Magdalene by Amy Kuhl Cox

November Gratitude Wreath Tutorial - A Visual Reflection of Thanksgiving

2011-11-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

It is so important to foster gratitude in children from the youngest age.

I was inspired by two pictures on Pinterest to create a way to document our family's thankful hearts.

The idea on this site:

http://jenbriansweeneyfamily.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-november-look-what-my-mom-made-me.html -

inspired me greatly, but I also wanted to help my son reflect on what he was thankful for.

I wanted to use a similar structure to another fantastic Pinterest find:

http://pinterest.com/pin/311496575/

So, here's what I can up with!

First I bought 8.5" x 11" card stock and 1 12 x 12" piece of striped scrap booking paper from Michaels.

I was planning on using the paper in my printer to let the computer do all the hard work with the numbers, but then I found these adorable, black, sparkly numbers called "Thickers" at Michaels.

I couldn't resist...

Step 1: Cut out circles with an easy 2" hole punch. I used yellow, orange, peach, pumpkin, and ruby colored paper.

Step 2: Adhere "Thickers" to each circle. I planned out the order of colors before beginning to adhere the stickers.

Step 3: Gather wreath supplies

12" round wreath form from Michaels

Pack of Wooden Clothespins (36 pack for $1 at Dollar Tree)

Step 4: Trace around circle of wire wreath form with pencil to have circle template to cut out on striped scrap booking paper.

This paper will comprise the center of your wreath.

*NOTE*:Although I did not do this, I would recommend attaching this paper to the center of your wreath (with hot glue) before proceeding to the next step.

I would also use this opportunity to attach a ribbon hanger to the top of the wreath to facilitate display. (These were more difficult to attach once the clothespins were attached.)

Step 5 : Hot glue clothespins onto wire wreath form. The two center circles provided a great place to attach the clothespins. I wanted to have a place to record what our gratitude for each day of November. Since November has 30 days, and the wreath has 6 segments, it was easy to glue 5 clothespins into each section. After I completed the gluing, I clipped all 30 days onto the clothespins so that the colored circles formed a circle around the wire wreath.

I staggered the circles somewhat so that the numbers would be most readable. I chose to put all of the numbers so that they could be read right-side-up, rather than orienting them around the exterior.

Step 6: At this point, I adhered "Thickers" to say "thanks" on the striped scrap booking paper (which I had already cut into a circle). I hot glued the paper to the inner circle of the wire wreath from the back. I also tied a ribbon to the top of the wire wreath to allow us to hang it on our front door or in our dining room. As I mentioned above, these steps would have been easier BEFORE I added the clothespins, but it was still possible at this point.

Step 7: Next, I used a smaller circle punch to cut 30 circles from some lime green 8.5" x 11" card stock.

Step 8: I placed Scotch tape on the back of these circles, attaching them in a staggered fashion to the body of the clothespins. Upon these green circles, I will write what we are thankful for each day in November. Because they are attached with Scotch tape, I can remove these circles at the end of the season and place them in an envelope with the year to save for my son. Now he will know what he was grateful for at the age of three! I may add other colors of the small circles to write statements of gratitude for my husband and myself.

Since I wrote "thanks" in the center of the circle, I just continued the sentence on the green surrounding circles each day. What was my son grateful for on November 1?

"...for our bones because I like our bones. I am thankful for our body and our food and our puzzles."

...from the mouth's of babes. :)

If I had it to do over again... I'd probably print the numbers on the card stock to save money and not use the Thickers (*gasp*) even though they are so, so, so cute. Why? Because I would probably attach the numbers where the green circles are, and I'd use the larger circles around the exterior to have more room to record our expressions of gratitude. If I did it this way, I could permanently attach the interior date circles with glue, and use the exterior clips for the thankful circles (to make removing them easier to do each year and to eliminate the need for Scotch tape at all)!

I hope that my tutorial will help you to record expressions of gratitude with your own family this holiday season!

Peace, Amy

www.amykuhlcox.etsy.com

Dolls for My Daughter

2011-06-25T11:05:00.001-04:00

I made my sweet daughter a doll from a www.bitofwhimsydolls.com "Wittle Whimsy" pattern when she was very little. How she loved her blue-haired doll! It was the perfect size for her little hands!

