2013 – Page 5 – a hippie with a minivan

Welcome to my new blog address!

If you have never been on my other blog then let my explain…

When I started this blog 8 years ago I started on Blogger and it was a place to rant. I was a moderator of the AP (attachment parenting) board on BabyCenter at the time and was overwhelmed with the amount of control everyone wanted to have on their kids, how many unrealistic expectations they had and how much the term attachment parenting was getting tossed around as a list of things to do without not even looking at the philosophy. I needed a place to vent and found it in the form of a blog.

It was called: “Paxye’s Rant”

Soon, I started getting comments and realized that people were actually reading what I was writing.

After not too long I was getting tired by the limits of Blogger at the time and decided to acquire my website and domain name. As I was still remaining anonymous and “paxye” had been my alias more than a decade at the time it was the obvious choice for a domain name.

After about another year I was not writing rants anymore and decided to change my blog name to “a hippie with a minivan”.

Though I was no longer anonymous, I was still using “paxye” as my author name here until last year when I decided to change it is also. I have had the address ahippiewithaminivan.com for a while now and have been planning to move my blog over but never got around to it. Until now.

So, from now on I will be writing at ahippiewithaminivan.com/blog with the front page of the domain ahippiewithaminivan.com being dedicated to information and services that I provide with a link to the blog.

I still have a few details to work out so bear with me while I work out the kinks…

Glad to see you made it here!

Needle Felting – Feutrage à l’aiguille

I had heard of needle felting but never really looked into it or tried it.

Until late 2012.

I was at a Christmas party at a little art spot and someone was showing needle felting at a table. I followed my friend to the table and initially was just going to watch but I was intrigued.

I sat down, made my first pokes and was hooked. This was a craft that I was going to love.

Two weeks later I had my first kit in hand and once I started and have not stopped since. I look at my first creations now and I see how far I have come.

It is amazing how pieces or raw wool can be transformed into sceneries, animals, creatures and people, all with the poke of a needle. Felting itself, as a method of making cloth, hats, slippers and other shapes has been around since the domestication of sheep, but needle felting as a way to make 3D objects is a new art.

In the 1950’s industrial felting machines started making sheets of felt for industrial purposes (lining pianos and other types of applications) but it was only in the 1980’s that the needles were used separately and individually by hand and that sculpting with wool became a possibility. Needle felting can now be explained as the process of making an object out of raw wool by poking it repeatedly with a very sharp barbed needle that tangles, mixes and eventually compresses fibres. Making a 3D object can not only take hours, but can take thousands and thousands of pokes. It is a time laborious method but the more pokes the denser the product and the less fragile it becomes.

Below is a Gallery of creations that I have made and you can check out my Etsy Shop to see what I have for sale…

Sleeping Fox Brooch or magnet

Sleeping Fox Brooch

Fox Brooch

Sushi Brooch

Snail Brooch

Lion

Bunny with Cane

Green Monster

Snail

Baby Elephant

Polar Playset (Smaller)

Needle Felted Fruit

Apple

Large Elephant

Polar Bear

Polar Playset

Foxes

Fox

Craft Fair Table

Penguin Ornamant

Needle Felted Vegetables

Snowman with Crocheted Hat and Scarf

Felted Soaps

Needle Felted Vegetables

Hearts

Sushi Magnets

Black Cat

Miniature Cat

Waldorf Style Family

Snowman with Crocheted Hat and Scarf

Snowman Ornament

Penguin Ornament

Hedge Hogs

Bunny Card

Hearts

Waldorf Style Doll

Large Penguin

Mushroom Ornaments

Waldorf Style Dolls

Cabin Card

Santa Card

Skating Card

Snowman Card

Cthulhu

Santa

Dragon Set

Miniature Fruit

Miniature Vegetables

Crocheted Cheese and Mouse

Sheep Painting

Large Mushroom House

Tree scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Rainbow Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Tree scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Fall scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Acorn Earrings

Acorn Earrings

Earrings

Lady bug keychains

Acorn Earrings

Fairy Ornament

Dryer Balls

Jingle Balls for Cats

Gnomes

Baby Penguins

Scenery Earrings (Needle Felted in Acorn top)

Acorn Earrings

Acorn, Scenery and Rainbow Earrings

Needle Felted boy skating

Needle Felted Cabin

Needle Felted Snowman

Needle Felted Santa

Needle Felted Ornaments for Craft fair

Needle Felted Earrings made from acorn tops

Needle Felted Earrings

Needle Felted Acorn earrings

Needle Felted Scenery Earrings

Needle Felted penguins

Needle Felted ladybug keychain

Needle Felted fairy ornament

Needle Felted Dryer Balls

Needle Felted jingle bell cat balls

Needle Felted gnomes

Rabbit Family

Needle Felted Cat

Pig

Black Sheep

Mushroom Gatherer

Mushroom Gatherer

Vegetable set

Willa playing

Carrots

White and Black Sheep

White Sheep

Scenery Magnet

Rainbow heart

Pin Cushion

Emma’s Garden

Emma’s Garden

Blue bird and Nest

blue bird and nest

nest with eggs

Blue bird and nest

Bird earrings

Dad and Son

Mouse Dad and Toddler with Mai Tei

Mouse Dad and Toddler with Mai Tei

Rabbit Family

Squirrel

Sleeping Dragon

Mouse Dad and Toddler with Mai Tei

Mom with Tot and sling

Rat Couple

Pin cushion

Bear paws

Bear

Dad and Son

Mom and baby

Mentoring

Are you taking the less travelled roads in parenting?

One-on-one mentoring offers you an opportunity to discuss your concerns, have questions answered and can strengthen your ability to make the desired changes in your life. Depending on your situation and needs, I can help you:

increase your confidence as a parent
let go of unrealistic expectations
rely less on consequences and rewards to change behaviour in children
see parenting in a different light and make things feel easier
find the right carrier for you or help you wear your carrier
help with elimination communication
help with preparing for birth

Click here for more information!

Babywearing

Do you believe in the benefits of wearing your baby but are overwhelmed by the amount of carriers that exist? I will go through all of the categories of carriers and give you real advice about their strong points and their wek point. I can help you find the carrier that will meet your individual needs.

If you already have a carrier and need help using it, I can help you also! I will help you learn how to wear comfortably and safely and will help you troubleshot so that you can experience all of the benefits of wearing your child.

Come join me!

I give group or private Workshops in the Montreal and surrounding areas.

Click here for more information about my Babywearing Workshops.

If you are not in the area but still want to learn about from me you may schedule a call, chat or an e-mail exchange!

Click here for more information on my Mentoring services.

Elimination Communication

Did you know that you could save hundreds of dollars a year by simply communicating with your baby? It’s true. Elimination Communication is an alternative to diapers and is something that has been practiced traditionally and is still practiced in most of the world. My workshops help you understand the technique and how it fits into our modern world.