Happy St. Pat's Day!!!! Abigail was a SUPER leprechaun!

Jeffrey and I had been throwing the idea around about going to the big St. Pat's parade this year. I'm usually not off if it's during the week, but spring break gave me the option to go. The forecast was beautiful, and we knew Abby would love a parade. So in true Amy fashion, we made the decision late last night to actually do it, and at midnight I had a brainstorm. We needed shamrock capes! Three hours later I've got a cape and mask for Abigail, and an extra set for her to share with her friends.

Even superheroes need a lift sometimes.

Watching the parade and protecting the citizens of Shamrock City.

No, Alex is not picking her nose. She's adjusting her mask.

She was super excited to see it this morning and wore it from the time we left the house at 11am to around 6pm when we were eating dinner with Nana and Papa Jim. The house that we watched the parade at was absolutely PERFECT. It was on the parade route, fenced in, and had a climber for the kids to play on. No 'keeping super-leprechaun on a short leash so she doesn't get squashed by people' for this mommy! She had a blast playing with all of the other kids (I brought extra masks, too, so they could all be supers). Olivia had her first crawling through the grass experience; no sensory issues for that little one! She went everywhere, and even climbed up the little slide over and over and over again. It was a great and exhausting day, and I'm very excited about the possibility of crawling into bed very soon.

The privacy fence was just in front of the climber, so the kids could still see the parade when they were up there. Just to the left in the pic is a chain link fence.

Olivia is becoming quite the 'super' herself.

Missy & Abby holding hands after the parade

Local Artists Shout Out

Wow! Two posts in two days?! Am I crazy, or do I just have work piling up on my table that I'm putting off? Actually, it's neither. Just wanted to give a shout out to some local artists getting ready to open up a new shop on main street in old town, St. Charles...Just down the road from us, and in a REALLY good location to get a lot of shopping traffic.

I Am What I Am on Main Street is a local artisan handmade marketplace where you'll find one of a kind and completely unique items handcrafted by local artists including clothing, jewelry, accessories, gifts, sculptures, and so much more.

Pocket Full of Poseys Handmade hair accessories, bags and hats. A lot of really cute stuff for your daughter or girlfriend.
Kaylee Bug Design Really wonderful design work from logos to business cards and brochures. It looks like she does both custom work, as well as pre-made, stock designs.
I Am What I Am really cool and cute jewelry and buttons with stamped sayings. My daughter has been eyeing them at the Fusion shop lately.
Bliss Eleven portrait, senior, kids, wedding and commercial photography. I really like the high key color in the children's portraits, it gave the pictures the feel of a crisp spring day after a rain.
Posh Principessa Super cute clothes and accessories for little girls. I noticed that there is also a boys section, but since I have two daughters I didn't really look too hard at it.

In the spirit of full disclosure, they're also running a facebook fan page contest, which seems like a great way to get more people looking at their stuff, which is all beautiful. So go check it out!

Until next time, take care and be good!
Handmade Family

Handmade Family: Daily Life

Hey everybody! I'm kicking off a new project that's going to cross over between here and my Red Herring Illustration blog. This is a double post, but I promise not to make it a habit. I like the idea of keeping mostly photos of what we've made, and us using them here, and illustrations and drawings mostly over there.

We've had super heroes on the brain here lately...Last week, Handmade Family set up our space in the Fusion Art Co-op in the mall (you can check out the post here). Amy's making capes, and has started finishing up the hero costumes with masks and cuffs to go along with them. Abby is super-cute. She tried on the mask for the first time last night, and was running around in her jammies, pointing up and declaring, "To the rescue!!!". It's funny watching her costume combinations, too. This afternoon, she'd added a Halloween pumpkin lantern, and tonite when we were getting ready for bed, she said she need super-hero pajamas...NOT, her dog pajamas. Okay, Superman it is. Ha-ha-ha!

So, where am I going with this? My plan is to do a cross-over between here and the Red Herring Illustration blog, with illustrations and photos and downloadable goodies that will be available on my website, chronicling our daily, handmade lives. Activities, books and movies, snack-time and of course Daily Life illustrations and comics. All of this will be compiled into a small, themed book. If all goes as planned (and to be honest, I'm nervous about that part), then I will be able to release my little 'zine every two months. The theme for issue one is Super-Heroes, and I hope that you all will join me for a little fun.

That's it for now. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Handmade Family at Fusion

Big news for the beginning of March! A couple of weeks ago, we applied to be vendors at Fusion, an artist co-op whose main purpose is to offer a unique blend of art, crafts, local music, and classes to the St. Louis area. Located on the second floor of Chesterfield Mall, by Sears, the location is awesome, and we're so excited about the opportunity!


The last couple of weeks have been SUPER busy. Between, deciding on our mission and settling some branding issues, getting all our signs and graphics together, and then finding displays that both fit our image of who we are but also would fit in with the artists already in the shop... it's surprising that we had time for anything else. We went in last night to set up our display space, and get our contract and orientation taken care of...

Amy did a great job of getting plenty of product together to fill the shelves. Bean-bag games, baby blankets, neck wraps and key chains. Not to mention the super hero capes! On top of that, I brought in some paintings and prints to round out our selection. Not too shabby of a start! Our business cards came in today, and I have some more artwork to add, so we'll definitely be back in the next couple of days. We'll also be working four days a month, so come on down to see us!

And finally, our little family keeps growing up before our eyes. I remember when Abby was just a little baby, and now she's so big and reading to her baby sister...I tell you what, the days just fly by.

