Ribbon. Mr. Rodgers. and Whoopie Pies

How ideas tell you when they're ready

Hi, it's Amber- and welcome to Sunday Scraps! Every week, I send you creative ideas, book recommendations, and, hopefully, a kind nudge to turn what you love into positive action. I'm obsessed with the materials around us and finding ways to combat the negative impact of fast fashion and overconsumption.

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I spent a lot of my free time building shelves to reorganize my office/studio this week, which meant that I also needed to move things around in the living room and kitchen. The shelves help organize the 177 T-shirts I picked up this week, contributing to the Over-Under Project. I'll share photos of the makeover soon, but there is still some work and cleaning to do, so I can take pictures to convince you that my creative space is always well curated and that the floor isn't littered with pieces of thread.

Recently, I've had several people reach out wanting to understand better how to create their books. Is that something you're interested in? I'm thinking about calling it scraps of book publishing knowledge and folding it in every other Sunday. AND, if this is the first time you're hearing about my books, check out High in the Tree and Low in the Soil. My brother and I worked on it together, and it's perfect to spark conversation and observation as we move into summer.

I have many ideas of things I want to create, but they need to wait in line as I find the time to work through them. I often force ideas to sit and wait for a few weeks, as they get better over time or go away. If an idea comes back a few times, it's usually worth further exploring.

This week's project was quick, but one that I'll do as I continue to have more tiny scraps of fabric. The long, thin strips are sewn together to create a colorful ribbon for wrapping gifts. I'll use the ribbon to wrap this week's book giveaway package.

While I sewed the strips together, you could tie them in knots and leave the sewing machine.

Wrote:

How to Host Your First Collaborative Weaving Event [ This post includes a guidebook and audio, so if you’ve been thinking about getting people together to weave, make sure to check this out, and share with your friends]

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Watching:

Whoopie Pie Bike Adventure

If you like whoopie pies. covered bridges. and bikes, then check out my husbands adventure and get some of your own inspiration.

The Color Blue

Why the World's Rarest Blue Took 10 Years to Recreate | WSJ Coveted

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Reading:

When You Wonder, You’re Learning by Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski

Arts experiences have been shown to feed curiosity by teachings kids to be careful, thorough observes of the world. Kids who study the arts may become stronger critical thinkers with better life outcomes: According to one nationally representative study, each year of arts study correlates with a 20 percent reduction in the likelihood an adolescent will be suspended from school. Young people who’ve studied the arts are almost 30 percent more likely to hold a four-year college degree by early adulthood and 26 percent less likely to get arrested.

p 33

New Uses for Old Things

“Should I get you some spoons?” Rodgers asks, leaning in expectantly. “No,” says Sherred. “I carry my ol’ faithfuls with me.”

She pulls two tablespoons from her pantsuit pocket and holds them back-to-back. She slaps the spoons against her hand, taps them on her knee, and claps them together. She makes music with those spoons- manic, beautiful, joyful music! And in doing so, she shows kids why creativity matters: Mary Alice Sherred has found a new us for an old thing.

Creativity, scientists say, is about more than drawing pictures or shaping pots or making spoons. It’s about putting boards under spinning tires, turning paper cups into telephones, and -one day- meeting the challenges of climate change and poverty. It’s about taking the knowledge and ideas and feelings that exist in the world already and making them ore useful to ourselves and our neighbors. “Isn’t that what we need to encourage everywhere?” p.67

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As a paid subscriber, you get access to exclusive and wildly simple to enter giveaways.

This week I’m giving away and early copy of Megan’s book, The Fall of the Loom. If you like art, museums, and textiles, this is a must read. Comment Loom for your chance to win. US Only.

Sophie O'Toole has always been more interested in weaving tapestries than traveling through them. But now she's ready to escape her small town in Western New York to study weaving at one of England's most prestigious colleges. At East Lawn, she will learn the secrets of transforming thread into the tapestries everyone uses for transportation and recreation.

But weaving is easy compared to navigating campus life and a new country with her roommates — and their incredibly attractive older brothers. And those aren't the only challenges in store for Sophie, as she becomes entangled in the mystery surrounding the death of Britain's most beloved tapestry designer, Sabrina Maxwell.

When Sophie discovers the design for Sabrina's final, unwoven tapestry, it could be the clue that's been missing all this time. But will weaving the tapestry unravel the mystery behind Sabrina's death? Or will the months of work — and the relationships Sophie sacrifices in the process — lead to nothing more than a tangled mess?