Cheesy Fries with Cucumber???

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

Now that D is 2, he has been expressing his opinions even more. He has always loved being in the kitchen and helping prepare food (his job is to wash and taste all the vegetables and fruit). Lately, I have started asking him what he’d like for lunch. Today, that conversation went like this:

Me: What would you like for lunch today, Bunny?

D: silence (he was playing and therefore studiously ignoring me).

Me: Would you like eggs?

D: Nope.

Me: Grilled cheese sandwich?

D: Nope.

Me: Tofu? Quinoa? Strawberries? And so on, until we got to French Fries. Then we had the discussion of what to put with the fries. So, D went to the fridge, pulled out the cheese, cucumber, and mayo. Since I love fancy sandwiches, I thought he might be on to something. He was. It was pretty good. Oh – and you’ll notice that his bowl is half empty in the picture. He couldn’t wait for me to get the camera out to have some tastes.

Rules of buying – a ponderance

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

Ponderance? Is that a word? Well, I use it, so I’m calling it a word. Moving on.

The other day I suddenly decided that my life would be much better with glue sticks. I forget exactly what I wanted them for, but I was certain I NEEDed them. As an aside to all of this, I have used them since, and yes, glue sticks have their own category of usefulness, especially with a toddler around. The point though was this: I was not going to be anywhere near a Value Village which is where I usually source craft materials when I can’t get them through swapping or family members’ neglected stashes. I was also not going to be anywhere near a craft store, which, I will admit, I sometimes break down and shop at because they are so shiny and full of wonderful things that I get overwhelmed and buy more than I need and then justify later. So the dilemma was, where do I find glue sticks and what are my values around them? Yes,I recognize they are just glue sticks, but we all know they are probably not ethically made all the way down the line so I had to decide how to justify my purchase to myself. I was in Roncesvalles, so my choices were fairly limited. After trying a few locally-owned and shops I finally went into the dollar store where, of course, they had a pack of two for $1. I jumped on the deal and came home. However. It got me thinking – where do I draw that line for myself? The people who own the independent dollar stores need to make a living too, and they are a part of the community, so in theory I do want to support them. Plus they usually have things at a price that I’m happy to pay for the quality I expect at that price. Thinking locally, it’s a good buy. Thinking globally, it’s probably not. Where does my purchasing responsibility end here?

What do you think? How do you create your own purchasing rules?

Fabric Applique Bird (or my first project inspired by Pinterest)

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

I am so far behind on my posts! Looking through some pictures on my phone, I noticed a bunch that I forgot to share. So, here we go. This was inspired by a beautiful embroidered bird I saw on Pinterest. It was so much fun to create that I’ve actually designed the workshop I’ll be teaching this Thursdays at Wise Daughters around this technique. Go here for the workshop info.

You can see the original here but here’s a picture:

The hard-to-see paper is the pattern I made from the picture

Choosing the right fabric from my beautiful collection of scraps

Cut the pattern and the fabric

Choose the embroidery floss. This took longer than deciding on the fabric, and I couldn't resist adding the gold beads.

Lay out and pin the fabric. As you can see, I used filmy scarf material. Later I backed it with a sky-blue knit. They were both a pain to cut, but worth it in the end.

Using your favourite embroidery stitches,secure the bird to the background fabric. Add on the beads as you go. (Note: in the class, I'll be teaching the stitchAdd the feet. I was going to use this brown fabric marker, but it's dry after only one use. So instead I used the gold glitter glue. After all, it's a scarf so hopefully it won't have to be vigorously washed.

All done. I didn't take pictures of the sewing machine part, but if you want to know how to do it, let me know. I might do another blog post about that, or I'll email/comment back.

In the spirit of rescuing/re-using, this is a great way to cover up a stain on a favourite piece of clothing. It’s like a custom patch, but better.

Outdoor art

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

Somebody (not anyone I know) made this in High Park. I think it
counts as a random act of craft.

A little more in the studio

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

I happened to be at the Arts Market (I share a booth there, with Michelle from thunderpeep) when Daniel (the owner of Arts Market) was cleaning out his desk area. Luckily, I overheard him talking to himself about getting rid of a wire cutlery rack. He plopped it on top of his desk showing the satisfaction of having cleared it out and put everything that was in it, in a new and better home. I looked up. An idea sparked! I had been thinking about my studio space and trying to figure out what to do with the foot-wide bit of jutting out wall. I was so enthusiastic about this new possible acquisition that a very surprised Daniel let me bring it home for free. I have now happily nailed it to the wall:

I haven’t fully decided what goes in it, but as you can see it’s great for crochet hooks and knitting needles. I have more than what’s shown here, so it may turn out to only have space for those. In any case, another piece of almost-trash re-envisioned and put to use.

I would love to hear about your Great Re-uses. Comment below, or email me at: info@butterfly-tree.com

Building my studio… one piece at a time

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

A few days ago, I was inspired to finally create a studio space for myself. Now, having zero budget for a space like this, I’m finding myself looking around everywhere I can to make my space reasonably organised and workable. I am not going to buy anything new. (I hate it when I impose rules on myself – Who do I think I am, anyways?)

I started by looking in my closet of stock. I found some storage pockets I had made by cutting the back pockets out of an old pair of jean. A couple nails in the wall, and up they went.

That was exciting. What else can I do with nails? D was having lunch so while he was safely occupied I looked around the kitchen. I had been considering using empty cans for pen storage, so I washed one out and peeled off the label. Then I looked at my hammer and had a thought: What if I make a hole and hang it on the wall?

clean can, hammer, screw, nail, trusty toolbox Use the screw to create a large enough hole to fit the nailhead in.

Use pliers to scrunch any sharp edges down. This is important! You may need to get out some sandpaper too, or maybe a nailfile if you have a good one.

Now you can hammer your nail into the wall. I tried hammering through the hole, because I like to do things the easy (hard in the end) way. I gave up. My hammers didn’t fit. You’ll want to test that it works. I had to enlarge my hole the first time.

Testing

I was very proud of myself. Then I stepped back. Ugh. I couldn’t leave it like that! So I raided my pre-cut fabric strips.

Wrapped the strip once around and tied the end in.Then I took the can off the wall to continue wrapping.

Tuck the end under to hide it. You may want to tie a securing knot first.

All done. So pretty!

Check out my tools wall

Studio step one

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Butterfly Tree

I’ve finally decided to take myself seriously and set up a studio space. In what used to be my dining area. That meant that today, D and I re-arranged a bunch of furniture and swept up cobwebs and dust bunnies. Our living space is piled high with toys and supplies that need organising. It’s too embarassing to take a picture of.
BUT, we did manage to make a start on a workspace:

More progress to come tomorrow!