interesting. Limin, or liminal, has to do with athreshold between two different existential planes. That world of gnome is onlyaccessible by passing through a limin door, thus the name.

Actually, I had originally started writing a totally differentbook, a curriculum book, but these gnomes would not let me be. When I relentedand finally let them tell their stories I came to understand that this book wasto be a portal into their world. I went to great length to write about gnomesas elementals in the introduction of my book. The elementals are expressions ofthe forces, the energies, of nature. Perhaps my “pen” was used as a tool tobring forth some of those energies in order to counteract what is happening inthe world today. To remind us not to lose touch with the purity of nature.

Do you play favorites? Is there any one gnome from your bookthat you are most fond of?

That’s a difficult one. I think Pebble was the first one to cometo me well over 20 years ago … and then Mossy. But each of the gnomes in thebook has qualities that I love and that teach me at any time, depending on whatis going on in my life.

Do you have any tips or advice for those of us who are new tostorytelling? Or perhaps struggle (and now I speak for myself) withstorytelling?

Ah! Let me tell you a story about storytelling. When I wasinterviewing for my first kindergarten class 35 years ago, I had to tell astory. I memorized Rumpelstiltskin word for word. I was terrified on the trainride to Boston. How would I do? Would the children like it? Then, there I wasin front of a class of 4 year olds looking at me expectantly. The memorizedstory went right out of my brain. Zip! What was I to do? I asked myself, “Whatwould these children like to hear?” What story can I “give” them? What do Ilove?

So I started telling them about when I was a little girl and Ilived on a farm. I told of waking up when the stars were still twinkling,putting on my rubber boots and walking through the dew wet grass, squeak,squeak, out to the barn where my uncle was milking the cows. I told about thesounds and smells, about what the cow’s round warm side felt like when I satdown to learn to milk her… about the cats waiting for a creamy spray. It wassomething I was familiar with. Something a child would love to hear. It was a“gift” to them. For I believe our stories are gifts, carefully chosen, lovinglygiven. I got the job! ;-)

What do you want to tell my readers about your shop and products?

Please visit my site http://teachwonderment.com/ and shop http://shop.teachwonderment.com/ toexplore some of the ways you can access your own awe and wonder… so that youcan then teach wonderment to the children in your life.

~~~

Thank you Sieglinde, for giving us a little window into your world! I love the story about your interview and how you describe stories as gifts, "carefully chosen, lovinglygiven". Beautiful. It's so good to remember that we all have stories to tell.

To enter this giveaway of "A Donsy of Gnomes" AND a "Kit N Tales" please go to Sieglinde's shop and tell me which product you would most love to have! You might also want to take a moment to look at her Kit N Tales and think about which one you might choose if you won. These adorable kits include a story and a craft instruction! I want to get "Pebble and the Tumbling Gnome" or the Star Child's Birthday!

For a second chance to win, facebook or tweet this giveaway and come back and leave a comment saying you did.

For a third chance to win blog about this giveaway and leave another comment with a link to your post.

I will announce the winner ~~Saturday, November 19th, 2011 by 8:00pm Mountain time~~. Please leave me a way to contact you if you win. Either by leaving your email address or making sure your blogger account will allow me to contact you.

Comments are closed!

Thank you to all who enter and thank you Sieglinde De Francesca for your time & generosity!

Graditude: pregnancy & becoming a Mother

2011-11-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

On Day two & three of the Gratitude challenge, ( I can see there are going to be times I'll have to bundle my gratitude as I missed yesterday's post.) I give thanks for pregnancy, one of the most beautiful times in my life. Especially all the wonder, excitement & terror of that first pregnancy.

I also give thanks for the privilege of seeing my eldest, Michael, grow and transition into the beautiful little boy he is. From babyhood

to losing his baby teeth and on to the next phase in his development. I'm so in awe of this amazing job called parenthood. Being my first little babe, becoming his Mother profoundly changed me. Things that seemed so important before him, no longer seemed so very important after his arrival into our lives. Finding the strength to give birth made me know my own strength. God bestowed strength that is, because I've never prayed so desperately in my life as both times I've given birth.

And you know my next Gratitude post will have to be becoming a Mommy for the second time!

Until next time...

Month of Gratitude!

2011-11-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

I'm jumping in on the 3o days of thanksgiving bandwagon! What a great idea! Gratitude is such a powerful spiritual tool and I'm happy for a way to bring more of it into my daily thought.

So tonight I'm grateful for this love. My boys are so loving and caring with one another. They fight like mad as well, but beneath it all there is a beautiful, loving friendship and brotherhood.

Spiderman, a Dragon, Bones and the Sugar Fairy!

2011-11-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween! I made pumpkin stew and bone bread sticks from the recipe "Rose Room Rolls", The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book. When I saw this post on mamaroots, I knew we had to have them! The boys loved our yummy, scary bones.

We also had warm cider, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie and apple tart. Yum!

My eldest, who had planned to be a dragon to match his little brother decided last minute to change to Spiderman (gasp!).

Spiderman, spiderman!
What to do?
Daddy loves Spiderman,
so they do too!

Do you like my little poem? Even though to Mommy's aesthetic Spiderman is way overdone and not very creative, (just like the poem above). It just can't be helped. I won't interfere with their Papa & sons fun!

So instead of two dragons we had one.

Owen was really cute! Before we left I ran over the rules of trick or treating at dinner. "Say Trick or Treat, don't forget to say Thank you, choose only one piece of candy unless they tell you different". Owen was really listening, he was a model trick or treater. He even doled out the Dragon roar's for everyone except at this house. Where instead of roaring he stuck out his tail and made a farting sound to their "roars" of laughter. Typical.

Everyone loved his tail!

And Michael was the cutest Spiderman on the block, in my unbiased opinion!

Last night I tried and tried but I just couldn't get any good pictures. So today the boys put on a little photo shoot for me. Yes, bare feet! It was quite warm last night and today it's 70 some.

Michael's jack o 'lantern is on the left. I wish I had gotten a picture of Michael & Daddy carving pumpkins but I was busy with our bones! Owen was taking a rare nap, which saved our Trick or Treating eve!

If it seems I have a million pictures of Owen, it's because I was trying to capture this adorable costume. I won this dragon tail in a giveaway! Heidi at Under the Humble Moon makes the most adorable dragon costumes! She even let me choose the colors! Check out her etsy store, Humble Luna!

Roaring his fierce roar!

This costume will live in our dress up basket. It even fits Michael. I have a feeling we'll get a lot of use out of it. With Michaelmas having just passed and my Mom sending us knight shirts, (Not to be confused with night shirts, I'll have to show you those another time.) We have had a lot of dragon slaying going on here.

This year I told the boys the Sugar Fairy's story. I wasn't sure how interested they would be about giving their candy away. But Michael was super excited. He asked me to tell him the story again and wholeheartedly agreed to it. We wrote a note together to the Sugar Fairy. With Michael practicing some writing and making her a picture, we asked her to come and take our candy on Halloween night. (We saved a few pieces.)

