Summer Time! LOTS to come - and a pancake recipe for you

Ok, so I kinda fell off the blogging bandwagon. I have been focused on other things right now and it seemed like I could never get to it. BUT I ran into a friend while food shopping last night and talking with her reminded me of why I started in the first place. Sharing!

Sharing ideas of fun projects we tried or places we went. Sharing how to plan ahead meals and different ideas to keep things interesting as well as easy. Sharing fun places and events to go around town. And sharing some of my knits (and classes!!) too...

SO, I'm back. Thanks V for getting me back in the saddle....

We've had some BUSY few weeks. School ending always leaves me in a bit of a funky place. Love having my kids home to do things with, but it signals passing of yet another year. They really do go so fast. Too fast for me.

Five years ago, I had asked some friends to go to Adventureland the week after school was out and we had a blast. This has now morphed into a "the whole Love of Learning Montessori school is invited" trip and each year, more and more people take advantage of coming along and hanging out with friends. It is hands down, my children's favorite day of summer. All their friends! Unlimited rides! And it's less crowded since most schools are still in session. And we stay ALL day. Whee!!!
Here are some highlights...

Hoping this ride doesn't malfunction like last year......

My son, heading right towards us to ram his car into ours on the bumper cars

Happy Siblings

What I love best about this day. Seeing older kids eagerly jump on rides with younger kids who need someone of height to go with them so they can ride too. 

Who you gonna call?

Part of the group hanging out

Happy to catch this pic of my good friend and her boys sharing a happy smile

And to add to the memories for that day- the roller coaster stopped running while a whole bunch of our friends were on it! Luckily, they weren't high up. But they did have to wait in the sun for awhile and then climb down a rather thin looking ladder. Not the kind of ladder we were expecting to see...Thought it would be a very sturdy looking one. Ah well. All were safe and now have a cool story to tell.

This photo catches one of my favorite things about summer. Impromptu playdates. A friend happened to be stopping by to give me something and the kids started playing together, so we had a cup of coffee and watched our little Jedi's build Tinkertoy lightsabers and duel. Looking forward to many more of these in the summer!

I am planning on keeping this blog full of fun things to do, places to go, things to see, things to make and try...all summer long!

Stay tuned friends. There is a LOT more to come! Right now, it's pancake time!

My kids favorite pancake recipe:

Wet ingredients:
2 cups buttermilk (we use almond milk that we sour with apple cider vinegar- 1 1/2 tablespoons for the 2 cups- add them and let sit)
2 eggs
1 teaspon vanilla
1/2 stick butter, melted then cooled (or in our case, an Earth's Balance stick)

Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour (all purpose will give you lightest and fluffiest, but isn't the best nutritionally. We use 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 3/4 cup of all purpose- but we sometimes mix it up- try other flours- rice, graham, )
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Put all the wet together- whisking eggs first. Then put all the dry together. Add the wet into the dry and stir until mixed through but don't over stir.

Cook on the stove top. Make a few crazy shaped ones for fun. Same batter works great for waffles too!

To save time, make a double batch and refrigerate the batter. It'll keep for a few days in the fridge. I have some already made waiting for me.

summer on!

Fantastical Friends and Sewing This Fall!!

We had a blast in our Fantastical Friends sewing class at the Pulitzer and Panetta Creative Studio in Huntington! I had meant to post this sooner, but with last minute summer trips and school starting, now is when it is going up!

The sewing classes have gone so well that we decided to keep them going in the fall! I will be teaching classes coming this Fall at the P&P Studio for children on Saturdays from 10am-11:30am AND an adult class on Tuesdays from 9:30-11:30. Call the studio today to register! (631) 423-2007. Website will be updated with Fall soon....http://www.pulitzerandpanetta.com

Back to Fantastical Friends....

The idea behind this class is show the kids how to create whatever creature they can dream up! This could be a cute and cuddle friend or a fierce beast! Or a donut with sprinkles. More on that later.

So on the first day we learned some different types of hand-stitching and practiced on hoops, which help provide even tension making it much easier to sew.

Then we sketched our friends we would make. The children were very creative in their choices and made as we had friends ranging from Star Wars characters to rainbows to kitty cats and the cutest little piggy....

The students worked diligently to make their creatures and friends come to life. We learned other fun stitches and how to sew on buttons properly along the way to enhance our friends. 

And look at these AMAZING results!

Meet Ziggy the Piggy

Look at the amazing job on those French knots!

Penguin Pal

Who says donuts can't be a stuffed friend! More amazing french knots!

