Sam*E as Wall*E

how adorable is my grandson?   

my son and daughter-in-law are genius.

which way to the good stuff?

sammy baer collects treats .

sweet dreams, little waste allocation load lifter earth class.  

ox

joon

10.10.12 ... icy hot bags

a few months ago i designed and stitched up some handmade hot or cold bags. ev and scout surprised me with this pretty fabric well over a year ago and i finally got around to using it. doesn't it make beautiful covers?

the bags themselves are made out of muslin and filled with rice. we stick them in the freezer in summer and over the hot spot on the stove in winter. they are nice and small. we haven't had a microwave for a few years now so i chose to make them smaller than my original bags.  i lived with those things during those freezing new england winters.

we won't have that problem here. 

it just gets a bit chilly.

they'll come in handy. 

i like them because i made them with fabric from my housemates. :)

thanks for stopping by. until next time. happiness to you. from me. with heart. 

ox joon

Posted via email from just joon

T Shirt Pillowcase * Plum chicken * Secret Gift Pics Catch Up

I did some mending today, which is probably too dull to share so here's a silly creation. Our travel pillow needs some cases. A while ago I made a rather groovy {and silly} one using a WICKED The Musical T - shirt. This one makes me smile on two levels. Woodstock, of course, but how fun is this case? The pillow opening is the former bottom hem of the shirt. All I had to do was cut across under the arms and stitch straight across. The gnome is Moley. Scout made him when she was a wee bairn. {age 10 I think} He's her first knitted gnome. I know! Crazy skill isn't it? She'd just learned how to knit for crying out loud. And the pointed cap is made out of funky yarn she salvaged from a wig used in the Opera.... Now there's a story.... For another day I suppose. :)

This is my original recipe plum chicken that I made this evening. I took the photo between the 'saute the chicken' and the 'add the orange hunks, sauce and sesame seeds before you place it in the oven to bake' stages. I couldn't get a photo before dinner but trust me this was divine.

These photos are from one of the secret creations I made prior to Valentine's Day. This recipe pocket is for my lovely sister. It's my favorite one so far. {Just like her.} The photo above is before lamination. The one below is after. The following photos show the handmade recipe cards I made to go along with the pocket. I had a lot of fun with this project.

See the full gallery on posterous

Until tomorrow ~ it's a great day for America, everybody. Yes it is.

Posted via email from thing-a-day 2010

Saving Linus, Saving Memories

Tenderly repaired forever in our hearts ~ with a smile

Leaving Christmas behind is always a melancholy time for us, which is not as sad as it sounds. It's comforting to know that all of us in our little family hold exceptionally fond memories of every Christmas we've shared. It's not anything earth shattering, the way we celebrate. In fact, we're pretty low key. We don't do anything extravagant. No Nutcracker. No trips to ski lodges or the Hawaiian beaches. Our gifts are mostly handmade or thrift store finds and not many of those. We enjoy the little things that, for the most part, defy definition or explanation. Special recipes, cooking together, playing games, listening to Christmas music nonstop for 3 weeks.

Decorating the house with our small holiday treasures is something we look forward to the most. I think it's because we tend to find ourselves in a different house each year, but these special finds we make along the way show up like clockwork each year once that beautiful Christmas tree enters our home.

So, here's the little story of Linus. We have a set of Peanuts Gang ornaments. They don't go on the tree. They stand on a base of 'snow' surrounding Woodstock perched on the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the center. I think they are from 1994-ish. Years ago poor Linus lost his head. Too precariously affixed to his body I believe. We have fixed him so many times, with no luck. So, this year, before packing him away, I resorted to the unattractive but most sensible fix - the glue gun. He needed some heft. But I didn't want the glue detracting from his look, and hence, our memory keepsake. So, I decided to give him a cozy scarf and it turns out we all love him better this way anyway. Besides, it cracks us up. And laughter is the best medicine. We all know that.

Looking forward to smiling at him upon his return 11 months from now. Sweet dreams, Linus.

