Oh dear me! How is it we’re thinking of Valentines day already! Wow! Time just flies you guys!

I’m heading off to ALT Design Summit tonight and really look forward to getting dressed up and chatting with the ladies. There are just so many people I’m looking forward to hearing from! This amazing woman…and this one….and her and her….Ack! Where do I stop? The list goes on. If you are going, please say hello!

I just wanted to let you know I have some valentine’s appropriate goodies in the shop right now! Most are new from last year’s valentine’s collections as I have folded cards and book plates, necklaces and prints that might just do the trick for that special someone.

I’m having memories of my dad bringing me home a gift when he would come home from work on the night of Valentine’s Day. He’s kiss my mom, and then hand me a little something. Being in a family of all boys when I was a little girl, made that extra special.

Ok! Off to downtown…I’ll be sure to post about the great discussions at our panel.

Ta ta!

xo

sarah

Hello! I’m back home, barely unpacked, and SO ready for 2012. This is going to be a GREAT year, yes? I’m feeling it.

But before I dive into 2012, I wanted to post some things that made me smile this year for Christmas.

Click picture for link

So many of you have sent me pictures, or posted to the FLICKR group your luscious Christmas gifts you’ve slaved away on. And I wanted to share some here, but had to wait till after Christmas…(I didn’t want to spoil any surprises!). This is my first experience with seeing my work under other people’s Christmas Trees….well, YOUR work! Your creativity with my fabric. And I was just so humbled to be be a small part of those moments. I know this must be normal for some people. But it’s not for me. I feel like in some way that I get to travel to each one of you and give you a hug…in some e-hug sort of way. I hope to never get over that actually. It really does delight me to think of little children all over the world being connected somehow. I think a lot about those things.

OK. But really. So many of you went to awesome lengths. Like ABOVE: 6 pairs of Pajamas for 6 kids on Christmas Eve. These things tickle me!

And hello? That quilt? Another Christmas gift I would have died to get myself.

Click picture for link

But this one is my fav. These Oliver & S pajamas  pattern made it to the Polar Express…the North Pole and back…ahem….which makes me warm all over.

Can you get over the look on that little boy? Pure joy.

Click picture for link

I hope your Christmas was just that. Pure Magic. Joy. Delight and warm all over.

And I did I ever show you this nightgown made for Addie? It’s from an old McCall’s pattern from the 1970′s. She wears it every night.

{Did you know Children at Play had flannels? Yep.}

So. I’m back….getting back…in gear. I completely unplugged for 2 weeks, and wow. It felt good. I even went a few days there not really knowing where phone was. I kinda liked it. A lot. Trick is re-learning how to get on a schedule again:)

Happy New Year everyone!!

Cheers,

sarah

Ok. I am officially giddy over this post.

We’ve been up to a little something here in the studio…me and the elves  kids have been feverishly creating a little Nutcracker world, and we’re all a bunch of giddy little sugar plums over it.

I’ve been wanting to make these for a while, and I just couldn’t wait any longer. This weekend we were decorating gingerbread houses and watching the Maurice Sendak version of the Nutcracker with the Pacific Northwest Ballet. And the kids were glued. We’ve been acting it out ever since!

So we made this Puppet Theater set. I say “we” because it was really a joint effort. The kids would play, and I’d draw it out, and we’d imagine together what all the characters looked like.

Here’s a little video of us putting these together. It’s taken with my iphone (note to self…always hold the phone horizontal, not vertical when making movies!)

I’m getting a little obsessed with imovie. I used it for the first time last night making this…and um….I can see a lot more of these in my future. So super easy and fun!

So. This is what we’ve done. we’ve made the these PDF downloads (like the Peter and the Wolf Puppet Theater kit that has been so, so popular) and I’m including the story and music clips below so that you can act out the story right here! There are 13 characters…enough for literally hours of play.

*Disclaimers:

1) Not all characters were created. I had to stop somewhere!

2) These should be cut out by an adult. They do have tiny parts, and so give yourself some time to carefully cut

3) This is a DOWNLOAD only. Instructions are included in the download for printing, brads, etc.

You can purchase the PDF download here.

So…are you ready? Get out your dolls….and play along!

 ********************************************************

THE NUTCRACKER SUITE

ACT I 

PARTY SCENE

The Overture

Clara’s family is having a Christmas party.  She and her little brother Fritz dance and decorate the tree.  Soon Clara’s mysterious Uncle Drosselmeyer arrives and gives her a special toy nutcracker.  Fritz pretending to be a soldier, breaks the Nutcrackers jaw and the doll is broken.  As Clara cries, kind Drosselmeyer ties his scarf around the Nutcracker and fixes him.

CLARA DANCES WITH HER NUTCRACKER

Clara and the Nutcracker

Clara Dances with her Nutcracker.  Relieved her new toy is fixed, Clara dances with the Nutcracker and pretends he is really a hansom prince.

