Wild Plum – Lifestyle Design, Gifts, Wearables and Events

Hello Again, A Year of Learning, and Life Rule #28

It’s been such a long time since we’ve said hello…..Like fallen leaves that have settled in the space between us, there lies all our hours worked and suns we’ve set and ballgames we’ve cheered…..the projects that made us smile and those that have gone hopelessly sideways…..all the piñatas and theme parties and the constant adapting we have all done to navigate this pandemic world that none of us could have imagined 2 years ago.

It is so easy to be swept along on the current of your life and look up and see that 18 months have passed. In our desire to be a bit more deliberate and a little less random in 2021, we are naming this our Year of Learning. Each month we will embark on learning something new and sharing that journey on our blog and Instagram. As we often do, we have bitten off as much as we can possibly chew and chosen Using a Router as our January learning.

RYOBI 2HP Plunge Router — ….the object of our January affection….

Let me tell you…..Router is a deep pool of know how. So far we have chosen and purchased one with all its accessories. We have assembled its little table and learned its parts and watched a zillion YouTube videos (start it, back it up, move it forward, back it up, freeze it, study it, try it again…repeat). It is a pretty awesome tool that can do a million things and I imagine it will someday end up with a baby sister router for smaller projects. In other words…..we are definitely marching in the router army! Meanwhile our project list has grown significantly and we now judge all wood and wooden things on its routerbility. Stay tuned for more January router escapades here and on our Instagram. And if you have any router tips or tutorials we would love for you to send them our way!

RYOBI router table and assorted bits — …..and other fun stuff…..

But wait! What is life rule #28? Well it is POWER TOOLS ARE FUN! of course ☺️And being loud and getting to wear safety glasses? A total bonus!
It is so good to be here. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Instagram . #mywildplum

Day 46 and our love/hate relationship with Piñatas.

Friday was day 46 of the 100 day project. We love being part of this project, though the posting part can be tricky on those weeks where life resembles a runaway train! 😁 And we love Piñatas….. we love them and we hate them…..

The latest dastardly object of our affection

We love the start of piñatas. The research and development piece of piñata making…. where you have to figure out the engineering of the shape…. how to make it strong enough to hold together but not so strong that it can’t be broken open. And we love the first couple rows of tissue paper…. when you get a little bit stuck on and you see the vision and you say to yourself….. oh yea, there it is.

That is where the shine starts to wear off. From then on piñata making is pretty much just work….boring work….and we hate being bored. And gluing on the tissue paper is a lot like walking across the farmer’s field – – it LOOKS like you can walk across it, but two hours later you are still walking and it looks just as big as it did when you first started. Yea…..gluing on tissue is a LOT like crossing the farmers field.

At the end of every piñata we say, “no more piñatas”……and then someone asks us to make another one and we find ourselves, just for a minute, pondering how we would build it, if we were crazy enough to make another piñata….. and I don’t need to tell you what happens next! 😁

Are there any other piñata makers out there? We would love to hear how you get through those last zillion hours of glueing! Thanks for stopping by!

Day 34 and….Squirrel…

I was going to talk about spotting the signs of overwhelm today, but the next thing I knew I was spotting a ‘squirrel’…in the form of colorful, plush pom poms . Pom poms in amazing colors—with dots and stripes and FLOWERS. I was instantly hooked.

Can you blame me for getting distracted?

So my to-do list fell by the wayside and I have spent the last 4 hours experimenting with the number of wraps and color placement. I am using baby weight yarn at the moment, but I think I would like to try fingering weight yarn and see how much detail I can get. I switched over to a commercial Pom Pom maker which seems to make working with multiple colors a little easier. I’m planning on stringing them into a garland once I make enough of them.

Now it is nearly 130am and I know I should go to bed….but maybe one more Pom Pom….. Always follow your curiosity when you have the opportunity, friends…..the list will wait!😊 Thanks for stopping by!

Day 25 and Playing With New Art Supplies and Maybe Life Rule #161

It’s amazing to be be on day 25 of The 100 Day Project! I think the best part for us….being the random girls that we are…is being intentional about recognizing that creative work can take many forms and then documenting that daily. True….day 25 is not getting posted until today, BUT the making took place on day 25 and the post started on day 25…prior to sleep taking me like a rogue wave last night…..and I believe Life Rule#161 says that still counts😁.

Playing with postcards and a new art supply…

These are like slightly waxy crayons that roll up like a lipstick and are water soluble. As with all her supplies, the colors are fabulous!

I wish I could say this was a truly new supply, but I have been hoarding these since Christmas…..yes…I am a recovering supply hoarder🙁. You know what I mean…how you fall in love and are swept away with a new supply or fabric….then you get home and you freeze up? And you tell yourself that you are just waiting for the perfect idea to use it on when it’s really your fear that you will suck and waste an amazing supply. Uh huh..me too. But I fought through my resistance and broke those babies open and they are lush and lovely to work with.

For my first try, I used them directly as a crayon and they picked up every texture of the paper but the colors stayed vivid. The down side for me was you can’t get rid of the texture when you try to blend with water. Even working it in with my finger didn’t get rid of it. So I think, personally, I may like these more when used on a smoother surface.

For my second try, I wet my brush and dipped it onto the crayon to pick up the color. This had a softer and more traditional watercolor effect. This also allowed me to drip color, which I like a lot.

Then I finished them both by doodling on them with a permanent marker, which bled through significantly on the one card and kind of wrecked the side you write on…..

We hope you let yourself go a little crazy today with a supply you’ve been hoarding! We would love to see pics if you would like to share #releasethesupplies. Thanks for stopping by!

Day 20, Life Rule #37 and a Few Things We Know For Sure…

We want to thank everyone for their wonderful support of our random adventures in making! As we find ourselves on day 20 of the 100 day project, there are a few things we know for sure……. making, in any form, connects us all in the most wonderful way…….spring in Ohio is as fickle as anything you may ever encounter….and Life Rule#37 says that we have to earn our presents by either solving clues or completing challenges😁.

Clue #1 of 7. This year my theme was weather warnings.

The lies that Spring tells us…..otherwise known as Assorted Easter goodies.

We hope all of you had a lovely weekend full of clues to the promise of Spring! Thanks for stopping by!