And these are the gifts the boys woke up to on our doorstep this morning. Left in the same bag the candy had been in! How does she do it? The DVD is a fantastic series of not so scary, Halloween stories from Scholastic Storybook Treasures called, A Very Brave Witch. There was only one story the boys were a bit afraid of.

They are thrilled with their monsters. Funny, I ahem, the sugar fairy must have been thinking of the story we just read in the Seven Year Old Wonder book, "Sylvia & the Black Imp". Even though Michael's black imp isn't black but green and there isn't a picture in the book. Michael said, "Look Mom! The black Imp!" He loves it but says it's too hairy, I guess I have to shave the little bugger.

Hope you had a fantastic Halloween! Until next time...

Boo!

2011-10-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Lots of Halloween fun going on here today! Some homemade treats and comfort foods, a little trick or treating and a visit from the Sugar Fairy tonight!

Here's a corner of our nature table. The boys were surprised to see little ghosts had come to visit one morning. If you remember I had cut many little wooden animals and such last year with my Father-in-law's scroll saw in NY. I hid all of the unfinished ones away to surprise the boys at various holidays throughout the year. These little ghosts and a couple more were just waiting to be finished. Sadly, I think I have one more mushroom, a pine tree and a couple more ghosts left. I do need my own scroll saw! Notice the knot in the wood is the little ghosts mouth. I love making use of those knots! Here's s link to my woodworking tutorial if you're interested.

Happy Halloween! Until next time...

& the winner is...

2011-10-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

The giveaway is now closed and Sunshine Mama is the new proud owner of Oakley, the Autumn gnome! Congratulations Sunshine Mama! Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

{ this moment }

2011-10-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

*****

Don't forget to enter my giveaway of Oakley, an Autumn peg doll here.

I let the cat out of the bag... & a giveaway

2011-10-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Random Number Generator has selected number 39! Congratulations Sunshine Mama!!!

So, silly me, let the cat out of the bag too soon! The giveaway I will be having of "A Donsy of Gnomes" book and another little surprise from Sieglinde De Francesca's shop will be forthcoming. However, it's taking longer to interview than I planned for. I should have known when you ask a busy Waldorf teacher & business owner in depth questions on her background & book you can expect a thoughtful response that may take some time. So, we'll have to string you along a bit longer!

In the meanwhile, I'm happy to offer a little gnome giveaway. This oak leaf gnome is one of my favorites! Oakley is one of my new made to order gnomes in my MamaWestWind shop.

In the enchanted forest Oakley is swaying with his brothers on Father oak tree. They're waiting for just the right chilly wind to see them fluttering off to their Autumn adventure...

Oakley stands approximately 3 1/4 inches tall. His bodice is hand painted a warm brown with a beeswax finish. He wears a chocolate brown gnome hat with an olive green, oak leaf sewn and needle felted on one side. The leaf is changing colors with a bit of wool roving in yellow and orange. His hat is entirely blanket stitched in forest green embroidery floss.

To enter the giveaway please become a follower of my blog or let me know you already are. Then visit my shop and leave me a comment telling me which gnome is your favorite or what you'd like to see in my shop. That's one entry.

For a second entry become a MamaWestWind facebook fan or let me know you already are a fan.

For a third entry share this giveaway on your facebook page, come back and let me know by adding another comment.

And for a fourth entry blog about this giveaway and come back with a link to your blog post.

I will pick a winner by 8pm, mountain time on ~~Saturday the 29th of Octobe~~r. which is just a few short days away! Good luck!

Until next time...

Shop Update: Introducing Miss Maple!

2011-10-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

In the Maple grove there's a crispness in the air, Autumn is here! Miss Maple Tree lives amongst her Maple tree family. Her friends are the birds that come to visit her and the woodland creatures from the enchanted forest. The rest of Miss Maple's story is up to you...

Miss Maple Tree is a peg doll I've had in mind for awhile. She is twice the size of my other gnomes and peg dolls. Perfect for storytelling or your nature table. Visit my shop here to adopt Miss Maple!

***

In other news I will be posting my interview with Sieglinde De Francesca next week. She will be giving away two awesome prizes! Thank you Mrs. De Francesca!

Until next time...

Drawing with Block Crayons & A Donsy of Gnomes Giveaway Coming Soon!

2011-10-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I ordered Sieglinde de Francesca's Coloring with Block Crayons DVD set. I really had no idea how to work with our block crayons. We were basically using them like ordinary crayons, which of course felt awkward as they are rectangular. I knew we could block in large areas of color with them and that they smell divine but that was the extent of my understanding.

As an artist I know how to draw and paint, but teaching drawing and painting to an almost seven year old is a very different matter. Also the way I learned is not the same as how drawing is taught in Waldorf. I love how this method teaches the child to draw and think dimensionally.

Sieglinde De Francesca covers drawing technique, how to draw plants, animals and people in a simplified & subtle way. The dvd is excellent for those who are complete beginners and experienced artists alike. I also love how she teaches to draw with only the primary colors.

So in our home school, we've been experimenting with block crayon drawing. Michael used to avoid using the block crayons but now he's starting to really enjoy them. The above H is my own, and the bottom H is Michael's. We read/told The Hut in the Forest by the Brothers Grimm and practiced drawing H's. We've only had two weeks of drawing in this manner. He enjoys the magic of seeing the colors change with every application.

I'm still working with him on slowing down, taking his time and also filling the entire page. He has no problem drawing for hours on his own imaginative creations but when doing school work he tends to rush.

This is my drawing for the story, The Hut in the Forest. On drawing day we work on a drawing together. I create a drawing before hand, usually the weekend before. Then I make a second drawing with him showing him how as we go. Michael enjoys the process. The first time we drew together he exclaimed "Mom, I can draw like you!" The above drawing was not illustrated for drawing day. I think it's a bit too complex for him at this point. It's not perfect, I tend to try to apply the color too dark but I'm learning and having fun with it.

I have our drawing pinned to the book shelf in our school/ dining area. Michael likes to look at the drawing as I tell the story. It also helps the next day in triggering his memory to retell the story to me. Michael enjoys the retelling, usually creating a little puppet show with our wooden animals, houses and peg gnomes.

And here's the big news! Recently I contacted Sieglinde De Francesca to tell her how much I love her book, A Donsy of Gnomes and her Coloring with Block Crayons, dvd set, I also asked if she might like to have a giveaway here on Chocolate Eyes. She said yes! So please check back with me soon for my interview with Sieglinde De Francesca and to have your chance to win two awesome prizes!

Until next time...

Shop Update: Autumn Waldorf Gnomes & a Witch or Two!

2011-10-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to present my new line of gnomes! These little gnomes are a little more simple with just a decorated hat and painted bodice. I'm hoping to increase my stock to have something for everyone. Here is Maple the gnome with a lovely needle felted maple leaf sewn to her hat.

Here's Maple with her friends Oakley, the Oak leaf, and Howden, the pumpkin. If you've been to my shop before my shop you may have noticed I have a fondness for naming my little gnomes. Howden is the name of an actual pumpkin variety and Maple and Oakley, well those are pretty obvious.

A close up of Oakley.

Here's a close up of Howden the Pumpkin Gnome.

