Stamping with Yarn

After reading Play with Paint together, Trevor and I decided we wanted to try making stamps from yarn. The book suggested making a simple swirl or a geometric shape. We took it a step further.

Materials: chipboard, yarn, white glue, a pencil, paint, and a foam brush

Begin by sketching your design on chipboard. Once you are happy with your design, cut pieces of yarn to match the pencil lines you've drawn. Then, trace the pencil lines with white glue and apply the yarn.

 

When all the yarn is in place, press it firmly into the glue.

 

This is the hardest part: let your design sit, untouched, overnight.  

 

Use a foam brush to apply paint to your design.  Trevor chose a grey boat and mast, and blue water and flag.

Carefully press your stamp onto paper.  Lift straight up to reveal your design.

Trevor learned that he needed to apply a slightly heavier coat of paint to his stamp.  He refreshed the blue, then added brown paint to the parts that were previously grey.  He stamped again and got this:

 Want to see mine?  No surprise - it's a bunny.

Here's the finished stamp.

 

I stamped it three times, adding more paint each time.  I LOVE how it turned out.

Trevor loved this project so much that he continued making stamps.  Each one got better and better.  His flower is beautiful.

And so is his tree.

What a fun project, all inspired by a randomly selected book!  This is exactly what makes Library Roulette so awesome.

Library Roulette - Junior Edition (Part 3)

Here are the final books in my Library Roulette - Junior Edition challenge.

737: Numismatics and Sigillography

Coins

by Jennifer Abeyta

As you might recall, I was not a big fan of the 737 book in my original Library Roulette.  I was optimistic that this book would be more interesting, more accessible, and less esoteric.  I collected coins as a kid and have some basic knowledge, but this book provided a nice overview for a young collector.  I felt like there were a few areas where the author should have given more information and others where less would have been sufficient, but overall I was satisfied with the content.  

If I have a complaint about this book, it is that the author made some choices that make what could be a timeless book instead very dated.  For example, she frequently refers to the "new" 50 State Quarters Program that launched in 1999 and was completed in 2008.  (The book was published in 2000.)  If she had merely removed the word "new" from each of the places it appears, the book wouldn't feel out-of-date.  

Recommended: Yes, although I would encourage a young coin collector to make this one of several books he/she reads.

750: Painting and Paintings

Play with Paint

by Sara Lynn and Diane James

This book has all sorts of suggestions for playing with paint: stamping found objects (see the forks stamped along the bottom of the cover?), making stencils, stamping with potatoes, splatter painting and so much more.  The book is colorful and fun, with fun ideas for easy paint projects.  The instructions are simplistic and basic and the projects are suitable for age 3+.  

Recommended: Yes, highly!  

Tomorrow I'll share with you the projects that Trevor and I made that were inspired by this book. 

Project 41

Just about everyone I know has asked me if I'm going to be doing 41 new-to-me things this year.  The short answer is no.  While there are still things on my bucket list, when I remove the items that are prohibitively expensive or time-consuming, there are nowhere near 41 more.  

I loved every minute of my 40 Things challenge.  So even though I won't be doing a project with as big of a scope this year, I will be doing something special for my 41st year.  I'm calling it Project 41.

Remember about a month ago when I posted the layout of Trevor and me enjoying Trick Oreo Treat ice cream, the October Flavor-of-the-Month at Baskin Robbins?  At the end of that post, I mentioned that I should have chosen "Eat all 12 of Baskin Robbins' Flavors of the Month" as one of my 40 Things, as I'd missed a golden opportunity to justify going out for ice cream every month for a year.  Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do this year! 

One of the things I loved most about my 40 Things was how many friends and family members joined me to help accomplish my goals.  I wanted Project 41 to be like that too.  So not only will I be eating all of Baskin Robbins' Flavors of the Month, but 12 different people will be joining me as I do so.  Trevor will be joining me for Trick Oreo Treat in October, as that is a tradition for us.  

I've actually already tried March's Flavor of the Month, Reese's Buzzer Beater.  Steve and I went on an ice cream date for my birthday while Trevor was in school. 

Reese's Buzzer Beater is a blend of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream with chunks of peanut butter cups mixed in.  It is just as delicious as it sounds.  Both of us loved it.

Project 41 is off to a good start, but I have 10 months to fill!  If you are interested in being one of my Project 41 friends, just leave me a comment.  You have to be willing to eat the Flavor of the Month, no matter what it is.  (It's ice cream - how bad could it be?)  It'll be my treat, using the handy buy-one-get-one coupon that BR sends out each month.  You have to be willing/able to come to me.  I'll give priority to anyone who wasn't able to join me for any of my 40 Things.  I'll also give priority to those who live the farthest away from me.  Let the sign-ups begin!

