Kiwi Crate Winner and Kicking Off Summer . . .

Congratulations to Nikki T.  You've won the kiwi crate - Colors.  I'm so excited for you. It looks absolutely fabulous.  You didn't leave your email, so please contact me at flaxandtwine (at) gmail (dot) com to collect your winnings :).   Others, don't forget to order yours as kiwi crates will make a great addition to your summer.

Speaking of summer, we had a great time over Memorial Day Weekend. I put my foot down and refused to go out of town.  Sometimes it's nice just to loll around home.  I don't loll very often, so I was keen to do it.  Frolic was more like it.  
We went to the Boulder Creek Festival which is a fun local carnival that comes every Memorial Day weekend. We watched a great hiphop dance show that made everyone want to bust some moves. We rode carousels, threw darts at balloons, did back flips aided by bungees, screamed down the roller coaster and three-story slide and gorged on cheese steaks and porkchops on a stick.  I even let the kids get cotton candy.


I bought myself some peonies - which I adore.  The season for them is just too darn short.
And, you may gasp–I let my kids skip cleaning their rooms this weakend (ha ha I guess I was weak). More lolling.

We had folks over for a bbq and s'mores! on Monday afternoon and all in all had a great time hanging out.  This is the kiddos last week in school.  We are preparing for the summer crazies, which includes lots of camps and trips.  Fun, but chaotic.  I hope you all are kicking off your summer in style.

xo anne

Kiwi Crate: A Review and Give Away!

I love to make things: yes

I love having my kids make things: yes

I love exploring creativity: yes

I hate mess: YES!!

So here is my paradox.  I WANT my kids to explore their creativity, and paint, and cut, and mold clay, and feel water, and play in a sensory table.  BUT, it is very hard for me to let them. Fabric, yarn and paper are easier. Paint, water and clay are harder. Ironically, even as a crazy maker, I have to force myself to give the kids opportunity to do these messier things.

So anything that makes the messy side of creativity easier is a wonderful thing.  And, anything that comes pre-cut, pre-purchased, pre-portioned and can be done without thinking, arriving right at your door in a big green box is even better.  I recently had the opportunity to experience Kiwi Crate, which is a subscription based service. For $19.95/month, Kiwi Crate will send a fun box to your doorstep bursting with themed creative goodies every month. You just supply the kiddo. Easy. If you're smelling a giveaway, you're right! keep reading.

At first, I was wary about doing a review and giveaway, as I have stupid high standards (ugh) and wouldn't want to recommend anything I didn't fall in love with. Jen, over at Kiwi Crate, had no worries about that, and I can see why. I was thrilled with Kiwi Crate, as were my kids. Here is what I loved . . . 

1. How much do kids ADORE getting something in the mail?

2.  It is brainless (sometimes this is nice). The ideas are beautifully designed and arrive with well described and clearly illustrated directions.

3. The crate comes with everything you need (except water and paper bag). No trip to the craft store necessary. As a working mom with tons of stuff on my plate, I REALLY appreciate this.

4. The quality of the materials was high. I’m not a big into plasticky and junky, and I loved the the look and feel of these materials – natural, solid, basic and fun stuff.  We reused the paint cups for beads and the brushes are nice enough to use again.

5. The projects are filled with learning possibilities.  We had a great time discussing the solar system in our house.  Plus, the materials are flexible enough to rif on to make something else. The second project was a rocket, but we had a blast making all sorts of things with the materials.

6.   The craft projects were scalable. Though designed for 3 to 7 year olds, my 9 year old loved the projects as much as my 6 year old, he just did everything much more carefully. ahh!

Truly, the Kiwi Crate was a blast. Thanks to everyone over there for letting us experience it.  I can't recommend it to you and your family enough.

Now, for the give away!

Head on over to Kiwi Crate and discover which crate you would love to win. Come back and leave a comment telling me which one and why.

For extra entries, Tweet about this giveaway using #kiwicrate, or post about it on Facebook, using @kiwicrate in your post.

The winner will be announced May 31st.  Make sure you leave your email so I can contact you if you win!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS SO MUCH TO THOSE THAT PARTICIPATED. THE WINNER IS NIKKI T. CONGRATULATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT FLAXANDTWINE (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM.

Happy Mess Making to You and Yours!

Be Breezy

I was watching my daughter in the backseat of a car the other day.  She had her hand out the window and was feeling the breeze as it pressed against her hand and blew through her hair.  The sun warmed our heads.  She turned to me and said, "doesn't this feel so good, mommy?" And, it did. Oh, the renewing power of closing your eyes and just feeling the sun and the breeze.  It struck a chord that got me thinking.  Here's what I thought . . .

I am going to work on being a bit more breezy . . .

Then, I noticed my terminology . . . "work on" being breezy.  Hmm, I think I failed right there and then.