This one might be my new favorite! He is Ignacio the Autumn Fire Spirit. His hat is needle felted in red, orange and yellow flames. He also has a little painted flame on his bodice.

And as Halloween is coming up, a couple of witches have joined the ranks. Here are Agatha and Gwendolyn. All now in the shop, at MamaWestWind.

Please come and join my MamaWestWind facebook page. I have said I'll have a giveaway at 200 fans and we're quickly approaching that number. Come and join to get in on the fun. Hmmm, which doll should I give away?

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-10-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

My Storytelling Saga & "Brother Acorn"

2011-10-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Our story this week is Brother Acorn from A Donsy of Gnomes, my new favorite book! As I've said before storytelling is not something I'm comfortable with. It just isn't anything I've ever done before. It feels foreign. I've always admired those witty wordsmiths that can spin a tale at the drop of a hat. As a child I was very shy and I've gradually grown out of that as an adult. Storytelling or acting is never anything I've been interested in doing. I love reading, I love to write, I love doing art projects but the whole idea of storytelling has in the past given me a knot in the pit of my stomach. I get stressed about it even with my own kids!

All that said, I find this ridiculous! What a load of baggage and bull! I think how life used to be before television and radio and all the electronic gadgets we have to keep us occupied. In our "Little House" books storytelling is just a natural part of their lives. Story is apart of us, our ancestral roots, I know it's hidden within me somewhere. I will become comfortable with storytelling, first with my own kids and then someday I hope with other children too. So here I begin!

This is my story set up for Brother Acorn. Here are my cheat cards. First I read a story 2 or 3 times and then I write down the first line and the major points of the story as well as any particular phrases that I want to remember. I go over the cards after I've written them once. Most of the time I don't look at my cards at all but they are there for reference if needed. They are my security blanket!

I begin our story time by ringing a little bell to call them. Then I light a candle on the mantle and sing this verse, "Fairies of the story time, come and share your stories with me. I am listening with my ears and I'm sitting quietly".

In the "Brother Acorn" story there is beautiful imagery of the changing morning sky. It begins with "...,when the sky was purple, all was still." So in my story I layered our silks to represent the changing sky. (You have to use a little imagination with some of the colors.)

"He walked through the quiet and cold forest until the sky was as pink as a rose." I take off the blue/violet silk to reveal the orange silk.

"... until the sky was the color of a peach." I take off the orange to reveal the yellow silk.

"...until the sky was filled with apricot light." Until finally he sees the sun.

There is also such beautiful repetition in the story. A sound, "tap, tap, tap", the song of Brother Acorn asking for a nut, "...have you got a nut for me, so that I may plant a tree.", and the squirrel's song of response to Brother Acorn all repeats in such a beautiful way.

Michael and I got a kick out of being able to "plant" the acorns in our ground. These wool acorns fit right into the holes on our wire chair.

It's fun and confidence building to see how the boys are responding to storytime. Even when I mess up and make "mistakes" they don't really care, they're too captivated by the story.

Michael likes to set up stories now and tell his brother and I. I love how everything is thrown into his stories. A priority mail box, stuffed animals, silks, homemade toys and his plastic toys all thrown in together. A weaving of his life. He's a natural storyteller as most children are. As we all are I think.

Some of us just need a little reminding.

Until next time...

Featured on Beneath the Rowan Tree!

2011-10-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

Anca is featured on Beneath the Rowan Tree in her post "Waldorf Monday: Lovely Purple Dollies".

Thanks so much Lori!

Go to my MamaWestWind shop to adopt.

Giveaway Winner!

2011-10-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

The giveaway winner is............. (drum-roll please) ........... Mindful Life Shop! I'll be getting in touch with you. Thank you to everyone who entered! & Happy Autumn!

Bonfire Night with Papa

2011-10-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

We had a fun bonfire with Papa last night. We had sweet potatoes and roasted hot dogs over the fire pit and of course marshmallows and S'mores too!

I have to share how we happened to get this fire pit. When I was envisioning home-school this year I knew I wanted to have a a bonfire Michaelmas celebration. I LOVE bonfires and remember many bonfires fondly from my childhood. But we have a tiny yard and no space for a permanent fire pit. We've had little extra money to buy one and they are pricey (for a pit)! So dreamily I asked on freecycle whether anyone had a one they were willing to part with. I wasn't expecting a response.

But I got one! Someone just happened to have one they were needing to get rid of. Perfect! Thank you divine providence! It will bring us lots of warm, cozy family togetherness!

Michael found a friend. This grasshopper stayed on his finger for a couple of hours before he finally jumped back into the bushes. I wonder what was going through this little grasshopper's mind? He even stayed on while Michael ran and ran around our tiny yard. I told him he was making his grasshopper (and his parents) dizzy!

Michael was/ is fascinated with him.. He's a bit sad today that he can't find his little green friend.

Earlier in the day we made these lanterns. They're made with a plastic jar, tissue paper and a battery operated tea light light inside. We used pumpkin tea lights so they flickered like real fire.

The boys loved them!

Owen who hadn't napped all day started to crash early and it all came to an end after the boys made a game of throwing pine cones in the fire. They smoked us out and Papa seems to be allergic to pine and fled the scene. But all in all it was fun. We all went to sleep with the smell of bonfire in our hair, a lovely smell. And a lovely night!

****

Don't forget tonight I announce the winner of my Autumn peg doll giveaway! I haven't been very clear with the time. I suppose I'll close comments around 9pm Mountain time and I will announce the winner soon there after. If you haven't entered yet, enter now!

{ this moment }

2011-09-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

******************

Don't forget to enter my giveaway of an Autumn peg doll!

Michaelmas Festival Week!

2011-09-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Michaelmas! Our week has been so much fun! There was the chalkboard drawing that the kids woke up to on Monday. They love it. I'm beginning to enjoy chalk drawing. This was the first time I tried wetting the chalk to get more vibrant colors. I like the result though it really eats up the chalk so I'll be burning through our chalk set fairly quickly.

If you thought my banner picture of the beautiful Fall leaves was from around here you would be mistaken. I took that picture last year in NY. This is what it looks like right now here in the Southwest. Beautiful blue skies, warm sunny days and green, green, green. The nights are cool though and we can smell Autumn coming. Though our Autumn is not quite as colorful as back east it's still a lovely time of year. My Mom recently sent me a text from NY saying, "mmm, can you smell the Concord grapes?" Ooh, so mean! Concord grapes ripening has to be my favorite Fall smell ever! Roasting chilles is one amazing Fall aroma here in the Southwest. Can you smell the chile Mom?! (All in good fun of course.)

Anyway, I digress.

A dear friend of mine sent us this soy candle and some beeswax wax for decorating it. Thank you so much my friend! I'll have to work on my dragon sculpting skills. I've seen some really beautiful Michaelmas candles online. Mine is quite grotesque.

The candle has been one of our most favorite things about this week. We light it every evening at dinner time and Michael all on his own exclaimed, "the flame is St. Michael's sword and he's defeating the dragon!" I was so surprised to hear him say this as I had just read in All Year Round, "The flame becomes Michael's fiery sword subduing the dragon day by day until he is banished completely."

