the hands that hold my heart

i fell in love with this project the moment i saw it and quickly bookmarked the page entitled "HANDS: A MUST DO".    as a mom i have marveled at my children's hands ....  how quickly their teeny-tiny hands that can barely hold onto my one finger grow into capable, independent hands that want to do everything "all by myself!!"  to me this was the perfect project to capture these little hands.... if just for a brief moment in time.

the ingredients that went into this project:

• blank canvases (found on clearance at jo-ann fabrics)
• plum colored wool for the hand/tree trunk
• a variety of cotton fabrics for the leaves
• plain old matte mod podge for the finishing

the tutorial said she cut three different sizes of leaves.  i tried to do that, but after about three minutes of attempting to cut based on a template, i got fed up.  cutting with the template was taking too long and being that i am always short on time i needed to get as many leaves cut as quickly as possible.  

i have only finished one (again that short on time thing) and i think the tree turned out a little square.  ok, not a little square, a lot square.  i also would have picked out a different fabric for the hand/tree trunk.  i feel like it blends in to the leaves and gets lost in the busyness of it all.

i did sweet pea's hand print first because i wanted it completed for her first birthday party a few weeks ago.  it hung proudly in our living room and many of our friends and family commented on how much they liked it.  but for every compliment i received, i would reply with what i didn't like about it or what i would have done differently.   but then again, i am my own worst critic.   (note to self: must work on that self-esteem thing.)   

i am excited to finish the other two trees because once they are all done i think the series of trees will look fabulous.  they might not be as perfect as i would like for them to be, but that is ok.  isn't that, after all, a bit representative of parenthood?    

until next time.....