tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75536487943972593082026-03-23T19:40:42.410-04:00A crafter living and making in Michigan, who loves wandering through the arts including photographing, memory keeping, journal making, painting, sewing and knitting.Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-36261172070783070392014-11-29T00:30:00.000-05:002014-11-29T01:32:07.231-05:00

This year I'm so thankful for the totally unplanned fun. In between the mundane and the hard, there is so much good. going to a night time ice skating party on Belle Isle where the guests shoveled larger and larger patches to skate on volunteering to take Kaia out on a very short walk when it was -14 degrees going along on Matt's business trip to L.A. and walking along Venice Beach with

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-68796023429637465892014-11-04T23:48:00.000-05:002015-08-07T17:37:31.391-04:00

Because it's getting dark so very early these days, because I read this great post about NaBloPoMo - national blog posting month - which talks about showing up here just because it's fun, because I have two years of possible posts I could share...and just because. I'm ready for a 37 by 37 list. In 2013, I made a 35 by 35 list. This year I had a 36 by 36 list.

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-4924189739071237192014-08-01T07:30:00.000-04:002014-08-01T07:30:00.620-04:00

I've been looking through collage books again. Thinking about paper and gel medium. I've also been doing some things I've wanted to do before I turn 36 at the end of the month. Like fly a kite with my nieces. And go paddleboarding with a friend. Giving away art for Free Art Friday was one of them.  I don't actually want to give this one away. I like it. But I'm going to let go

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-39276272441592875882014-03-17T00:55:00.000-04:002014-03-17T00:55:06.479-04:00

Of all the things I want to do this year, this was tops. I once had a professor who took her grandchildren anywhere in the world they wanted to go for their bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah. It was a tradition I wanted to start with my own nieces - all five of them - though without the "anywhere in the world" part. Granted it would be great if I could swing an Amazonian river cruise or trip to Paris

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-71521569508720539012014-02-17T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-17T08:00:02.954-05:00

I never mentioned that for 2014, the one little word I choose was "abundance." Or rather, it choose me. Over the holidays I read a book of love letters written between Matt's grandparents while they were courting. It was gifted to us by Matt's aunt and is quite a treasure, since we love them so. When they embarked on a long-distance courtship, they were both engaged in full-time professional

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-79729750874665245852014-02-11T00:41:00.001-05:002014-02-11T00:42:39.255-05:00

I've wanted to learn to make dresses for awhile. This Washi dress in particular. This weekend was the weekend. I grew up with women who quilted and made dolls, but not garments. This probably saved me from having to wear a lot of embarrassing ensembles, but still, I've always been interested in garment sewing. My first sewing project was a purse that I made out of shiny

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-28060370439400534302014-01-01T20:00:00.001-05:002014-11-03T13:38:34.943-05:00

I'm writing up a post on how it went in 2013 with my 35 by 35 list. But in the meantime, on this first day of the New Year, here is my 36 by 36 list. This year, like my friend Sarah does with her annual list, I'm going to try for half this time around. I'm getting the hang of this now. I carried forward #1-23, with some modification. Some are longer term works-in-progress (#2-6, #10,

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-40544753853803421072013-12-07T08:30:00.000-05:002013-12-07T08:30:00.617-05:00

Now is an in-between season for me. I decided a couple months ago, thanks to this prompting, to slowly go through every closet. Every nook of my living space - both physical and spiritual - and to work on a gentler approach to my life. Less of the things I don't need and more of what is essential. A couple days after I turned in my dissertation in mid-August, Matt and I were in

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-23708947289489320402013-08-15T16:39:00.001-04:002013-08-15T16:39:18.427-04:00

I started this currents list during a short study break last week, the final week of working on my dissertation, while on vacation with my family. My 5-year old niece above kept saying, "Aunt Sara's still working." I told her, "Next time I see you, I won't be working." I think my whole life will feel like a vacation from now on. Location: Up north. Watching: My nieces play - their

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-66614680374467851042013-06-07T14:16:00.001-04:002013-06-17T22:06:13.073-04:00

In the past couple years, I've benefited so tremendously from other women sharing their stories online. Now after I've had time to deal with things privately, I feel a responsibility to 'out' myself as infertile and as someone who has experienced pregnancy loss. Plus, keeping quiet it is tiring and I'm tired enough. Our prognosis is good but we've had really painful setbacks in the last few

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-46230666012131181322013-04-29T20:38:00.001-04:002013-04-29T21:29:03.689-04:00

One of my 35 before 35 goals was to fill a journal up with collages. I'm on my way. For me, collage is just a way to unwind and play around. I try not to think about it too hard. Yet, it's a fun puzzle - cutting out pieces and moving them around until they start to feel right. Eventually I say good enough, turn the page and start the next one. It's a low pressure way to play around with style,

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-30362700253296438622013-04-21T19:53:00.003-04:002013-04-21T19:55:32.521-04:00

One of the best weekends I had last year was camping with a group of friends on Lake Michigan. Despite growing up in Michigan, I had never heard of Nordhouse Dunes before the trip. It's a wonderful place to spend time. Our first night, we walked down to the beach in the darkness, then laid down in the sand to look up at the starriest sky. A few of us swam under the stars. It was early September

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-74528628339225738362013-04-16T20:53:00.000-04:002013-04-16T20:53:36.271-04:00

