Knot Sew Crafty

My Intrepid Entrepreneurs

First lemonade stand of the Summer.  

Entirely homemade, as my lemony, sticky kitchen will attest.  

So far, they've sold a cup to Oma and a cup to me.  

They are very hopeful that there will be a big rush of dogwalkers soon.

I hope they beat those dark clouds on the horizon...

40 Before 41--Checking In

I am turning 41 in twelve days, so I thought I should check out how I'm doing on my 40 Before 41 list. Out of the forty things, I can say that I did three of them:  I learned to do a granny square consistently, I taught myself the most basic of knitting techniques, and I convinced Auntie J to start a blog (which is really only half of #32--Hint, hint to Khaite!)

I'm going to try to get some of these things done before my birthday, because 3 out of 40 is just pathetic!  What on earth have I been doing with my time?  I mean aside from laundry, making school lunches, vacuuming, weeding, chauffeuring kids around, doing errands, and watching American Idol?

After my birthday, I'll make a list of 41 Before 42, and number one on the list will be to finish the darn list!

This is my original post from last October:

I saw this at doobleh-vay and Simple Lovely and I thought it would be a good idea for me to write down some goals I have for the next eight months or so. Here is my list of 40 things to do before I turn 41: 

1. Walk five days a week. No excuses. (Unless it's raining or my toe hurts or it's too darn cold.) 

2. Master the Granny Square, beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

3. Learn to knit. (Get over embarrassment at my ineptitude and ask Amy for help!) 

4. Make freezer paper stencils. 

5. Make my first quilt. 

6. See if I can set up a compost situation in our backyard that is not smelly or gross. 

7. YOGA! 

8. Learn basic Spanish. 

9. Be a better correspondent. 

10. Strive to be more like Pip. 

11. Socialize more. (And commenting on blogs doesn't count!) 

12. Don't eat fake food. 

13. Go to a doctor about my wrist. 

14. Do not visit Amazon.com. Just say no! 

15. Learn the Hebrew Alphabet. 

16. Keep the blackboard in the kitchen orderly. 

17. Set up a designated craft area. 

18. Learn to take better photographs. (Maybe hire Maya to be my tutor? I will pay her in cookies...) 

19. Learn Photoshop and Illustrator. 

20. Get rid of books that are over five years old that I haven't looked at yet, or have looked at and didn't particularly care for. 

21. Write thank you letters. 

22. Read biographies of Winston Churchill. 

23. Eat at the new Mario Batali restaurant in Port Chester. 

24. Eat more vegan meals (--although, probably not at the Mario Batali restaurant.) 

25. Bake an impressive birthday cake for Willa's birthday. (Bea and India can have nice cakes, too, but I'll be 41 by then.) 

26. Make a fabric bunting. 

27. Make a mix of slow songs as a lullaby CD for the kids. 

28. Homeschool showtunes! 

29. Frame all the pictures that are waiting around to be framed. 

30. Make my inspiration board more inspiring. 

31. Leave more interesting comments on the blogs I read. 

32. Convince Auntie J and Kate to start blogs for my amusement and edification. 

33. Embrace my inner hippie. (She's in there and she needs a hug.) 

34. Drink a large glass of water every morning. 

35. Read "Buddhism for Mothers" and "Blessings of the Skinned Knee" as often as necessary and try to live by them. 

36. Organize the attic. (That might take until I'm 45.) 

37. Travel with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. 

38. Go to a retreat at the Omega Institute. 

39. Write longer and more involved posts. 

40. Do all of the above, and remain relaxed. Perhaps take up drinking?

Venn Circus

Venn Circus

Ladies and Gentlemen of the blogosphere, please give a warm welcome to Auntie J!  After months and months of my relentless hounding, my sister Julia has started a blog!  It is called Venn Circus, and it's crafty, and arty, and fashiony, and designy, and funny too.

I'd be much obliged if you'd pop over and perhaps offer her some encouragement.  

Dilemma

What do you do when there's a magazine out there that you're pretty sure would change your life in all sorts of positive ways, but it costs 25 Euros and you're worried about paying your mortgage and you have three children to send to college?

Sometimes, it's so annoying to have to be a responsible adult!

Happy Unofficial Start of Summer!

(if you share my hemisphere!)

It's a bubble-blowing kind of day around here.  

I hope it's just as lovely where you are and that you have a fun-filled weekend!

Glee

I'm not sure if I've ever discussed my total musical-theater geekiness here before, but yes, I'm afraid it's true.  

--I listen to show tunes in my car and sing along loudly.

--I know every word to every song of A Chorus Line.

--On a freezing February night, I waited for two hours outside the stage door for Nathan Lane's autograph. 

--If I still had a school locker, I would put up a picture of Brian Stokes Mitchell.  And CMR, of course.  And CMR's picture would be way bigger.   

--I can't wait for the Tony Award ceremony--which will be hosted by the delightful Neil Patrick Harris!! 

--I would see a musical several times a week, if had the time and the money.  

--I even have a fondness for bad musicals!

You will not be surprised then, when I tell you of my newest love:  Glee. 

You can watch it here, to fully experience the musical glory and splendor, or you can watch the trailer below, for a tiny taste of heaven.

I hope that those of you in other countries are able to see it too!  

Stamping Up a Storm

I don't know if I would count my stamping of three Moleskine notebooks with rubber stamps that I got from Karaku Style and Terbear Collectibles as "crafting," but I really had a lot of fun doing it and I like how they turned out.  I do think that there can be artistry in rubber stamping, even if you don't create the stamps yourself, but I'm not quite there.  I am going to try to make my own stamps soon--inspired by Lotta Jansdotter, Lena Corwin, and looking forward to Amy Karol--and then I will be stamping every surface that I can get my hands on. CMR, you might want to hide the inkpads now!

I also quite like the stamps at The Mayberry Sparrow and Craft Pudding, and am desperately trying to keep myself from buying any.  We're basically in a no-spend year, which I'll talk about more in a future post, but I'm feeling very wanty lately:

--Craving the entire Toast catalog.

--Still pining for a Bertoia.

--desiring a Yudu.

--Longing to eat here.

--And here.

--Wanting almost everything I see on Etsy.

I'm going to go weed the garden now, until the wanties go away...  Sniffle, sniffle...

Rock On, PS22!

I just spent the better part of an hour on YouTube watching a children's choir sing pop songs, and I don't regret one minute of it.

(as seen on Feministing)

I'm Not Above...

...posting goofy posed pictures that made me laugh!

I've been seeing these on some lovely blogs today (swiss miss, a cup of jo, the Claw) and I couldn't resist posting just a few of the brilliant pictures from Awkward Family Photos:

Kids, Don't Try This At Home!

Grandma Jen sent this to me this morning:

This is quite amazing. Open the link, turn up the sound and hang on. If you can, watch it full screen.
                                                                      
On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris early in the morning. The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. No streets were closed; Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit. The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running red lights, nearly hitting pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up one-way streets. Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground. If you haven't seen this before it is a classic.