Interviews

 

When a child’s basic needs are met, i.e., food, clothing, shelter and love, they are free to explore the world around them with confidence. Artistic expression is a natural outpouring of this assurance. Today we are talking again with the ever charming and wise Sarah Baldwin; Waldorf educator, and owner of Bella Luna Toys. Tomorrow we will announce a fitting and exciting give away. So… read, learn, enjoy, and come back tomorrow to take part in a fabulous give away!

Kimara: There is often confusion as to the meaning of “artistic expression.” Will you explain the difference between “process” and “product”?

Sarah: One of the first things that drew me to Waldorf education was hearing that artistic activity is incorporated at every age and into every subject studied. Throughout the years, children in a Waldorf school regularly practice drawing, painting, handwork, modeling, woodworking and more.

In Waldorf education, the emphasis of artistic activity is on process and not the finished product. To give you an example, when we practice wet-on-wet watercolor painting in Waldorf kindergarten, the goal is to give children an experience of pure color -- experiencing the qualities of each of the primary colors, discovering what new color appears when two colors “play with each other” on the page, and watching the fluid colors flow and blend on the wet paper. Our goal is not to paint a picture “of” something, but rather to discover what the colors have to say.

In the early years children are allowed total freedom of expression in their drawings and paintings, though the teacher will model how to hold and use the paintbrush, or model drawing with beeswax block crayons.

In the later years, form and artistic technique are introduced, giving children the tools to express their ideas artistically. While the advanced drawings of older students can be quite sophisticated and may appear to be about “product,” yet throughout the years teachers recognize that it is the “process” that is important – what is happening inwardly for the child as she creates a drawing, painting or sculpture? What thoughts and feelings arise for her? How do her hands connect with her head and heart as she creates?

Kimara: Share your thoughts on the importance of parents modeling and embracing their own artistic pursuits with their children.

Sarah: Making art and sharing creative activities together with one’s children is an incredible gift for both parent and child! Parents have the opportunity to model for their children that art and creative endeavors are part of what it means to be human, and that creating art and working artistically with our hands is a lifelong activity that brings joy and satisfaction no matter our age. Children shouldn’t grow up with the idea that art is only practiced at school!

But perhaps more importantly, when we stop and take time from our busy lives to make art with our children, we not only give children the priceless gift of our presence and attention, but we also give a gift to ourselves by taking time to slow down and engage in artistic expression. Artistic practices such as drawing, painting and modeling can aid in our own process of self-discovery.

Again, it’s not about the product, and one needn’t consider oneself an artist in order to take time to make art. Rather, we become much more important examples to children when we model our own striving.

Kimara: Ideally, what supplies would an artistically supportive household have available for children?

Sarah: I imagine that most people’s homes are already full of supplies to make art! Glue, paper, scissors, buttons, yarn, thread, ribbon, fabric scraps and so on. Or parents and children can go out for a walk to collect items from nature with which to make a collage. Art supplies can be found all around us!

While one needn’t spend a lot of money on the “proper” supplies, I think it is nice to have a few well-chosen, good quality art supplies on hand.

In a Waldorf school, even in the earliest years, we provide the children with high quality materials – paints, paper, crayons, 100% wool felt and yarn, and so forth. Why is this? It’s because of the satisfaction that comes by creating something truly beautiful, made with beautiful materials.

I liken it to learning to play music. My two children and I are musicians and have spent years taking lessons. I’ve learned through experience that the better quality instrument one has, the more one will want to play and take pleasure in practicing. People too often think, “Oh, he’s just a child, we’ll just start with a cheap instrument. If he sticks with it and improves, then we’ll get him a better quality instrument.”

Well, what happens is that the child is likely to get frustrated when, no matter how hard he tries and no matter how good his technique, his instrument fails to sound the way he wants. It’s impossible to get a poorly made instrument to produce a beautiful tone. If, however, we provide the child with a good quality instrument at the outset, he will be more pleased with the results and will want to progress and keep playing!

