Marsbarn Designs...

rediscovering an old habit

I did something this morning that I haven't done
for months.  I sat down at the bakery with a
coffee and made lists.  This used to be something
I did several times  a week, but this year has been 
different. With our new schedule (and changes to
our bakery), I haven't been indulging.

What I find I miss, more than pastries, and more
than coffee I didn't have to brew, is the ability
to sit, think, and make lists.  At home, there is
just too much distraction.  There is always some
thing to be done, and in jumping from activity
to activity I don't sit and organize.  So, today 
was an organizing type of morning. A good way
to start the day.

And not a moment too late.  Tomorrow is the first day
of December, which means the advent stockings must
be filled today and hung tonight.  The count down 
begins.

Math Group

A couple of months back, I started a math
group.  I asked a couple of Sweet G's classmates
if they'd like to get together every other Sunday
morning to play with math, and several of them
said, "Yes".

Suprisingly, the only "No"s were from children
who are busy Sunday mornings.  Perhaps it was
the promise of snacks and funny voices that
enticed them.

We do have a lot of fun.  (And no, that's not
just my opinion.)   In between the breakfast 
treats and props (animal crackers and legos),
we work on problem solving techniques.  

My biggest challenge in our group meetings
is trying not to help too much.  With every
problem there is a point where the path
is unclear, and frustrations can mount, and 
there is a temptation to step in and point the
way.  That's the point where I need to step back
and give them a chance to move forward on their
own.  Like I said, it's a good time all around. 

Last Shop Update of 2011

So, I *think* I've done my last store update before
Christmas.  The oblong messenger bags are 
finally in the shop, as are my remaining knitting
bags.

I'm looking forward to making more messengers with
different badges on them next year.

November 30th is my last day accepting special orders
for dicebags before Christmas.  The shop will stay open
for a few weeks after.  

TARDIS as biology

In a further sign that school has changed since I was 
in 6th grade, Sweet G had a biology assignment
analyzing the parts of a cell.  She was supposed to
demonstrate her knowledge by comparing a cell's parts
to an object of her choice. 

Being the girl she is, she chose the TARDIS. Talk about
the perfect project for our Whovian.

The Key:

1. The outer wall of the TARDIS is the cell wall.
2. The inner wall of the TARDIS is the cell membrane.
3. The atmosphere is the cytoplasm.
4. The TARDIS control center is the nucleus.
5. Huon particles are the mitochondria. 
6. The TARDIS swimming pool is the vacuole.
7. The Tribophysical Waveform Macro Kinetic Extrapolator are the chloroplasts. 
8. The different parts of the console are the Golgi  Bodies.
9. The doctor is the nuclear membrane because he controls what enters and exits the TARDIS.
10. The cables and pipes are the Endoplasmic Reticulum.
11. The soul of the TARDIS is the ribosomes.
12. The briode nebulizer is the chromatin. 

 

Click the various images to see them in a larger format.

Here, there, with sewing between

Last weekend was a flurry of workshops
and sewing, followed by a week of sewing,
organizing, and voluteering.  I had my second
Parent Lead Art class, which went well. The
third graders had a blast, and the sample I made
worked well.

It was also a week of intense work days for Big E.
Long days and nights with little sleep between.
We've had these busy times before, but I'm glad
they happen so seldom. 

This weekend is filled with sewing, friends, and
a silk scarf painting class.  Next week is a no
school week. (Happy sigh!)  The girls have their
teacher conferences, so it isn't a vacation week,
it's more of a nine day  weekend. (JOY!)
I'm looking forward to neglecting my
alarm clock and getting some sewing done. I'm
in a race to get my Etsy shop restocked before
Thanksgiving.  I have knitting bags and messengers
to list, and I'm trying to get a big bunch of dice bags
ready as well. 

Sewing, sewing and more sewing.  I've filled two big
orders, and have a few custom bags to put together.
I'll be wrapping up my sewing for the shop by the
beginning of December. The shop will stay open,
but I'll stop taking custom work on December 1st.
Then the needle work will be for gifts.  

Found object ornaments, or what I do with that shiny stuff I collect all year.

