stevenson

Celebrations and Mothers Day relaxation

| poppypeach

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Last week marked the 20th anniversary of our beloved school Stevenson PACT Elementary School – it was such a fun filled event full of entertainment, dessert, food trucks, art – a mosaic, and what the kids loved most of all was balloon swords. It was hilarious to see all the kids out on the field sword fighting with balloon swords, and everyone was having such a grand old time doing it!

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The alumni enjoyed seeing their friends who were at other schools and had an excellent time playing, and the adults of the community enjoyed catching up on life.

The school was decorated with some very thoughtful ideas like this tree full of favourite memories and the watercolour flowers made by the kids.

At the end of this week, we say farewell to the beloved spiderweb that I am climbing – it will be removed over the summer to place the new temporary school buildings in its place. It is such a fun play structure, and apparently, the new play structure is nature inspired so we will see how that compares to this super cool spiderweb.

In quiet times when not studying or driving the kids around I sit and knit and made a couple of pussyhats this week for one of our teachers – this is my son’s 1st-grade teacher who wanted a hat for herself and for her daughter. We saw each other at the Women’s March, and I suggested I knit a hat for her in the beautiful Malabrigo Rasta.

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Saturday was a busy day with a yoga class and helping my friend out with a knitting party in the afternoon. So Sunday I really had to get into gear with my last 2 assessments for this teaching period and get on track and now after devoting a few hours of my mothers day to study I feel I can get through it all! Mother’s day was lovely with the kids making a beautiful spread of pancakes, kombucha and a cup of tea complete with flowers freshly picked from the neighbourhood. I said to Ash to come on a bike ride with me as I wanted to take him out for some exercise and we rode a nice 10 miles (16 km) out on the bay. The head wind was not very enjoyable, but it was so lovely to get out and about on such a beautiful day!

And there is my beloved bike on the trail with no one around, we found some binoculars and spotted a pelican – next time we will take our bird watching binoculars!

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NaBloPoMo – Day 20 – Getting ready for another show!

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Tomorrow marks another fundraiser at our elementary school – so come on by & shop local! I have a bunch of tote bags made from upcycled fabric, hair clips for the girls and infinity scarves that all make super gifts. I have also been making gift bags out of wallpaper so these items will be all ready to gift!

Here is a project I have been working on – big dramatic bows made from silk samples & they are stunning and super easy to make (well once you have done all the sewing!) I am sure they will be perfect for any holiday party and add a touch of whimsy to your holiday outfit.

Big silk bows with alligator clips on the back 

NoBloPoMo – Day 7 – Arts for all kiddos!

| poppypeach
We had our second class of our Arts Focus program today at our kids school. We have a 6 week arts program with classes that include textiles – sewing, textiles – weaving and dyeing, material exploration, ceramics, paper, animation, photography, 3D, drawing and painting, global beat, performing arts and printmaking. I am helping out the Arts Focus – textiles, sewing class and it is so much fun working with the kids and their little projects – today we are working on a group quilt project and each child gets their own little squares to piece together. Here is some of the action…

Sewing away at a quilt square!

A holiday boutique today!

| poppypeach

Anyone in the South Bay, CA come on by to my sons school holiday boutique from 12pm to 6pm today at 750-B San Pierre Way Mountain View. Pick up a card at the boutique for a special deal at my etsy store! I am out of town though my items are there with a fellow creator of wooden pieces that are just gorgeous.

20% of proceeds go to the school for arts, music & other programs, yay!

The pic is a bag that is on sale at the boutique pick it up for all your Xmas goodies.

Come on down for some gifts for ya pals!

| poppypeach

Hello folks, just a message from Mr Ash to say come on over to my school with your list of holiday gifts for this years Holiday Boutique, – 10% of sales goes back to my school! My mum has a stall there selling accessories, decorations, shrugs and scarves – crafted out of yarn and upcycled materials. Here is a sample of a bracelet, it looks cool with my dragonfly tattoo! Here is the address for Stevenson PACT so come on by on Thursday November 17th 2011 from 12:30pm to 6:00pm for some great holiday specials.

Busy as a bee – the preXmas posting

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Alice bands with FabMo Yo Yos – yarn wrapped series 1

Alice bands with FabMo Yo Yos – yarn wrapped series 2

Alice bands black with FabMo Yo Yos

Alice bands with buttons and bling – yarn wrapped series 3

Yarn wrapped bracelets – yarn from Yarnia in Portland

Detail of the bracelets – vivid colours!

Upcycled Corian sample magnets – ready for the boutique

Eco Deco for your tree 

Upcycled laminex samples for decorating and such

Ash making sure that the tree is not for sale!

As there is a Holiday Boutique this week at my sons school I’ve been collecting my stock and adding some new upcycled materials from an amazing source right here in MV – FabMo. The selection of fabric is amazing but the thing is, what do I do with it? As I do not have a sewing machine at the moment (working on that one, one day I hope to source one!) So Yo Yo’s came to mind as I had some colourful silks that were really wanting to be used. As my daugther’s hair is always in her face I thought some Alice Bands might be a nice addition to the collection. I’ve been teaching sewing to the kids at school so with that inspiration I decided to try some hand sewing 🙂

The bracelets are from yarn I sourced when I was in Portland – a shop called Yarnia a DIY yarn store. I bought many cones of yarn when I was there and since they have been used for scarves, shrugs and now bracelets. As I had a theme of upcycled materials I decided to use them in this collection. The yarn at Yarnia is mill ends which the store then blends together for custom cones or readymade with the help of the staff. What a wonderful idea for yarn that would just end up in landfill.

The square Corian magnets are also from FabMo – again a bunch of samples that I’ve glued pictures to and then varnished. Lovely to add to the fridge for a bit of nature in the kitchen.

The Eco Deco’s for the tree are from FabMo and made from Laminex samples – I decided that I enjoy nature so why not hang it on my tree – hey they can be hung where ever you please! Still another great way to use materials that would just end up in landfill.

They will be up for sale this week at the Holiday Boutique on Thursday 17 November from 12:30 to 6pm at Stevenson PACT Elementary in Mountain View.