Hello! Welcome to the first installment of Zany Du ramblings aka my blog aka something new I'm trying aka I hope I make it past 3 entries. No, I kid. Kinda. What better way to start this off than with my first handmade shirt!
Let me take you back to Daisy Scouts circa 1990 something when puff paint was like crack to crafters. I remember getting in a big circle with these pink sweatshirts laying in front of each girl with paint on paper plates, sponges in flower shapes and bottles of puff paint at each station. I was GIDDY. But I played it off cool like I always did. No big deal. I quietly went to town picking out the perfect colors and shapes and placing them delicately on the sweatshirt. I looked around at other girls' sweatshirts making sure I was on the right track and when it was time to write my name I steadied my hand with the puff paint and knocked that signature out of the park! Look at the penmanship!
Then we waited. And waited. And waited for it to dry before we could wear them. When I finally tried it on I think it ended up being too small. I was a chubby kid (who grew up to be a chubby adult) and this was pretty typical but that sob story is for another day. lol. This was the best day of Daisy Scouts ever! Better than the time we made airplanes. Better than the nature walks. Better than the time we went to day camp and when it was my turn in Red Rover to send Alex right over I ran and slipped on a rock falling flat on my back hitting my head and spending the rest of the day in the back of someone's minivan with an icepack.
Actually, ANY day at Girl Scouts was better than that day...
As many of you know my husband and I bought a house at the beginning of the year. We had lived in a cramped two bedroom apartment for long enough. Somehow I made a studio AND inventory AND office fit into a guest room. Needless to say.... we never had any guests. But here we are! 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a freakin' office! *fist pump* Not to mention a garage for all my printing gear. I'm beyond excited. I have space to upgrade my equipment, a place for Christmas decorations and a small little corner for Erik's lawnmower sandwiched between the garage and recycling cans. That's all he gets.
With this new home has come multiple car loads from my parent's house of stuff I did not know was "mine". For example- a bin full of MY baby clothes. Stuffed. To the brim. Everything from the snow suit I wore home from the hospital to the sweaters my grandmas knitted me to a bunch of 90's looking throw back pieces that are probably going to make a return in fashion any day now. My mother, being the most sentimental person on the planet, claims she saved them for me to use for my children but I'm skeptical. I think she didn't have the heart to get rid of them but if I choose to have a hipster baby these pieces will come in handy!
In that bin was yet another puff paint masterpiece and inspiration for one of my own designs. Ah, yes the Alexandrasaurus tee. My goodness is it delicious or what? Puff paint. Check. Dinosaur. Check. Play on words. Check. Bought at a craft fair where some lady hand wrote my name. Check. This tee has it all!
Since this photo I've soaked it in Oxyclean and washed it and it looks brand new. I'll be saving this to humiliate my own child someday because I mean... what are moms for, right? I love it.
While I'm glad I have the knitted pieces and these puff paint gems it made having to accept the entire bin totally worth it. Who knows- maybe after washing the other pieces I can pair them with modern clothes to give a totally unique look for my future children. Only time will tell.
Next post- more dinosaurs.
Until then,
Alex
aka Zany Du
aka Alexandra Elizabeth Independence Pitsch