For the ornament making class,  I kept
the needle felting table in place.  There
were returning children who hadn't had
their fill of roving, and the children who
hadn't been in class the day before enjoyed
having the second activity available.

For the found object ornament table,
I had piles of things I'd collected in the previous
year.  There were vintage ornaments, clips,
clothespins, reflector's, tins, patty pans, and
so, so much more.  Oh, and glitter.  There was
a glitter table in the kitchen.

Again, I had two sample projects.  One was a making a
flower ornament clip from vintage christmas light 
reflectors and glass balls.  The flowers are attached to
a clip meant for holding candles on Christmas trees.

The second project was making a diorama ornament
in a patty pan.  I used my crop-a-dile to punch holes
and add grommets (Oh, grommet love!) for hangers,
and then people went to town building all sorts of 
scenes.

I loved seeing their paper plates fill with finished 
ornaments.  It's so wonderful to see what different 
people put together, and to see how bits and bobs find
their purpose.

There were 7 children and 4 adults in this class.  It
was quite a busy crowd.  Everyone had a chance to create
a pile of treasures.

See that golden fringy bit?  That is a setting for a 
twinkle light.  I bought a big bag of them at a garage
sale for a $1 having no idea how they would be used.
I loved seeing how many different ways they were used.

And yes, the felting table got it's share of love as well.

I've had two more versions of this workshop since Friday,
both of those classes were quieter, and I had a chance
to make my share of treasures.  

We'll have the ornament making and felt supplies out again in December, and maybe again in January.  Really, it's so much fun, I'm not sure how we stop.

Everything felt workshop

Last weekend was a four day weekend for our schools.
So I held several gift making workshops for children.
There were two felt and felting classes on Thursday,
and an ornament making class on Friday. 

For the felt class, I set up two separate tables.

The first table was ornament making with commerical
premade wool blend felt.   I had  pre-sewn a pile of felt
ornaments that just needed embellishments sewn on
them. There was also a pile of felt available for people
who wanted to make their own ornaments from scratch.

 Oh, the embellishments!  There were more sequins than
you could shake a stick at, as well as beads and ribbons.
Even I was shocked by how my collection of sparkly bits
had grown since last year.  

There was a whole lot of creativity in the way the 
assembled ornaments were decorated. 

I really like the old fashioned camera one child made
(on the left).  I pulled out a piece of vinyl to use to 
cover the lenses.  One of the girls designed her own
Perry the Platypus ornament, but I didn't get a photo.
It was really cool.

There was a second table set up with roving and needle
felting supplies.  I had two sample projects to give
people ideas.  The first project was making acorns.
I had a bowl of real acorn caps for their ornaments. 

The second project was needle felting a picture.
I had three colors of fulled wool (wool yardage that
I 'felted' in the washing machine) for the backgrounds.
This was a activity that many of the adults found the
most relaxing.

 One girl in particular took to the needle felting with
a furvor.  She made piece and after piece, and then
asked if she could do more the next day.

It was a busy day with a total of 11 children between
the two classes, and 4 parents.  Another time, I could 
just have a needle felting class.  The pictures the
children made would make wonderful little pillows
or pin cushions.  It's another thought for another time.

Mr Fuzzypants gets musical

With many apologies to Blondie... 

 

Obviously, I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.
You have to click on the image and go to Flickr to see the
entire screen. 

Sweetheart G art

Auntie I gave Sweetheart G an art lesson when she was
home last month.  It was a figure drawing lesson. 

Sweet G's art has made an amazing progression since.
This is the beginning sketch she made for a friend's
birthday card.

Then she added more details,

before coloring it in.  Voila, Matt Smith as Doctor Who.

 

New messengers

I've also been working on a new shape and size of 
messenger bag.  This one is an oblong shape, and 
smaller than the large messenger I've made in the past.  
It's the perfect size for a book, a little lunch, a bottle 
of water, and an iPad.  

I had a lot of fun with the wool felt badges.  I made
a lion rampant, a raven, the dragon/serpent above, 
and even put a soot sprite on one.  

This is the same bag design that Sweet G gave as 
birthday gifts a couple of weeks ago.