Vol. 3, No. 190, July 9, 2018

3190 - Here On Who.

Tonight while at Seussical Rehearsal, I made my last three instruments. I can’t wait until tomorrow when I get to see them with the Who Marching Band, all lined up in a row. My willing models today were Chloe, Molly, and Oldest Miller.

Vol. 3, No. 189, July 8, 2018

3189 - One Fish, Two Fish.

I began my third task for Seussical today, that is making fish. The Lead Painter and I are both making fish which means we each only need to make four. I am making my fish out of card stock and using the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss as inspiration. The green fish is modeled after the Two Fish, and the red fish is modeled after the Red Fish. I was going to photograph the fish outside, but it was too windy so I did the next best thing, a bathtub. During Seussical, JoJo is taking a bath when the fish appear on the scene. I have to give my mom credit for designing the eyes on the red fish, by designing I mean pulling out the book and then cutting out the white part to match the Red Fish’s eyes.

Vol. 3, No. 188, July 7, 2018

3188 - Alone In The Universe.

I honestly didn’t think I would attend a Setwork Saturday this summer, but the other night at rehearsal, I asked the Lead Painter how she was feeling about how much work was left to do. She was stressing a little because it was mostly detail work left to do, which meant it was hard to trust others to do it right. I knew exactly how she was feeling, as I had been in her shoes many times, so I volunteered to come in today and help out. I planned on going in this morning and helping for a couple hours; I ended up staying for 7 hours. It was only the two of us painting, but we got a lot done.  This picture shows the part of the set that I spent the most time on. The base colors were all done except for the tops of the trees. I added the circles on the door, painted the tree tops, added texture in the grass, and outlined everything in black giving it a storybook feel.

Vol. 3, No. 187, July 6, 2018

3178 - It’s Possible.

It’s possible to get three instruments finished in one rehearsal. Now that I think of it I still averaged one instrument per hour, I just had more time to work. It’s amazing what you can do with pool noodles, duct tape and a few other odds and ends. Today I added shower curtain rings, Dixie bowls, craft foam, and wire mesh ribbon to my supply list.

Vol. 3, No. 186, July 5, 2018

3186 - Egg, Nest and Tree.

Tonight at rehearsal for Seussical, I completed two more Whosaphones in under two hours. Let me tell you, people were impressed at the speed in which I was able to complete them. My models today were Oldest Miller and Young Kangaroo. I am excited for new duct tape colors arriving tomorrow.

Vol. 3, No. 185, July 4, 2018

3185 - Independent Banana.

Delicious caramel rolls at Grandm’s for breakfast. Kayaking with Cousin B and D after the storm passed. Dinner of steak, baked potatoes, and creamy cucumbers made by Dad. Followed by game night with half of the family. To end the night, we had dessert of banana bars that I made and decorated. I dyed sugar red and blue so that I could make an American flag to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Vol. 3, No. 184, July 3, 2018

3184 - Sparkle Tuesday.

Today’s project was a mega collaboration. It began during a pontoon ride with some of my aunts, uncles and cousins. As we were cruising Lake Stella, we noticed a large piece of driftwood and decided to pick it up to protect all everyone enjoying water sports on the lake. We continued with our ride and I mentioned that I needed to do my project, someone suggested using the driftwood and then started giving me suggestions as to what I should make. Once we had reached shore, I discussed it more with Cousin D. We concluded that sparklers would be the best option as we were out celebrating the Fourth of July.

After dinner, I brought the drift wood back to the water, I tested it to see which side would face up when floating and then started inserting sparklers in all of the crevices of the log. I had about 24 sparklers in the log when I decided to let it go in the water, it began to tip over. Luckily I was able to catch it before the sparklers got wet. Cousin N offered to light the sparklers for me and ended up trying to do so while holding the top-heavy log. The lighting process wasn’t going very well, so we retreated to figure out plan B. Cousin S jumped in to help; he is an engineer and was able to rig up a table for the log to sit on in the water, helping it to stay more stable.

Cousin N also decided we needed some sort of lighter fluid to help the sparklers get started; the sparklers were old so they weren’t lighting very well. He found Tiki Torch Oil and proceeded to dip the tips of all the sparklers. Then we were ready to try lighting them again. This time Aunt R offered to help light. We did get the majority of the sparklers lit at the same time, but the sparking was sporadic. The boat also decided to return to dock at the same time, thus it ended up in my shots. Of all of the pictures I took, this one is one of my favorites, largely in part to the heart in the middle formed by the flames.

Vol. 3, No. 183, July 2, 2018

3183 - One Man’s Trash.

Tonight at play practice, the costume designer told me she had something in her car for me. Her neighbor had been throwing something out and when she saw it, she knew it was too cool to go to waste. Then when she saw my Whosaphone post last week she immediately thought to give her new treasure to me. The treasure was foam disks that were used as packing material. I was pretty excited to put these disks to work and started creating my next instrument. A pool noodle base, foam disk keys, appliance tubing and plastic mouthpiece, PVC pipe end, and metal ribbon decor; all held together with duct tape. 2 done only 8 more to go. I got a Who to be my model tonight.

Vol. 3, No. 182, July 1, 2018

3182 - Bittersweet Memories.

It was a bittersweet day as I spent the majority of my day moving the last of my things out of my old house. When I got home, I wanted a quick and easy project, so I pulled out some fabric squares and fabric markers. I decided that a good comforter is a handmade quilt, so I decided to design a mini quilt. Momma Miller and Miller Friend were siting on the couch with me, so I invited them to complete some squares as well. When we were finished creating, I laid out the squares in the quilt design. If I had a sewing machine I would have actually sewn them together.