Bunk Bed Curtains. How cool is that?

When Abigail got her big girl bed two Christmases ago, I went ahead and made up the top bunk.  Don't ask me why.  It's not like we were going to have any sleepovers anytime soon.  Or even that we let her see that anyone could even get up there.  But I did, and over the course of a few months the sheet slowly slid off the edge of the top bunk.  It gradually got lower and lower until she started requesting it be pulled down for nigh-night time.  I don't blame her!  How cool is that to have your own little fort?  So we went on like this for I don't know how long.  Every night and nap time pulling it down then flipping it back up when she awoke.  Occasionally a corner would fall off completely and we would have to fix it (the stuffed animals that live on the top bunk came in particularly handy for this).  Eventually Jeffrey got sick of how trashy it looked and asked me to make a curtain for it.  So we pondered and figured and bought fabric.  Then about a month later I finally got around to it (if for no other reason than to get Jeffrey off my back).  Abigail could move the curtain without any assistance from us, and it had cool ladybugs on one side and elephants on the other...she was in heaven.  It also helps keep her sleeping area a bit darker for nap and mornings.

Originally I made it one long curtain and imagined it being able to be pushed completely to one side.  I failed, however, to take into account that when Jeffrey put up the rod that there would be a support in the middle.  So after a few months of just pulling the curtains to the middle, I finally took them down and made them two separate pieces.  I also top-stitched around the edges to give it a bit more of a finished look and put more loopholes for hanging.  It is so much nicer to be able to part the curtains to either side and actually get to her bed.

If you are interested in having a custom set made for your youngster's bunk bed let me know!   I'm kind of itching to do a frilly pink one (but certainly not for Abby).

Paper Dolls

Toys, toys, toys... I was thinking the other day that our lives have revolved around kids and making sure that there were plenty of (quality) toys to play with for a long time. I think the house will seem just a little bit empty when the girls outgrow their toys. Of course, we have a few friends who are young enough that don't have kids yet, and a few friends with kids that are old enough, that a new batch of kids will be along to play before too long.

I try to make time regularly to sit and draw, cut paper, paint or glue stuff with Abby. Sometimes it goes really well, and sometimes...well, lets just say that a nearly two-year-old, and a nearly one-year-old don't always mix well with arts and crafts time. At any rate, these sessions often evolve into something more than I intended, depending on Abby's interest in what I'm doing, and she was very interested in the drawings that she named "mommy and daddy", so we cut them out and mounted them on sticks.

The imaginative play that comes out of simple things like this is incredible.
On a more recent trip into cut paper puppet land, I got a little more involved, and actually used scrap-booking paper to make some pretty rad clothes for him. This one was a little wider, so that makes him a little more unwieldy, but I actually had popsicle sticks this time, instead of bamboo skewers like I've used in the past. On another note, I think the last ones were a little more successful because the pose was a bit more neutral.
We have fun making stuff together, and it's always great to see her sitting in the sun at the table, working busily on whatever.

Finally, a little bonus picture...It's funny to me that the one picture I took that day where I wasn't trying to get her to look at me Abby decides to be herself, and photo-bomb her sister.
Until next time...Take care and be good!

...Homemade Family?

I've been having these tiny heart-attacks the last week every time I type or post a url for Handmade Family. I think to myself, "have I been posting it as Homemade Family?". It might not seem like a big deal...I mean, who doesn't like to eat homemade cookies, or to receive a card that was made by their grandchildren? These things are wonderful and I don't want to refute that, but there IS an important distinction that has to be made between "Homemade" and "Handmade", and that is what I would like to talk a little bit about today.

"Homemade" means that something was made in the home, and not by some giant, faceless, multinational company. Usually it's personal and made with love, but that does not mean that there is necessarily any quality control. Valentines day is coming up soon, so this morning Abby (our nearly three-year-old daughter) and I made cards for her grandparents and godparents. I am sure that they will love them. That being said, it's hard to write straight letters or cut straight lines when there is a little girl working around and underneath you. On top of that, her design choices are often...suspect.

On the other hand is the word "Handmade". This also implies that something was not made by some giant, faceless, multinational company. Often it is made in the home and is personal and made with love. But to say that something is handmade is also to imply a level of quality and care in the craftsmanship that machines and factories can not afford to us. One other quality that handmade items have to offer is individuality. There are always differences that reflect the individual crafts-persons mood and temperament as well as what they feel is right for a particular piece. It's this individuality that some would call the "soul" of an object.

So, here's the question: How can we tell if something could or should be called "handmade" or merely "homemade". My take on it is that we all need to be honest with ourselves as artisans and craftspeople. We'll nearly always be proud of the things that we spend the time to make, and the folks we show it to may even feed into that by letting us know how much they like it too. It's important to note that there is a difference between liking something that your friend made, and being willing to pay money for it. So, that's my rule of thumb. If I honestly wouldn't pay money for it, it shouldn't go in the shop.

Pictured here is the prototype version of my handmade play town and people. When you're considering making a new product, it's always important to design and make a couple first as homemade gifts so that you can see what sorts of stumbling blocks you may meet, how long it takes to make, and whether people actually like it. We still have a little bit of testing to do on this one, but I think it is a good idea, and possible to make it and still be able to feed the kids, so I'm very excited about the play village.

Our mission is about play and comfort, family and imagination, but it is also about quality. The kind of quality and attention to detail that you can only get from handmade.