Birthday Number: 42

Explainer - A cube has 6 sides: 6 X 7= 42
 

More Birthday Club for an XI year old

 I wanted to have a sewing project in my birthday club. The project I set up leans heavily on my grandson 's interest in baseball. Hence the project - making a baseball. Fortunately I was able to be with him to guide him through this one. 

This was what was in the kit:

  

After pinning the 2 pieces together, he stitched them together. Backstitches helped him keep control of the stitch size. To his credit, he was able to thread his own needle!

When it was stitched together and stuffed, he started the baseball stitch. 

The finished ball. He was well pleased. 

With Whimsy: EPL exhibition

 Eleven of my Book Houses are on exhibit at the Stanley Milner Library downtown until November 20, 2026. They are part of the With Whimsy exhibition.

 

They are on the third level at the top of the walkway.

There are a few different gallery spaces in the library. There is an 'Art Guide' available, but it gives information about the permanent collection, not about the temporary exhibits. A little wandering and asking staff will get you to the other gallery spaces. 

Birthday Number: 16

 

The Coffee Bag Flower

 This is made from coffee bags. 

The flower ball is about 28 cm across and, with the stick, it is 74cm tall.

Birthday Number: 68

 

68

2026

Baby Sloth

 

One of a kind. I made it up as I went along. 

Birthday Craft Club for an XI year old

Like the other birthday club, this will run for 6 months. 

The first project is building an Eiffel Tower out of cardboard. It took me a day to figure out the design and build it. Then another day to make a new set of parts and write the directions. It took an afternoon for the XI year old to build it. 

These photos show some of the process:

The second project will be building a kaleidoscope. The hardest part of preparing this project was finding reflective enough paper.

These are the elements:

The finished product:

The third project will be to make a pocket book using maps.

The elements:

The process:

This sets me up until September. The last 3 projects are in the design phase. 

Birthday Number: XI

 I decided to introduce Roman Numerals after I saw a post on Instagram where the person wrote about Artemis 11 - as in, Artemis eleven. I can see where different fonts can lead to confusion, but still, here is a quick review: I - 1; V - 5; X - 10; L - 50; C- 100; M - 1000

 I am LXIX years old. Figure it out. 

The birthday number for an 11 year old:

In this case, there is trouble with the reverse side because it means 9!

Marbles

 

The needlework Klimt from the previous post was a kit. There were extra strands of all the colours. It took me a little while to come up with an idea about what to make from a single strand. I made marbles. 

 

Needlework Backpack

 I have wanted to do a needlework for a while. I thought the activity might be fun. It was fun. I might do another ..... if I can think what to do with it. 

This one became a backpack. 

Book Review

 I have been turning these Journals into houses since August 2022. I started viewing the journals as an art supply when it became clear to me that there would be no way to rehome them besides the recycling bin. I read these journals from cover to cover when they came into the house, and I read them again before I "worked" on them. That is not bad for an academic journal.  

I present here the links to the complete set: 

1) Book House  

2) Book Village

3) Two Streets Book: Upper Street and Lower Street

4) Book Neighbours

5) Book Apartments

6) Empty Nest Book

7) Book Faerie House

8) Book: Hanging House

9) Book: Bee House

10) Book Room

11) Book Burrow

12) Three Villages Book

13) Book: Tree House

Book: Tree House

This is the last Persuasions Journal turned into a Book: House.  

Not to worry. I have other supplies. 

This one was hard to photograph. The entry is through the floor and the jacket is hanging on a rack next to that opening. There is a hat and scarf on the shelf by the jacket, and books on the shelf on the back wall. 

The Atelier: This is on the right side of the tree. You can't see it in the front view. 

The clothes line and laundry basket: 

Outdoor activities: soccer and a swing

View with bird nests.