Three Wise Owls

It's getting close to school holidays over here and I've been looking for new sewing projects for my holiday workshops.

Recently I saw some owls on Xue's blog which I really admired - her work is really beautiful - it has that understated Japanese refinement and everything about her blog has a really lovely feeling - anyway, I began thinking that perhaps I could use her owls as the inspiration for a project that would work as an afternoon activity for my girls.

This is what I came up with:


Templates are always a bit fiddly. It took me several attempts to get the template below just right so that the owls didn't look a little "odd". The size given, 10 cm X 10.5 cm, is the size of the Papa Owl. The curves give you good ears and a nice round body, but if you want a different look or character, just play around with a few versions. My owls are filled with rice which gives them stability and a nice weight to hold. Actually, it sort of gives them their realness.

Remember: (1) Leave a 2 cm turning gap at the bottom of your owl and (2) fold and glue the beak of your owl down before filling with rice.


To give the owls a flat base I fold the ends under as in the photo below: (so glad there are photos to explain this sort of thing!)


So that's my very quick, very condensed tutorial.

Thanks again to Xue.

Hope you enjoy making your owls...I don't think kids can ever have too many wise friends.

Being

an envelope...

can be...



a purse...

Tie-dye the day...and take it with you

This post is about word-storms and creativity.

The other day I was over at bilbified where Kristine was wondering just how creative she was (one of those self-doubting moments I guess because she clearly is creative) and that started me thinking about creativity...then I wandered over to notes from me to [me] where Robin was in the middle of a Californian word-storm...what's a word-storm you ask?...well you'll have to go to her blog to answer that one...anyway, there she was with all these words blowing around, and she took the words, taped them onto a page and arranged them into poems...I really like this idea...I think it would make a great game for kids to make a random list of words or phrases and then try to make poems out of them...you can end up with really unusual combinations of things that you never would have thought of...I know that some people are going to think that if there's some random element you'll just get nonsense, but I don't think it works out like that because such a big part of creative thinking is trying to unlearn the habit of always linking things up in predicable clichéd ways...this just cuts through all that...anyway here's coloured buttons' contribution using Robin's word list:

Tie-dye the day...and take it with you.

The Problem with Monster Paperclips

When I made these monster paperclips I didn't realize that these guys can be real trouble. I thought (naively) that being paperclips, they would be happy just to sit around and well, clip things. BIG MISTAKE. At first they just hung around outside...




Then they came inside...I realized they weren't trying to be a nuisance or anything like that...they were just looking for a cozy (preferably dark) place to hide away and snuggle up in...











So I made a soft little box...for them...and for myself...so I could have some peace and quiet from all their growly goings-on...



If you want to make these little monsters, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you...

P.S. The tiny bells on the lid are very important...they let you know when the little fellas are awake and on the loose...Good Luck...you'll need it...

P.P.S. Haven't bothered with instructions. I think that for a lot of people the pictures will be enough. But if you have any questions, just ask.