WIP Wednesday: CS Lewis Embroidery

I really meant to be a better blogger. I have been taking photos all summer long...tons of food prep shots, a baziilion macros, gardens, waterfalls, and festivals. I had every intention of sitting down every evening and writing a blog post. Sadly, being unemployed and constantly looking and anticipating is utterly exhausting. The process takes your best intentions and whisks them away. I tip-toed in and made a few design changes. I have been making and planning. I am assisting my local bead store in a move/re-design. In fact, if it wasn't for the money (and therefore, the job) necessary to live, my life would be perfect.

I have been spending time each night looking at inspirational quotations on Pinterest. I truly think that I may take some and design a line of embroidery patterns like to one above. I am taking Mr. Lewis's words to heart, "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." 

Keep an eye out for the pattern here soon.

New Year Reboot

Hello world! I am definitely still here and still making. That is actual l part if the reason that I have not been blogging--I have been super duper busy making things! All but two of my holiday gifts were handmade--many embroidered, several crocheted, some artwork, some needle felted--and they all took lots of time.

I have been making in the new year too. Several friends and even some strangers and I have embarked on a project: Granny 365. We have all committed to making at least 1 granny square a day all year. We will all be making different things with them, but it is great to have a tiny creative goal everyday. Please join us!

I have also recommitted to a healthy lifestyle. My running injury really had me down on myself and I let things slip. But in the new year, I have begun tracking my food, I have gone to the gym several days in a row, and even went for a teeny run. I know that zillions of people make this resolution, but I am looking forward to a lifelong lifestyle and attitude change. I have found tons of healthy and tasty recipes at Cooking Light and Skinny Taste and of course, my most favorite food bog, The Cozy Herivore. Her absolutely amazing quinoa porridge recipe may be my new favorite food.

I have been working on my creative spaces, doing a little sprucing up and 

making things even more my style.

Above is one of the projects that took me away from the blog for so long. I am really happy to have taken the time to make this for my 4-year old "niece" who is just learning the alphabet.

 It is a wonderful pattern from Sublime Stitching. 

Jenny's patterns are great to work with and most are available as PDFs.

As we roll further into 2013, please stay with me as I grow (yet shrink), create, cook, and take joy in the little things!

When life gives you lemons...

You know how the old saying goes. We all do. We have heard it a million times. As we transform those lemons, we sometimes still get a sour bit. It isn't horrible and it won't kill us, but it is not what we wanted or expected.

Yesterday, I was supposed to run a half-marathon, my second. Recently though, I had gotten off my training schedule and wasn't logging the miles that I should have been. I was immersed in rehearsals, a late summer mini-vacation, a new attitude towards my work day, being a good partner, and various other little projects. My blogging suffered but my IT band suffered more. 

In a last ditch effort to prepare for the race, I started amping up the miles last week. In doing so, I tweaked a recurring running injury. I underwent  2 1/2 months of PT earlier this year and almost lost the entire running season. By Thursday, the band was swollen and I knew that I had to make a big decision. I wasn't so upset about the money, I could still cancel the hotel room and I had registered for the race in February, so I wasn't missing the cash. I had, however; invested a lot and time and energy into training only to fail at the follow-through when it was most important.

I was disappointed in myself. In my heart though, I knew that if I tried that I might not be able to finish and that would be even more difficult thank not starting at all. 

So when the starting gun went of on Sunday morning, I was home. I spent the day making soups and baking. I drank lots of tea and sang along to my ipod. It wasn't what I had planned on doing, but in its own way it was just as rewarding and just as comforting. Instead of lemonade, I used those lemons in my tea. As the week goes on, I will be posting about tea and tea-related things. It soothes my soul and that is EXACTLY what I need right now.

Regrouping

Three steps forward, four steps back.

 Just as I was starting to re-focus and re-align my priorities, life has thrown me another curve ball. Everyone deals with hardship, it is true, it just seems like I have gotten more than my fair share recently. I have to have surgery...nothing life-threatening or even huge, but still costly and a more than a little stressful. That being said, my sweetie and friends are super-supportive and caring and they bolster me everyday.

I have been taking baby steps towards normalcy as I prepare for my "work"--I have cooked more seasonal dinners, reconnected with more friends, resumed my half-marathon training (though barely), begun work on my script for the fall play and have walked back into my studios.

Projects lay unfinished. Fresh supplies lay heaped on my cutting table and bundled on my work bench. New tools cry to be used and patterns beg to be begun.

So I have started to organize...chose what projects I want to complete first...brainstormed themes for upcoming posts...planned more yummy dinners...and move forward.

I want to finished my bird embroidery, complete my TARDIS plushie,
make a tote for school, and make some metal pieces with
my new embossing die...I need another Craftcation!!

I took the time to smell and arrange the flowers. And my
favorite retro cookbook has inspired a theme week!

Can't wait to make a retro inspired apron as
an awesome holiday gift!

As I deal with it all, I will run my
way to serenity...I hope.