THE MOUSE KING AND NUTCRACKER FIGHT

The Battle

Clara falls asleep and shrinks to the size of the toys.  The Mouse King appears and the Nutcracker comes alive to defend Clara.  The Nutcracker fights bravely, but after a long battle the Mouse King knocks the Nutcracker to the ground.  Clara throws her shoe at the Mouse King and distracts him long enough for the Nutcracker to kill him.          

CLARA AND THE PRINCE DANCE

Pas de Deux

The Nutcracker becomes a hansom prince and dances with Clara.

TRAVEL THROUGH THE SNOWY WOOD

Waltz of the Snowflakes

The Nutcracker Prince and Clara travel through a snowy forest on the way to his Kingdom.  Snow fairies and the Snow Queen dance all around them.

ACT II: LAND OF THE SWEETS

Clara and the Nutcracker Prince arrive in the Land of Sweets.  Sweets from around the world come to dance in turn for Clara, and thank her for defeating the Mouse King.

ARABIAN DANCE

Arabian Dance

CHINESE DANCE

Chinese Dance

 RUSSIAN DANCE

Russian Dance

WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS

Waltz of the Flowers

SUGAR PLUM FAIRY

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

FINAL WALTZ

Drosselmeyer joins Clara and the Prince as everyone dances together.  Clara and the Prince are crowned rulers of the Land of Sweets.  (In some early versions Clara stays in the Land of Sweets and the ballet ends.  In others the prince takes her home, or she wakes up in bed with the doll in her arms realizing it was all a dream.  Pick the ending you like best.  I’ve never seen two identical productions. )

THE END

 ********************************************************

Wasn’t that fun? I am feeling like I’m 7 again…all tingly and magical. Gosh, I love this music!

I had so much fun making this….I might even add more characters next year, but this, I think, is plenty! And look! They even can double as Christmas Ornaments when you are done. Or for practicing your ballet positions in your spare time!

YOU CAN PURCHASE THE PDF DOWNLOAD HERE.

Really. Paper Toys are so under rated. These kept my 5 year old boy busy all weekend. Gotta love paper dolls.

Merry Christmas!

xo

sarah jane

This is a post from last year, but it’s been so popular that I wanted to post it again in case any of you need ideas for an advent Calendar this year! You will most likely have everything you need….so you can start today!

Here’s the link to the original post from 2010.

I’ve been wanting to do this advent calendar for years…and I finally get to do it!  This will be our first Christmas home since having children, and I’ve wanted to have this be a family tradition of ours since I saw this idea from a neighbor of mine years back.

Children’s Picture Book Advent Calendar: What is it?

24 Christmas Picture Books, all wrapped up and marked for each day leading up until Christmas. This way, we will be reading one Christmas story a night!

Now don’t panic…getting 24 Christmas Books isn’t as hard as it looks. When you can check out Christmas books from the Library for 3 weeks at a time, it makes it rather simple….you may need to renew one time in there, but it still makes for a lovely tradition! And inexpensive too!

And Book #24……is the Bible, so that lessens the load a bit. But you’d be surprised how many Christmas books you already have.  Really, I am sure you have more than you think you do. I think books on winter can even count too… And don’t forget any Christmas Anthologies with short stories in there too.

Here’s a list of a few of mine in there:

A Christmas Goodnight

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

The Polar Express

The 12 Prayers of Christmas

Christmas In the Manger

Christmas is Here

Christmas Day in the Morning

Snowmen at Christmas

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree

God Gave us Christmas

Who is Coming to Our House?

Olive, the Other Reindeer

Oh there are SO many Christmas books that I want to get my hands on….I have so many favorites that I don’t even have own yet! But this year, most of the books in our Advent Calender we DO own (thanks to the need to have a few books for “research” when working on my book) but even still….to the children, these books will be like new since they are all wrapped up.

These books are now in our open bookcase in the basement (thus the really lousy photo…sorry!) But this way, they are in plain visibility. Another good place is the hearth of the fireplace…or in your child’s bedroom.

Anyways…I wanted to share in case anyone needed a good idea for an advent calendar this year. And the best part? It’s either “rented” or a good reason to add to your already established Christmas collection.

Have any of you ever tried this one? It’s a new tradition for us this year, and I think this one is here to stay!

Happy Christmas!

xo

sarah

I was totally engrossed in the Hurricane Irene play by play, even though I wasn’t even in it. My parents were actually visiting me and completely missed the earthquake and the hurricane, but I found myself being so concerned for the people and places I love so much. Our family has lived in DC and Boston, and I’ve had many favorite memories from North Carolina to Maine. Happy that the hurricane didn’t turn out to be as bad as predicted, but the losses are still awful.