I had wanted to have this dragon finished at the beginning of the week but to no avail. I always underestimate how much time it takes to make these things. I found this pattern at Rhythm of the Home. I made him using an up-cycled wool sweater from my stash.

This week we began reading The Festival of Stones by Reg Down. The book begins with stories of Michaelmas and so everyday we've read the next short chapter of the continuing story. Then we do a project to correspond to our usual activity days. Baking day brought these pumpkin chocolate chip bars. Very yummy and a big hit!

The only colored leaves we've found so far are some yellow and yellow/green leaves. So we made really easy crowns using orange & yellow felt and glue. I sewed the ends together to fit their heads. The boys had fun placing their leaves and helping glue.

I also told a story called the Strong Boy, by Christine Natale about a boy who learns from Saint Michael how to use his strength for good. My favorite line of the story is “When strength and freedom are joined with love and healing, all evil can be overcome and great things can happen!” It is a beautiful and meaningful story. One that resonates with Michael as a big brother I think, in using his strength wisely with his little brother.

We made cardboard swords. They were super fun to make but only lasted a little while. Michael said his is called the "Truth of God"! I am seriously amazed at his ability to completely grasp the spirit of Michaelmas with just a couple of stories & crafts.

My chivalrous knights were slaying Autumn dragons all throughout the house and yard. I know the "Truth of God" is more eternal then the swords turned out to be!

There was no hitting with them but just swinging them through the air left them floppy fairly quickly. We'll have to figure out some simple wooden ones for next year. Michael is already asking for a special wooden sword of his own. Hmmm, maybe a seventh year Birthday gift? Though that seems a little dangerous with a two year old in the house!

After the swords went floppy they had the best time with the skinny little box we cut them from. Silly boys!

Today we made our dragon bread using the Harvest Loaf story and recipe in All Year Round. Michael really loved the story.

He grew to be quite a fat dragon and was gobbled by all. Tomorrow evening we're having a Michaelmas bonfire with Papa. We'll be roasting our dinner & desert over the fire. It promises to be a fun night!

Until next time...

my math gnomes & a precious window...

2011-09-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Jacci over at OHSOIRIE just sent me these beautiful pictures of her little one with my Math Gnomes. I love to see children enjoying my gnomes! I make them with love and send them out into the world hoping they will delight but I never truly know how they are received or get to see those moments of play or learning. This window into their lives is precious to me! Go visit Jacci's beautiful blog, here.

I love the idea of creating Math equations with the gnomes and blocks. I also love this idea of creating a treasure hunt for your little ones to find the gnomes and begin their journey of learning. What a beautiful experience Becca over at Cedar Ring Mama has gifted her children! Scroll down to see the tooth fairy gnome I sent her and hear about her son's priceless reaction. I am filled to overflowing!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway of an Autumn gnome, here. Only a couple more days until I announce the winner!

Until next time...

Shop Update: Angelica, Daniela and Anca

2011-09-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

A few little ones have wandered their way into my shop. These little gals are my favorite yet. I have finally run out of the multicolored, up-cycled felt that I made their hats with. I have two more dolls to finish and then this style doll, the original "plum folk" that I began my store with will be gone forever. This first doll is Angelica, who swings happily in a little flower decorated pouch.

And here are Daniela and Anca with flower decorated lapels.

All three are at my MamaWestWind store, ready to be adopted.

Also if you haven't entered my giveaway for a Autumn peg doll, enter here. You have until October
1st 2011.

Until next time...

Watercolor Alphabet Cards & Seasonal Paintings

2011-09-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my goal of painting our watercolor alphabet cards to correspond with our stories. I wrote more about that here. I'm running a little behind on them but this what I've done so far. I'll be drawing something from our story on the T and I'm not very happy with my S. I'd love the S to be white and the swans to be more prominent as our S story is The Six Swans by Brothers Grimm. I may redo it but I don't want to get too precious and picky about them because when I do that then I don't finish things. Some of you may now how that goes, perfectionism can lead to procrastination!

Happy first day of Autumn by the way! This is our first year of including Michaelmas within our festival year. Painting this painting of St George and the dragon helped me to internalize a bit of what this festival means to me. Fall is by far my favorite season of the year. I've always felt a little left out since moving here to the Southwest. Our Autumn is just not the same as up north or back east where I'm from. NY in Autumn is a thing of beauty! I'm working on being happy where I am and noticing the way that Fall arrives in our desert. However, I just had to paint my beloved maple tree.

a detail.

This is another Michaelmas painting that I made to fit this frame. It is exhibited on our rather unkempt nature table. The crystal is there because of our story "Pebble" from a Donsy of Gnomes. I wrote about that here.

I look forward to our first festival week of the year, next week! We plan on making dragon bread, I have a stuffed dragon in the works for a story, a few more crafts and I think a fun bonfire night is in order. Nights are getting cooler now so it should be lots of fun!

If you haven't entered my giveaway of an Autumn peg doll, please do so here. I will anounce the winner October 1st.

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-09-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to Soulemama to participate.

******************

Don't forget to enter my giveaway of an Autumn Waldorf peg doll!

MamaWestWind Giveaway: Autumn Doll!

2011-09-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Comments are closed and Mindful Life Shop won!!!!! I'll be contacting you shortly.

*********

I have been so blessed winning giveaways! Most recently this lovely book, "The Rhythm of Family" by Amanda Blake Soule with Stephen Soule in a giveaway hosted by Maya*Made. I've already tried the Everyday Oat Bread, which turned out really good. It's such a beautiful book with seasonal essays, gorgeous photos and awesome projects and recipes. There's also some beautiful projects and recipe contributions by a few bloggers I know & love (in the blogger world), one of them being the lovely Maya from Maya*Made. By the way she also sent me this lovely little moleskin book as well. Thank you Maya!

So, to balance the universe out a little, it's time for a giveaway of my own! Here is Scarlet, the Autumn gnome. She is inspired by the beautiful Fall colors and leaves I love so much. Let's make this uncomplicated, if you would like a chance to win her simply leave a comment.

If you so choose I would love for you to become a follower of my blog. Also you can follow me on my MamaWestWind facebook page and please check out my etsy store, MamaWestWind, where you can find more gnomes & dolls, including another little Autumn doll in the same colors. Here's a sampling of what's in my store.

Dress is handmade by Pitterpat.

Scarlet is made using upcycled wool felt. She is made to be played with but would also be beautiful on your Autumn nature table. Entries all over the world are welcome. Also don't forget to leave me a way to contact you, either through a blog or email address.

~~Please leave a comment by October 1st, 2011 to enter.~~

Two Weeks of School...

2011-09-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Our homeschooling has been so much fun. So far things are really working well and we're enjoying the comfort of our school rhythm. Owen loves circle time and usually plays or draws while Michael and I are doing main lesson work. I have noticed that our morning walk just doesn't fit in where I had planned. If I don't get to lessons immediately after breakfast Owen is cranky right at main lesson time, which really doesn't work. So I have to find another time for our walk. Maybe after lessons or lunch. We'll see how it works out. I want to be consistent with our walks. I find them so inspiring, not only to get out and get moving but also to notice nature and for a spiritual uplift as well. Michael and I have a game we love to play. We say "Thank you God for the beautiful..." and we take turns filling in the blank. After a few minutes of this we're so uplifted and grateful for our neighborhood, each other and nature. It's a much needed part of our day.

