The deRosier Project Runway

Steve has been saving for an iPad for awhile now. He got a gift certificate for his birthday that allowed him to finally buy it. It just arrived. I've never used an iPad and wasn't aware of what features it had, so after dinner Steve gave me a brief rundown.

When he showed me the note-taking/drawing feature, it reminded me of the tablet things that the Project Runway designers use to sketch their challenges. Using my best Tim Gunn voice, I announced "Designers, your challenge today is to be inspired by New York! You have 30 minutes to sketch and then we're headed to Mood."

Using my finger (we don't have a stylus), I started sketching. (As it turns out, sketching with one's finger is not easy.) I decided I was on the team that went out on a boat, looking back at New York.  I designed an easy-to-wear shift. Can you guess my inspiration?

I chose a beautiful fabric with a strong vertical in greens, yellows and greys. I made a coordinating hat that creates a unique silhouette. I used the Piperlime Accessory Wall (or is it Lord & Taylor now? I can't keep it straight) to choose an interesting pair of yellow shoes and a blue bag for a pop of color. My woman is sophisticated and on-the-go.

Unfortunately, Nina was bored and felt it wasn't editorial enough. Heidi felt it was far too literal. Michael Kors (who should still be on the panel) felt that it was something women would want to wear, but my construction skills were poor. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in the bottom this week.

Steve took the iPad from me. I just about fell on the floor laughing when he said with a straight face, "Mine isn't going to look very good. I'm not an artist like you!" Um, did you just look at my sketch?!?

Steve's fingers are bigger than mine and he had even more trouble than I did controlling the lines. Still, it was easy for me to see his inspiration.  

Steve created a rust-colored sheath, inspired by the Brooklyn Bridge. He made a matching hat and added textured tights in the same shade. He chose green shoes, a green bracelet, and a green necklace from the Bluefly (or whoever it is this season) Accessory Wall. He directed the Loreal hair and makeup artists to create edgy purple hair and a clean face.

Heidi hated the look. "It's too matchy-matchy!" she cried. "I hate matchy-matchy!" The other judges nodded, but Nina commented that at least she wasn't bored. This was something none of them had seen before. Michael Kors felt that the dress was well-made, but that Steve ruined it through poor accessorizing. He too was worried he was facing elimination.

Trevor watched all of this with interest. He doesn't watch Project Runway with Steve and me, so he didn't know what we were even talking about, but he wanted to play around with the iPad as well. He's never been to New York, so I told him to design a dress inspired by a city.  

He chose to be inspired by the mountains that surround a city. He made an A-line dress with a tree/shrub print on it. He added green pumps and no further accessories.

The judges felt it was too simple and that Trevor was playing it safe, but they let him pass on to next weeks' challenge.

And that, my friends, is how the deRosiers spend a typical weeknight.

Origami Dog

Trevor belongs to an awesome children's Book Club. At each meeting, they discuss the book they've been reading, then do a craft or activity that is inspired by something in the book. They finish with a snack that is also inspired by the book. It is great fun and Trevor always looks forward to going.

When Trevor first joined, he and I would read the books together out loud so that I could help with vocabulary and check his comprehension. A few months ago, he told me that he wanted to start reading the books by himself, then have me read them by myself, and then discuss them together. So that's what we're doing now.

During our discussion, part of our ritual is to try and guess what the Book Club activity and snack will be. Our most recent book was Beverly Cleary's classic, Henry Huggins. We brainstormed possibilities for the activity. Something to do with nightcrawlers or fishing? Maybe a football craft? A mock pet show? Nope. None of those. When I picked Trevor up from Book Club, he proudly showed me his origami dog, inspired by Ribsy.

But, as Trevor was quick to point out, Ribsy is not white. He is brown with darker patches. I asked Trevor if he would like to make a brown version of the dog that would look more like Ribsy. He thought that was a great idea. I got out some brown paper and cut two squares, one for Trevor and one for me, then he taught me how to make it.  

Step 1: Fold the square in half diagonally.

 

Step 2: Fold down the corners of the triangle to form the dog's ears.  

 

Step 3: Fold up the remaining point of the triangle to form the dog's snout.

 

Step 4: Add eyes, nose, mouth and spots. Here's Trevor's interpretation of Ribsy:

 

And here's mine:

 

Our next book is Mr. Popper's Penguins. I can't wait to see what the activity and snack will be!

Goal #37: Lapidary

Back when I was researching locations to take a glass flamework class, I came across an introductory lapidary class. I had never heard of lapidary. According to the class guide:

This class will show participants how to take a rock from its rough and natural state to a polished stone ready to be used in fine art projects and jewelry pieces. In this one-day workshop, students will learn how to trim stones to size and use the grinding and polishing wheels of our circular and flat lapidary machines.