I want to be breezy in the sense of being in the present and enjoying the every day moments, but also in the sense of approaching my life in a breezier manner. I sometimes take myself too seriously. Okay, "sometimes" is really most times. I get so focused on work, so intent on making things as perfect as possible, I forget that its okay to just put small thoughts out there . . . in short, in brief, in all their breezy glory. On the blog, I don't want to post only finely polished projects, but I want to share things I've been thinking about, small revelations about my life or thoughts about my family or my work.  It will be just fine to post a random thought here or there when it strikes me and walk away from the computer and relax.  That is just what I'm going to do.

I hope the wind is blowing and the sun is shining where you are . . .

Also, don't look at the word "breezy" too long.  It starts to look weird.

A Yellow Jeweled Bracelet - a year of handmade gift

I hope you all had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. We had a ball over here, starting with a latte brought to me in bed! Along with it came piles of handmade presents–my favorite!  They followed that with a beautiful hike, plus time for me to make in the afternoon. We capped the day off with a family bike ride to get diy root beer floats at the local grocery store. We don't have an ice-cream store close enough to bike to, so we make do. We bought the ice-cream and root beer and carried our own cups and spoons in a backpack. yum.

I mentioned almost a month ago! that I had made each of the kids a bracelet as a gift for Easter. Things have been crazy over here, so I am just now getting around to writing up the tutorial and DIY instructions, which you'll find below.

This is the bracelet I made for Allie - blingy, bright and sunshiny, just like she is. I purchased this gold trim back in December when I was doing all the jewelry for 24 Days of Glam but never got around to using it. Well, I couldn't resist putting it on this yellow ribbon. I added a flashy faux diamond button to add to the bling and complement the jewels in the trim. 

I actually made a matching one for myself and am wearing it right now with a thick gold chain bracelet. Very fun. As always, these little bracelets are easy to make. You can get everything at your local craft store–no jewelry "fixings" required.  I found the trim in the JoAnn Fabrics ribbon/trim section.

This gift for Allie is part of my commitment to give only handmade gifts this year. There will be lots of ideas throughout the year for all kinds of folks.  My brother is coming up next so keep your eyes peeled for a good handmade "man" gift.  For other great gift ideas, please view the a year of handmade gallery by clicking the button below.

Here is the DIY for the jeweled bracelet.

Materials:

3/8" ribbon

embroidery thread

jewel trim

elastic cord

needle

button

Hem 1/2" of the the ribbon, sewing with small stitches.

I do this in a square to make a stable and sturdy end of the bracelet for the "clasp."

Fold a piece of elastic cord to form a loop large enough to go over your chosen button, but not so big it will slip off.

Sew the elastic to the ribbon that has been doubled over, making sure you come up through the elastic at least a few times to secure it to the ribbon.

Whip stitch around the elastic to provide a nice cover over the elastic, then trim excess length of elastic and threads.  This is the under-side of the bracelet.

Cut your trim to desired length, keeping in mind that you'll be turning over 1/2" of the ribbon at the end for the button. I like these ribbon bracelets fairly snug around the wearer's wrist. Align trim flush against the end of the ribbon with the elastic attached. Sew trim to ribbon.

Continue to tack trim to ribbon, securing both sides of the trim and allowing the bracelet to bend as you sew. I did one side first and then came back along the other.

When your trim is fully secured, remeasure around wearer's wrist. Hem 1/2" of the ribbon (as above) to provide a secure place to attach the button.

Sew a button of your choosing to the newly hemmed ribbon edge.

Finis!! It's that easy.

I've been doing lots of post planning and designing, so there are lots of exciting goodies to come!

xo anne

Five Things I Learned from Aran Goyoaga

I had the extreme good fortune of taking a food styling photography class from the uber talented Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille while I was at the Makerie Retreat in Boulder. She is an amazing food stylist, chef and photographer. I highly encourage you to check out her blog and her upcoming book, Small Plates and Sweet Treats . . .uh, can you say YUM!  It looks phenomenal. Also, if you ever get a chance to take a class from her, DO, it is worth every penny! Watching her work is such a treat.

Now, flax & twine is not going to become a food blog, but I wanted to share some of my favorite food photos from the day and some of the things I learned in class. All the shots included in this post are mine. Looking at them all made me think about my progress in photography, as well. 

This coffee cake above is courtesy of Lillabee, a wonderful, gluten/dairy/soy free baking product company based here in Boulder.  Try some of their delicious mixes if you get a chance. 

In the beginning days of my blog, I took all my shots with a 10 year old Canon Rebel SLR camera. I would put it on "no flash" and take photos in the automatic mode. This was okay, but definitely left me feeling limited. After I took Alessandra Cave's photography class at the Makerie a year ago, I discovered what aperture was (this is how big the window opens up on your camera.)  The lower the aperture number, the shorter the depth of field.  After that class, I bought a 50mm/1.4 aperture lens for that same 10-year old camera and have been taking photos with it ever since. Advice: buy a better lens, not a better camera!

