Sewing my fingers to the bone

 I am constantly working on NEW projects.

 Here's a little bit of what I have been up to this week or so.

 The Lily of the Valley Hollow Log Cottage Playscape might be the most whimsical of them all.

 I have two playscape minis back in the shop.

 The hand painted wood mountains are a big hit. They just complete this Frozen scene.

 I just completed a new barn last night.

 Rainbow Forest trees!

 This Grey Castle was a custom order for a birthday girl.

 I love the way the Calico critters play on the tree stump Playscape.

This Red Barn Farm Playscape took about 6 hours to make - all hand-stitched!

I love what I do!

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

Whimsical Garden Play Mat

This whimsical garden playscape play mat is now on etsy.  www.mybigworld2015.etsy.com

There are so many ways to play with this wool felt play mat is all hand stitched. Each playscape takes me about 6 to 8 hours to complete.  This one hosts a large rainbow garden, a hollow log that toys can actually pass through, a meandering path, grasses, teeny tiny mushrooms, and more.  It's just waiting for a child's imagination.

Have a fun and playful day.
Mel

Cabochons

Have you heard of cabochons?  Have you used them in your projects?  I recently used them on my whimsical rainbow garden playscape seen below.

I ordered them from WhimsyPop on etsy - a lot of amazing things.

I ordered them for this project, but I also have been using them as counters.  Lettuce counters. hee hee I know, I know.  My brain works in weird ways. And have been using them for teaching small, medium, and large.  I guess, you can find inspiration for teaching math anywhere. :)

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

Felt Wool Whimsical Rainbow Garden Play Mat for Children

 My latest playscape play mat is now in y etsy shop.  www.mybigworld2015.etsy.com

 It's quite whimsical and a little different from what I have done before, bu I am in love with it.

Head over to the shop to check it out.

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

Frozen Trolls

Are you still singing "Let It Go" in your head?  Have you seen the movie 462 times?  Well, if you are like me, you either love or hate the Frozen craze.  I actually love it.  I saw the movie in the theater then saw the sing a long version in the theater.  We belt every song we hear.  We play dress up and with the toys.

With the new movie Frozen Fever coming out soon, Anna and Elsa are here to stay!  My husband found some trolls and I set up this invitation to play for G and Roo.  They are going to LOVE it.  You can find this play may in my etsy shop www.mybigworld2015.etsy.com

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

My Big World 2015 etsy shop

 This week, my plan was to complete 2...maybe 3...new playscape play mats for my etsy shop.  www.mybigwold2015.etsy.com  But there was sickness in the nanny house and I volunteered at my daughter's school.  I also road tripped to see my daughter at college.  Best laid plans, right?  I completed 1.

Completing One was disappointing but...I was able to just concentrate on adding so many tiny details to this one.

 There are so many ways to play with these playscape play mats.  I had a ton of fun this morning, staging different ways which a child might play with this.

 This Lakeside play mat has a 3 dimensional leaf boat.  I have never done a lake playscape or a boat before, but I love the way that it turned out.  This play mat is wool felt approximately 15 inches by 15 inches - not huge, so you could take it along in the car or to a restaurant or to a playdate.

 Gardens have been a part of every play mat that I have done so far, because my late Grandma Helen loved working in the garden.  I have many, many fond childhood memories beside her in the dirt talking, laughing, planting, weeding, picking.  The gardens on the play mats are a little more whimsical than Grandma Helen's, but I think she would have enjoyed them just the same.

 Whether it be tiny Japanese eraser hamsters, Safari or Schleich, or Papo animals, Lalaloopsy, Hello Kitty, dinosaurs - whatever your child is into...they can play on this play mat.

 These photos show all the tiny stitches and itty bitty mushrooms.  Each play mat takes me 6-8 hours to make, as they are all hand stitched.

 A Playscape is a landscape for imagination. "Imagination is more important that knowledge." - Albert Einstein

 I have been in the early childhood education field for 20+ years and know that children learn through play.  They need time to just play, to be creative, to let their imaginations run wild.

 Where will their imaginations take them?

 On a boat ride in a leaf on a lake?  On a picnic beside the lake?  A walk in a whimsical garden?

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

Colorful Beads

Yesterday, it was just me.  No kids.  What do I do when it's just me?

I look for inspiration.

I went to Michael's to wander around (I do that a lot).  I am starting a new batch of playscape play mats this week and I just needed something...you know that thing?  You don't know what it is, but you know it when you see it?!  Walking down all the isles, looking, then I saw...

this pack of colorful (and organized!) beads.

Armed with my 50% off coupon, I snatched up my inspiration :)  Watch my etsy store www.mybigworld2015.etsy.com to see where these pretties end up!

Have a fun and playful day!
Mel

Playscape Play Mats - How Do You Play?

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning.  Play is really the work of childhood." Mr. Rogers

How often had you said to your children or had it said to you when you were a child, "I am busy. Just go play."?  As a preschool teacher, I am trained to know that play is learning.

