LivenLearn

wOoD

I read something recently. I found it in this stunning book by David Ellsworth. It read "A man's wealth is measured by the size of his wood pile." Well then, we must be extremely wealthy! I spend way too much of the money I make at etsy on more wood. I can't say no to my very persuasive "woodman". 80% of the wood you see in the photograph below is green sustainable. Wood that Harland; my woodman saved from disposal. And now that Harlan and I have met and are now doing business, his wood is becoming heirloom toys. Toys that don't break easily. That are made and crafted to last more than one lifetime. Pretty cool. 

I must admit that I feel a bit of an addiction coming on. Or maybe it is already here... gulp. I love working with all these different pieces of wood! They each have their own character. Some hard, strong and stubborn. Some soft, delicate and easily manipulated. Going to see Harlan and taking a peek at the new piles of wood. Not going to see him to get really specific pieces; except for more grandfather block wood, but seeing what he has. I hold the wood in my hand and think "what will you be". If the bark is firmly attached it's even more exciting for me. Some grains of walnut are stunning. Osage orange GLOWS! Sycamore is intricate. Oak is splintery. Cherry is brilliant. Poplar is still a favorite. It was my beginning into toy making and I cannot resist it's natural white blank canvas. It hogs the paint a bit, but if sanded right it can be very forgiving. Each wood-crafter has their favorite wood to work in. Yep I think I could say I HAVE a wood addiction.

As a team we are contributing to the world of natural toymaking. I hope that some of you that are already shopping for Christmas are thinking of doing most, if not all your shopping from handmade sources. Sources that are contributing to a global picture; taking care of the earth and the people that live here. Next month I will write about working artists that I have worked with and am happy to recommend. People that make quality things for children and families.

Mushroom Men

Shhhhh..... I finished my boys Birthday presents today. Don't tell OK? hee hee. They love mushrooms! We had a lot of fun learning about them all spring. They really love this weird and silly video game called Mushroom Men and so I made them two bolete men to play with. Their arms bend and the hands can hold weapons. I left the weapon making up to them. Their bodies are made from walnut wood... so pretty. The caps are made of turned cherry, made by their Daddy. I think they are gonna love them! Bark armor and little backpacks all wool felted. These little mushroom men are my favorite things I have made yet. I know I say this all the time, but I feel so lucky. I get to be with my kids all the time and I make toys. It's so much fun. I finished these just in time for a party tomorrow for Lucas' birthday. An aunt and an uncle in town all the way from Oregon makes it even more special. 

I hope the weekend finds everyone well. Wishing you all a celebration or two.

For The Love Of Tidepools

Many readers already know that Tobin loves the ocean and recently he has been fascinated with tidepools. Checking out all the books at the library about them and telling us the names of each living creature the dwells in them. He knows so much. And the love for all things of the sea is what keeps the knowledge fresh in his young mind. It's very impressive to hear a little person teach adults about sea creatures they did not know even existed! So I made a tidepool out of wool. It's always refreshing to me to sit down to work with wool. I work with wood so much and I am really enjoying mixing the two. I have some really great stuff I am working on that is very fresh and new. I get so excited about making new things and in the future I would like to remake items less and less and create new toys all the time. But for now I enjoy perfecting pieces by remaking them.

There are also many mushrooms coming into the shop. Lucas is really enjoying the mushroom focus lately. He really wants to find stinkhorns and fly agaric amanitas. Eric is working on making Lucas a fly agaric amanita with all its parts. I can't wait to see it! Also Lucas is enjoying the 39 Clues books. This week I have a really great project almost ready for him. I forget sometimes how grown up he is becoming. Many times I think our craft projects around here are a little bit too young for him and I really need to be better about preparing more grown up projects for him. This project is electrical work which I think he will like a lot. He loves to build and I can't wait to show him.

Below are photos of their tidepool. I built it on a folded piece of wool felt. Rocks first and then a base of blue for water. Then added the little starfish and kelp. I also found old lipet shells from our honeymoon almost 11 years ago! And a dog periwinkle shell? It was fun to pull these out for the boys to play with. I knew I collected them for a reason.

Weekend In Photos

 

That big mushroom was made for me by Eric on Friday. I absolutely adore it! I love all his mushrooms, but this one. Oh I love it's shape and I love the box elder wood grain. I think that is what I love most about working with wood. The grain and it's natural beauty. That and it lasts. Last night while the boys were sleeping I made a play mat for all the mushrooms. Like a little mushroom meadow. Then today Tobin and I added features like a newt, swimming rainbow trout, a crayfish and water beetles. This is a work in progress and he and I will add many other fresh water creatures and moss and things. They added all the animals today too. I love that they made it their own this way. It's also fun to watch them guess which of Daddy's mushrooms are boletes or which are amanitas.

Sunday is usually bread making day. And my husband does most of the baking at our house. He loves to make bread and favorites here are ciabatta or slipper bread and your basic Italian loaf. I made him bread bags Friday out of linen fabric inspired by Soulemama. OK. Raise your hand if you love soulemama! Yep she's fantastic! An incredible inspiration. I used our hand carved stamps on the fabric too for a little extra love. I also made a mushroom bag for our mushroom hunting expeditions. It can clip to your belt loop. Photo below is of Lucas and Willow and that's the bag on his jacket. What a pair.

 

Happy Sunday!

Yeah For Flickr Sharing

I started a group at Flickr. It's for uploading photos of you children playing with our fun toys. Because I would really love to see them being played with. The best part of making these wooden lovies is the fact that they go to children and get to be played with. So head on over and upload some photos! We would love to hear from you :)