It’s the same with art supplies. Anyone who was to compare a typical preschool painting made on cheap newsprint with tempera paints, alongside a wet-on-wet Waldorf watercolor painting painted with highly pigmented, quality watercolor paint on heavy-weight, artist-grade watercolor paper, would be struck by the difference.

A parent might feel obliged to keep the tempera paintings out of a sense of sentiment or obligation, but in truth, they have a disposable quality.

On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine a parent who would dream of throwing away a child’s wet-on-wet watercolor painting painted with quality paints and paper. The colors appear alive and luminous, and the brightness of the paper shines through. I still have many of my children’s wet-on-wet paintings from their early years. Over the years we used many of them to make beautiful cards and gift tags.

So with that introduction, here is a list of items that I suggest having at home for children of all ages. Some are free or inexpensive; others are more of investment, but with care will last for years.

Ages 3 and Up

• Beeswax Crayons – sticks and blocks (unlike paraffin crayons which are petroleum-based,  beeswax is all natural and non-toxic)
• Drawing Paper
• Watercolor Paper (I recommend 40 lb. weight)
• Watercolor Paints (in jars or tubes – not the dry sets sold for kids)
• Watercolor Paintbrushes (1-inch wide)
• Natural or Organic Play Dough (great ones for sale, but so easy to make your own!)
• Modeling Beeswax (warm it up in your hands before modeling)
• Assortment of Pretty Papers – For collages: tissue paper, origami, etc. (Great variety available here.)
• Jar of Wooden Beads for Stringing
• Child-Safe Glue
• Child-Sized Scissors (Fiskars children’s scissors are especially recommended for developing a child’s fine motor skills)

Additional Items for Children 5 and Older

• Wool Yarn for knitting or fingerknitting
• Wooden Knitting Needles
• Sewing Box equipped with needles (embroidery needles have large eyes which are easier to thread), thread and small embroidery scissors
• Wooden Embroidery Hoop
• Fabric Scraps

Equipped with these items in your home, you and your children will be able to create all manner of beautiful things, and never be at a loss for things to do on a rainy day!

Everyone is use to seeing the Wool Felt Central button up at Wee Folk Art. We discovered Prairie Point Junction, home of Wool Felt Central, soon after Wee Folk Art was born. We have worked closely with Julie Geiger, owner of Prairie Point Junction, to sponsor “give-aways” and to provide Wee Folk Art readers a 20% discount on all their orders. (Just click their button at Wee Folk Art and type WEEFOLKART in the coupon code when placing your order.) Thank you, Julie! But it occurred to us, that we never “officially” introduced Julie and the shop, an oversight we are going to rectify now! As you can well imagine, with the holidays approaching, this is a busy time for crafting shops, and we appreciate Julie taking the time to answer a few questions. So readers… here’s Julie!

Oh, BTW... check back on Wednesday for a super Holiday Give-Away that we are having, sponsored by Julie and Prairie Point Junction!

KIMARA: I only know Prairie Point Junction as an on-line store, but you actually have a shop in Cozad, Nebraska. Tell us a little bit about your shop and how it came to be.

JULIE: I have loved fabric for as long as I can remember. One of my first fabric memories is when I convinced my Mom to buy a huge grocery sack of scraps for $5.00 at a garage sale of a lady that did alterations and bridal sewing. That bag was filled with such delightful treasures (at least in the eyes of my 6 year old self). I spent hours crafting things for my dolls with scraps, tape and a stapler since I didn’t yet have the skills to use a needle and thread or a machine.

Eventually I progressed to using a sewing machine and discovered 4-H, then later worked at a small craft store in high school and a few fabric chain stores during college. The owners of the local Ben Franklin store where I worked in high school played a tremendous role in shaping my future and my love for retailing. Looking back, I’ve been so blessed to have encountered the right people at the right time to lead me on this path towards a career that I love each and every day.

