Moby The Mudskipper and 2 Years OMG!

Here's Moby! It's been way too cold to work in the clay studio. So I've been trying to use up some felt I had laying around. I was inspired by a book I was reading to look into mud-skippers. It said they have four eyes. Well, they don't really. My son, the budding biologist, informed me that they have 4 pupils. Two in each eye. This is so they can keep track of things above and below water simultaneously. Correct me if I'm wrong.

It's been almost 2 years since I've blogged here! Time for a New Years resolution? Maybe.

A few summers ago I painted baseballs while my son was at baseball camp. It was too far away to drop him off, come home and then pick him up. So, I brought my supplies and some baseballs and whiled away the hours painting under spreading oaks. I learned that year that you can get sunburned in the shade. Go figure. So, I have some free time today. I think I'll go paint some balls. This time I'm wearing sunscreen.

Introducing: A Little Television

When my son was around six years old I got tired and frustrated with being his media manager. “Mom, can I watch TV?” “Mom, can I play a computer game?” Etc.. So we had a family meeting to discuss how to manage our son’s media with out having to be the bad guys and to empower him a little in making his own decisions. What we came up with was a ticket system. At the start of the week (a day and time of his choosing) he would receive 14 tickets. Each ticket represented one half hour of media time to be used at his discretion. We defined media to be any sort of movie or TV, books on tape (trust me on this one, it’s all he would do if we let him) and computer games. He was allowed one movie freebie at a friend’s house and one we watched as a family. This method has been tried and true in our house for six years. We have not had arguments and our son has learned that if he uses up his time on the weekend he won’t have any for the rest of the week. What he has learned from this experience has been invaluable.

So, to make a long story even longer, I was in the clay studio one day and managed to fashion a little retro looking television out of red clay. I made it a vessel and included little holes to put pins in after it was fired (for antennae). It came out so cute. I decided to give it to my son. Somehow we came up with the idea to exchange our ticket system for a bean system and the little TV became the perfect little holder for the beans.
I have since made more TV’s for Etsy, with matching vessels.

I Made A Sale!

I haven't made a sale in a while and I recently made two. Yea. One of the things I sold was this yoga mat bag. It was discounted because of a little stain. I hope the buyer is happy with it.

My picture of the eclipse. My son and I went out to watch for a little while. After a few minutes I decided I must get a picture and a coat;).

Tee Pee Xmas Ornament Tute

Here's a quick tute for the ornaments.1. Cut a piece of fabric that is a little over 4X as long as it is wide. For instance if its 3 inches wide make it 12.5 inches long.

2. Fold it wrong side out and sew a seem over the ends.
3. Turn right side out so your sewn part is roughly in the middle. Iron the folds at the ends. Here you can top stitch over the folds or put some fusible sizing. You do not have to do either.


4. Fold again so your ironed folds overlap slightly and the stitched part is on the outside.

5. Stitch across the bottom.


6. Make a small loop from some ribbon and pinch it into the top of the un-sewn part; forming a teepee shape. Pin into place

7. Sew along this seam.


8. Turn right side out and poke out the corners. You might want to put a little whip stitch a the top.


9. Do over and over and you’ll have a whole teepee village.