Rope Basket

Posted on April 17, 2012 by treshabarger

Recently I took a class at Sew Much More in north Austin. It was the Rope Basket Class. I’d had the It’s A Wrap book for years (literally), but hadn’t done anything more than read through it several times. I was happy when I saw they were offering a rope basket class.

Fabric bowl and lid

So here’s my rope basket and lid from the class. I used a little bit less than a yard of fabric and about 50 feet of cotton clothesline cording. The sewing time in class was just under two hours. Our pre-class homework task was to wrap the cotton cording with the fabric. That took me five hours. I kid you not. Thank goodness baseball season had started so I had something to distract me during the five long hours of fabric wrapping. And the Cubs won, so that was a bonus.

Open for business

The next day I had a definite pain in the back of my shoulder. I was sure it came from me holding my left hand and shoulder in pretty much the same position for that five-hour period, holding up the cord while I wrapped it with fabric using my right hand. As I knew where the pain originated, I didn’t overreact and think I was nearing the end of my sewing days so soon.

Yes, we have bananas!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Distorted

Posted on March 8, 2012 by treshabarger

Here is an intentionally distorted soda can, now an piece of yard art.

Reinvented as art

Summer Camp 2012

Posted on February 21, 2012 by treshabarger

It seems a little early to be thinking about summer camp, but I already received the Xplorations Summer Science Adventures 2012 schedule from the Houston Museum of Natural Science. That means they have been thinking about it for quite some time. Every year when I receive their summer camp schedule I wish I was a kid again so I could go to these camps.

The 6-7 age group has some fascinating classes. The Da Vince Science class is “a week of gizmos, gadgets, and ingenious inventions! Discover Leonardo and all of his amazing contraptions. Learn to write in “mirror writing” and explore how Leonardo would have lived in his Renaissance world. Experiment with simple machines and build some of your own inventions.” I’d love to go to this one!

Mummies and Mysteries is another class that is calling my name. The museum has their very own mummy, Ankh-hap. Who wouldn’t want to get a close-up look at the work of Egyptian masters from thousands of years ago?

They have their own version of Survivor for the 8-9 year olds. You don’t watch it, you do it! “Learn to navigate by the stars, tell time with the sun, and find out what kinds of bugs make good snacks. Participate in Friday’s survivor competition. Camp includes optional bug tasting activity.” Not sure if that would be yummy or yuck! Only one way to find out!

Full Tilt Physics shows up in the 10-12 age group classes. They get to “explore the science of speed from acceleration and air resistance to collisions and crashes. Design and build hovercrafts, cars, planes and other vehicles then modify them to maximize their velocity. The race is on!”

That’s how science should be taught: by interaction, by participation, by hands-on experience. If there are any open slots when registration ends, I wonder if the museum would let me register my inner child. I promise to behave.

Ming’s Monster

Posted on February 20, 2012 by treshabarger

This lovely piece of origami art work was created by Ming Roberts, age 6, and she called it a Monster. It’s one of her first origami pieces. She gave it to me and I am honored, as I now have a Ming original. I was trying out a few descriptors for it:

Ming’s Marvelous Monster
Ming’s Motivated Monster
Ming’s Moving Monster
Ming’s Mad, Mad (in a good way) Monster
Ming’s Moolicious Monster (okay, I made up that one)

Monster on board!

A Purse and a Painting

Posted on February 6, 2012 by treshabarger

The first photo of the painting in progress. Just white canvas with a couple of blue lines.

A feather duster goes swimming

For months I had been watching the calendar at Austin’s Painting With A Twist, trying to find a time when I could take one of their classes. I finally found one: Van Gogh’s Tree.

The canvas with a blue sky (three shades of blue)

Blue skies, smiling at me .....

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The premise behind Painting With A Twist is that it’s a fun, social event where all the supplies are provided. They provide the space, instructor, apron, paint, canvas, brushes, everything! (It is not, however, an art school.)