I have a degree in Family and Consumer Education and taught in the public school system for a couple years before pursing my life’s dream of opening a quilt shop. I opened Prairie Point Junction, in Cozad, Nebraska in 1998. We started with barely 800 bolts of fabric and a very empty looking building - but in the past 12 years we’ve grown dramatically and sure have filled up the space.

We now stock close to 2500 bolts of 100% cotton fabric, plus 90 colors of wool felt, a wide assortment of 100% wools and every kind of pattern, book, or notion you could want for quilting, crafts, and all kinds of creative endeavors.

KIMARA: So, you’ve been in business for over 12 years now. Thinking back to the beginning, what have been some of the major crafting changes that have impacted your shop?

JULIE: One of the biggest trends I remember was the Rag Quilt. This was a super easy quilt where you made little block “sandwiches” with a piece of batting placed in between two pieces of flannel. You would stitch a X across the block, then sew all the blocks together, clip the seams, and let it fray when you washed it. I think this easy quilt introduced a lot of new people to quilting - especially those that may have been intimidated by the whole process. We carried a huge array of flannel at the time, but it seems like that trend has come and gone.

Easy to piece quilt patterns have become much more readily available recently. That’s fantastic news for the next generation of quilters and crafters out there who would like to give in a try. Moda has really jumped on the bandwagon with their development of pre-cut fabrics including charm packs, jelly rolls, layer cakes and more. There is a wide variety of patterns available using the precuts, so all you have to do is grab a stack of fabric and you are ready to begin a project. Moda also hosts www.modabakeshop.com , where you can download a variety of free patterns using all these fantastic pre-cuts.

I’m honored to have designed three free pattern tutorials for the Bake Shop:
The Chenille Couch Cozy
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/12/aster-manor-chenille-cuddler.html

Verna’s Cutting Garden
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/02/vernas-cutting-garden-tablerunner.html

And Frolic’n Butterflies
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/05/frolicn-butterflies-quilt.html

The other major change specifically for our shop has been the addition of the Wool Felt Central area. At International Quilt Market several years ago, I noticed several pillows and small projects made from this “new to me” product - Wool Felt. I ordered about 8 or 10 bolts of felt at the time in colors that went with the projects I had seen on display. As more and more patterns caught my eye over the next couple years, we added more and more colors to support the patterns. That has certainly snowballed as we now stock 90 colors of wool blend felt from National Nonwovens.

I think part of the demand for felt is related to a growing concern for safe toys for kids, a growth in the home school, Waldorf, and Montessori movements; as well as a desire to return to our homes and make useful products while expressing our creativity. Wool felt is such a versatile project, that the uses are absolutely endless. National Nonwovens, the manufacturer of the felt we stock, certifies that their products meet CPSC standards related to lead and phtalates - so customers can rest assured that they are purchasing a safe product.

KIMARA: At what point did you go “global” and start your internet shop? How has that affected your business?

JULIE: We’ve had a website from nearly the time we opened in 1998. At first, the website mostly was an information source for our local customers with class schedules, store hours, etc. We later added shopping cart software and began selling patterns here and there - not really ever expecting it be a significant part of our business.

As blogging, Etsy, and the web in general began to play a larger role in all our lives, whole new communities have developed online. This had made it easier to network and find the supplies that you need for a particular project.

I hate to admit it, since it goes against the grain of my over-planning self (see former career as a teacher), but we really fell into the Wool FeIt Central concept quite by accident. Wool Felt happened to be one of the few things after patterns that we started posting on our site. Not long after, we saw the demand continue to grow and found ourselves shipping several packages a day. Since that time, Wool Felt Central has played a staring role in what we do here at Prairie Point Junction.