For example, in the block area, when a child is building with blocks, he or she is learning shapes and balance and scale and spatial thinking and cause & effect and symmetry.  Or if a child is creating with playdough, they are working those small finger muscles that will one day hold a pencil.  Those little muscle need to be strong enough to hold up and control a pencil when writing.  So play is much more than meets the eye.

When I created my playscapes or play mats on etsy, I had all that knowledge of 20+ years in the early childhood field swirling round in my brain.  I needed a project, but I wanted it to have a purpose.  We often in the early childhood field about play with a purpose.

It's easy (trust me, I know!) to put a child in front of a screen to watch that favorite show, but where's the imagination?  Where's the creativity?  I remember playing with my little toys for hours, making up stories, going on imaginary adventures, getting lost in play.

I am glad that I grew up in a time before internet and video games and ipads.  We were allowed to watch very little tv, so we were on our own to entertain ourselves.  I set up entire scenes for the characters in my imaginary adventure to explore, sometimes get stuck in quicksand, and find treasure.

So how do you play with playscapes?  Trust me, if you put one out with a couple toy animals, the kids would know what to do.  They could work in the garden.  They could find bugs.  They could go for a swim in the lake or stream.  They could hide in the hollow log or find treasure in the cave.

Their little imaginations will take over.  A Playscape is a landscape for the imaginations.  "Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

I think that we need to have less screen time and more imagination time.  Some children will immediately start playing.  Some children may need to have play modeled for them.  Don't worry about looking silly with kids - they love silly.

When I post photos to Etsy of my work, I am limited to 5 pictures.  I try to take 2 pictures of just the playscape then 3 staged for play.

Easter is coming, so I staged a Easter scene with flowers and chicks and eggs.  That's another thing I love to do. I like to secretly stage scenes for play scenes. So when that child wakes up from nap for example, they walk right into a scene that just beckons them to come play.

Or I rearrange their toys when they are napping or doing something else.  They see it, a lightbulb goes off, and their brain thinks, "something is different. let's find out what it is."

So how do you play?  What do you do to engage your children in play?  Play has a purpose.  Play is learning.  Play is important.

Have a fun and playful day!
Mel

Wishing for Spring

This morning, I woke up to snow covering the ground. I am wishing, hoping, dreaming of gardens and flowers and Peter Rabbit. Peter Rabbit is playing on one of my handmade playscapes from my etsy store.

Have a fun and playful day
Mel

Princesses and Playscapes

I think the challenge sometimes is not doing too much.
Let me let you ponder that.
Don't do too much?
The world is saying have it all, do it all, but...when it comes to children, too much is too much.

Let me explain.  I believe simpler is better when it comes to toys for children.  I always say to new parents or grandmas, "Toys don't need to have flashing lights and sounds for kids to like them."  I think the toys that don't make sounds and have lights screaming are the best.

Animal toys, simple but detailed playmats, a few small toys from your child's favorite show or movie - let's let their imaginations take over, let's see what they come up with, let's see them shine.

You may not agree and that's okay.  I am just sharing what I have learned as a mom, as an early childhood educator of 20+ years.  Simpler is better when it comes to kids and play and learning.

Have a fun and playful day!
Mel

My Big World Etsy Shop Launch Today!

 I launched the reopening of my Etsy shop today!  I am so excited to share this with you.  It's been a labor of love (and some crying, too!) for the past several months.

 There is a saying that goes something like, "there is good in the bad."  When my father in-law was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer in September 2014. that's all we could think about.  I needed a distraction, something to take my mind off this.

 I needed a project.

 So in between visiting them and helping out and working, I started sewing.  It was therapeutic and a good distraction.  I am passionate about early childhood education (as most of you know) and I am a self-proclaimed geek when it comes to small toys like Schliech, Safari Ltd., Papo, Peter Rabbit, Tinkerbell, etc.  So why not combine the two?

 Playscapes are landscapes for imagination.  All hand-stitched with tiny details, these wool felt play mats are designed to encourage children's imaginations.  Maybe Peter Rabbit is in Mr. McGregor's garden again or...

 Maybe the fairies are hiding their treasures in this cave or the animals are having a camp out or...

 Maybe Hello Kitty and her friend are tending to their garden in the forest beside a stream of lily pads.

 Or maybe Mama Bear is watching her cubs play with their toy boat by the stream.  The possibilities are endless really.  Each whimsical playscape is all hand-stitched and filled with tiny details like tufts of grass, enchanting gardens, caves, twisting streams, hollow logs, stone pathways, 3D bridges, mossy patches, ponds, etc.  I have 4 to 6 hours in each playscape, but I love how they turned out.

Each one is approximately 15 inches by 15 inches.  Ready to ship. Ready to play.  There's a link over to the right hand side that will take you to my shop.

Have a fun & playful day!
Mel