Ellie the Elephant

Some adorable kitties! 

And the Star Wars Contingency :)  A Rancor (above)

Watto (below) 

And Padme Amidala - note the belly shirt she is wearing to be accurate to the movie!

We had a wonderful week. We listened to some inspiring music as we worked and everyone got to learn about and from each other. 

Sewing is very empowering. Being able to bring something in your head to life is a very powerful thing for a child. 

A recent study showed the benefits of children sewing: Sewing’s multitude of choices—color selection, fabric options, design and proportion—help stimulate creative thinking skills. Completing a project fosters a sense of accomplishment. Hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills develop through the use of the hands, and exercises in following directions along with problem solving skills are all added benefits of sewing experiences for children.

The BEST part....

LOOK at those smiles! 

I will be teaching classes coming this Fall at the P&P Studio for children on Saturdays from 10am-11:30am AND an adult class on Tuesdays from 9:30-11:30. Call the studio today to register! (631) 423-2007

Sew On!

Sew Cool Accessories!

Hello Friends!

The first sewing camp, Sew Cool Accessories, was held last week at Pulitzer & Panetta Creative Studio in Huntington. pulitzerandpanetta.com We had a fun time!

Our project was to make the incredibly cute Keep your Cool Smartphone case from the Straight Stitch Society, designed by the fabulous Liesl Gibson. You can see her amazingness at http://oliverands.com/

First order of business was to learn to thread a needle! Most of our campers had experience sewing, but we started by reviewing a few basic stitches. The running stitch, which is a basic sewing stitch of going up and down. We focused on trying to make the stitches even in length and evenly spaced on our hoops. Then we moved on to backstitch, which as it sounds, you move your needle forward from underneath (back of the fabric) and then when on the top (right side) of the fabric, you go backwards, putting your needle in the previous stitch ends, thereby connecting the stitches. You have a continuous row of stitches. This is a strong stitch, which is useful when strength is called for or for reenforcing corners or seams.

Then came the hard decision! To make an ice pop or the adorable ice cream sandwich. I was sure that ice pops would win, but in the end, most decided to make ice cream sandwiches. I couldn't decide, so I made both!

The project let the girls really express themselves with colors and stitches. They had a lot of fun with it!

The project offered so many learning opportunities. The phone holder is lined with a batting material, which none of the students had worked with before. It is also lined and has an adorable pocket inside, perfect for stashing some money and ID with your phone all in one place. The keychain is an added bonus!

The last step was setting in a snap, which required the use of a craft hammer, which was quite cathartic! We had so much fun with that, I forgot to take pictures!

This was a lot of sewing in a short time, but look at the amazing results! And those smiles! Now the phones can stay safe and the girls have total bragging rights that they made it themselves! 

And while I taught them the finer points of pattern reading and lining up notches, I got an education in current pop music. Which was perfect, so I knew which songs I should download onto my new iPhone.

  

Thanks girls!!

As a bonus, they took a look at some of my knits for Fall I am currently working and pronounced them cool. They will be at Rexer-Parkes come the end of Sept. This fall, we will have more than just knits for babies, but super warm and cozy hats and accessories for children and adults!!

I am also planning on attending the Greenport Maritime Festival and possibly the Huntington Fall Festival. An Etsy store is on the horizon...

Stay Tuned!!

This coming week, August 12th, I am teaching Fantastical Friends at the studio, where kids ages 6 and up can make their own stuffed friends. They can be cute or ferocious! Whatever they come up with! There is still room available if you know a child that might want to join us.

Here are some pics of a penguin being made. Our little camper has a sweet penguin already and wanted to make him a friend! So cute!

Sewing isn't just for girls. Jut this past week, I taught a friend of my son's how to make a stuffed friend and he decided to make a rancor, (you may know it as that big gigantic beast that chases after Luke Skywalker after Jabba the Hut drops him into the pit in the Star Wars series). It was the first time he tried his hand at sewing. Isn't is cool?! 

Create on!

May the 4th be with You!

Get it? haha! I have seen this phrase a few places (Amazon, Disney and Lego are both having special May the 4th promos) and since both my little ones are completely *obsessed* with all things Star Wars right now, it had to be done.

So we have the cute blog title but now what to say about May the 4th? Well I guess we should see how far we've come in our journey across the Star Wars galaxy...

We have watched the Star Wars movies and we are working our way through the Clone Wars episodes.

The Star Wars Lego sets have been made and played with over and over again by the kiddos. And new sets have been fashioned with endless creativity. Take this one created just yesterday of Luke Skywalker training on Dagobah with Yoda. Come on, you've watched The Empire Strikes Back!

