kro designs

There are points in time I wish I could capture with pictures.  They fade before I realize their passing and life has changed in a second.  I've decided to dedicate every Friday post to one, still, quiet moment from where I sit. 

I love the Mail-woman. She always has treats for the dogs and she brings my Amazon packages to the door.  The only time I don't like her is when she rings the doorbell. Along with the UPS guy and my kids who like to pretend they are Jimmy Johns delivery guys. Doorbells aren't supposed to wake up newborn babies 'cause they sleep a lot. All newborns EXCEPT my Luke.  He's a cat napper during the day and is so tired by night only wakes up once.  I shouldn't complain about the night feedings but trying to get anything productive done in the span of 35 min before he wakes up again is silly. So to ward off the door knockers and ringers I came up with a little project. I typed my message on Word with the font I liked.  Printed it out and taped it to my light box. I used a water soluble pen to trace the letters. And I started stitching.... Here is the finished product.. A door hanger. I got these command strip hangers on sale just in case...

  When I teach, especially kids , I have two main goals:   Is this project relate-able? Can there be an application for the skills I teach in life? Like sewing on a button, for instance. Can this the students feel confident enough that by the end of our time together, they repeat this project or be inspired to create something similar? One fiber class I've come up with that I like to present to early elementary kids is "Inspired by Illustrators".  Reading is such important skill to learn and be excited about when kids are young.  One way to engage then with this process is illustrations.  I've translated several well known books and their illustrations into projects centered around my passion, fiber arts. An author/illustrators who is very talented and recognizable is Eric Carle. Basically, he paints paper and then collages those pieces together to create his illustrations.  For my application, we read one of his...

Next Monday marks my 200 blog post (and it's ironically my birthday). As a present to you, I've got something special in mind and I wanted to give you a heads up because I like you guys...cause you like me! (I hope) Here is a hint. Any guesses? If you're right, you get an extra entry. Just leave a comment.  If you're reading this on Facebook Click Here .  The only person not allowed is my favorite Bibelot friend... you know who you are...since I spoiled it for her, plus she already owns them. Friends and family are included because...well.. nobody else reads my blog anyway!

Last Week the Textile Center had its annual Garage Sale.  I got a $10 gift certificate by doing this. Imagine if you will tables of fabric, boxes of patterns and an unbelievable amount of people.  Because of Baseball I wasn't able to go on Saturday so I decided to pay my $25 for the early bird shopping on Friday. Boy did it pay off! Here are some of my finds! Zipper heaven! Patterns Galore! Natural colored seam binding! Hams Too! yeah me!

There are points in time I wish I could capture with pictures.  They fade before I realize their passing and life has changed in a second.  I've decided to dedicate every Friday post to one, still, quiet moment from where I sit. 

Along with being a Food Snob and a Princess, I've now declared myself a Penophile.  That's right, a PENophile . And it's all Hubby's fault. I was writing in Luke's baby book with my trusty fine tip Sharpie. And it bled through the paper... I hate when it does that. I complained (of course) to my hubby who is more of a PENophile than I, says "Here, try this."   The pearly gates opened up and I found the new love of my life.  I love how fine the tip is and how smooooooooth they write!   I've been using them to write thank yous, grocery lists and IRS checks. Then possibilities are endless! They come in blue and red too!    Is it bad to brainwashing the next one too!

Oede11 asked last week when he came home at 2:20 from school, "Mom did you have a pajama day today?" Intentionally...NO! But some days are like that. You eat lunch holding a child or you feel guilty when you have to put him down just to go to the bathroom and he screams the whole time. With that said, I was so excited today... I got in a shower first thing in the morning due to an unexpected nap! After a "long" shower where I actually had time to shave my legs, I felt totally refreshed when Mr. Man woke up. After feeding him, I neglected to put the burp cloth I was using on my shoulder to burp. OOops... He launched a luggie "over" my shoulder and it landed on the floor.   Showers are overrated!

Oede8 made this bracelet for me at church and I wanted to share it with you. Each bead represents a part of His life and death. Please remember it's Holy Week.   Palm Sunday, Last Supper, The Garden, Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection. He did it for us!

I was commissioned by the Prior Lake Library to teach some teens fiber dying techniques and create  two fiber art pieces for their teen area's walls. After 3 weeks of dying fabric we got to work creating this and other piece. I'm pretty proud of it.

There are points in time I wish I could capture with pictures.  They fade before I realize their passing and life has changed in a second.  I've decided to dedicate every Friday post to one, still, quiet moment from where I sit. 

