the little gatherer and other things

This weekend has proved to be another difficult one. I was in the ER for the seventh time and still with no answers. We just changed our medical group and I was able to see a Physician's Assistant yesterday and I am hoping to be hopeful (if that makes any sense). It's always harder when you don't see it coming, when you have been feeling good for a couple of weeks and then, it's here again. We are now waiting for another GI referral and we are hoping that whoever it is will be interested in what's going on and willing to help. A couple of things that I hope they checked for is Crohn's Disease and to give me extensive allergy tests. We'll see...

Other than that, it is Spring Break around here. On top of whatever it is that I have, I also have a cold. I didn't want to put a damper on Natalie being home with me this week and so I decided we would make a craft and take a walk. I put on Kiki's Delivery Service (it was a part of her easter basket goods, a long with a the parent trap (lindsay lohan version), a book, a skelanimal chick, several flower seeds and just a tad bit of candy) and we began to make a couple of God's Eyes. She did hers with different strings/yarns and colors and it became a bit of a rectangle shape. I thought it would make a perfect natural canvas and told her to get her basket so we could take a walk across the school to see what things she could find.

The day was beautiful and sunny without being hot. It seemed liked it just glowed and we both kept remarking on how pretty everything was.

Posing by the tree, with her 'serious closed eye' modeling...

It was a very nice walk until we had a little accident with her camera. It fell and now it only takes blurry photos. I can't stand not having a camera, even a little cheap one and we've seem to just have had rotten luck with keeping one.

My parents returned from their mini-vacation in San Diego and Nat recieved a beautiful dress from a store called Naartjie. I wished these photos had better focus but I hope you can get the idea. By the way, you can't really define them, but she is wearing owl earrings given to her so sweetly by Miss Helena (she gave me a pair too)!..





I had to resort to using my camera phone to show our little woven branches and what natural objects we used with them:

I also was catching up on my blog reading and found a perfectly timed post from my friend Lisa over at 5 Orange Potatoes about children and nature awareness. The Children and Nature Network , chairman Richard Louv, has declared the month of April to be Children and Nature Awareness Month. Lisa and her girls are always doing amazing natural crafts and activities and she has posted a great outdoor challenge button for anyone who would like to participate. I definitely need to post this over at Believing Nature but I thought since Nat and I had a mini nature sort of day, that it would perfect to post here first.

I am hoping that this cold will leave soon as well as any other thing that might get in the way of Natalie and I enjoying the outdoors during this pretty Spring week...

luna lapin

My first twig and yarn doll in the littlebighead shop is Luna Lapin. She is a sweet off white colored rabbit in a black chenille yarn dress. I think she is graceful and a bit whimsical standing on one foot as she poses. The first of dolls to enter my shop, she is extra special. Especially when Natalie wants to keep her ;)

lupine, the fox doll

Weeks ago, Nat wanted me to make her a little twig and yarn doll and of course, she wanted to help make it. I had her wind the dress for her fox (at her suggestion) and I told her I would do the rest. Of course, life can get busy and the poor little branch fox got put off until finally the other day. I sewed her little head on her body and 'put' on her gray sweater. Natalie has named her 'lupine' not after wolves but after the flowers...

the girl and i like to create

yesterday she grew a bit restless as children do so i decided we could take a walk around the school and look for more twigs and branches we could use in our crafts. we didn't find any forked branches so i could make another twig + yarn doll but we did pick up a few good twigs.


it was nice to walk in the early evening, letting the cool breezes caress us. it feels invigorating and calming all at once.


i need to find another place for us that is not far for us to go and explore. she is ready and wanting to climb things and discover. maybe we will visit that rural part of the park again and look for weeds and rocks and things. i want to allow nature to inspire her, for her to appreciate it, appreciate everything that He has made. i know that she is beginning to get a grasp on it. the other day she surprised me with a wonderful painting she did called 'crows and a robin'..

i'm very proud of this painting, i hung it up in my room right away. i've also been trying to allow nature inspire me in other ways besides pen and paper. i've been painting and drawing on rocks. i've been weaving yarn around sticks. it feels quite nice to be doing something else than just drawing, which of course, i still love. i don't know how to explain it but it just makes me feel good.

she also did another craft yesterday, another yarn around branches. she made it for her auntie to give to her at the baby shower coming this saturday.


she always has fun wrapping the yarn around and sticking things from nature into it.
i also did another one yesterday with some scraps of blue flowered material. i cut them into strands and tied them together and wrapped them around the sticks followed by the ochre colored yarn (which i know, i need to expand the colors of my yarn collection! but i still like it). i realized i still had a few material strands left and just tied 

them around the edges. it's my favorite right now.


and speaking of material scraps, it came from my too excited to make a tent/tee-pee project. here it is. i need help! i want to fix it because i love the fabric choice and the natural element of the branches. i just tried to come up with something, anything. if anyone knows how to make them, fix them or knows a link or anything, feel free to let me know! :)

this morning i finally finished another rock, my little ghost fox, here it is..

persephone, collette and other things...

now that it seems i back in a needle and thread creating mood, i've made a couple of more things. i've been wanting to make little ghosties and sell them in the shop but i just never got a round to it. on friday i finally made a little one for natalie. she named her collette. she is a little bumpy because i still haven't bought filling and am still using the packaging peanuts (and recycling them!).


we have put little collette in a glass jar that is filled with found things from nature that's in her room.

saturday we went to visit my sister in law in the hospital to see how she and the baby are doing. we can't see little ezra yet but so far it seems like he is doing okay. they still have to monitor him and he will probably be there for a while. she seems to be doing much better and is getting her strength and wit back. they will be in our prayers continuously.

sunday i missed service in the morning because i wasn't feeling well. it seemed to have lasted most of the morning and afternoon but at about two i seemed to be feeling a little bit better. rick and nat went to visit some friends from out of town and while they were gone, i got to creating again. i made another twig + yarn doll, this time, a little brown bat named persephone.



you can't see the details that much in the photo, but she does have the little round stitched cheeks and little lashes as well. she wears a gray 'dress' with a little red braided scarf. she is smaller than harriet the owl and natalie thinks she should be harriet's daughter. i told her we should come up with a story.

welcome harriet owltwig!

here she is, my very first twig + yarn doll. her name is harriet owltwig and she comes from the twig forest (or my home, whichever)! i know i don't have the best sewing skills since no one ever really taught me but i am hoping to get better so i can see if i can more of these. i also like that she was made from found things, like branches from one of our neighborhood walks. also, her head is stuffed with the excess felt material and a few packaging peanuts! so, virtually no mess and being a little eco-friendly by recycling the peanuts for the stuffing.

i am truly enjoying making things from the branches and using yarn and felt. i am hoping to make more things and even, maybe make a little sublet shop within littlebighead under twig + yarn so i greatly appreciate any feedback you may have. we will see what this leads to, but for now, there is harriet...

a twig + yarn creation is coming

i am pretty excited about something new i am making that i couldn't even wait until i finish it. this is what it is so far...that's all i can share for now!! happy friday!!