One in particular post that I saw on Facebook was this sweet little library, that lost it’s entire children’s book collection due to the flooding. The water in Upper Jay, NY came in at more 6 feet high, and damaged so much of the town.  So many homes and businesses are having to start all over. The Wells Memorial Library (such a charming library!)  lost so many books, but mostly the children’s books because they were all on the lower level shelves. Can you imagine? No more picture books to check out. This little library, and the community it serves, could use your help!

They have tried to save what they could, but the only picture books untouched were the 5 books on the re-shelving cart.

I’m going to be sending them some, but I wanted to give a shout out to all my friends, knowing that if everyone just sent one book…they would be in a place to start really offering hope (especially for the children!)  to their now devistated community.

And if you know of any other libraries that need our help, comment below! I’d love to see these little libraries stand up again fast! Kate Messner is a children’s book illustrator, and she was able to photograph and blog about this library yesterday, and I’m so glad she did! This town hasn’t had much news coverage, and I would love to see some hope restored.

UPDATE: West Hartford Public Library in Vermont also lost it’s children’s book section. I’ll update information as I get it, but I am sure they would appreciate donations:

The West Hartford Public Library

5133 Route 14 West Hartford, VT05084

(802) 295-7992

Here’s how you can help:

1. Send a donation. Checks may be made payable to the Wells Memorial Library.

2. Send a new, hardcover children’s book. Picture books are needed most. They were all destroyed except the five waiting to be re-shelved and those that were signed out to homes that didn’t get flooded. I hear that they might be getting an AMAZON wishlist started, But in hopes to support small bookstores, they’d ask that you purchase from an indie bookstore if at all possible! And if you know of any other libraries that need our help, comment below! I’d love to see these little libraries stand up again fast!

Here’s the postal address for donations:

I’ve seen some pretty darn cute birthday Parties out there on pinterest, and blogs and the online land of endless ideas. But I have yet to see a Birthday party inspired by a print of Fabric.

I saw this post this morning, and I just had to share!

Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots designed her littler girl’s birthday party around the “Just Stay Little” print of fabric, complete with cutting out all the little dresses and making the cutest decorations! You can see more pictures here.

Just stay little…please? Just last night I noticed how big my babies are in their beds. Oh dear. Does it really happen? Do they really grow up? Don’t answer that question.

Sorry if you are bored with seeing other people’s creations with this fabric. To be honest, it  has become a wonderful fulfillment of a dream of mine. As a designer and illustrator, I’ve had many opportunities to choose where I contract my work. And as i’ve contemplated the products and the people I work with, my vision has always been to let the end product inspire more creativity out of the consumer. Seeing photos like this make me feel like it’s all worth it. Art on the wall is nice, but I love seeing pictures of your puppet theaters, fabric creations and so many other things you’ve shown me.

Thanks for inspiring me!!

And also, are you going to The Creative Connection? Can’t wait to see you there!

xo

sarah

I’m starting to get the facebook posts and flickr photos with you sharing all your lovely creations with Children at Play! I’m having so much fun watching you create!

Left Column:

1) On Parade Dress

2) On Parade Pillow

3) Just Stay Little Aqua Blouse

Right Column:

1) Rockets Blue pants

2) Racer Stripe Green pants

3) On Parade, Playing Dolls, Just Stay Little & Dot to Dot outfit

4) On the Go Cream pants

Remember to post your images to the Sarah Jane: Children at Play Flickr Group. It’s just getting started! I’d love to post more of what you are creating. I’ll make a sidebar button one of these days…haven’t figured out how to make one though. It’s on the list!

I especially want to see more of your Boy creations. The boy collections were actually the top selling, and I’d love to see what you’ve created! Have fun!

xo

sarah

Oh I just hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July…well, I guess if you are in the United States, that is. Isn’t it amazing, the WWW? Sometimes I just have to marvel that this whole planet is connected and that we’re all friends from the short distance of our computer screens. Amazing, really. I still can’t get over it. Kinda like when you look at an airplane flying, and you find yourself thinking, “How does that work again?” But anyhow, it’s just marvelous. Ok. I am going off on tangents…but really. Very cool.

Ok, so where was I? We did have a great 4th of July. According to my kids, the best yet. Here in Utah, it’s spread out over like 4 days. I love it. It started out with sneaking on top of our roof while the kids were asleep, and watching an amazing firework show (some of the best in the country, really.) Well, it might have helped that I was sitting next to a very cute boy in the dark, mountain air on top of our roof at 10pm with a warm summer breeze blowing…all while promising me that I wasn’t a dork for being terrified to climb back down again. Have I mentioned that I’m terrified of ladders? OK. I’m digressing again. But the weekend was full of family time: gardening, melting popsicles, sidewalk chalk, horseback riding, sparklers, family reunions, swim suits, cooking, swimming and paper hats. I love this time of year!