Until next time.

ox
joon

LoVe is what brings us ToGetHeR

Hello 2010. I'm a little late to the party and have some catching up to do. I have plenty of photos and will start with these. Our holidays were lovely. Hope yours were, too. I went on a magnet making spree and enjoyed myself tremendously. Here is one set I made for Jon Cody and Val ~ our family newlyweds. How adorable is this? I've been saving the image and accompanying text forever. They are from a very old Maurice Sendak illustrated children's book. I added the red accents and used a collage technique on both magnets.

I love the serendipity of this ... the photo background is our Christmas card from ... Val and Jon Cody! How perfect is it? It's a sign. I hope they will enjoy this teeny tiny gift with the great big heart for many years to come in good health and happiness.

I used my new iPhone ~ a.k.a pony ~ to shoot a fun photo of the ephemeral element of Christmas. I wish the tree could last all year long. I guess that's what makes it all the more special. I'll be back soon with more of my handmade Christmas magnets soon. Peace to you all in this new year. Full of promise and surprise. Here's to a delightful adventure into twenty ten.

Springing Forward in Many Ways

I am participating in my Etsy BBEST Team ACEO challenge.
The theme is SpRiNg.
I LOVE lilacs and I was going to paint a small watercolor of them on my tiny canvas.
Then I remembered this knitting sample I'd made when I was practicing stitches and gauge. Every time I looked at this over the years, through so many moves, I'd think I must be nuts to think it was worth saving and keeping safe, yet, accessibly stored. And every once in a while, I did get an idea. But it was always just not right.
Until now.

I thought I could stitch it onto the paper with my sewing machine set on basting stitch.
But I was dreaming.
I hand sewed the knitted sweetie onto the ACEO paper. Then I started the button search.
I intended to use some creamy off white or perhaps florals or clear. Sparkly? Hmmmm....
Nothing was looking like what I envisioned. I thought perhaps my button idea was too grand and I should consider french knots out of thick embroidery floss. Well, I wasn't even going to try the purples. I mean they'd never show up. All of a sudden, I found these buttons with the cloth bits and I think they represent little lilac buds perfectly. I am so happy. Especially because in all my collection, buttons that haven't been cleaned up of threads or scraps are rare. I can't believe my luck. I hope my friend loves it as much as I loved creating and making it.
For more photos, including the groovy batik back, visit my flickr stream.

We did SpRiNg forward and it has not been delightful. But our new recipes of the week certainly were. Above is our Thai Soup from mid-week and below, our Italian Clam and Bean from tonight. We made fennel bread to go with it. Now, that's delightful.

Last weekend, we watched the film Bottle Shock, recommended by a dear friend. Loved it and now Evan wants to try affordable California wines. My trusty scissor/saving habits came through once more. I found my top wines list from an old Gourmet or ??? magazine. We managed to find two of the wines by going to different shops. It was a fun hunt and this first wine is wonderful indeed.

Until next time, friends.
Bon Appetite.
ox joon

FriDaY FuNDaY ~ propriety

When I taught second grade, I nicknamed the days of the week. For now, I'll leave you guessing on the first four. Friday Funday was my favorite because we stepped outside of the box and had an interdisciplinary creative explosion. The results of these activities amazed me, inspired me and taught me a lot about being true to my self and trusting my intuition. I loved displaying our projects at the end of the day. It was always a delightful surprise. Like little bursts of genius were sprinkled at my Reebok'd feet & bloomed like magic. Those Fridays are responsible for most of my favorite teaching memories. I wonder if the children remember them.

We've all been under the weather for the past few weeks and Scout is of the mind it's a grand scheme to force me to slow down a half step. Perhaps that is how this idea had a chance to nudge its way in the door. On Fridays I will share the little things that bring us joy and inspiration. I hope you'll find yourself smiling, touched and inspired, too. It's Friday. Let's have some FUN!

Ingredients: One favorite film, two weeks of exasperated sighs, inspiration, fate, vintage vocabulary cards, laminating machine, heart hole punch, ball chain

Makes: This fabulous recycled necklace with special meaning. The word propriety is front and center in one of her favorite What's Up Doc? film quotes. Judy Maxwell {Barbra Streisand} defines it a little differently than our Vis-Ed card. Visit THIS CLIP to see what I mean. The clip is 9 minutes, but, never fear, you will be rewarded {and excused} with comic genius in a mere 2:45 total. Trust me. It's delightful.