But this little doll needed a big sister...

For her first birthday, I made my daughter a new blue-haired dolly from the www.bitofwhimsydolls.com "Jean" pattern.

Now we have a new favorite doll in our household!

Something special for Daddy on Father's Day

2011-06-14T12:38:00.000-04:00

My three-year-old son likes "activities". Father's Day - what a perfect opportunity to make something special to say, "I love you, Daddy!"

I poured the concrete. My son embedded the colored glass and marbles.

Mommy added Daddy's favorite quotation: "Nil Amplius Oro" - "I wish/pray for nothing more".

My son was excited to work with "pomcrete".

A perfect way to celebrate Father's Day, a fun activity for a toddler, a sweet memory for Mommy, a unique gift for Daddy, and the perfect addition to my son's new treehouse!

Rainbow Sun Catcher

2011-06-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

At an educational store last fall, I located these strange colored discs. What are they for? Bingo? I have no idea. But I knew that I could make something fun with them.

A friend of mine who scrapbooks suggested using a very small hole punch to make holes in the discs... It worked perfectly. At first I made jewelry with them. They felt very "disco"!

Then, I decided to make a sun catcher! I used jump rings to connect the discs in a random order. The curtain of color is attached to eye screws in a squared off piece of balsa wood.

In the morning, we can even look at projected circles of color on the wall as we eat our breakfast!

My son likes to take it out of the window and lay the sun catcher curtain over his face to look out through the colors!

I told my son that I had made it just for him. "Not his sister?" Nope, this one is just for you! "Mommy, how did you make me this rainbow?"

It makes me smile that when my son walks into a room with me, he doesn't ask, "Mommy, what are you doing?"... instead he asks, "Mommy, what are you making?"

Why, I've made you a rainbow!

Rainbow Experiments and Color Mixing with a Three-Year-Old

2011-06-12T12:00:00.004-04:00

A Story Told in Pictures:

A custom-designed quilt for a special little girl

2011-06-11T13:40:00.014-04:00

For my daughter's nursery, I used the Penelope pattern from Pottery Barn. I fell in love with the adorable little birds on the crib sheets. Eventually these sheets inspired my sweet girl's whole room. What would we do when our baby grew up and needed a big girl bed with big girl sheets and quilt?

Around that time, www.spoonflower.com held a contest to design a "cheater quilt". (A "cheater quilt" is fabric which appears to have been quilted together, but it is actually a patchwork design printed onto a single piece of fabric.) I decided to collage different elements from my little girl's nursery into a patchwork design. The result: 2 yards of quilting weight fabric formed the center panel on a twin size quilt!

I picked up an adorable pink floral fabric to surround my custom-designed fabric on all four sides. The back is a single piece of bright pink fabric. I used 3/4" quilt binding and a zig-zag stitch to bind the edges, and the edges of all center squares are "quilted". In other words, the squares are not pieced together, but I sewed on all of the lines.

My design incorporated sections of the green rug in her room, a collage I had made for her wall with birds made of scrap-booking paper, a polka-dot design from flower pots I painted for her room,...

...photos of an origami mobile my husband and I made for her room, a stylized photo of wavy lines I painted on a dresser drawer pull, and a photo of her minky fabric changing table.

Perfect!!! Now my baby can grow up in style and still enjoy her little birdies!

If you are interested my fabric is available for purchase here.

I am also hoping to use the crib sheets someday to make her twin-bed-sized pillowcases, using a pillowcase tutorial from www.dana-made-it.com, available here.

Tutorial: Place Mats to Teach Place Setting to a Toddler in the Montessori Tradition

2011-06-09T23:02:00.029-04:00

I've been wanting to teach my newly-three-year-old how to set the table for some time. Although I sew and could make the place mats myself, I found some place mats I've had FOREVER (and not used in over 10 years); they were just "begging" to be re-purposed! I've also recently discovered the joys of freezer paper stencils. What a great technique to create the outlines of a plate, cup, and utensils to guide the child in learning the placement of these items!

How can you make a set for your toddler and empower his/her independant spirit? It is so easy!