A Year of 40 Things!

Today is my 41st birthday and I couldn't be happier.  I've spent the past year trying 40 things I've never done before and it has been one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had.  I can honestly say that this has been the best year of my life.  I've learned so much and had so much fun with so many different friends.  I truly have a lot to celebrate.

Naturally, a lot of people have asked me which of the 40 Things was my favorite.  What a difficult question!  The list is so diverse that it's truly like comparing apples and oranges. Perhaps if I break the 40 Things into categories it will be easier to decide.


Places I visited:

• 1.  Have a 40 Mile Adventure.  3/12/12
• 2.  Eat at Thomas Keller's famous restaurant.  3/12/12
• 4.  Visit the Grapecrusher Statue.  3/12/12
• 13.  Eat at the Oak Cafe.  3/30/12
• 17.  Visit the Conservatory of Flowers.  4/3/12
• 18.  Go to the San Francisco Flower Mart.  4/3/12
• 23.  Do a Planet Walk. 5/13/12
• 30.  Go to a drive-in movie.  11/3/12
• 32.  Tackle the World's Largest Maze.  11/17/12

All of these were really fun and places I'd happily visit again.  We had a great time at the Petrified Forest and at Bouchon.  The Conservatory of Flowers was awesome.  The drive-in movie experience was great.  But the two that stand out most to me are the Planet Walk and the Oak Cafe.  Despite being really sick that day, I absolutely loved doing the Planet Walk. There is truly no better way to really understand the scope of our solar system and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is gorgeous.  As for the Oak Cafe, it's the only place on the list that we've made an effort to visit a second time within the year, which speaks volumes.


Foods/drinks I tried for the first time:

• 3.  Try a macaroon.  3/12/12
• 5.  Eat at an Afghan restaurant.  3/12/12
• 7.  Try a Shamrock Shake.  3/15/12
• 11.  Try an Egg Cream.  3/21/12
• 14.  Try cacao nibs.  3/30/12
• 24.  Try absinthe.  5/27/12
• 27.  Try Miracle Berries.  8/9/12
• 34.  Try chess pie.  12/6/12
• 33.  Eat the Top 10 Jewish Foods.  12/5/12

This is an interesting category.  Out of all the foods and drinks I tried, there isn't a single one I wouldn't eat again.  That said, I wouldn't go out of my way for a macaroon, Shamrock Shake, Egg Cream, or absinthe.  I'd eat them, but I wouldn't order them.  The chess pie was fine; I'll be trying the lemon version soon to see how that compares.  I really enjoyed the Afghan food and the cacao nibs; both are things I'd actively seek out.  I had a blast eating the Top 10 Jewish Foods.  Not only did I love the challenge, but the food was delicious.  So that leaves Miracle Berries as my favorite in this category.  Getting together with my former coworkers (who I dearly miss) for the world's weirdest luncheon was truly a highlight of my year.


Crafts I'd never done:

• 8.  Try spirelli.  3/15/12
• 20.  Try a craft I've never heard of.  4/25/12
• 21.  Try glasswork.  4/26/12
• 26.  Take a Jewelry 101 class.  7/24/12
• 37.  Try lapidary.  2/2/13
• 38.  Do metal stamping.  2/26/13

Once again, it's so hard to pick a favorite.  I had a fun time trying spirelli and have made it repeatedly throughout the year.  The copper etching was fascinating, but I won't be doing it again.  The metal stamping was cool.  That leaves the three in-person classes I took: glass flamework, beading, and lapidary.  I absolutely loved all of them and I think the class format is a huge part of that.  I love learning, but I especially love interacting with an expert teacher.  Of the three, I think the beading class was my favorite.  It didn't have the steep learning curve of the glasswork or lapidary; I went home with a bracelet I love that I'm proud to wear.


Foods I'd eaten before but never prepared myself:

• 6.  Make homemade tortillas.  3/14/12
• 9.  Make cottage cheese.  3/18/12
• 10.  Make ricotta cheese.  3/18/12
• 15.  Make risotto.  3/31/12
• 16.  Poach an egg and make hollandaise sauce.  4/2/12
• 19.  Flambe something.  4/13/12
• 25.  Make squeaky cheese.  6/23/12
• 28.  Make popovers.  8/22/12
• 31.  Make fortune cookies.  11/5/12

I have such good memories of making these foods.  Some I have made again and again (risotto, poached eggs, popovers).  By far, my favorite was flambeing.