Neat! I immediately added it to my list of 40 Things.  

I found two friends who wanted to take the class with me and we all signed up using the online registration. Well, sort of. Sheena and I signed up successfully, but our friend Jennifer was wait-listed. We all crossed our fingers that someone would cancel and she'd get to join us. But when the big day came, nobody had canceled. Bummer.          

Sheena and I headed to class, excited about what we'd be learning. We arrived about 15 minutes early and found the instructor, Ian, setting up. He surprised us by saying we'd go ahead and get started. Turns out they only enroll two people in a class! We'd all been hoping someone would cancel so Jennifer could come too, never dreaming that Sheena and I were the ones who would have had to cancel for her to be enrolled!

After a brief demonstration, Ian had us jump right in. First, we picked out stones. There was a big tub with lots of choices. I had no real goal or plan in mind other than to learn the basics, so I grabbed the first stone that appealed to me.

 

Since I had no plan for the finished piece, I just started cutting it freehand to learn how to use the equipment and get comfortable with the procedure. At first, it was really scary getting my hand so close to the blade, but Ian assured us it could not do real damage to skin. Still, it's hard to believe that something that eats through rock so quickly and easily wouldn't cut through skin just as quickly! 

 

After I did a rough cut of my first piece, I slid down to the next machine to start grinding. There are six wheels that have a successively finer grit to grind down and then polish the stone. Here's Sheena using the coarsest wheel.

 

Meanwhile, I had moved down toward the polishing end.

I was annoyed at myself for not having taken a "before" picture for my first stone, so I made sure to do so for my second. I chose a chunk of agate with pinks, golds and greys in it. I used a template to trace a circle.

 

Then I used the saw to make a rough cut.

 

Here's how it looked after a few minutes of grinding on the coarsest wheel. My hand is wet (complete with wrinkly fingers) because the stones and grinding wheels have to remain wet through the whole process.

 

At that point, I moved to the right, one wheel at a time, until the stone was beautifully shiny. I set it down on a paper towel to dry and moved on to my third and final rock. Here are all three sitting on their paper towel. Once they were dry, any scratches or rough patches became quickly apparent.  

 

And here they are, complete. You can definitely tell that they're the work of a beginner, but I am very pleased with how they came out. I already mentioned that the circular stone is agate. The golden one is jasper and the "Earth" one is a picture jasper. My plan is to add magnets to the back of these. They'll look beautiful on the refrigerator.

 

If you have the chance to take a lapidary class, I'd encourage you to do so! If you're in Northern California, I highly recommend Ian as an instructor.

Goal #37 completed! 

Cub Scout Day Camp

Some layouts come together really quickly for me, while others sit on the desk for months, gradually getting buried by other projects.  Cleaning off my desktop can be like an archaeological dig.  I recently uncovered my half-done 2-pager about Cub Scout Day Camp and forced myself to finish it.  

 

I'm not crazy about the finished layout, but it is done and the memories and story are recorded.  Sometimes that's enough!

Scribble Machine

When Trevor was 2, Steve and I decided that we would buy him a CD player for Christmas.  I carefully searched for a model that would be durable, easy for him to operate, and light enough that he could carry it around.  I found the perfect one - and it was blue, his favorite color!  I couldn't wait for him to unwrap it.  On the big day, Trevor opened the box with great curiosity.  As he peeked in, Steve took this picture:

Two seconds later, Trevor began screaming.  He was absolutely and totally terrified of what he found in the box.  We couldn't understand what was wrong.  I held him and soothed him and finally he was able to tell us why he was so scared.  He thought we'd bought him a robot. And when he was 2, he was deathly afraid of robots.

I felt like the worst Mommy ever.  If you've never given someone a gift and watched them burst into tears and scream in fright because of that gift, consider yourself lucky.  It never occurred to me that the CD player might look like a robot. 

I'm not sure how it happened, but within a few months, Trevor went from being terrified of robots to extremely interested in them.  We took him to a robot demonstration, then to a robot competition.  By the time he was 4, he was talking about the robots he'd build when he was older.  

Now, at age 6, Trevor is officially "older."  Steve has begun teaching him the basics of robotics.  Here's Trevor's first not-from-a-kit robot.  It's a Scribble Machine.

When Grandma came to visit, I asked Trevor to show her how the robot worked.  I love hearing him explain about it.

I've said it before, but that kid of mine has a bright future.  I couldn't be more proud.

Oh, and the CD player?  He didn't want anything to do with it for a month or so, then slowly became comfortable being in the same room with it.  He (reluctantly) learned how to use it a few months later.  But he hardly ever used it then and still doesn't really use it.  Oh well.