Craft-o-licious

I have been crafting. There are some theories out there about how having a baby unleases a fury of creativity (it did for me). I get such a deep satisfaction out of creating. Maybe this is one reason why I love to cook? (speed-dial epicurious and chowhound ... and read Bon Apetit like it was (food) pornography.) The mouse above is from Ottobre (love love love Ottobre!). He ended up as a gift for our young friend Ronia. I hope he gets loved.

I made this child's purse also from Ottobre's free pattern page, using some left-over fake leather from Francis' pirate costume (that he refused to wear for Hallowe'en, wanting to be a lion (again) instead. Oh well, the lion costume was warmer, and there is always next year). The purse will get gifted for a birthday. (Tons of birthdays coming up!)

I made the Super-hero/pirate/knight cape for an upcoming birthday for our friend Diego. Sadly, dress-up is not a big part of Francis' imaginative play.

I am hoping to also finish this knight's shield/crest for Diego's birthday. I found a great piece of red felt in the remanent bin at Fabricland. (Sadly, Fabricland is Calgary's primary fabric store).

Speaking of Ottobre, I found some great Ottobre-like fabric at FabricHound. Lots of girly stuff for our Stella-bear since Francis is waaaaay too fussy to wear anything other than the "uniform" (Thomas t-shirt and jeans). I've been going crazy buying fabric and filling up giant Rubbermaid containers with the stuff, and I have to stop and actually finish some projects. We don't have room for all this fabric, (oh, nasty nasty fabric.com!) and my stash is getting too big for disorganized me to manage.

I want to make more gifts because all the plastic crap that passes for children's toys really annoy me. There was a wonderful article in the Globe & Mail today about "The Compact" -- which is basically "Buy Nothing Day" extended. I find this hugely inspiring. We buy way too much stuff. We own way too much stuff. It is too easy to pick up that new lipstick (I need it! I want it! I saw an advert for it in my latest magazine!) when waiting for the prescription at the drugstore. We Craigslist and Freecycle and consign (mostly buy), but increasingly it is clear to me that the key is just not to set foot in the store in the first place. Luckily (?) , having two kids under the age of 5 makes shopping (for anything, really) a lot less fun. I really like the lend concept -- the borrowing of maternity clothes was a godsend for my first pregnancy (thanks Denise!) and Charlotte's loan of Amelia out-grown clothes stash and accessories has saved us literally $100s. (Oh boy, Charlotte, how can we ever repay the favor?)

Anyway, I digress. This post was all about crafting. Can you tell that I was hugely crafty as child? Scotch-tape creations were my specialty.