Everything Else

• 12.  Cook from a mystery basket.  3/24/12
• 22.  Be a Mythbusters volunteer.  5/2/12
• 29.  Have a Cupcake Wars competition.  Part 1  Part 2  9/9/12
• 35.  Library Roulette.  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  1/19/13
• 36.  See the Harlem Globetrotters live.  1/21/13
• 39.  Teach a Scrapbook 101 class.  3/3/13
• 40.  Hide a geocache.  3/5/13

This might be the hardest category of all, since it isn't really a category.  I loved teaching the scrapbook class and it's been a lifelong goal to see the Harlem Globetrotters in person.  We've been planning to hide a geocache for about two years and am so glad we finally did.  The Library Roulette was awesome and I had an absolute blast with our family Cupcake Wars competition.  So that leaves two: cooking from a mystery basket and being a Mythbusters volunteer.  I can't believe how fun it was to cook from the mystery basket, but could anything top filming an episode (twice!) of a hugely popular show?  Nope.  Being a Mythbusters volunteer tops my list of the coolest of my 40 Things.

More than anything else, this year has been about trying new things with others.  The goals I accomplished alone were great, but they don't compare to the ones I shared with friends and family.  A huge thank you to everyone who joined me for one (or more) of my goals:  Mom, Dad, Brian, Kari, Timothy, Dave, Pat, Carl, Courteney, Kylinn, Jonna, Karl, Cathy, Rita, JoAnn, Stephanie, Lesley, Diana, Marcia, Rebecca, Kristen, Miriam, Rina, Kelly, Ken, Sheena, Devin, Diane, Suzzi, and Gayle.

The biggest thank you goes to Steve and Trevor, who joined me for an amazing 25 goals (Trevor) and 31 goals (Steve).  You truly made my 40th birthday something I will never, ever forget.  I love you.  

Goal 40: Hide a Geocache

Our family first tried geocaching in September 2010 and we were immediately hooked.  After a few finds, we couldn't wait to introduce others to geocaching.  It was only a short matter of time before we were full-on Geocaching Evangelists, sharing our love of geocaching with friends, family, and a variety of different groups.

Early on, we agreed that we'd hide our first cache after we'd found 100 caches.  Well, the 100 milestone came and went back in 2011 without us hiding our first cache.  Definitely time to finally make it a priority.  

But what to hide and where?  There are very specific rules on the geocaching website about what can be hidden, how and where, but there are a wide variety of options within those parameters.  Our favorite caches are medium-sized (large enough to contain treasures), located in scenic and kid-friendly places, require a bit of a hike (but nothing extreme), and are in places where you're not likely to look like some sort of criminal searching through bushes.  So that's the type of cache we wanted to create.

Next was deciding on the location.  When you hide a cache, you need to be able to maintain it regularly as needed.  So we mapped a wide circle around our house and considered the areas where it would be easy to pop over for quick maintenance.  Then we did some reconnaissance.  We set out on a beautiful day, waiting for the perfect geocache location to reveal itself.

And then we found our perfect spot.  We'd be able to tuck a large cache amongst the rocks and no one would ever notice it unless they were specifically looking for it.

We headed home to make our cache.  You can buy geocaching containers and other supplies, but I wanted our first cache to be a DIY project.  We started with a jar of delicious honey-roasted peanuts, transferred them to some Tupperware, and washed the container thoroughly.       

 

Then we covered the entire thing with several layers of masking tape.

 

It looked like this when we finished. 

 

Trevor and I used a variety of inks to try to match the rocks and the shadows where the cache would be hiding.  

 

I gave it a bunch of coats of Outdoor Mod Podge, letting it dry completely between each coat, then let it cure the recommended 72 hours.  I sprayed it with clear lacquer, then filled it with a logbook and some treasures.  

We headed back out to our chosen spot.  Here's the container sitting on the rocks.  I think we did a pretty good job getting the color right.  It's especially well-matched to the rock in the lower right.

  

 

Backing up a few feet, you can't see it at all.   

We headed home and filled out the form to activate our geocache.  Then it was a matter of waiting for it to be approved.  There are volunteers who check each and every cache before they're made public.  I was a bit nervous that we might have done something wrong or that maybe it wouldn't be approved before my self-imposed due date of March 12.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long, as it was approved very soon after we submitted it. Hurray! Goal 40 accomplished!  I've been waiting all year to say that and it feels GREAT.