I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past couple of days, so I’ve been taking it easy.  Reading, sleeping, more reading, more sleeping and a bit of sorting. 

I am taking the international board exam to become a lactation consultant (IBCLC) this summer.  I already am a breastfeeding counselor, but this is the big one and the testing is done only once a year.  That big fat breastfeeding text is what I’ve been reading most.  It consists of maternal and child anatomy, physiology, nutrition,  pharmacology,  development, psychology, social and cultural aspects involved with breastfeeding. It’s intense.  So when my eyes start crossing, I reach for one of the other books/magazine for a break and some lighter reading.

I especially have been enjoying Soulemama’s new book, Creative Family.  It encompasses so many thoughtful, creative ideas about practicing mindful parenting.  It’s written in Amanda’s usual kind, gentle and calm voice. It is truly inspiring, getting me to think a bit differently about things.  So much of it, I totally get.  It makes perfect sense to me. I keep saying to myself, “Yes!Yes! How did she know? This is what I want for my children!”  I highly recommend it.

In regards to the Notecard Swap I am hosting, I have to apologize for the delay in getting notecards back to everyone.  There were a few stragglers and a few people had post problems.  I have received all but 2 sets, but am sorting and sending out this weekend, regardless.

The notecards that have come in are quite beautiful.  Click HERE to see a slide show of all the notecards that were made for this swap.  I want to thank all of you who have participated. It has truly been a joy opening packages and seeing these amazing cards first hand.  You guys are awesome!!!

Books are very important in this family. We collect them, love them, (sell them) and take very special care of them. There is no mistreating of books of any kind allowed in this house. Oh no, no, no! No throwing, standing on, tearing of pages, no water anywhere near and definitely NO dog ears. We’ve been ingraining this into our kids since they were babies (we are still working with I-guy on this). That is not to say that there aren’t books scattered all over the house. There is! They are, for the most part, gently used, loved and respected.

Books are informative, inspiring, magical, amazing. We love them. So they have become a huge part of the holiday gift giving in this house as well as birthday gift giving too. Needless to say, we are starting this year with a nice big stack of new books.

For the Kids (from friends, family and Santa):

Uncle Wiggly’s Story Book by Howard Garis.
The Big Book for Peace. A collective of several different poems, stories and illustrations.
Star Wars: A Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy by Michael Reinhart
The NEW Way Things Work by David Macaulay
The Way Science Works by Jayne Parsons

For the kids, but really for me:

A Kid’s Herb Book by Lesley Tierra and The Book Book by Sophie Benini Pietromarchi. I am the most in love with these two books. Both are so very well done and just simply amazing. The herb book seriously makes me want to run out and grow an herb garden. Now, I am a strong believer of the powerful medicinal properties of herbs, so this book is right up my alley. It is full of easy to understand information about all the different herbs and loads of activities and recipes for treats, drinks and common childhood ailments.

The Book Book is such a wonderful inspiration for book making. Not only does it give excellent instructions for making several kinds of books, but it has brilliant ideas for what to put in the books using everyday around-the-house objects. A wonderful resource for getting children to think creatively.

For me:

The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter
Simple Sewing with a French Twist by Celine Dupuy

I could go on and on about each and every one of these, but then this would be the longest post EVER! So I’ll just say that they are so fun to look through and get inspired by. All incredible and so beautifully done. I can’t wait to get bakin’ and makin’. Yeah Baby!

Even Daddy couldn’t resist the new translation of War & Peace even though he already has more books than he knows what to do with.

Tomorrow starts the beginning of the “Month of ME!!” where I make and share lots of things that I’ve wanted to make for myself. Yes, Me Me Me. This “me” list has been staring at me for such a looooong time. I can’t wait to get started with it.

First you must look at this little beauty. Handmade and painted special for me by my little Super-E. He made it out of salt dough. I put a few layers of varnish to protect it and then strung it with some beads so that I could wear it. It goes with everything, don’t you think? Super-E does.

Then there are these little lovelies given to me by my hubby. A very cool thrifted mushroom decanter (1970s) and a 1st edition set of the Nutshell Library, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. He is one of my favorite illustrators and this set is such a little treasure.

He also bought me all these great books. I have been wanting them for a while. They are all really great. Totally worth looking into.

Veganomicon by Moskowitz and Romero
Craft Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco
Altered Art by Teri Taylor

Lastly, two very beautifully embroidered tea towels from my mother. They go perfectly with my kitchen but they are almost too pretty to use. She said I had to use them. Okay mom.

I recently bought Amy Butler’s InStitches book and borrowed Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen from the library.  I love them both!  In fact, I’ve had Fabric Gifts for over three months and am having a terrible time returning it to the library.  I’ll be getting the e-mail soon that says, “Return this book immediately, no more renewals allowed!”  Well, it probably won’t by that harsh of a notice.

I made a few little gifts to go along in a package for my sweet friend, Michelle. The bunnies (a wee bit late for Easter) were from Fabric Gifts and the drawstring bag on the right came from InStitches.

     

In the middle are some beaded fabric coasters.  The beads add the perfect touch of sparkle that is needed for a evening drink, a mojito perhaps? Sounds good to me.  Unfortunately,  I haven’t had a drink of that sort for so long, I fear I would pass out after a few sips.

Anyway, I have a few projects in the works and two more packages for friends (looonnng over due I’m afraid) that will hopefully find their completion within the next week or so.