How Tuesday: DIY Seed Tape

April showers bring May flowers, so now that it is May--bring on the garden!
There are times when I really enjoy getting my hands down in the earth and planting seeds and bulbs.
There are other times when I just want to get things in the ground.

I love the idea of seed tape, especially for tiny seeds like lettuce. The problem is that commercially-produced tapes are so expensive. This handmade tape is simple and inexpensive--a great craft to do with the kids!

Supplies: Cornstarch, water, crepe paper, seeds, paint brush

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 cup of water and heat over medium heat.
Stir frequently until a gel forms. This is your seed glue! 

Lay out you crepe paper--use white or kraft paper so
the colors don't bleed.

Dot the paper at intervals (as indicated by your seed packet)
with the cornstarch glue. Place your seed on top.

In the case of lettuce seeds, I just sprinkled them on top.

Fold the paper over to enclose the seed.
After the glue dries, roll them to prepare for planting.

Dig a furrow and you are ready to go!

Metalwork Monday: Hammer Therapy

Sometimes, when you are having a rough time, it is difficult to recall why you like doing the things you do. Is it habit? Is it boredom? Or do they really still give us joy?


After the week I had been having, I doubted this morning that I would be be very productive. Heavy thoughts are still troubling me and focus has been tough to come by, but I took a couple of days off specifically to make things. So today, I put the pigtails back in and went into the jewelry studio. I had been avoiding it, primarily because since the turn of the year, business has been slow dead.  I had been spending many hours, designing and creating, but to what end? No one was buying.


I committed to posting a new metal working project every Monday, so I had to at least make one piece. But I also had a bunch of pieces that I had etched last week that needed to be made into something. Hmmm...I had to chose between the disappointment of not selling my work and the thrill of designing something totally new. Granted, if I made something truly stellar, I might sell it. Hmmm...


In the end, being creative won. I was able to make multiple pieces and I am very happy with them. I will list them in my shop later. Plus I have several more pieces to put together tomorrow. Additionally I worked on 5 other blog projects and will begin work on my sampler tonight. As a very wise man once said, hard work is its own reward.

Sunday Funday: Crafting through the Crap

Today was not what I expected. Last night, I was incredibly excited to get up at make things. And then, I actually did get up. All the problems of my real life kind of piled up and knocked me back down. I am having a down day to be sure--insecurity, career fears, monetary issues--things that we all deal with but I have been having an especially hard time with them this week. It is hard to think about just creating when everything brings up another issue.


After a long talk with someone incredibly dear to me; I got up,  put on my favorite working ensemble and put up my hair. I got out some supplies, turned on Mad Men and got to work on today's projects.


 I was, and am, distracted. I mis-measured some of my fabric because I was thinking of something else. I had to pull out seams because my mind wasn't completely on my task. I struggle to stay in the zone. After a while though, I got into more of a groove. Cutting table, sewing machine, ironing board, cutting table, sewing machine, ironing board...


My seams are not straight. My composition could have been a little better. But I made something. I intend to make more as the night goes on. I have two more days to do whatever I want. I have a huge list of blog topics and an even longer list of projects to work on. My mood is still not great. My mind is still flitting, thinking of problems. But it also thinking about thread, fabric, glue, tag board, and metal. 


Many people say "Fake it 'til you make it." I say "CRAFT THROUGH THE CRAP."

One of my two fabric inspiration boards.
I chose several fabrics that I hope to incorporate into
a quilt. I decided to put it on my cutting table to keep
me focused and inspired.

Sadly, this hair means business.

Four themed fabrics sewn into a panel.

After sewing together and pressing, I wrapped the panel around
the glass of a frame that picked up at the thrift store.

For my second panel, I used an old gilt frame that I also picked up
at the thrift store. It was trickier since it was older
and had last been used for a professional
framing job.

Added it to my inspiration wall near my sewing machine.

Fabrics that I absolutely love.
I am definitely making this into a girly
birdy quilt.

Defining order

Until very recently, I have been pining away to be a "real" artist. I have dabbled in many art forms from live theatre to jewelry to needlework, but have never really considered myself to be a legit artist. Upon reflection, I realized that that simply isn't true. 


The time that I spend during my day creating are my happiest hours. Sharing what I create gives me even more joy. It hit me that because no one else had identified me as an artist, I couldn't identify myself. My feelings were as jumbled as my embroidery basket.

 Sure; I design and sell my jewelry, I pinned tons of projects, I was making a quilt top and have several needlework pieces working, I am in rehearsal for a play yet I felt that because I sit behind a desk most of my day, I could not  be an artist.


 I considered what was more important: being called an artist or actually being an artist. 
Others would only recognize me that way once I did. Plans began to form and things began to come together.

I decided to spend more time dedicating myself to living as an artist. I decided to start this blog to chart that journey and begin to give back to a community that provides so much inspiration. I hope that as I grow, so will what I am able to contribute. I hope you stick with me as I grow and be the artist I know I am.