Last week I didn't have my camera to take pictures so I'm sharing some now. The first day I had the "Welcome Michael!" sign and this chalkboard drawing to greet him. Wise Sophia refers to our first grade container story. I wrote more about that here.

Our circle time is my favorite part of the day. I love it because I can see what the boys are learning and it's fun! It's fun to see Owen, he gets so excited and he really loves the verses and has learned them so well. It's adorable to hear him singing them throughout the day.

Here are some of our favorites in our Autumn Circle time. We've made up tunes for the first two, and signs for the second and third.

Red in Autumn (From Festivals, Food & Family)
by Elizabeth Gould

Tipperty-toes, the smallest elf,
Sat on a musshroom by himself,
Playing a little tinking tune
Under the big red harvest moon;
And this is the song that Tipperty made
To sing to the little tune he played.

"Red are the hips, red are the haws,
Red and gold are the leaves that fall
Red are the poppies in the corn,
Red beries on the rowan tall;
Red is the big red harvest moon,
And red are my new little dancing shoon"?

The Harvest

by Alice C. Henderson

The silver rain, the shining sun,

The fields where scarlet poppies run

and all the ripples of the wheat

are in the bread that I do eat.

So when I sit for every meal

and say a grace I always feel

that I am eating rain and sun,

and fields where scarlet poppies run.

Owen especially loves this one.

Saint George and the Dragon (sung to I'm a little tea pot)

(I think I found this in our earthschooling curriculum)

I'm a little Dragon

Strong and Stout

Here is my tail and here is my snout

If I get the sneezes you better watch out!

Ah-choo! Ah-choo! You'll see the fire sneeze out!

Hoping you're having fun at school as well. I've enjoyed reading all of the back to home school posts out there as well as seeing all the cute first day of school pictures too. This is such a precious time for our little ones.

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-09-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

First Day of First Grade!

2011-09-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

"Children of the Forest" Elsa Beskow

So, I don't have any pics our first day back to school, but I had to write it all down to remember. We had a really wonderful day! This is the first day of Michael's first grade in our Waldorf inspired home school. (silly us, we started on Labor Day.)

The morning began early! I set my alarm, the quietest setting on my phone, to get up at 6:00 am. I had about 3 minutes to myself before Owen woke up! I had meant to get some inner work in before the kids awoke, I dreamed of a half an hour, maybe even an hour! Alas, it wasn't meant to be. As I nursed Owen I managed to read a little, pray and think about how our day would flow before getting up. I have to say though, just those few minutes semi-alone with my thoughts helped immeasurably. Michael came running in just minutes later all excited for his first day!

To greet Michael there was a chalk board drawing of a colorful fall tree and written "Welcome to your journey to meet Wise Sophia". (this in reference to the story in A Little Garden Flower's first grade curriculum that contains all the learning for this coming year.) Then, "Pebble" the needle felted gnome and a hand sewn squirrel greeted him on the table along side a watercolor card for Michael. Inside I drew a quick sketch of a path leading to mountains with trees and a sun and a message to Michael about his journey this year. It was a congrats on completing Kindy and a "yay, what a lucky boy you are to be taking this journey of knowledge" message. On the mantle was a small chalk board with the words "Welcome Michael!" written. I didn't want Michael to miss out on any of the first day of school excitement.

Since we were up so early, I made some strawberry jelly muffins. We had breakfast together and then we took a nice long walk. It was so beautiful out this morning. It was overcast and even a little chilly, somewhat unusual for our hot SW desert. It felt so fitting to me, a born and bred & lately very homesick North Easterner, that our first day of school start with a chilly air. On our walk we even found some yellow leaves had fallen, an exciting sign for Michael and I as our favorite season is Autumn.

"Around the Year", Elsa Beskow

When we came home we started our Circle Time. The boys were so excited! I wish I could have gotten a picture of their excited faces and sweet smiles. They remembered our calling song, "The More We Get Together". We sat in a circle of play silks and held hands as we sang our opening song. Then we recited poems and sang songs of the coming season. I brought out songs from last year's fall circle time and they greeted those familiar songs like old friends. After circle time and with Owen milling about happily playing Michael and I did some Math games. Owen must have thought they looked like great fun because he came and participated in a few as well. We counted stomping like giants in our circle, we counted flowing like a stream through the countryside and we hopped, hopped, hopped like frogs to our numbers too. We played "show me", which is a game where you call out a number and the child has to show you the number on their hands as fast as they can. Michael thought this was great fun. We also threw a bean bag frog back and forth as we counted as well. I've never had so much fun with Math! After our Math time was our main lesson which began our journey to meet Wise Sophia. We read the first part of the story, did our first form drawing, drew pictures of our story and covered his main lesson book (sketch book) in fabric. After our work we had lunch. This was the time that was a bit tricky with the boys as Owen was getting sleepy but refused to settle down to nap. So I went ahead with our story time after lunch. This year I'm really focusing on storytelling as it's not something I feel very comfortable with. I want to be one of those Mom's who can creatively come up with a story at any time to fill a need. Right now I'm reading, "Storytelling with Children" by Nancy Mellon. It's such a good book! And it's really opening my mind to the art of storytelling.

So, at story time I set up a very simple puppet show with "Pebble" the needle felted gnome that I made and a crystal, a small box, and silks all on a chair. I tried hard to read "Pebble" from, "A Donsy of Gnomes", and commit it to memory to tell, however I just couldn't. I seem to have a mental block about telling stories I've read. The way they're written is always so beautiful and full of detail and I can never remember the details well enough to feel confident telling it. Anyway, I read the story and then told one I had made up about Pebble. We started with a little bell that I used to call the boys to me. Then we sang "Fairies of the Story time" and I began. Michael loved the story we read from the book, but of course, was anxious to see the puppets in action. He seemed to really love the story I told myself. The story came to me after I read "Pebble" again last night. I'll have to write it down so I can remember to tell it again. In the book, "Storytelling with Children", Nancy Mellon suggests painting or drawing just 3 pages, the beginning, middle and end of a story and making a simple little book to remember your stories. I love that idea.

Anyway, it's a learning process. I think in the future I'll read the stories at bed time and tell a story from my imagination at story time. I seem to do better thinking one up on my own than trying to translate one, so I'll focus on that for now. I also want to think of some stories that are much simpler for Owen. He loves the puppets and loves talking to them, but long, involved stories are too much for him.

Today was also the first day of the new rule of no TV during the week. This has been quite a progression for our family. My husband and I disagreed for many years on this point. I have to admit my weakness for TV which is why I wanted it shut off. Finally this summer I again asked if we could shut off the cable expecting opposition. To which he said, "Ok, I don't watch it much anyway". And it was that simple, it kind of blew me away. So we finally had our cable shut off. Having cable is just too tempting for me. The new rule of no TV during the week is maybe kind of a risky one to start the first week of home school but so far it's been ok. We have plenty of things to keep us occupied and every time Michael mentioned TV we read. Which is what I'd rather do anyway. Also a couple of weeks ago we started a family movie night on Saturday evenings. We make it really fun with pizza or popcorn, pillows on the floor, all of us watching together with no distractions. The boys really love it and even husband says he loves it too.

