Story Dice for Ursa

Once upon a time there was a friend of Safiya's named Ursa who liked to make up stories and who was having a seventh birthday.

Fortunately, Safiya's Mama was blessed with a solitary morning. This was because Safiya and Mr. S. had gone to proctor an exam at the university (it was Safiya's job to hand out the exams and remind everyone not to cheat). Safiya's Mama enjoyed her blissful morning by gathering up some supplies and leisurely crafting a birthday present for Ursa, having been inspired by some ideas for story dice that she saw posted on The Crafty Crow, by The Small Object, and by fo`ne`tic`lee speaking. It involved using her rather rusty drawing skills, but she approached the task with courage.


A house, ant, hot air balloon, orange shoes, green cat, blue elephant, clothesline, hopscotch, tree, paintbrush, bicycle, wings, wheelbarrow, mountain, rainclouds, stars, red purse, and birthday cake (with seven candles!) later, Safiya's Mama was quite pleased. She added some beeswax polish, a little sewn book (made from lined paper and a wallpaper sample from Farrow and Ball), a draw-string bag and ta-da!


A little bag of endless story possibilities, just waiting to come out!

The Pigeon Meets a New Friend

I have a feeling that Safiya's memories of me are going to consist mostly of me hovering about taking pictures from odd angles...

That being said, this is a good snapshot of our typical morning table. Books, craft, crepes, cookies...I'd be lying if I said that I don't eat cookies for breakfast. (Someday I'll have to share why they get baked a mere four at a time in our house.) As for the bird, Safiya cut up the wool sweater scraps into tiny pieces to for stuffing, which she proceeded to execute with enthusiasm (not the bird, the stuffing of), after she figured out that making a stuffed animal was a lot like making beanbags (she's helped me with hundreds of those, what with the child labour laws routinely being ignored around here):



And after it was all done, the old pigeon finally met the new pigeon...


I think it looks a little stunned :-) They'll both be travelling with us wherever we go for a while, I'm sure...

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

...She chortled in her joy! Tomorrow is Mr. S's birthday, and when I asked Safiya what she wanted to give Babo for his birthday, she didn't hesitate - "A BEANBAG!" There was no doubt, she wanted to make him a beanbag. So she picked out the fabric ("'cause I know he likes flowers") and helped cut it out a little ("I'll let you finish, Mama"). Then she said it had to have a "B for Babo" on it. How would we do that? "Ummmm, sparkles?" I gently directed her away from the whole sparkle and glue idea (tricky, delicate stuff with a three-year-old, I'll tell 'ya) and then we decided that we could use thread.

Her first bit of embroidery! She sat on my lap, little fingers gripping the needle, asking a million why questions, giggling when she motioned that she was sneakily going to put the needle down on the other side of the B, and commenting once in a while, very seriously, that "this can be a little tricky, Mama". By the end she had really got the hang of it. It was wonderful.

Then she helped sew it right sides together, turn it inside out ("Like a worm! Come on, little worm!..."), fill it up with buckwheat and lavender ("'cause I'm the buckwheat lady!"), and sew it closed. She was so happy and excited.

And so am I :-)