Make’n’Tell Days 11-14: No Work and All Nyquil Make Laura Something Something

Completely forget about MnT posts? DON’T MIND IF I DO!!!

Sorry about that…I did do some making every day, both on the sunset scarf and the Projects That Must Not Be Named. I’m actually a little disappointed in the scarf…I had planned/hoped for it to be a wrap, but underestimated the width I needed. So now it’s a scarf, which will probably be joined into a cowl. So we’ll see how that goes.

Oh! Speaking of cowls, as you can see in the picture I also started another All Seasons Cowl (will add link later, I promise). I can only do a few rows at a time because of the giant (size 50!) needles. But the stitches are so big it should still be a pretty fast project. I’m using this great Fettuccini that’s hot pink and kind of shaggy, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to make me feel like a rock star when I wear it.

I think the lack of variety in my projects is making this MnT less exciting for me than I’d hoped, so I’m going to mix it up a bit and impose an additional rule: at least three posts per week must be non-knitting OR brand new knitting projects. On that note, I’m off to the Pinterest boards!

Make’n’Tell Day 8: Clay Day

I saw this pin a while back for making clay with cornstarch and dishsoap, and I actually meant to make it for the  kids on one of our many snow days, but kept forgetting. Today Becky was looking for something artsy to do, so I decided to throw this together for her.

The artist at work

Ours didn’t ever get ropy like the picture, but was more the consistency of paper clay. I think she found it a little frustrating to work with but it held her attention for  20 or 30 minutes, and I think it was also a good introduction to impermanent art. See, Becky’s a lot like I am, and channels her creativity into making “things”. Making something useless or impermanent is almost anathema to us. So I think that sometimes pushing ourselves into doing that — even though it’s frustrating — is a good thing.

Make’n’Tell Day 7: Do You Fondue? I Fondue You!

Last night, Becky and I were on our own, as Zack and Kit were off to Zacky’s karate school awards banquet. The banquet’s big draw was a chocolate fountain, so I told Becky we would do chocolate fondue at home.

We used dark chocolate for the fondue (because that’s what we had on hand, because that’s what we usually eat), and Becky didn’t care for it, but has agreed to try it again with milk chocolate. She’s such a trooper, that one. She *did* try something entirely new for her, pound cake, which she quite liked (because, duh). Since she tries something new approximately once every 2.5 years, I’m calling it a win. Other dippers we had were marshmallows, animal crackers, toffee cookies, pretzels, and pop chips. My favorites were the marshmallows and animal crackers. I do not recommend the pop chips.

Make’n’Tell Day 6: Nothing to See Here

No, I didn’t make those. But remember I said there were a bunch of things I was working on that I can’t show you? Yesterday was one of those days. But, these leggings give hints to the color scheme of the deliciousness I’m currently working on…hopefully I’ll be able to show you soon.

On another note, Creativity Challenge Day 3 was “recharge your space”. Since my studio is still under construction, I sat down with a quickie design program (Floor Plan Creator) and tried out a few different configurations. Unfortunately, most of my furniture is in storage so I’m guesstimating sizes, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what will be going where. If only the weather would cooperate so we can get the walls painted and the floor put in! I’m super excited about getting into my own space and having lots of organization and work spaces. Day 4 is “Create Something Awesome” so I’m off to do that now.

Make’n’Tell Day 3: Oh, the Things I Will Make!

Remember back in January I said I was doing this Creativity Challenge thing, and then I never said anything else about it? Well, I kept putting it off and putting it off and then it just didn’t get done. But I didn’t forget about it, and I did/do really want to do it, so I decided to go ahead and finish it up now. I had done Day 1, choosing my one word theme for the year: Make. As in, stop just thinking about it and make it!

So yesterday, I did Day 2: my Creative Dream List. A list of all the things I want to create this year. I stuck to the concrete, mostly, but I wrote down everything I could think of from very broad categories to very specific projects.

When my studio is done, this is going up on the wall. And there’s plenty of room to add more! Doing this exercise got me so excited about the coming year…I think this very well might become a yearly exercise for me.