First, I made a template of 2 forks, a knife, and 2 spoons. I printed out the high-contrast template, placed the freezer paper over the template (shiny side facing down), and traced the utensils onto freezer paper. I traced around the actual plate and cup to create the circular stencils for those objects. I then cut the designs out - five sets of them for my five place mats. In the end, I decided we really weren't fancy enough to require 2 spoons and 2 forks at our meals!

I ironed the freezer paper stencils (shiny side down) to my place mat, checked that the edges were adequately "sealed", and the place mat was ready to paint!

Finally, I painted the silhouettes of the place setting, using a foam brush and fabric paint purchased at Michaels. I used navy blue to match the blue place mats.

After the paint was dry, I removed the stencils by simply peeling them off the surface of the fabric place mats! (The freezer paper does not leave a residue on the fabric.)

TA DA!!! My three-year-old sets the table for himself & our family!

Peaceable Kingdom Quilt

2011-02-04T14:37:00.008-05:00

So, I had never "quilted" before last fall... I can still say, I've never quilted"correctly".. As with all creative endeavors, I jumped in feet first, figuring it out as I went along.

I wanted to be a part of an art exhibit in Anderson, SC that took its inspiration from the Peaceable Kingdom in theBook of Isiaah:

⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

After designing my work on the computer, I had my design commercially printed onto quilting weight fabric, using www.spoonflower.com, a company in North Carolina. I wanted to machine quilt the design. In retrospect, I realize a different sewing machine presser foot would be helpful in this endeavor. :) Next time... However, I completed the project without breaking a needle!

The design depicts animals peacefully surrounding the Earth. There is subtle variation within all of the colors, as there is in batik fabrics. The quilt was machine-quilted on the edge of the world, as well as in a design surrounding the animals. The edges are finished with blanket stitching, using embroidery thread that matches the colors of that portion of the quilt.

As a former Montessori Primary teacher and current stay-at-home mother, I designed it with a classroom or nursery in mind!!

Somehow I missed out on the childhood joy of Shrinky Dinks...

2011-01-01T23:31:00.005-05:00

So, as a child, somehow I missed out on the joy of Shrinky Dinks. One year ago, my sister-in-law remedied this at my request. Armed with my first set of Shrinky Dinks, I began to create. I had high expectations... I wanted them to look professional... I wanted to use them in my jewelry making.

I had been making jewelry using my photography, applying my original images to polymer clay and then covering them in resin. Alas, my colored pencil Shrinky Dink creations did not have the look I was hoping for. What did I expect from a product created for children?

I even bought a book, which had some pretty cool ideas!

But, as I searched Etsy, I saw other Shrinky Dink jewelry. There must be a way to print my photographs onto this amazing shrinkable plastic. Finally, I found my solution. Now I am about to reveal a trade secret here...

I found Grafix brand ink-jet printable, white, shrinkable plastic that could be fed through my printer.

After much experimentation with color/contrast adjustment (the pigment becomes more dense *read "darker"* as it shrinks), I had found my material. How fun! Now I can make anything into jewelry and you can too, with the help of Photoshop, a printer, and shrinkable plastic!

So, now in addition to my polymer clay photography jewelry (pendants and earrings), I can create fun, extremely lightweight earrings. In a recession, it is always fun to seek product lines for all budgets. :)

Designing custom fabric for educational quilts

2011-01-01T22:52:00.008-05:00

Over a year ago in August 2009, I posted about my desire to find a company that would print onto fabric. I had just discovered www.spoonflower.com, the answer to my wish. It is difficult not to get carried away designing fabric! I even hope to use some to make dresses for my little girl, and I used some of my test swatches to make her soft, fabric blocks for Christmas (pictures to come in a future post).

However, my initial desire stemmed from the amount of time I spent piecing together individual educational quilts for classroom teachers. Finally, I have designed fabric, had it printed, and made a new line of quilts that will be more affordable for teachers and for parents! My color wheel quilts have the vividness of my collage quilts, but without the laborious job of piecing them together or edges that might come up over time and with years of use.

