COME ON OVER

I’m up and running.  My archives are not and I still need to re-format and change links in just about every post seeing as I’m combining 3 blogs into 1.  So there will be a lot of changes happening each day until I have waded my way through all of my blog posts to ensure they are up to scratch.

You will find 2 new posts up though.  A finger puppet bat to make for Halloween and our trip to an organic farm earlier in the week.

Please update your subscriptions to ensure you are receiving my future posts and head on over for a visit, I’d love to see you all.  Fingers crossed your subscriptions don’t go a little insane while I’m updating each of my posts into the new format.

 

www.tonyastaab.com

MOVING ON

Big news!

My blog is moving.

The new digs are a work in progress, but will hopefully be up and running early next week.   In the meantime I won’t be updating this blog with new posts … well except for a post letting you all know where I’ve move to of course. 

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have followed along and subscribed to my blog.   You have all brightened my day with your comments and even though I’ve been really lame at times responding to your questions, I’m hoping that my new streamlined site (which will incorporate all 3 of my blogs) will leave me more time to get to know all of you a little bit better.

So please stay tuned. 

Love,

Tonya

DOLL BLANKET

A few months ago I purchased a gorgeous moses basket for Marisol.  She loves to play with her dolls, she pushes them in their stroller and has tea parties with them.  The next step was being able to put them to sleep at bedtime.   Of course her dolls needed a very special blanket.

This one was very simple to knit.  I have a lot of leftover yarn from previous knitting projects so this was a great way to use a few of those up. 

Individual squares:

• 4mm needles
• 4ply yarn

Cast on 10 stitches

1st row: knit

2nd row: purl

Repeat until 12 rows have been completed

Cast off leaving long ends.

Border

• 4mm needles
• Plymouth Heaven yarn

For the top and bottom pieces cast on 50 stitches.  Knit 6 rows.  Cast off.

For the side pieces cast on 6 stitches.  Knit 96 rows.  Cast off.

Assemble

Lay your squares down in the color grid you want them in.  Hand stitch the squares together using the long ends.  Then stitch the borders on using leftover white yarn.

 

But shhhh, please don’t tell her because this basket and blanket are tucked away for Christmas.

UPPERCASE LIVING

Last night I was invited to an Uppercase Living party. 

A couple of friends and I made these cute coasters for Marisol’s kitchen.

I think this may become a new addiction for me - ‘cause like I need a new one.

Here is my Whrrl story if you would like to see more of what you can do with this amazing product.

Powered by Whrrl

Oh yes, I will be making a few purchases this week and will be sure to share some of the fabulous ideas I have brewing.

MY LITTLE ARTIST

Marisol definitely takes after me.

Since starting school she has come home with some beautiful art projects. 

 

The first thing she does when she gets to school in the mornings is draw.  Today she brought home the beautiful necklace in the center of the picture.

Flynn takes after his daddy.  Although he does come home with fabulous art projects every now and then, he is much happier hanging with the other boys in class building towers with lego and blocks or assembling train tracks.

Tomorrow my not so little babies will be turning 3.  Time flies.

HEAVEN

When I first felt this yarn I knew I had to make something for Marisol. 

Something soft that she could snuggle up to.

So while we were on our road trip from San Diego to Monterey in June I started knitting a cushion cover.  Yes I dragged bags of yarn, needles and even 3 cushion inserts that I’d purchased from Ikea for a couple of dollars mere days before our trip around with us.

Yes I only just finished the first cushion.

Marisol thinks it is the softest cushion she has ever put her head on.  She rubs her cheek on it like she is in pure heaven.

The back is knitted with Caron Christmas Glitter in white and silver and has a green velvet ribbon threaded through.

I had a little ‘heaven’ left over so when she wasn’t looking I knitted her a scarf too.

and then with even more yarn left, I decided to knit matching scarves for her 2 favorite dolls (who barely ever leave her side).

Shhhh though, please don’t tell her, because I’ve stashed all 3 scarves away to give to her on her birthday later in the week.