After that it was just nap time and quiet time. So, all in all a great first day.

Until next time...

( this moment ) waiting for Cadence...

2011-09-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Autumn Warmth

2011-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

'Autumn Warmth' by MamaWestWind

This is my first treasury. I wanted to list all of the beautiful , seasonal Waldorf work that inspires me.

Felt Acorns - 8 Wool Ho... Fairyfolk $16.00	Elves with acorns Made4uByMagic $65.00	Autumn Waldorf Playsilk... BeneathTheRowa... $13.50	Three Little Wool Pumpk... gingerlittle $19.00
Three Waldorf Star Lant... greenbaboondes... $15.00	Knitted Autumn, Fall Le... mamma4earth $10.00	Childrens Ear Flap Hat ... Textilesone $30.00	leaf spirits mamaroots $15.00
Haidie the Autumn Waldo... MamaWestWind $20.00	Wooden Squirrel Toy- Wa... Imaginationkid... $13.00	Windswept Table Wooden... prettydreamer $78.00	Needle Felted Waldorf A... darialvovsky $128.00
Set of 2 PUMPKINS - woo... Rjabinnik $18.90	Fall Leaves - Felted Wo... MuddyFeet $5.00	Autumn Fairy - Flower ... KatjasFlowerch... $29.00	Autumn Harvester silverapple $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

WIP Wednesday: Pebble the Gnome...

2011-08-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

So this time I laid out my colors in advance hoping "Pebble" from A Donsy of Gnomes would appear. These colors seemed appropriate for a crystal gardener.

This time I made his arms a bit longer, though I think they could be longer still.

And that's it for my gnome felting for the moment. I'm on to sew some wool squirrels for the "Brother Acorn" story now. Should be a fun year of storytelling!

A Donsy of Gnomes & needle felting!

2011-08-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

I've started crafting for our home school year which begins very soon in September. My goal is to have my crafts & story props finished a couple of weeks or a month ahead of time. This little gnome is my first real foray in needle felting. I've needle felted accents on my dolls & made 2 very tiny & simple needle felted gnomes, (like an inch tall) but that's as far as I had taken it. I was surprised at how long this little guy took, but he was well worth the effort.

This year I will be dispersing seven stories throughout our year from the book, A Donsy of Gnomes. I can't wait to begin telling them, they are beautiful & gentle stories full of qualities like kindness, love, helpfulness & generosity. I can't say enough positive things about them. I'm not sure who this little gnome is yet, maybe "Mossy". I started out trying to create "Pebbles" but than he whispered his favorite colors to me and I found in the end he is just not a "Pebbles". I'll try again next time and we'll see who comes forth.

I made him from instructions in the book. (yes, the book even has a few gnome craft ideas, storytelling ideas and a recipe!) He has bendy arms and legs. I think I made his head a little too large which confused my dimensions. So for my next gnome I will make his arms much longer because I like his size. This gnomes' arms look quite short & silly to me.

Regardless of who he is, (I'm sure he'll tell me his name soon) he will help me tell one of the seven stories this year.

Until next time...

Waldorf Home School: The alphabet & Magic Onions Giveaway!

2011-08-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am just in love with my first grade curriculum. As I mentioned I’m using A Little Garden Flower curriculum this year along with verses, projects and supplement ideas from Earthschooling.

What I most love about the curriculum is the container story that includes all of our form drawing, alphabet sounds, roman numerals, verses, riddles, Grimm's stories, writing & drawing. Whew, that includes a lot. So much so that the story that guides all of this learning will take most of the year to complete. Talk about learning patience! I imagine it will inspire Michael to be so excited to wake up everyday to find out more about Katie and her journey to meet Wise Sophia. This story is just beautiful! In fact I completely teared up at the end when Katie meets Wise Sophia. Picture me, ah~ by myself, in blissful quiet at the musty smelling library. (I don’t care because it’s quiet.) Anyway, there I am crying at the absolute beautiful idea of making reading such a sacred and lovely and magical gift! Oh, that I could have learned reading this way! Watch out I may be writing a similar post about Waldorf Math soon!

At the end of the story I have this idea to make a wooden box with all of the letters that we've learned contained within. As we go along in our studies I will be drawing and painting these watercolor cards that I've already cut, or rather carefully ripped for that beautiful beveled edge. The cards will relate to the imagery of the Grimm's stories that we read along with our letters. I envision this box, adorned with wood burning (another excuse to wood burn) & sealed with beeswax and opened with a key. (anyone know where I could get such a box, unfinished?) At the bottom of the box underneath our watercolor letters maybe a special new reader to practice our reading skills. (Does anyone have a suggestion for a really lovely first reader?) I think this will help us have fun with our review which comes right after completing the story. Michael will see the letters that I make each week but this will be the first time he sees them all together.

Whew, ok, I've said it here so now I have to follow through! I decided rather than try to make the cards all at once. I will begin and make them a few at a time well before the week we will need them. That way I don't become overwhelmed and give it up entirely.

Speaking of the alphabet and Waldorf there is a beautiful post at Magic Onions about Waldorf reading. She's also hosting a giveaway of a dreamy, Waldorf alphabet frieze. In addition to our cards I think I have to buy this frieze or book, or both, they are just beautiful!

{ this moment }

2011-08-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to SouleMama to participate.

Shop Update: Gnome dress & matching doll!

2011-08-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to present this collaboration between me~ MamaWestWind and Pitterpat! Sharie from Pitterpat makes the most adorable clothes, knits and baby shoes. This dress is an Apron Peasant dress, the apron can detach and is a size 3/4.

And here is the toadstool gnome to match! Go to MamaWestWind to purchase. Pitterpat can be found at http://littlepitterpat.etsy.com and http://hyenacart.com/pitterpat. Also don't forget to check out our facebook pages for all the shop updates. MamaWestWind, & Pitterpat. I'm having a giveaway on facebook at 200 fans and we're quickly approaching that mark, so don't forget to hit that "like" button!

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-08-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to SouleMama to participate.

planning home school this month...

2011-08-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last month I was ecstatic to get my home school supplies from Cedar Ring Circle, a Waldorf Co-op. If you haven't checked out the co-op- do! They have a great selection of Waldorf art supplies & materials, toys, etc. at awesome prices. I got much of the Earthschooling first grade package and some extras; watercolor paper, Stockmar watercolors, wool yarn and hand painted knitting needles, wool roving in a rainbow of colors, modeling beeswax, and a few other things. Yay, it was Christmas in July!

Lacey over at Life as a Schoolhouse has a post up about home school and Cedar Ring Circle Co-op. I so identify with what she says about being excited to have all her materials and not have to skip projects. That was my experience last year. I'd plan lovely projects and than not be able to afford the supplies I needed for them. By the way Lacey is hosting a Cedar Ring Co-op giveaway! Some lucky winner is getting a year's membership!

