New Years Eve

It is the last day of 2012 and we are on day two of our first road trip with baby Eve who is now 9 months old. We are in Little Rock tonight, but will be as Willie said, 'on the road again' and headed for Nashville tomorrow. There is snow on the ground and the chilly air is great for a long snuggle and yummy hot chocolate! Our little bunny is enjoying time with her cousins, one of which is younger than her by just two days, and she is handling the challenges of being away from home quite well. We look forward to the rest of our journey as we make our way to Indiana for a wedding. So here's to the new year, may 2013 be as joyous and exciting as 2012!

Eve's name in yarn

My sister in-law, and Eve's Godmother Amy, recently showed me a beautiful project she made for one of my other sister in-law's weddings and I had to replicate it for Eve because it was just so darling.  She told me she found it on Pinterest (complete obsession and love doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about Pinterest) but I'm afraid I don't know the original source.

Essentially it's wire from a hardware store, bent into the word of your choice and then wrapped in yarn.  The trick is to not over work the wire, as it will start to look tortured and kinky.  Fortunately, the wire is inexpensive and you get a whole lot of it so if your first try is a bit wonky (as mine was) you have plenty more to work with.  I recommend finding a font you like, typing out the name and then using it as your visual guide.  To wrap the wire in yarn simply tie off the yarn at one end of the name and wrap and wrap and wrap until you get to the other end which you will also tie off.  Then cut the excess yarn and tuck the end into itself on the backside of the project.  And voila, you have a beautiful name in yarn! They make great baby gifts or Christmas presents.

 I created the knots in the name by making loops in the wire, I then wrapped the knots many times until I achieved the thickness I desired.

Thanksgiving 2012

My daughter Eve, what I am most grateful for.

Not Really A Poem

I left New York to find things lost in the Playboy mansion. Tan skin, swimming pools, fairytale love, better quality of life, bla, bla. Three months pass and you can’t tell by the fairness of my skin that I’m from Texas or that there's a swimming pool within walking distance from just about anywhere for that matter. Thankfully I’m not driving right now-upon returning to Texas my doctor found a tumor the size of an armadillo making itself welcome in my body. Three days post-op complications occur and a C.A.T. scan is ordered. Just a word of advice, if ever anyone asks if you want a C.A.T. scan that involves the words ‘rectal contrast’ you tell them kindly no thank you. At 8:32 I wake up and watch the tape over the six inch incision curl at the edges. In the shower the sticky adhesive begins to ball up and turn black. The scar is Elephants on Parade pink and Miss Vanity fears her bikini body will never be the same. To recover my mom has taken me to her ranch outside of Brenham, where if this were a real poem, I would tell you of the rolling hills, palatial homes and Brindle steers that paint the landscape. The country is efficient at forgetting the rest of the country and every evening at 6:18 the wind plays across ninety acres picking up grainy dust hitchhikers-it reminds me of the garbage swirls on Roebling St. in Brooklyn where I used to live.  I miss that garbage.

About Coffey Girl Creates

I realize my first post should have been a bit about myself and what I would like to accomplish here, but I was so eager to get started; and the poem was already finished and just so easy to post!  My name is Stefanie King Coffey.  I'm a stay at home mom to the beautiful and charming 8 month old Eve Hanalei and wife to Matt, who I was lucky enough to meet at a friends wedding six and a half years ago.  I'm a singer songwriter at heart who picked up a number of other crafts along the way.  I graduated from The New School in New York City (where I spent 6 years of my life and a town I will always consider home) with a BFA in creative writing.

I was tired of having my work simply sitting on a hard drive just waiting to be accidentally deleted one day, so I thought  it would be fun to give blogging a try.  I would like this to be a collection of my entire creative life, not just my writing. I hope to include everything from my sewing and craft projects to cooking, baking and of course writing.  Plus photos of my family and little bits about them as we travel through this amazing adventure together.  I hope you enjoy it.

Stefanie

October 30, 2010-Wedding Day

Photo by Jessica Vincent Cain of VK Fine Art

Mutations for Silence

You are the Prague of my tale.
The paper bag lining
of my muddy cage.
Willow trees of burden
cobblestone for ground,
dawn in the dragon's den
casting mutations for mute.

You murdered my moratorium,
offered apologies to the dead.
Beneath table knee to knee
forged tongue
to my incision-ed skin.
From grave to cradle
you explode like spiders from a sluice.
While the seedling of a poplar
roots dressed in concrete and cigarettes,
bait my tolerance one last time.