Our classroom space was remodeled to become the Wool Felt Central shipping department. A full time staff person now is devoted to handling shipments in addition to six part-time staff that work throughout the shop. We ship all over the US, including Canada. Considering Cozad, Nebraska, is a town of only 4, 500 located smack dab in the middle of the United States - I consider that to be a pretty amazing feat!

Prairie Point Junction Staff: Julie, Terri, Barb, Deb, Misty, Jolene, Pam, and Connie.
(That’s a rock climbing wall in the background, just in case you were trying to figure that out!)

KIMARA: I can’t imagine having all of those resources available to me on a daily bases. Talk about a great stash! Obviously, you spend a great deal of time developing crafts for your business, but when leisurely crafting, how do you while away the hours?

JULIE: I just can’t seem to keep fabric out of my mind. When I have free time, I still love to sew just about anything. My favorite way to spend the day is sewing with several of my friends for a “girls’ day.” I prefer to sew easy projects that don’t require a great deal of concentration when I want to relax.

I’m also a huge fan of scrapbook, though that doesn’t happen nearly as often as I’d like. I started as a traditional paper scrapbook, but in the last few years have gone mostly digital. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to create pages. It still allows me to be creative and preserve memories, but keeps the supplies and mess to a minimum. Which is super great as I already have a room filled to the gills with fabric.

KIMARA: Okay, let’s talk felt for a minute. You have a wonderful article online for working with wool felt. You give directions for prewashing felt. I’m curious. Do you usually prewash your felt before working with it? In what circumstances is it desirable and when is it best not to?

JULIE: Lately, I’ve not been nearly as gung-ho about prewashing the wool felt as I used to be. You can certainly use the wool blend felt straight as-is from the bolt. It is very flat in texture as it is. I’ve gotten on this kick making faux sugar cookie ornaments with felt and have designed four patterns for a variety of holidays. I prefer the felt to be flat so it looks more like frosting. Plus I think the detail stitching is easier to see on the flat surface. I also like the body that the felt has before it has been washed.

The swatch on the left is straight from the bolt, the swatch on the right has been felted.

I’ve also been addicted to the little candle mats from Bari Sue Gaudett of Bareroots (below). They have such tiny pieces, that I feel like I can get a much more accurate cut from flat felt - not felted felt. (Try saying that three times fast.)

That said, I’m more likely to prewash when I working on a larger penny rug or perhaps a pillow where I really want the texture to stand out. The mats from Penny Lane Primitives (below) look really nice when the felt is prewashed. The felt will look a little bit more like boiled wool, or a wool sweater, for example of you pre-wash it.

If you haven’t worked with wool blend felt before, be sure you print a copy of our Tip Sheet. It will answer many of your questions regarding project preparation. http://www.prairiepointjunction.com/wooltips.html

KIMARA: Last year you started carrying 100% woven woolens that are not felted, but can be. What type of projects would you suggest using the 100% woven woolens for and what is the best way to felt it?

JULIE: The 100% woven wools are great when you need a pattern rather than a flat color. We’ve got a wide variety of plaids, tweeds, herringbones, etc. Sometimes its fun to add that touch of pizzazz to your project for perhaps Santa’s coat, a nice fall leaf, or fur on an animal. The varied patterns can make your applique look just a tad more realistic.

The 100% wools can easily be felted using hot water in your washing machine, then tossing in the dryer. This will help compact the fibers and prevent them from raveling as much.

KIMARA: Finally, you are a mom. I’m always interesting in knowing how people like to spend family time. What are some of your family’s favorite “together” activities?

JULIE: I have a seven year old son that loves to express his creativity too. He loves to have free reign of my wool felt tub to make whatever strikes his fancy. One of our most recent projects was making Mario action figures - they’re not dolls, MOM! I really encourage you to let your kids go wild with a stack of felt, you never know what they’ll come up with.

My husband farms, but we actually live within the city limits. Depending on the time of year, we sometime have much more family time than others. I’d say that our main activity is anything that makes us laugh together.