"Don't you know the meaning of propriety?" Eunice. {Madeline Kahn} What's Up Doc. 1972

Now for a few questions. What do you think of the Friday Funday Feature? And how do you like my newest product? I will be creating and selling these necklaces in my new joonwalk etsy shop soon. Oh! How cool is this? The film takes place in San Francisco and we did not realize that Scout was wearing her SF electric trolley tee shirt today until we started taking the photos. I love fate. ox joon

Hooray for the U.S.A.

I curated this Etsy treasury Monday evening. You can visit it HERE until Thursday afternoon.
Learn more about our Etsy Team: BBEST.

A New Project ~ Handmade Oven Mitts ~ Earth Friendly, Naturally!

I saw an article about these on Craft Daily and had to try them. We need hot mitts. But first ... Dusty's 28th BiRtHDaY! The geckos are from a favorite pair of his Hawaiian style shorts when he was very young in the 1980s. I started with these and designed the other fabrics around them.

The lining is an old hospital gown from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Although Dust never wore this one, he was in the hospital a number of times as a tot ... including one ER visit for a cougar attack, but that's another story ... so I felt this was another appropriate memento fabric. Scout did have her tonsils out at DHMC. I did not pilfer the gown. I bought it from a community action thrift store.

The remaining fabrics are from my theater muslin stash leftovers and a beautiful de-stash from a truly gifted quilter friend of Jon Cody & Val's. Speaking of Val, her BiRtHDaY is just 3 days after Dusty's so I made her some mitts, too. They celebrate their brand new and first ever kitty, Mr. Boo Radley. You can see those mitts on the right hand side of this page in the flickr slideshow and access my flickr there if you'd like to see my comments on those fabric choices.

My next pair are ... finally ... for us! I found some United States Fabric I am crazy-going-nuts over and HAD to have it. Can't wait to settle into our new home and start sewing. Will share those another time ~ hopefully soon. Thanks for stopping by and viewing my green art with heart. What upcycled project have you made lately? ox joon

A Little Bit Different Style Upcycled Tee Carry~All Tote

This is my first upcycled T shirt Carry~All. I made it for a wonderful friend as a surprise gift. I can't wait until she receives it. It's all ready for the postman. :) But first...

I started by adding a liner {wrong sides together} because the T shirt was quite thin. Oh, yes, I should say here that it was beyond the clothing life stage. The liner is also a former blouse. If you know me even the teeniest little bit, you know they came from thrift stores. This is {at least} their third life.

I wanted this bag to have my own signature style, which I call
Thread Tramp Art ~ with heart :). Here you can see the pinked edges being basted before the next step ~ simply turning them under & leaving them raw.

Just for kicks, I turned one edge the opposite way. I added marbled fabric strips to the straps for 3 reasons: style, durability & added length. A handy key clip extension piece is attached along one seam. It flops inside or out at will!

Inside design is as much fun as outside. The little gecko is from my boys' favorite pair of shorts. They date back to 1980 -ish. Still going strong.

I sewed up the side and bottom. Added the straps and here is the finished creation. As my lovely friend, Pearl, says: TADA!

I love it and I hope my friend will too. Maybe I will make another one. Well, what would you do if your mother asked you? :) {Seuss quotes, anyone?}

Treasury to Honor my flying housewife esty shop sellers

I curated this treasury...my first honoring my customers. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time with my joonbeam shop but didn't get around to it. I am convinced that I may have the absolute best overall feedback comments on etsy in my little brand new flying housewife shop. I am just beyond happy that I started this venture. It has been better than wonderful. Thank you all. To those without shops, if/when you open one, please let me know. I would like to make more of these every so often. I have the other four in my alternates and will switch them in later this evening. As time goes by and my feedback pool grows I will do my best to showcase everyone sometime.