Vol. 3, No. 181, June 30, 2018

3181 - Forgotten Berries.

My raspberries have been productions like crazy, which means lots of yummy black raspberries to eat. Tonight, when I realized I hadn’t done my project yet, I reached for the dish of raspberries left from dessert and and asked my family for a suggestion as to what I should make. My mom suggested a turtle. Here is my turtle with a raspberry shell and strawberry legs, head and tail.

Vol. 3, No. 180, June 29, 2018

3180 - Towers Of Tomorrow.

Today the Miller Littles joined Kids of the Kingdom for a fun field trip the The Science Museum of Minnesota. There were lots of fun new exhibits to see, one of them was Towers of Tomorrow With LEGO Bricks. In this exhibit, we got to see replicas of towers from all around the world built out of LEGO bricks. There were also stations to build your own tower. Oldest Miller and I built a house instead of a tower. We made sure to include windows, a door and a roof. When we were finished, we moved our house to the city display for others to enjoy. I included two pictures of the house from the front because I couldn’t decide which I liked better. The flash showed more of the true colors, but I thin the other one looks better. The third picture shows Oldest Miller with her sculpture from a more above angle.

Vol. 3, No. 179, June 28, 2018

3179 - Oh, The Thinks You Can Think.

Tonight, I began my artsy project for the summer musical. This summer, Litchfield Community Theatre if performing Seussical the Musical. I was asked to design Seuss-like instruments for the marching band. I was given two large bags of pool noodles and the searched the prop room for other funnel-like pieces. I also located a small assortment of duct tape. I began by twist a pool noodle and securing the loop with duct tape. After a lot of exploration, I added another twist of noodle and lots more tape. I added a funnel, which was conveniently already painted bright colors, and some tulle flowers.  Miller Friend was my very willing model.

I now have one instrument completed, which means I only have nine more to go! I can’t work fast enough, because the Who Band is anxious to get the instruments in their hands.

Vol. 3, No. 178, June 27, 2018

3178 - Miller Time Garage Sale.

The Millers are having a garage sale soon with some friends and the kids wanted to do a lemonade sale. Being an art teacher, I was nominated to make the sign, of course I wasn’t going to do it alone. The kids, young and old, prepped the paper and decorated the letters that I drew the letters. Then I drew the lemons and added a little bit of extra color to the letters before securing the tiles.

If you want some yummy lemonade and other treats, plus some really good deals, stop by the Miller Time Garage Sale.

Vol. 3, No. 177, June 26, 2018

3177 - Gray Ducks Matter.

A Miller Friend wanted to help me with my project today. Without any prompting, she decided to use National Days as inspiration. Today is National Beautician’s Day, so Miller Friend let me style her hair. We looked up some braid tutorials on YouTube and used those styles as inspiration. This was my first attempt at a Dutch braid. It was challenging to wrap my head around braiding backwards. The resulting hairstyle is not the most elegant, but hopefully it will hold till tomorrow.

Vol. 3, No. 176, June 25, 2018

3176 - Log Cabin.

I had a busy day of kid wrangling and cleaning, thus forgetting to do my project. When I was heading towards bed, I saw Legos strewn about the playroom floor. I decided to use them and headed to Pinterest for inspiration as to what to build. One of the first pins I saw was tesselation tiles, it looked cool, so I set about finding square flats and a variety of 1x2 bricks. I didn’t have a very large selection of Legos to work from, so I could not make the pattern exactly as I would have liked, but it still turned out alright. When I was finished building, I laid out the tiles in a rotating pattern. The finished piece slightly resembles a log cabin quilt square.

Vol. 3, No. 175, June 24, 2018

3175 - Wiggle Your Waggles Out.

On December 27th, I got to photograph a newborn, earlier this week, that baby turned 6 months old. I decided to volunteer my time to take some new pictures. Let me say, photographing a 6 month-old who wants to roll and eat feet poses lots of challenges. I did manage to get some cute pictures, although no sleeping pics like I was hoping for, maybe I'll try again later in the week. Here is one of my favorite feet pics.

Vol. 3, No. 174 , June 23 2018

3174 - Piggy Pink.

We are celebrating National Pink Day today, so I headed outside and picked some pretty pink flowers and arranged them in the shape of a pig. It looks better, more pig like from far away.

Vol. 3, No. 173, June 22, 2018

3173 - Sticks and Stones.

Today the Miller Littles and I picked up CAT and headed to see Mommy Miller at work for a pizza party. While there, we got to meet some of her co-workers. Then we went to play at a fun playground. Before we left the park, we collected sticks, stones and grass and worked together to make a tic-tac-toe board. We played a couple games before we went home. We left the game behind for someone else to find and enjoy.

Vol. 3, No. 172, June 21, 2018

3172 - Dirty Worms.

Today for snack, the Miller Littles and I made Jello worms. While they were cooling, Middle Miller and I made some Instant Vanilla Pudding. While the oldest two were playing in the pool, and Littlest Miller was napping, I put together dirt cups, or I guess it was more like sand cup because we used graham crackers. The dirt cups were topped off with Reid-Whip.  As it turns out the Miller Littles don’t like instant pudding or Redi-Whip. Oh well, now I know for next time.

Vol. 3, No. 171, June 20, 2018

3171 - Strawberry Rose.

This afternoon I headed to my parent's house to finish the last two batches of strawberry jam. When I was finished I grabbed a slice of bread, a rolling pin and the extra jam that didn't fit in the last jar. I flattened the bread, cut it into two strips, spread the jam and rolled the strips up to create a flower.