I FINALLY posted my first one on Etsy!!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/19444116/color-wheel-categorization-quilt-without

____________________________________________________

With this activity, the child selects items that you provide to them (in a container or basket); the items are of different colors/shades/tints, and the child categorizes them on the matching portion of the color wheel. This material is designed so that you, as a parent or teacher, may provide your own materials from your house or classroom as objects. You may also wish to change the objects often or encourage your children to find objects to add to the box. Although I designed this educational material for a Montessori classroom, it is appropriate for lessons within a Montessori classroom or your home. Even very young children are curious about our colors in the world around them; this lessons capitalizes upon a child's interests. In Montessori primary classrooms, young children receive lessons in the primary and secondary colors with Box I and Box II of the Color Tablets. Although Maria Montessori, a pioneer in early childhood education, designed beautiful materials which are still relevant today, the Color Tablets are a rare exception of materials which were potentially more attractive to children in Montessori's culture (than they are today). In my experience as a Montessori Primary Directress, children rarely choose to return to these materials after their initial lessons. I this designed this Color Wheel Categorization Quilt as an extension of the traditional Sensorial curriculum. In using this material in my own classroom, I find that it draws children back to the color materials; children choose the color wheel quilt on their own, thereby giving the teacher continued opportunities to explore primary and secondary colors with the students. Included in this set: Color Wheel (measuring approximately 10.4" from flat side to flat side and 12.25" from point to point across) - there is quilt batting inside and the back is solid black; BOX AND OBJECTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS PARTICULAR LISTING. Please note: Materials are an original design and cannot be reproduced for sale. Images and Text - Copyright 2010 by Amy M. Kuhl Cox

Coveting coasters no more

2010-12-18T00:10:00.005-05:00

I coveted the handmade fabric coasters I saw on Etsy. My husband's pet peeve is a non-absorbent coaster that is not functional. Our stone coasters are ideal, but pricey. And so, I tackled another project. I have had this beautiful fabric for years, intending to recover chairs with it, but I had enough that I could spare a few coasters... First I cut squares from the fabric with my rotary cutter and straight edge/ruler.

I sewed along three sides (wrong side facing out), essentially making a pocket, turned it inside out, placed a thin layer of quilting batting inside, and topstiched around all four edges (thereby securing the fourth side).

They seemed a little "poofy", so I decided to "quilt" them. I followed one curve of the pattern on one side and one curve of the pattern on the other side. I also used both sides of the fabric, the "right" side and the "wrong" side, so that there would be subtle variations in color.
Sooner than I realized I had a set of eight fabric coasters (four in each color variation), absorbent and functional! And, in a fabric I loved! It was quick and easy without a pattern!

Dinosaur Love

2010-12-13T10:49:00.007-05:00

In my quest tolearn to sew, I've been tackling progressively more challenging projects over the past two weeks (with baby steps). A year ago, I could only list a "straight stitch" on my sewing resume confidently. Still scared of store-bought patterns, I bought a few small, "beginner" pdf patterns from online artisans. One such artisan's website is:

http://www.bitofwhimsydolls.com/

And so I was eager to take the next sewing step by creating bitofwhimsydolls dinosaur pattern. Less than 24 hours later, my dino was finished, and my son named it "Stinger".

Welcome to our family, Stinger. May you be a guardian dinosaur over my projects to come...

Inspired at the holidays

2010-12-12T15:08:00.005-05:00

I've been inspired by all of the new blogs that I found recently. Far from being diaries or forums to explore personal issues, these blogs have been such a source of inspiration and creativity. I am inspired to add more of my creations to my own blog!

How do we mark the holidays - especially now that we are making traditions

for our children? I was excited this year to make an advent wreath. The purple and pink candles burn with nostalgia of my youth. Created as a "reservoir" wreath (that can be watered), it took on a life of its own. It ended up a little more "wild" than intended as though the wreath won our small tug of war in which I was bent on "sculpting" the piece.

Alas, even with my oldest child only being 2.5 years-old, our advent wreath was a welcome addition to our crafting of a family holiday tradition.

Custom Thank You Notes & Matching Return Address Labels

2010-07-22T07:55:00.012-04:00

Custom Thank You Notes with Images of Family & Pets
Matching Return Address Labels

PLEASE TAKE A SECOND TO VOTE FOR MY FABRIC ON SPOONFLOWER.COM!!!!!

2009-09-03T22:46:00.005-04:00

I am a design-finalist in Spoonflower.com's Christmas Fabric Contest, and I need votes to try to win some free fabric!