To those of you visiting my blog, please stop by THIS TREASURY and visit these shops. I guarantee you will be delighted at what you find in each one. If you see this after it's expired please come visit my flyinghousewife feedback page and search their shops from there.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you. ox joon

i love you like etsy

etsy has a new trademark agreement policy & my design was approved! Next to sign and return the contract, but, naturally, I wanted to include one of my pinbacks. And, then, naturally, I needed to send it in style ~ my style ~ and then, naturally, once I started browsing for something to catch my eye...and, well, it just kept going from there. This is Manhattan for the love of kismet. I mean, honestly. It was a sign.




Note: Click on the photo above to enlarge and read text with ease.

The toughest part was finding the picture of the earth in the right size. I wanted it to be a balloon. And I wanted an earth taken from space. People, I have only 14 days to return this contract!!! I have standards which does make my life challenging. No, I do not want an earth printed off of the internet. It has to be found in a discarded magazine, book, calendar or ??? Do I have a vault full of these? No Ma'am. No Sir. I do not. I gave myself a deadline. If I couldn't find one by last night, I would have to illustrate (GULP) my own. eek! Desperate times call for desperate measures, folks. I had an earth balloon in my head and come hell or high water, there was going to be one on this collage. No matter that all I sought was a simple attractive square in the first place. Let's be serious here.



There was only one way to solve this. I started working on my new horse linocut. (My first! This is another story. You can see a couple of photos on my flickr or my post on CAD. ) As I was searching for magazine pages for my little pony :), there she was!!!! My little blue planet. She was a little too large, but the thought of resorting to plan B ... Next ... how was I ever going to cut a perfect circle around her? Hey ... this looks like the size of my pinbacks. Hey... wait a minute... and the earth balloon magnet, she is born! Now, the true dilemma... how do I part with this baby? I am sorry, but this is one sweet collage. I am going to send it. And pray that whoever receives it at the other end of the rainbow has a brighter day because of it. Life is a mystery. I'm adding another to the mix.



What would your reaction be if, in the course of your workday ~ this includes you, house people. Remember, I am one of you and yes, we work! ~ you opened an ordinary envelope (OK, we all know, that is not possible here and I will be making a super joonie envie, but... I am overcome with the power of the written word) and this fell out onto your surface? I would love to know. The truth. Thank you for making it this far into my tale.


PS. Be sure and let me know if you'd like to hear how it all turns out, too. Or if your answer to this is: God forbid. ox to you all & happy, happy birthday little blue planet

Yesterday was Mister Mister's Birthday! Hooray for Chippy. He's 8 years old. Scout took this a few weeks ago and I cropped it and used it as my etsy avatar for his birthday. Everyone seems to be enjoying him so much that he has a reprieve and will stay for a few more days.

I just designed and made my very first Mister Rogers Pinbacks with a little phrase I coined myself. You can see the first three on my flickr page by clicking HERE. I am very excited about them. I have had the idea in my mind for months ~ even before I started my etsy shop.

I have been neglecting this blog for a while and the treasury, but here I am and, so too, my new etsy treasury called April Showers. You can find it there until 3:39AM on Thursday. I also have a photo of it on my flickr page, which is why you might be seeing it on your right in the slideshow!

I awoke to the honor of learning I am featured in another artisan's blog today! Jana, who I recently met through my BBEST etsy group, has a beautiful blog, Serendipity Collections. I know you will enjoy visiting her blog and her etsy shop, PaperFields, where she sells gorgeous handcrafted cards that are truly works of art.

I have so much catching up to do but I must leave some good news and excitement for another day so I will see you then. Happy April everyone. Here's to Spring!

BBEST Treasury TUPPENCE

This is my TUPPENCE Treasury that I made for my Boomers and Beyond etsy Street Team. It ends Wednesday morning (02/20) at 8:37 AM and I hope you will all go have a look at the amazing array of handmade art that you can own for $5 or less! Isn't this beautiful? There's so much talent in our group and such delights to be found in each and every shop. I had the idea for this treasury quite a while ago. I plan on making more with this theme. There's plenty more moderately priced items. And all so special. You can click on this photo to see a larger image ~ so that you can see the shop items and names even after the treasury is expired and still visit our artists. Thank you all for supporting our Baby Boomers Plus group and for buying handmade ~ where the love comes for free!