CHOO CHOO

You may remember my little boys obsession with trains.  I made this play mat for him a while ago.

Well he keeps that ‘train mat’ inside a tent in his bedroom where he loves to sit and drive his trains around the track.  However in the kids play room we have a large train table. 

While my parents are visiting they wanted to buy him some more pieces to build on the basic track he already had.  Train tracks and accessories are E.X.P.E.N.S.I.V.E though.  So dad and I put our creative heads together and made a few bits a pieces.

So using a Pringles container, a plastic apple juice bottle, an orange juice carton and a coffee creamer bottle we set to work.

First we cut each piece to the size we required, then  put a couple of coats of paint on.

Then we cut a piece of ply wood to make an arch for a tunnel, which was glued inside the orange juice carton.  The reason for this is if you leave the box rectangular it can start to lean or bend out of shape very quickly.  The ply wood adds extra support so the tunnel holds its shape.  Good thing I picked up a little woodcarving tool set about a year ago on clearance … see, I knew it would come in handy one day.

Before adding finishing touches to each piece.  Including a coat of sealant over the top of each piece, this helps to prevent the paint from chipping, especially on the plastic.

The end result:

The orange juice carton made a great tunnel, once the plywood archway was added.  Flynn can reach his hand into the other end to pull his trains through and loves that I painted it black inside to make it ‘spooky’.

The end of the coffee creamer bottle was turned into a mountain and grass and ladybugs were painted on the side.

The plastic apple juice bottle was turned into another tunnel complete with graffiti (thanks to the teenager) on the inside.  We only painted the inside of the plastic, not the outside.

Lastly, the Pringles carton was cut in half and made into 2 train depots for the trains to go to sleep at the end of their very busy day.

Flynn loves it and there is nothing better than free accessories for his most beloved toy.

Oh and I have to show you one last thing that we added.

One section of the train table has a construction theme.   So what better item to put there than a dinosaur egg boulder painted by Flynn at pre-school last week.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t hatch :)

 

* UPDATE:  This post was featured on 733 and Craft Gossip

CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART

While visiting the Steinbeck Center last week I saw this in the art gallery:

It is part of a collection for the exhibition From This Stone and Anvil: Arthurian Legend Exposed and Abstracted. 

Okay, so this may not look like much until you see what it is made of.

Recognize it?

Twist-ties.  You know the ones you get on bread packets.

Ingenious.

Artist: J.R. Uretsky, who by chance has a blog which I found while google searching for other works of art she may have done.

Information about the exhibition: National Steinbeck Center

ITSYVILLE

A couple of days ago on a long drive home from sightseeing we noticed a little woodcarving store on the side of the road. 

Today we popped back there with dad ‘aka the woodcarver’ to take a closer look. 

If you are ever in the Monterey (California) area or are looking for something just a little out of the ordinary, take a moment to have a look at Blanchard’s Wood Sculpture, the website is a must to look.  You will delve into the world of Itsyville, a magical place where the wood spirits dwell. 

Steve Blanchard is extremely talented.  I absolutely fell in love with the little house out in front of the store today.  Thank goodness I didn’t find out how much it cost or I may have fainted on the spot. 

One can dream. Right?

THE BIRDIE BAG

While the kids are at school, mummy gets her craft on.

I picked up the plain green, ready-made felt bag in the clearance section of (I think it was) Michaels quite a few months ago for 50 cents. 

Marisol is an avid collector of bags (a trait she obtained from me) … something that daddy is not happy about, especially when she goes from 50 cent bags to $500 bags in the years to come.

The plain green bag needed to be prettied up a little.

So armed with:

• the green bag
• a pink fat quarter
• white felt
• embroidery thread
• a needle
• black fabric paint
• and a paintbrush

I set to work.

I did a rough sketch of what I wanted to put on the bag.

I cut out a template and then used a fabric pen to draw the outline onto the fat quarter and felt before cutting.

Then I hand stitched the bird and her pretty wing onto the bag. 

Done!