And if the Lego sets you want are retired or out of production, your piggy bank funds are running low, or they don't exist...just make it yourself. 

No toy was left out of the Star Wars craze! 

Tinkertoy Droidekas attacked these two young Padawan learners in their own kitchen. Luckily, they had been practicing the art of the lightsaber.

Zoobs were used to make an awesome AT-AT Walker, also seen in the Empire Strikes Back, but those were a boring shade of grey. This rainbow Zoob version is much cooler. If you don't have Zoob's, youshould check them out. They are a lot of fun and as you can see, offer endless building opportunities. 

An inordinate amount of  Star Wars books have been read, including this one he got from us for Christmas, which he loves.

An R2D2 hat was knit and worn constantly!

Threw my favorite boy a Star Wars "Stay Later" party (not a sleep over, but they all stayed later than they would have normally been able to, so it still felt like a special treat! ) Bought LMO a Darth Vader costume so she could have a special appearance at the Star Wars Party. How cute is she? Love the blow up light sabers! My DH found them at Party City. They made the party! And kept injuries down. You knew that SOMETHING was going to be turned into a light saber...might as well provide a soft alternative.

Done, done and done.

Now what?

Well, leave it to LMO.

I teach a sewing class at their school and it has been so much fun to see the kids skills grow through the year. This semester, I decided to take it up a notch. I had the children draw their own doll - using the idea of an "Ugly Doll" to show them how to make a basic shape and give it character with color and stitching. From their sketches, I showed them how to make pattern pieces and make their own creations exactly how they imagined them.

They are doing some incredible work too! To see such detailed and creative work out of the hands and minds of the elementary children is just so inspiring. They are so excited. I am SO excited! Will show more once more are completed!

So someone decided that she had to make her version of Yoda.

Little Miss drew him on paper, made the patterns out of tracing paper and has decided how to put it all together. Look at that face. Love the mouth. And those eyes. Note his light saber on his belt...
She loves to sew! (proud momma alert!)

And now....(cue the star wars theme....)

Done, Yoda is.

Two sides sewn together with a pretty impressive blanket stitch and stuffed and very loved. Her new constant companion.

Wonder what they'll make next?

May the 4th be with you too!

Hello

Why Hello There. 

Glad you found me. 

A little bit about myself...

I believe we are all born with the need to create; it's part of the human condition.  But this need to create, this Creativity, must be nurtured - or it can fade into the background of a busy and cluttered life. So-Create the Opportunity to be Creative. I make time to express myself on a daily basis through what I make. It doesn't matter if it's knit, sewn, baked, or hot glued. What's important and most satisfying is that it is shared.

I love to knit, sew, quilt, and create, and I've been creating for as long as I can remember. Even though life has pulled in different directions, I always come back to creating with my hands.

I'm an FIT graduate (Fashion Institute of Technology), where I later created classes and taught. Following FIT, I went to Gerber Garment Technology, where I had the opportunity to work with dozens of fashion houses and apparel companies around the world. Later, I went to Ralph Lauren to implement a Product Data Management (PDM/PLM) system throughout the global organization.  While working at Ralph Lauren, I was bitten by the knitting bug when taught by an amazing colleague.  It would be accurate to use the word obsessed as I began knitting & designing knits in every free waking moment.

Friends and colleagues soon asked me to make them items I was wearing since they loved my designs, my combinations of colors and fibers! These amazing friends have been after me to get blogging and on Etsy for years now, so here I am! 

Etsy site soon to follow. 

There. 

It's in print, so now I have to finish it! 

Today, I did something I never do. I posted a picture of my son on Facebook. I know friends post pics of kids all the time, but I was always a little hesitant. MAP was wearing his new R2D2 hat (thank you ever so much to the lovely Shortstuff411 on Craftster for the inspiration and pattern reference. I had intended to make my own pattern, but as his birthday snuck up on me, it was helpful to have a place to start before I modified it! ) 

Just look...isn't that face priceless? He couldn't wait for me to properly finish it before trying it on (hence the yarn strings in the photo that are long gone now!)

It was raining outside and I thought it was the right thing to do. The look on his face is priceless and brought a smile to my face. With such a gray day, people could use a smile, right? After doing so, I instantly heard from friends I hadn't seen in so long, that I knew today was the day. This blog needed to happen- STAT!

Thanks for coming along this journey with me. Would love to hear from you on how you incorporate creating into your daily life. 

 Create on!