I’ve also had some time to just listen and step back a bit. I’ll be honest. Really honest. When I had the (crazy) idea to start selling art prints out of our teensy-weensy apartment 3+ years ago, I really hoped it would grow and flourish and develop…but I could really only see one step ahead. I just wanted to do well with that first step. Well, that first step turned into a second, and into a third, and faster than I knew it, we were in a house with a basement dedicated to this little business that all the sudden isn’t so little any more. Sometimes I look back and think, “How and when did that happen?” and other times, I know just how. It was inch by inch, row-by-row (Do you know that song? It’s been in my head all week, and I just love that it’s stuck there. Forgive the Muppets link.). But at the same time, I’ve had some time to wonder this month. I’ve wondered about motherhood. I’ve wondered about motherhood and business. I’ve wondered about motherhood and business and creativity and how that all bundles together and has figured itself out over time. I have moments where this is just a really fun ride and I can’t get enough, and then I have moments where I wish there was a self help book called “How to be a designer and illustrator and mother of 3 with your own at-home business full of creative making which you blog about in the few spare moments when you should be meeting deadlines and still get clean underwear in your kid’s dresser drawers before it’s too late.” That might be a really long title for a self help book. But I’d read it. Although, I have a feeling that if I read it, it would be reading my own thoughts…something in the voice of: Take each day at a time. Answers come while you are busy keeping your priorities. Listen to your kids. Work really hard. Love what you do. Create from your gut. Dream big. And do the laundry on time. But have a spare pack of underwear tucked away just in case.

{DOWNLOAD HERE}

I’ve been thinking a lot about this phrase this week. It’s been on my mind and slowly changing me from the inside out. Sarah Jane Studios, in some ways, kinda happened by accident. It was happy accident, or an “on purpose” accident. And lately I’ve been asking myself the questions that have these kinds of answers. “Live your life on Purpose.”

Just the mantra I needed.

Hope you like it too, cause you can download it here. It’s a good thought. And it’s sticking.

Happy July everyone! It’s one of my favorite months…for a certain birthday kind-of reason:) Cake any one?

xo

sarah j.

Pinterest. Have you heard? I just discovered it in January…maybe I’m slow…but I’m hooked.

Basically, it’s an inspiration board for your online collections of all that stuff you love online. Being an artist, I’m constantly bookmarking, saving and downloading files that inspire me, give me some reference for a project I’m working on, or just plain make me smile. Huge problem solved! No more clogging up my “ideas” and “reference” folders on my desktop…now keep it all online, in categories for you  to reference!

It’s seriously brilliant! I can just ‘pin’ any image I see online, and it goes right into my pinterest board. And it’s a great way to keep track of the location of the image as well, so that you can find the original location as well as give credit to the original creator.

But beware. It’s rather addicting. You can follow other people’s boards, and make all sorts of friends…it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Do you have a pinterest board? Wanna follow mine? You can see it here. And if you have one…I wanna see:)

I just love brilliant people who think of these things. Don’t you love smart people? The ones that make your life so much easier? I do. I love pinterest.

January is the month of Birthdays: Both Addie and Ian turn one year older just 12 days apart from each other. Not only that, but the birthday festivities start right after the holidays. I feel rushed every year!

This year, Addie went for a Dress-up/Princess theme (of course!) and Ian for Rockets. It was simple, and no-fuss. I had grand ideas like I always do, but then toned it down by keeping it about the fun and not the presentation.

We had lots of activities, but the one I wanted to share was from Ian’s party.  I planned on having the boys build rockets out of materials I was going to collect through the month. But….since I never collected anything, I came up with this idea at the last second.

Rocket Ship Diorama

Do you remember making dioramas in school? Yes I know. Very retro now, I’m sure. But I am here to bring them back. They are rather awesome, if I do say.

Here’s what we did :

Materials:

PDF download of rocket figures

Shoebox

Styrofoam ball

Toothpicks

Thread or fishwire

Scissors

Glue or scotch tape

Sky or Space colored paper

Directions:

1) Cut out the paper figures. Girl and boy rocket people are a must.

2) Attach a toothpick to the back for mounting.

3)Wrap the inside of the shoebox with paper that will look like outerspace: dark blue works best, and it’s fun to add glitter, stars, or whatever you want so that it looks super space-y.

4) Cut a styrofoam ball in the shape you need to make the top of a planet or moon

5) use fish wire to attach the firing rocket and planets to the ceiling of the  shoebox.

6) Be creative and add whatever you want to make it your own!

We were rather no-fuss about this, and let the little boys make them by themselves really. They loved positioning the rockets on their own. Even with paper they try to make things collide and explode:)

So, simple? Yes. Entertaining for a 5 year old? Yes and yes. Ian sleeps with this next to his bed so he can look into it before he drifts off to dreamland. Dreaming about green aliens and conquering the cosmos for sure.

Click here for the PDF download you can print yourself.

I’d love to see what you come up with!