Thanksgiving project

A few years ago I decided I would make "abstract" gourd turkeys and send them to my grandmothers.  I loved the way they turned out...most of all, I liked that they were a vessel for communicating the many "I am thankful for"s that my family wanted to share with our loved ones.

I tied a red balloon around the stem/beak to a gourd that had a head, neck, body proportion.  I cut out a bunch of colorful leaf shapes and wrote specific, individualized "I am thankful for..." statements with my family on each leaf that was then push-pinned in a fanned out "feather" pattern" to the round piece of cork that I found in the garden section at the hardware store.  I had drilled two holes on one side of the circle and threaded ribbon through it so it could be tied around the "fattest" part of the gourd.  (My granny said that as the gourd dried, she had to keep tying the ribbon belt tighter)

In case you want to make your own version...the supplies needed are few -

1 "goose neck" gourd for body, 1 red balloon for a gobbler, a garden supply cork round, paper shapes for feathers, push pins, ribbon, your own "thankful for"s.

making and sharing

Hello friends,

I'm still learning how to use Etsy...so if you've gotten on to my "this leads to" etsy shop and found nothing in the store, I'm sorry.  There were sheep in there, but they've wandered off somehow.  I'll work on my shepherding.

Always feel free to just send me an email or facebook message to inquire about new things I'm working on and what I'm still up to.  Thank you very much for your support and continued encouragement.

I made a pretend felt cake for an adoption fundraiser silent auction this weekend after a friend urged me to do so with sweet enthusiasm.  Here are some pictures of the caramel apple cake.  I'll try to put some cakes up in the Etsy store soon.  Let me know if you have some flavor/color requests.

Visit my new Etsy shop

At last, it's simpler to buy thinkingland creations.  Visit the Etsy shop here. 

Quilting

Just discovered the webiste, folkstreams.net - A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures.  There are topical listings of documentaries on families, traditions, arts, and culture.  A couple of the films were on quilt-making as a folk-art.  The film, Quilts in Women's Lives, profiling three different women and their quilt-making traditions was what I wanted to share with you today.  The common theme of a touchable, tactile object like fabric and the quilt making and finished product being a means to conversation, therapy and memory preservation was captured in the words of each of the women.

Here's a trailer to the film...

Polish Animation

I just learned about the Polish Animator, Witold Giersz.  One of his short, animated films from the sixties is for sale on ebay in 16mm format.  I'm always searching for good shorts to include in the 16mm short film festival that I curate with my sisters and hold every few years.  Giersz's animated shorts will now be added to my "keep an eye out for" list.  I learned more about the scope of the animated films by Giersz from an interview posted on the Michael Sporn Animation company's "splog".  The interview originally appeared in a 1980 issue of the European magazine, Animafilm.  The article mentioned Giersz's unique usage of paints directly on celluloid that were uncommon in mid-century animation.  The film, The Little Western, that used the mixing of paints to form characters sounded interesting...and I found it so you also can enjoy the artful storytelling.  So, here it is...Maly Western (1961) by Witold Giersz.