gather 'round

Wow! That gather bucket was a bigger hit than I had expected! I see my family is in good company with our nature collecting habit. So without further ado... the winner is Lynn. Lynn plans on gathering with her grandchildren. Hooray Lynn! Please contact me via e-mail with your mailing address and preference for the toadstool or Goldfinch Moleskine notebook. For all of the rest of you, I hope you jump in and make your own collecting buckets. I will be selling a small and large one for the non-sewers in the upcoming weeks, but what do you think I'm most excited about? Those Gather Bucket Kits! Sounds like there is enough interest to create a tutorial and package up the components. The pleasure in making something with your own hands is so satisfying, that I want everyone to give it a try. This is why I enjoy sharing tutorials so much... and I do try to balance the sewing ones with the crafting ones: to make it fun for everyone.

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I promised you some references for sharing nature with children. In the process of collecting my book list (and checking in with my mother, the most amazing nursery school teacher in the world... along side my grandmother of course!), I realized it was time I did some organizing for all of you. I hope to put together a little bookshop of sorts, inspired by Amanda's, to share all of my resources. There are just too many for one post. In the mean time, check out this little list from last year and be sure to look in the comment section, because Margie added some great sources also. These are a couple of the worn and loved ones that I've picked up over the years, often at garage sales, so they might be a little dated... but still so good!

Click on the picture for a closer look and Google any that might interest you. I have others out on loan ( I actually have a such a big library from homeschooling days that I end up lending a bunch), so it will be fun to put them all together in a master list... thank you for reminding me how much I've wanted to do that... your input makes this so much more of a conversation, and I just love that!

p.s That one little Love Letter Pillow was snatched up quick... now I know to make more! I just cut out 7 pieces of linen... look for more pillows next week.