This long, dark winter is extending into spring.      January 2013, Higgins Lake It's still quite chilly most days but today there was green grass in the park. Soon enough the treetops will be green too and it'll be time to go back to the beach and to enjoy the sun. Early September 2013, Lake Michigan

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-23230227176136121562013-02-16T14:57:00.002-05:002013-02-16T14:57:49.576-05:00

We celebrated my grandma's 86th birthday on Tuesday. My friend Elizabeth writes some really funny posts about her grandma. My grandma is also the kind of person who is hilarious without realizing she's being hilarious. I wanted to remember some of the conversations we had the other night so I thought I'd share. It's important to know first that she's a devout Catholic, and there was big news

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-55599386261689302742013-02-06T00:57:00.001-05:002013-02-06T00:57:53.173-05:00

This brought me some happiness in January. Getting the record player out of the basement. Cleaning out the horribly cluttered shelves in the dining room and filling it with speakers and records and cookbooks. Getting these prints on the walls and setting up the little calendar a friend bought me at Renegade Chicago in December.  There was the moment I finally figured out how to

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-45195785084073419502013-01-11T01:06:00.002-05:002014-01-01T13:22:24.061-05:00

Rather than resolutions this New Year, I wrote a list of 35 things I want to do before I turn 35 in late August. Writing down these intentions was all inspired by my brave and adventurous friend Sarah, whose list of 100 New Things To Do in 2012 allowed me to go along on adventures I probably wouldn't have done on my own, like going to roller derby and drag queen bingo and riding

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-37468486698448241732012-10-22T00:37:00.004-04:002012-10-22T00:40:28.559-04:00

This fall, my creative time is pretty much reduced to taking pictures on my android photo and editing them in Instagram (@wandercraft). It provides about 5 minutes of creative time a day, which is better than nothing. Right now, I'm appreciate it both for the limited editing choices and for a chance to think a bit more about composition in my photos. I also like saving up little snippets of

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-6661970859192351352012-08-28T07:30:00.000-04:002012-08-28T07:30:02.596-04:00

For my 34th birthday, I wanted to head way up north on a trip that was long overdue to see one of my favorite people. We've been back in Michigan for over two years and I had not been to the Upper Peninsula in that time, which I realize means I hadn't really been home until now. Right as we moved in to our new home, I bought an old plastic Polaroid camera at a neighbor's estate sale for a couple

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-14923332448560179502012-06-17T00:32:00.002-04:002012-06-17T00:32:24.892-04:00

One of my closest friends came to spend the night. She came in the fall, and we had our first Detroit weekend together. Luckily she enjoyed it enough to come back. Last time, we made a fire in our fire pit in the backyard, biked with the dog along the river, and scored some 'real deal' tacos in Southwest Detroit from a taco truck that were so good I've looked for it on every drive I've made

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-20129133476701551582012-05-18T13:27:00.000-04:002012-05-18T13:28:22.797-04:00

I've been playing around a new medium - encaustic paints. Encaustic paints are a combination of beeswax and damar resin. Since sometime last year I have been slowing reading up on them and ordering or finding supplies to make my own paint. I love all things bees (minus the stings) so this art form really interested me. You can buy the pre-made and tinted paints from a company or on Etsy but

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-12818341458732036042012-05-14T22:47:00.000-04:002012-05-18T13:29:07.077-04:00

During most of the time we were in Vancouver last week, Matt handled the "real" camera. I was happy with my Instax (I'll post the instants once I washi them into my little trip journal). When I did take over the manual  camera for awhile, this is what I saw. I'll be back soon with a few more details. It was a pretty laid back week but we did some worthwhile tourist-ing.

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-72177463028950705232012-04-20T16:37:00.000-04:002012-05-18T13:29:32.861-04:00

Sunday morning it was my turn to walk the dog. I grabbed the camera because the park has been this magical spring dreamland the last couple weeks.  The park is particularly dreamy before the city gets around to cutting the grass. It reminds me of my favorite books as a child where bunnies frolicked with little girls in fields filled with dandelions and long grass. As I was looking

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-55759535088131619562012-02-20T23:42:00.000-05:002012-02-20T23:42:28.322-05:00

I've been missing winter. I was telling a Southerner last week that it didn't feel right to me as a Northerner to go through winter without experiencing a proper, bone chilling deep freeze. Then I told him about the winter when they shut down the university for a couple weeks and the roads were like snow tunnels, and the winter when a dog in Matt's town ran over the frozen Straits of Mackinac and

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-84609964905662367142012-01-08T23:00:00.000-05:002012-01-08T23:00:44.753-05:00

For the last couple years I've chosen one little word to guide me through the year. When New Year's rolled around this year I tried to remember  my word for 2011 and I couldn't remember! So, my word clearly didn't stick with me - guiding me through my every move in 2011. I had to look back at my blog posts to remember if I'd even chosen a word in 2011. But, I did

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553648794397259308.post-39761796118896821702011-11-23T12:39:00.001-05:002011-11-23T12:40:24.769-05:00

We call her... Kaia Puppers Pupper Pup Kaia Girl Muffin Kaia Muffin Muffin Girl Miss K Miss Kaia Muchacha Huntress Monster Beast Beastie Matt and I often joke about how funny it is to us that we keep this beast in our house and take her for walks around the neighborhood on a string. Like we're keeping a wild animal captive and promonading

Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12005975478277838971noreply@blogger.com1