This summer I've been slowly collecting some of the books we'll need for this year. I bought the Autumn Wynstones Press book at Cedar Ring Circle. I'm already in love with A Donsy of Gnomes by Sieglinde De Francesca, I bought this book directly from the author. She has not only shared these beautiful & touching gnome stories but also a few craft projects, a verse or two and a recipe. She also writes about how to create a play or puppet show with her stories. I also love The Festival of Stones by Reg Down and the Seven Year Old Wonder book by Isabel Wyatt. I bought those on Amazon.

I'm not sure how I will work in all of these stories. Hmm, anyone have any ideas? Maybe save a book for next year? How does one keep all of the stories straight? We have stories for Math, stories for form drawing and learning the alphabet. Stories for Story time. Yikes, I'm a little overwhelmed. Advice from you experienced Waldorf Mamas would be much appreciated!

I bought my Weekly planner locally. I wanted something beautiful and I fell in love with these flowers. What is it about getting a planner? I just want to fill it in! Last year's home school was challenging to say the least. We started HS in NY a month after arriving. I had some of my planning done but most of the year I felt I was running to catch up with planning. I simplified quite a bit and did what I could. So this year I'm really excited to have the year entirely planned. I've even planned in my planning! All of August I have designated by weeks. 3 months will be planned each week. I want to plan for the summer as well. I have to admit my rebellious nature (and exhaustion from my not very well planned kindergarten year) threw our rhythm to the wind this summer. What a mistake that has been! I have 2 little underwhelmed boys at the moment.

This year I'm using A Little Garden Flower curriculum for first grade. I'm also adding some of Earthschooling verses and projects as well. I love a Little Garden Flower because it's mostly planned for you. I just have to organize it in terms of our drawing, craft, baking & painting days. I'll also be adding the festival celebrations & projects and baking around that.

I'm planning our circle time. I'm using watercolor paintings as covers for my circle time index cards. I find the more artful I make it all the more fun and interesting it is for me to plan.

These little cards are also popping up all over the house. Here's a verse for winding wool in my knitting basket. I found many of these verses in Sprindrift.

A verse I placed over the sink for washing dishes.

A verse taped to the inside of the baking cupboard for Saturday pancakes. And more will be on their way. I love these little visual reminders. Speaking of my washing dishes verse, I've also added a great idea to our days. Frontier Dreams has a great post up about simplifying dishes and having everyone in the family responsible for their own. We've implemented this with awesome results! This Mom isn't washing mountains of dishes anymore! She also has another wonderful post up now about her morning rhythm. Whew, anything to simplify our days!

Also, I have to mention Pinterest! Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site that is really helping me with homeschool planning. I've grouped boards into a general Waldorf homeschooling, Toys to craft, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. All of the craft projects, baking, etc. that I find on many of your lovely blogs get organized into those categories. When I want to plan for my handwork projects, I look at the visuals for that season and pick them out. So easy and fun! I don't even have to print out the projects I can just site Pinterest in my planner.

So in any case if I'm around bloggerland a little less this month it's because I'm busy planning, planning, planning. Which according to this post by Melisa at a Little Garden Flower I'm a tad behind! Yikes! Off to that planning!

Until next time...

Shop Update: Flannery the Butterfly

2011-08-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Down in the magical meadow Flannery is fluttering about the wildflowers. The magical meadow is her home and her friends are the woodland creatures of the meadow.

To adopt Flannery, go to my MamaWestWind store on etsy. Until next time...

WIP Wednesday: Michael's sewing basket & featured on...

2011-07-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

This week is my son's WIP! This summer I made up a little hand sewing basket for Michael. He's been asking for his own supplies for awhile & every time he sees me sewing he wants to sew too.

Finally I bought him his own little sewing kit in blue. I cut a few projects out for him, so whenever he sees me sewing he has his own projects to work on. He loves it! And was very proud to get his very own supplies and fill his pin cushion with pins. Right now Michael is working on a sun wand. He's almost finished blanket stitching the outside. Then he'll stuff it and add the stick.

On another subject, my woodworking tutorial was featured on Craft Buds!

Here's my Rainbow Gnome woodworking tutorial if you wish to see. Until next time...

19 Elsa Beskow books giveaway!

2011-07-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

There's an amazing giveaway going on at Jump Into a Book blog. She's giving away 19 Elsa Beskow books to one person! I can't think of a giveaway I'd love to win more! We have a couple of Elsa Beskow books and they are our favorites. What an amazingly generous giveaway!

Go & enter before July 31st for your chance to win!

WIP Wednesday... Making old clothes new again!

2011-07-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

We have been working on making old clothes new again! We used freezer paper stencils and fabric paint. There's a toadstool for Owen.

Making some cut offs out of old holy jeans. We added the car and Michael made this bunny shirt.

A toadstool shirt for Michael.

Making a couple of new T's fun, a hedgehog for Owen.

And a two made of cars and roads for 2 year old Owen!

Until next time...

It's the Rainy Season!

2011-07-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

The rainy season, or monsoon season is upon us here in the Southwest. Ahhhh, we have been waiting for you! Our desert dryness gets so hot and uncomfortable until finally the rainy season comes and we have little cool, stormy breaks in the evenings. We've had a few magical stormy evenings of late, we're hoping they keep coming.

The rain here is like none I've ever seen before. My husband and I used to live in Columbus, Ohio which is rated one of the rainiest places in the country. We grew up in New York, so we've seen all kinds of different rains. But the rain here is just unique. Dark and ominous clouds roll in. Sometimes you'll see rain falling off in the distance, something I had never seen before. Then comes thunder and lightning and rain that just pours and floods. It may rain for a half hour or an hour if you're lucky and at rare times it will rain all night. Those are such lovely nights filled with cool refreshing air and that wet, desert Creosote bush smell.

The birds congregate and get excited along with us.

I remember when my husband and I first came to this area for our honeymoon, before moving from Ohio. We were in awe over the flash rains. The sky would open and up and it looked like a giant bucket pouring a seemingly never ending amount of water down upon us. Then it would just clear up and move on. A quick, violent down pour and then more happy blue skies. We were also amazed that you can see the rain falling from the clouds. The other night we went for a drive at sunset and we saw pink, purple and orange rain falling. An amazingly beautiful sight I will never forget. Of course I didn't have my camera!

My little "rain boy" as I like to call him loves the rain. But lately he's decided he detests thunder. The other night during a big storm he hid under this pillow, cringing every time it thundered but fell right asleep.

So funny that just that simple pillow over his body made him feel safe and secure enough to sleep.

Anyway, it sure is a lovely break from the hundred degree temperatures! Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-07-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Amanda Soule

Go to SouleMama to participate.

A Boy and his Room.

2011-07-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to make the playroom more comfortable and organized. The kids, as kids often do, would bring their toys out of the playroom to wherever we were in the house. A little of that is fine but we have such a small house and too many toys in the main room which serves as our living/dining and kitchen is too much. Moving back here from NY was helpful as many of the toys were still packed up when we got here. So I was able to go through them and select our favorites to put back in the room. The rest are in the garage in boxes. When Michael asks for something specifically I get it out and secretly and put it in our toy bins for him to find.