This gorgeous quinoa-beet salad was made by my beautiful friend Katie, who owns the most adorable personal chef and catering company ever, Eat. 

This is how I would operate and I think it is a good way to start: I would put my camera on the lowest aperture (or pretty close to the lowest) and then, adjust the shutter speed (how long your window stays open) so my light meter was in the right range.  Then, I would adjust aperture and shutter just barely based on how the photos were looking.  That gives you shots like this below, and the one up above–in focus up front, blurry in back.  Cool, but not perfect for all situations.

Taking Aran's class brought me a step further. She made me realize that though a shallow depth of field can be stunning, it just isn't everything. There are times when you want that crisp, in focus look for most of the shot–especially when shooting from up above. The problem I ran in to with my prior method of taking photos was that I couldn't get my aperture high enough to make it all come into focus and still have enough light to take the photos inside. To get enough light, my shutter would need to stay open too long and the photo would come out blurry. 

This is what I learned–the trick to closing aperture further to get more of the shot in focus, while taking inside photos, is adjusting the ISO. The ISO is how sensitive your camera is to light. If you use a high number, you can take photos in darker locations, though your image will be grainer. Here is an example of a photo at a higher ISO, and a larger aperture number.

A year ago, thinking of the ISO in addition to the other numbers made me freeze up.  It overwhelmed me to consider so many variables at once. But, having worked with the shutter speed and aperture so much over the last year, it felt perfectly natural to layer in the ISO changes with the other pieces. Like all things, it will certainly take practice, but I love watching my skill level expand and blossom as I practice something. (I was trying to explain this to my daughter this morning as she worked on her first friendship bracelet and her knots were all over the place.)

Here are some of the tips I picked up during Aran's class:

1. YES! you should use reflectors.  I had figured out the use of diffusers on my own, but still hadn't made reflectors a regular part of my photography. I certainly will now. Using a reflector, whether a professional screen or a bit of white cardboard, can make all the difference in getting that light just in the right spot to highlight your food or product.

2. Use interesting backgrounds, fabric, an old door, a windowsill, or a great table top to set your food upon. Aran shoots most of her work on a folding table in her son's bedroom and has different surfaces she can pick or choose from. This brings up something else–find your best light, even if its two flights away from your kitchen.

If you are shooting from the side, think about using different boards for backdrops, like a piece of plywood with a layer of distressed paint.  Below is an example of a shot I like, except it needs a background to take away the distraction of that darkness in the back.  A cool neutral or blue painted board would have helped.

3. Don't be scared to shoot from a bird's eye view. If you do, increase your aperture and your ISO so you can get a sharp image of the product, while still getting good light.  If you are shooting from up above, make sure you are directly above your food, not at a slight angle.

4. If the interesting part of your food is the texture and the quantity, shoot from the side.  If the fascinating part is the whole plate, shoot from up above.

5. The success of a photo is in the details.  Straighten the lines of your fabric, add micro greens, sprinkle on colored pepper, make some crumbs, add cool utensils, forks, straws, etc. Also, if you're going to add details, add ones that make sense to the food. i.e. add milk to cookies, a dish of dressing to a salad photo, etc. 

What an amazing experience. Definitely go check out Aran's blog.  Or, go look at this spread in Design*Sponge.  The lemon with that purple is absolutely to die for!

Try it!  photographing food is fun! and you get to eat it afterwards!  Can't say that about a pearl necklace.

xo anne

Felt Hair Pretties

Last week, I announced a sweet doll sweater vest I designed for the Petite Purls Spring Issue, but I haven't told you about what I created for my craft column–which, yay!, now has an official title: Get Crafty with Flax & Twine.  I worked up these charming felt hair pretties for Allie done three different ways.  I created a soft headband, a hard headband and a barrette version.  

You'll find a template with the animal and car designs, as well as full diy instructions provided on the Petite Purls site. This spring issue has many beautiful knits to consider adding to your list, as well.  

So, which is your favorite? I am a tad partial to the purple elephant.

Though the little lazy daisy on the VW is pretty darn cute.  I provide instructions for the flower, too, so don't hesitate to try it!

Loving the whale, which would be adorable with a little striped sailor dress, don't you think?

These lovely hair accessories are perfect for the summer.  Also, don't forget that the templates can be blown up and used for to lots of things, appliqué it on a twirly skirt for extra kick, to your summer beach tote, to a gift bag, or cut it out of fun paper and add it to a summer moleskine sketchbook.  Or transfer it and embroider them on. Go check out Petite Purls and give it a whirl!