Making + Listening: Blogger Swap Edition

February 20, 2014 by Summer

MAKING (or made): I’ve finished my blogger swap gift and will hopefully be sending it out tomorrow. I did a little snooping around her blog and discovered she liked the color purple as well as lavender and was a big coffee fan as well (I’m hoping all these clues do not give it away), so with those things in mind I set to work on some hand-sewn coasters, so that she may have a lovely resting spot for those cups of early morning coffee. I made her a card of lavender with pen and watercolor and I had to throw in a bag of Ventura’s best local coffee as well. I’m hoping she enjoys these things. I know I sure enjoyed making them for her.

As for LISTENING: We are still heavy in Elizabeth Mitchell music. Ellie loves having it on in the morning to dance to, snack to and play to. I have had on George Winston’s Winter Into Spring record playing in the afternoons. It helps to relax me and helps to set a calmer mood for the rest of the day. And, I have to confess, life with a toddler has me quite out of the loop of musicals and movies (stuff before baby, I was very much current on). Well, I kept seeing all this talk about the new Disney movie Frozen on social media. I haven’t seen a movie, let alone a Disney movie in over 2 years, so I really had no clue this movie even existed. I know, I know. But, because of all the talk, I finally you tubed some clips and oh my goodness, I had no idea my favorite singer Idina Menzel was the vocal talent! And the music (that I’ve heard so far) is so very lovely. I may just have to sneak away sometime soon to see the movie for myself. And being a fan of Disney music like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, it will be fun to share some of my favorite songs and movies with Ellie one day.

-joining Dawn for her Make and Listen Along!

New Pieces for the Felt Board

January 17, 2014 by Summer

I realized the other day when Ellie brought me a felt Christmas tree off her felt board that it was time to make some new felt characters. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make for the New Year until she continually brought Jeff and I the book Mommy! Mommy! by Taro Gomi, to read to her. I thought it would be so much fun to make her, her very own “Mommy” and “chickies” to play out the story on her board. So this week I went to work and last night I finished the “Mommy” and one of the “chickies”. They were super easy to make and turned out completely adorable. Ellie has been putting them on the felt board and taking them off all day. I’m still working on the grumpy dog critter and would like to make the barn, the sun and some rocks for the “Mommy” to hide behind. If you don’t have this board book, you have to check it out. It’s quite adorable. And obviously a favorite around here.

And playing along with Dawn’s MAKE + LISTEN today, we’ve been listening to a lot of RAFFI, (specifically this one) and we have this playing while we clean up after dinner to put everyone in a relaxed mood before bed.

Making + Listening : Birthday Edition

May 30, 2013 by Summer

MAKING: Yesterday was Jeff’s birthday. Being that it was a Wednesday workday, the day was pretty much like every other but I hoped we made it a little more special with some presents (primarily beer/brew books for my brewer husband) and some homemade goodies as well.

Beer books, beer t-shirt, a framed picture of Daddy with his little girl for his home office and a little something I whipped up- an embroidered (freehand) Hop plant.

I’m also going to include the cake I made for Jeff’s birthday. I was so excited about it because it was a Chocolate Beer Cake and I spent the night before and the morning of working my butt off to make it with a little girl tugging at my heels the whole time. It was an adorable cake but looks can unfortunatly be deceiving. I’m not sure where I went wrong but let’s just say we only had one piece. Tomorrow I plan to stick to what I know best and make it up to him with some chocolate chip cookies.

At least he got a good wish out of the cake!

As for LISTENING: Of course we have sung Happy Birthday a few times to dear old Dad this week but other than that we’ve been rotating between that Steve Martin c.d., some Sinatra and a bit of Elizabeth Mitchell while we play and fold laundry.

*joining Dawn with Making and Listening.

Making+Listening

May 24, 2013 by Summer

MAKING: Yay! I finished embroidering the Peacock! It was so much fun and I am hooked! (I wanted to post earlier today but I’ve been busy walking the streets with a teething baby, so these pictures are a bit shadowy at the end of the day- I kind of liked the way they came out). But, I managed to get it done here and there and I even added some fabric to the ends. I’m very much looking forward to framing my Spring Peacock.

LISTENING: I received this in the mail this week and I have been playing it whenever I get the chance. I’m a huge fan of Broadway (for those of you who do not know me personally) and a huge fan of Audra McDonald from back when she was in Ragtime. I’ve followed her career, got to see her sing once at Pepperdine University in Malibu and one of my guilty pleasures was the drama Private Practice which she had a role in for awhile. I’m so glad she has gone back to her Broadway roots though. The songs she chose for this album are lovely and dreamy and just plain good.

*joining Dawn for Making + Listening this Thursday.

Make + Listen

May 16, 2013 by Summer

I’m joining Simple Things Notebook today with the Make and Listen Along. It’s a good way to keep me motivated on working on these projects and getting them done. And music is just such a special, wonderful thing. I think it will be neat for Ellie to look back one day and see what we were listening too when she was just a wee one. 🙂

MAKING: I have decided to start making Ellie some fabric letters inspired by Meg’s Montessori Letters from her book Sew Liberated. I’m thinking it’s going to be a long, drawn out project… something I will try to complete before her first birthday. (I can’t believe that’s only about three months away)!

I’m still working on a Softie bear for a friend’s baby. It’s been slow going as well.

LISTENING: My Dad let us borrow this great new Steve Martin/ Edie Brickell c.d. I am a big fan of the banjo and Steve Martin. I once spotted Steve Martin at an art show at UCLA. He was alone and kept smiling at me. Who knows, if I was brave enough I could have had a date with the guy. I saw Martin again years later in Orange County at one of the most fantastic concerts ever. This man can not only get a whole crowd hysterically laughing but he can play the banjo… really well! Can you tell I have a little crush? This c.d. is nice to have on in the background, preferably on a sunny spring day with all the windows open. Ellie liked the first song the best and it seems she’s fond of Steve Martin too. She liked checking out the pictures of him on the c.d. case.

Making + Listening

May 9, 2013 by Summer

MAKING- It has been a busy, tiring week of teething but in between the walks and the extra cuddling, I’ve managed to start another little softie for a friend’s baby due this summer and finish up on Ellie’s room (for now). (The Ellie’s room post will be coming next week).

LISTENING- We’ve also had a breakthrough in the bath tub department. Ellie has hated taking a bath for months now. I’ve been trying to get her used to it ever so gently, but it always ends up in tears (she’s just fine in the shower). Well, just last week I tried making the water a wee bit hotter and sure enough, she was just fine! So we’ve added bath time to the night time routine and it’s been wonderful. While we bathe, Daddy turns on the record player in the next room and lately, we’ve been enjoying Debussy’s Clouds. A little classical for me and my girl.

-linking up today with Dawn’s Making+Listening.