Thanks for taking time to learn a little bit more about me and Prairie Point Junction, home of Wool Felt Central. I love hearing what everyone is making with felt. If you’d like to share your projects, be sure to e-mail me at prairiepointjunction@yahoo.com. We’d love to feature your creations on our blog at www.woolfeltcentral.blogspot.com.

We just found out last week that my son Drew, and his wife Meghan, are having a baby girl! We are all very excited... well ALMOST everyone is excited. Poor Bug is surrounded by girls and was hoping that his new cousin would be a boy. Pixie and Fairy couldn't be more excited and are already making plans.

So, now that we know that the baby is a girl... (no names decided on yet, so Drew started referring to her as the Little Lady) I am now ready to start crafting for her.

The other day Michelle and I were at the bookstore. We had a mound of books stacked on a table, and armed only with a cup of coffee, set out to be inspired. Michelle discovered this book... Fairy Tale Knits. It is gorgeous!

Often, when I look at crafting books, I see 1 or 2 projects I'd like to make. This book was jam packed with adorable knit projects that I know the grandbabies would love. I especially loved that fact that there were awesome projects for boys. There is a Robin Hood sweater that I plan to make for Bug.

But, right now, I need to make a few things for the Little Lady :) I saw this adorable afghan... actually, they refer to it as a Magic Carpet... you can see that, right? What fun! Okay, it is not that practical. The finished size is only 36" square BUT it is such a sweet blanket for a baby to lay on. Then it will make a wonderful afghan to be shared with dollies when Little Lady is older. So, I personalized the colors and decided not to put the pom-poms on the ends. (I didn't think the afghan needed them, and I didn't want a potential choke hazard.) This afghan went so fast, and I managed to get it done in a week.

One project done, many more to go. I'll keep you posted. 

Michelle and I are very please to introduce our newest sponsor, Hip Mountain Mama... "Mama" being the lovely and inspiring Suzy Hawbaker. According to their site, Hip Mountain Mama is... "a family owned company focusing on natural, green, reusable, and eco-friendly products." They have "everything from classic wooden toys, playsilks, organic cotton toys, and natural art supplies for kids to handmade jewelry, reusable cloth napkins, and knitting bags for mamas." But that is just the tip of the iceberg! They have baby carriers and hemp clothing, yoga essentials and cloth hygiene supplies, toys and children's shoes, reusable shopping bags and stainless steel water bottles; so many things for the environmentally conscious consumer.

But that's not all. Through Hip Mountain Mama Blog, Suzy continues to share with us a bit about the family, a bit about the shop, and a bit about their family's journey to embrace a more sustainable life style. Then, as a means of encouraging others to join their quest, Suzy and her husband started, One Small Change, a blog dedicated to supporting others committed to reducing their carbon footprint by making one small change at a time.  

If you've never been to Hip Mountain Mama you're in for a treat. So, do yourself a favor, grab a few quiet moments, read our interview with Suzy Hawbaker, spend some time exploring Hip Mountain Mama and then, head over to Hip Mountain Mama Blog and One Small Change, to get to know Suzy a little better, see how their family is making a difference and become acquainted with their incredible shop!  

Then be watching our blog... anxiously... over the next couple of weeks for the Giveaway we are planning with Hip Mountain Mama :) But for the time being... here's Suzy!

Kimara: It only takes a moment at your site to realize that you are environmentally conscious. Did this commitment evolve over time or did you have a cathartic experience that propelled you in that direction?

Suzy: It definitely evolved over time. I remember one of my college professors in 1999 talking about how he wanted to live a sustainable lifestyle. At that point I didn’t really understand what that meant. But, I believe this was my starting off point to really becoming aware of living more environmentally conscious. I had already been eating a lot of organic foods and using a lot of natural products, but I started realizing how much more to it there really was. After I had my kids I started making more and more changes and am still, today, making changes to lessen my carbon footprint. It is an ever evolving experience!

Click HERE to read the entire interview.