You are only allowed to vote once, and it will only take a second (REALLY!!!). PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POST WHICH CONTAINS A LINK TO VOTE for Amy Kuhl Cox's "Christmas Lights". (I am hoping this takes you immediately to the voting page.)

...If that doesn't work, try this: http://blog.spoonflower.com/
Scroll down until you see the header, "Vote in the final round of our Christmas Fabric of the Week." Then click on any piece of fabric, & it will take you to a page where you can vote. (The photo of my design doesn't represent the fabric too well unfortunately - it is too much of a close-up. :) But vote for me as #1 anyway!!!)

YOU ARE THE BEST!!!! I think each computer can vote once. Do you have a computer at home AND work or does your spouse/fiance/boyfriend? I need as MANY votes as I can get!!! Are your parents, siblings, friends, strangers on the street willing to take just a second? Can you send the link to them or whomever you feel comfortable asking? I would be VERY GRATEFUL!!! :)

THANKS!!!

New Exploration with Fabric for Educational Quilts

2009-08-18T14:12:00.008-04:00

I've had so much fun being creative during my son's naps this summer! Having designed a number of batik, educational quilts for children over the last year, I have been researching ways to make these quilts more effectively, retaining quality while bringing the price down for teachers.

It seems like a new website in Beta testing may be my answer. Previously, I was cutting out individual shapes of batik fabric and fusing them together into a unique collage. While I enjoyed the process, I am currently seeing whether I might be able to photograph my designs to have commercially printed onto fabric, thereby eliminating the time-consuming labor of love that is piecing the quilt together!

Three of my educational quilts are available for sale on www.amykuhlcox.etsy.com
I have also been designing some new, language, educational quilts that focus on the beginning sounds in words - they are "I Spy" phonetic quilts. (Hopefully these will also be available on www.amykuhlcox.etsy.com come fall.) I have discovered one of my biggest pet peeves is a phonetic material that is designed poorly! So, no airplanes to represent the "a" sound here. And away with you, consonant blends at the beginning of words, when we are trying to isolate a single sound for instruction! :)

I have been so intrigued by fabric design, that over the weekend I designed a Christmas/holiday fabric for Spoonflower.com.
www.spoonflower.com/explore/76413
Now, to see whether I get chosen as a finalist in the contest.... Alas, no matter what, it was a learning experience in Photoshop! :)

Artist's Bio

2009-07-17T21:58:00.004-04:00

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Amy Kuhl Cox received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Therapy and Photography from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and a Masters degree in Modern and Contemporary Art History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Amy has served as an artist-in-residence at a Montessori Infant-Toddler Community and Preschool in St. Louis, an adjunct instructor in Modern Art History at a university in Anderson, SC, as well as the Education Director at the Anderson County Arts Center. Amy received her American Montessori Society Primary certification from Lander University in Greenwood, SC, and served as a Primary Directress at a Montessori school in Simpsonville, SC. Amy has presented on children’s creativity and handmade classroom materials at American Montessori Society and South Carolina Montessori Alliance conferences.

In 2008, Amy launched several websites with her colorful designs to promote peace, an appreciation of diversity, and an awareness of Montessori education. Merchandise with her designs is available at:
www.zazzle.com/peacemontessori*
www.cafepress.com/peacemontessori
www.printfection.com/peacemontessori
These designs abound with bright, fun, bold colors to appeal to primary-aged children whose creativity is the source of her inspiration.

Amy has exhibited her photography in national juried exhibitions and has completed several series of self-portrait photography, exploring the varied sides of a single personality. She has enjoyed black and white photography in a traditional darkroom setting, creating Polaroid transfers of color slide film, as well as digital photography. In college, Amy used liquid emulsion to apply her photography to ceramic vessels. Most recently, she has combined her original photographic images with polymer clay and resin to create pendants and earrings.

Amy’s jewelry and hand-made fiber accessories, including scarves, hats, and felted purses, can be found at her website www.amykuhlcox.etsy.com as well as at Bay 3 Gallery in Anderson, South Carolina’s Anderson County Arts Center Warehouse and Blue Connection Gallery in Decatur, Illinois.