Much of our toys fit on this shelf in bins. The bins stay in the same place and are organized in play food items, Lincoln logs, matchbox cars, wooden blocks, our wooden road set, train and the last bit of random plastic toys that linger.

The mobile I made when pregnant with Owen is in a corner.

The play clothes area with all our play capes, gnome hats, felt crowns, a train hat and yes, a spider man suit or two. I painted the owl and tree branch. I'd like to do more painting but I'm indecisive as we rent. I don't want to put too much work in just to have us leave.

We've been hoping to transition Michael in here as his bedroom and soon after Owen as well (that may be wishful thinking). As much as I love co-sleeping I'm ready to have my bed back. So we added this moon over our owl. It goes through the phases of the moon and it's beautiful at night. It such a fun little night light and really looks like moonlight too.

Here's a little basket of two little toys I made for Michael and Owen at Christmas. You can tell we like owls.

This is our tiny play house area with basket cradle, a doll chair and hammock for the babies. The "table" is only there sometimes. I love the play silks clothes-pinned to a line. I saw this in a Waldorf school photo somewhere and had to recreate it here. We use our clothes pin dolls that we've made throughout the years.

I have a DIY play kitchen in the works that I'm a little intimidated to create. I found a solid oak TV cabinet on Craig's List for $15. It's perfect! Now I just have a little work ahead of me, I'm hoping to have it made by Christmas.

The boys in action. We bought a couple more little wooden trucks at our Farmer's Market that inspired this play. The more comfortable and artful we make it the more they've been playing here.

And finally, Ta Da!!! My eldest is in his own room! We made it so comfy he's been more and more interested in it. I also have a habit of reading in bed before sleep and Michael detests this practice. He likes darkness to fall asleep. So one night in a sort of desperate tone he asked me to please move his bed to the play room. "I want my own room!" he boomed. Okay, absolutely son! He's been so happy there. We've tried this before only to have him waking up with nightmares. So we haven't pushed it, we knew he'd ask when he was ready. It seems he is ready!

I'm hoping to get bunk beds soon and do a little reshuffling of furniture. So, it's in progress. As life usually is.

Until next time...

{ this moment }

2011-07-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."
Amanda Soule

Go to SouleMama to participate.

WIP Wednesday...Math Gnomes

2011-07-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

On this WIP Wednesday I'm working on my Math gnomes.

Here's my tiny basket of gnome hats.

They're all waiting in line for their turn.

And we're enjoying our finished Summertime banner. What are you working on?

Shop Update: Waldorf Math Gnomes & Gnome Clothespins

2011-07-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

I needed to make some Math gnomes for our Waldorf-inspired homeschooling this year. I came up with wood-burned and painted gnomes with wool felt hats.

Here's addition in green and subtraction in blue.

Multiplication in yellow and division in red.

King Equals in royal garb. He is violet and white.

These are made to order so I can change colors if needed.

I've also added these gnome clothespins in rainbow colors. Check out my MamaWestWind store for these and other Waldorf peg doll gnomes and animals. Also become a fan of my facebook page for your chance to win a giveaway at my 200th fan mark!

Now that Owen is Two!

2011-07-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

At two years old Owen is a happy, sweet, mild-mannered little boy. He's content to play quietly on his own but he loves to get rowdy with his brother too.

a birthday cupcake on his actual birthday.

He loves big brother so much! They have such a sweet brotherly friendship. They love to cuddle, tell stories and play fight. They also really fight like brothers too!

This week I was able to have lots of one on one time with Owen, as big brother went to Bible camp in the mornings. Owen wasn't at all happy to see his brother leave. But how nice it was on his birthday week for us to be able to play, read and nap all on our own.

That is, when he napped. Owen has a habit of fighting nap until he passes out in the oddest of places.

I've tried everything to get him to sleep! It drives me crazy laying down many, many times a day with him, seeing him so sleepy, even teary, only to have him pop up, too busy to be bothered.

This week however, I may have found the trick! Snuggle him right in the middle of all the noise so sleep sneaks up, without him knowing! We'll see if this is consistent.

Owen loves to sing and loves to hear others sing. It's so sweet to hear him singing in the next room all by himself. His favorite song right now is called, "Little Bird, Little Bird" by Elizabeth Mitchell. We found this awesome cd through my blogger friend at We Bloom Here.

Owen only wants to wear big boy pants, i.e. khakis, jeans, pants he sees Daddy and brother wearing. When we go out his newest thing is to put his hand in his pocket and saunter. He points to people's pants and tells them "pants", then points to his own. He's very proud of being a big boy!

You're getting to be a big boy Owen, but you'll always be my "rain baby"!

A Rainbow Birthday!

2011-07-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

My little Owen carries around one of the story eggs I made him. It has a rain cloud on one side with a little sleeping face and a rainbow on the other side. He points to the rain and says "rain", he points to the rainbow and says "rainbow" in his cute, little toddler voice. It's so sweet because he was born during a torrential rain storm. The rain was coming down all night long and was very soothing to me during labor. Then it was storming and added an intensity to his birth. The rain came as fast and as intense as my little baby did. Even before the midwives! He was caught by Papa! Read Owen's birth story here.

My little rain baby born in the desert asks for rain all the time and points to every rainbow or "perceived rainbow", and exclaims "rainbow!". So to me it seemed like a great idea to have a Rainbow party!

Now when I say party, I mean a very intimate party, just two families. Still that didn't stop me from going all out on the Birthday crafting. I made this rainbow banner with hand sewn felt letters.

I hand sewed smaller banners for over a doorway and the fireplace. We had a birthday mantle.

A little felt peg doll baby in a wet felted cradle.

A rainbow crayon rock we made. Our rainbow gnomes and lots of bright blue glass stones.

Owen's baby photo book and a small candle standing in acorns.

We had a framed rainbow watercolor painting on our nature table.

I made rainbow ribbon streamers for the kids to take home. I used small, Boye wooden rings and satin ribbon in all the colors of the rainbow.

They served as a decoration at our entrance until the kids came in and then they had fun playing with them.

We had fruit and veggies in rainbow colors.

I made some rainbow colored peg dolls in pots for Owen's gift and decoration. Red was already missing here for this picture. Owen and Michael both love them! Owen likes to take them out of their pots, puts them all in a basket with a little knit blanket and says they're sleeping.

The biggest hit was the rainbow cake! I used this recipe from Whisk Kid. Except I blobbed all the colors together to make just 2 layers. First red, orange & yellow. Then in the other layer, purple, blue then green. I had zero desire to make 6 separate layers. I'm a lazy baker and this was enough work for me.

It came out beautifully and was the big surprise moment of the party. Adults and children alike thought it was fun.

Owen in party mode!

Present time! He loved his wrecking ball truck that came with blocks to knock over.We also got him a semi truck with an upside down car in the cab from Green Bean Toys on etsy. Friends gave him an owl back pack filled with goodies &

two adorable knit animals. Not to mention a couple of sweet kid made cards.

This was such a fun party! Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!

< a href="http://beneaththerowantree.blogspot.com" target="_blank">

http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/2011/07/creative-friday.html