I entered a piece into an Exhibit for the Textile Center called Watershed.  It didn't get in, but I wanted to show it to you anyway. 3 years ago Oede8 was diagnosed with a rare form of brain seizures called Landau-Kleffner.  Only 300 kids in the world have been diagnosed with this syndrome a handful of them living in MN. Beginning in November of 2007 we noticed some behavioral and speech issues pop up with him. By February he was 95% non-verbal and the only communication we could have was by white board. His brain could not send or receive verbal messages which means he couldn't process what I would say and intern he couldn't put together the words to speak. What does this have to do with an art quilt? The entry asked for your watershed moment, a moment that you had an epiphany, and a piece that exemplifies that moment. I remember exactly what and when it was.  After a very long day of trying to communicate with him with not much success, I turned to writing. Here...

I've been waiting for Luke to be big enough to wear this but I just can't wait any longer! I found this free pattern on Martha Stewart and just had to try it. This pattern was printed off at home and I didn't need to enlarge it for a larger size (yet). I could have chosen a shorter "shirt" version but I knew Mr. Man would need a little warmth.  Which is why I chose this green flannel too. Honestly, it was leftover from this project .  But I'm glad I had it. Who knows where I got this double fold bias tape from. Could be from Great-Grandma's sewing box, could be from the Thrift store but all I know was it was a Godsend. They had me gerryrigging my own...are you kidding me?  I'm using the premade stuff.  I only wish I had a narrower version. My disclaimer:  Sorry "Martha" but the directions were poorly written and the pattern was not complete (no markings for the ties). Don't try this if you are a beginning sewer.  You wil...

5 years ago if you would have said that I'd have a baby again... 4 days until baseball starts for our eldest. 3 children have made me so happy. 2 minutes ago I had poop on my hands. 1 month ago a special baby was born.  I can't imagine life without him.

The 'plain jane' diapers that I use for burb rags were...well...plain. There's no reason I can't jazz things up a bit. Some of you asked about the burp rag in this picture , so I decided to expand on this a little bit.  So although I could make a tutorial there really is no hard rules to this.  Taking plain ribbon from the craft store I just cut a length of ribbon a little bit longer than the diaper and sewed it on either side turning the raw ends under. I placed it off center because if I put it down the middle, it looked like a road. The only special trick is to wash the diapers first to shrink them before putting the ribbon on.   I deceided to use sports themed ribbon (shocking, I know) but feel free to use whatever type and width of ribbon you want.  This makes a great personalized baby gift! ~and it's easy!~

There are points in time I wish I could capture with pictures.  They fade before I realize their passing and life has changed in a second.  I've decided to dedicate every Friday post to one, still, quiet moment from where I sit. 

Any 8 year old boy who is deeply religious about his Lego Bricks will tell you that any opportunity to get to a Lego store is like visiting the pearly gates. I'm not sure that my Oede8 would use those exact words but the meaning is quite the same. People take vacations to come to the Mall of America for shopping trips. Me, I live 15 minutes from it and I avoid it like an OB appointment.  Why?? (that's a whole 'nother post in and of itself) I will have to say, the Lego store is better laid out after the remodel. The wall behind the cash registers.  Oede8 says "how do they get all the way up there to get the Legos?" He's very practical. The Lego Structures on top of the store.   Loved the clean modern lines. The shelves where perfectly displayed. Why is he always missing the cool stuff?  His first stroller ride. Thanks Lauren W. for the borrow!  BTW, I'm teaching a Lego Arts kids camp this summer.  It's full right now but you can get ...

Oede11 (our eldest) was 4 weeks old when we took him to the Hormel Classic, a Tournament with the Minnesota Gophers Baseball team. We with every subsequent child we like to get them to their first baseball game before it's even close to being seasonably warm. Saturday was no exeception. We managed to get 7 people out the door for an afternoon game at Target Field.   Grandma and Grandpa from Wyoming were in town to meet Luke. It was fairly cold by the middle of the game so I snagged some hot chocolate for everyone. I didn't even notice the Caribou Coffee cup I was holding until it was almost done. I've never read thier cups before, cause I'm usually driving, so this one took me by surprise. It seems very appropriate to the situation not just baseball. "Get your uniform dirty" (After 3 hrs and no boob pump, I was leaking like a rusty bucket)   "Don't fear the kiss cam" (I'm fearing the 6 week check up and what happens after that :)...