These were made by my Super-E, with just a wee bit of help from mom and dad. You know, some of those folds can be a little tricky. He discovered origami while home sick at the beginning of the week. Picked it up in a flash and has been busy creating little paper objects and creatures. We used this book to help with the creations. Klutz always has the best books for these kinds of things. I already have a few of their books and love them!

I see these bright paper objects scattered all over the house and they make me smile.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

There’s nothing better than having a dreaded work meeting cancelled because of snow. This place I live in just isn’t equiped for 1″ of snow which pretty much melted by noon.

So, I stayed home and enjoyed my new birthday book.

Admired my pretty brithday card…

and ate lots of yummy left-over B-day cake.

A really nice snow day!

I thought I’d use a few posts to share some of the gifts I made and swap goodies I received over the month of December.

First up, for my aspiring little chef, I made this apron. I love the fabric with its “Paris Metro” design. The pocket has a cup, bowl and coffee cup applique with painted accents. Can you see the fast action stirring that he is demonstrating? Who needs electric beaters with this kind of super amazing speed!

Along with his apron he received the following three books for inspiration. All three are very kid friendly with wonderfully illustrated instructions and all are written by one of my most favorite vegetarian cookbook writers, Mollie Katzen.

And lastly, I made a little zipper wristlet with the same “Metro Paris” fabric. It’s for a youngish and much more fashionable friend of the family. I hope she liked it.

I recently read about Mollie Katzen’s cookbook, Salad People on Vicki’s blog (thanks Vicki!) and had to check it out. Fortunately it was at the library. I have to say that it is absolutely wonderful. Definitely one that I’d like to buy and add to my collection. The reason being is that it is geared towards children 4 years and up. It has 20 kid-friendly (and veg-friendly) recipes with illustrated instructions for the kiddos and detailed written instructions for the adults- all making it an easy and pleasurable kid-cooking experience. My little guy loves this book and has been looking through it all week telling me all the things he wants to make. Today he made the above Chewy Energy Circles with great success. The funny thing about these cookies is that I’ve made cookies similar to these before (oatmeal, cinnamon & raisin) and he wouldn’t touch them. But since he made these himself and they have the word “energy” in the title, he has been gobbling them all up! He’s usually very picky.

Here are some other great books that I borrowed from the library. Love them all and have really been enjoying flipping through them while planning future t-shirt surgeries and delicious, vegan dishes.

Is this month over yet? I desperately need to get some fabric, thread and some other craft supplies. Only a few more days right? I can make it. Remind me to not announce to my husband that I am using what I have for THE WHOLE MONTH! If I hadn’t made that promise to him, I’d have been to JoAnn’s a week ago sifting through the fabric remnants! I have of list of things I want to make but I’m lacking a few of the “ingredients” to make them. Come Monday morn, I will be heading out to a thrift store (if I can find one) and to the craft store!!

I recently came across my crochet needles and decided to have a go. My grandmother crochets and taught me when I was young. I haven’t picked up my crochet needles in several years. I thought I’d try making circles to see if I could figure it out using some mutlicolored cotton yarn that I had. Once I got a good circle going I decided to try adding petals to make a flower. It turned out okay I think. I thought maybe it would make a decent wash cloth- I dunno. I’m going to wash it and see what happens.

Of course, after I started making the flower I realized I had this old book. I’ve written about it being hard to understand as far as learning to knit. It makes total sense now that I’m knitting a little (I have a little bag in the making btw). It’s an amazing book. My grandmother gave it to me over Christmas. She’s had it for years. Everything you need to know about needlework is in this book. The best thing about it is that there is a picture of EVERY kind of stitch! I haven’t been able to stop looking through it! Check out these flowers. Pretty cool I think.

And this dress is also in the book in the knitting section.

There is only one word for this dress…HHHHOT! It’s practically lingerie! You can just about see everything underneath!! Click on it to see it larger.

On a completely different note: I’ve joined The Silent K’s blog a book along. The book this round is on parenting called What Do You Really Want For Your Children. I am almost done with the first chapter and will probably post about it later today. So far, I am really enjoying it!

Lastly, I have to again try and shamelessly promote my swap . There are some really great artsy/crafty people signed up so far so check it out! Sign up closes tomorrow. It’s going to be a great swap!!

The Meatless Gourmet: Favorite Recipes from Around the World
by Bobbi Hinman
This cookbook is loaded with worldly flavors from Mexico, the Carribbean, Italy, Middle East, Eastern Europe, India and the Orient.

Better then Peanut Butter & Jelly by Wendy Muldawer & Marty Mattare
My mom found this one to help me feed my kiddos when they visit her. It’s an awesome book with very easy kid pleasing recipes. It has a vegan option for most of the recipes in this book. It also has the BEST banana muffin recipe.

125 best Vegan Recipes
by Maxine Effenson Chuck & Beth Gurney
I’ve posted about this book before here. It has an amazing Pad Thai recipe that I love. There are very many other quick and easy recipes that I use often.

Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson
Given to me by my lovely sister Jenny, this book has an amazing array of delicious vegan fare. My favorite part of this book right now is the New World Pizza section. A creative collection of cheeseless and meatless pizzas. Very Yummy. Great soup section too!!

Although I am not the best at following recipes exactly, these books do inspire me to try different things and come up with my own variations of meals that my family love. And even if you are not vegetarian or vegan, these books, and ones similar to these offer some different, delicious and healthy options.