so random

Dwelling on the unimportant, stressing on the unintended, and freaking over the unknown, Jennifer, simply doesn't work... and are a bit like lighting a match in a dark room to make sure no one accidentally sprinkled any gunpowder on your bicycle, kept under the stairs, near the back porch, in January.

Actually, some of that wasn't really important, but hopefully it distracted from any stigma you may have attached to freaking over the unknown.  
 

There are so many random ways to fill your inbox these days- mostly in the form of 'daily deals' that you don't really need.  I came across this website(http://www.tut.com/resources/notes/about) 6 months ago and it is genuinely one of my favorite things to read 5 mornings a week.  I saved the one above from the beginning of the year and I realized that this idea of "freaking over the unknown" is definitely something I can work on this year.  To stop thinking about the what-ifs, considering how others may react, or not, and just get on with living my own life.  A work in progress. 

it has begun!

Today is the first day of of December, the beginning of advent and truly the most wonderful time of the year.  I had hoped to include a picture of the advent calendar that I made for Nate but then I realized that I wouldn't get pictures until after we set it up and (here's the big secret) I normally write my posts the night before you see them so no pictures yet :)  We'll see if I get them together by tonight...you never know.  Pictures are now up!!!

It was SO very much fun to create this project.  I started with the idea that I wanted to make an advent calendar with a different activity each day.  I knew the activities and the calendar itself had to be simple or I wouldn't follow through in making it, let alone completing the activities each day.  At the same time I had in the back of my mind the idea of the Jesse Tree.  I had come across a story about the Jesse Tree a few years ago and was intrigued.  The idea of a Jesse tree comes from the Bible:

The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots."  It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. .  link

So...I decided to make a Jesse Tree Advent Calendar.  I found a great example for choosing ornaments to hang each day as well as the corresponding Bible stories from Nate's children's Bible at this site. I used the outline that she created and then matched each day with an activity for Nate to do that would reinforce the Bible verse/lesson that we read that morning.  So, on December 2, Nate will open the envelope with a 2 on it, find a sun ornament and a label telling him what the activity is for the day.  We'll learn that today is 'Creation' and will read Genesis 1.  Then we'll create something beautiful to share with others.

Oh, I am so beside myself with excitement to see how Nate receives this calendar.  I love that it's more than a countdown to Christmas presents and that each day can serve as a reminder of God's love for us and our love for each other.  That we will get to take time each day working on projects that will serve a greater purpose than just mere 'decorations' or 'holiday decorations.'  Oh joy!  It has truly begun.

paper projects

 

I haven't felt drawn to knit or sew lately but in a need to create I found some awesome paper crafts (here and here) to work on instead... I could make these all night long.  Some minis?  Some jumbos?  Some multi-colored?  Oh the possibilities are endless.  We'll see what happens!

if wishes were kisses

I never want to forget that at the end of his 4th year, Nate only wished for more kisses. 

When finding a dandelion, "I wish for more kisses." 
While tossing a coin in a fountain, "I wish for more kisses." 
While blowing an eyelash off the finger, "I wish for more kisses." 

Each time, said with eyes closed but just loud enough for a mama to hear.  How could I not grant this sweet boy's every wish? 

p.s.
I googled the title after I wrote it because it sounded way too familiar and lo and behold, good old Parry Como wrote a song by the same title...but that's not what this post is about- that's just a lovely, nerdy aside. 

essential question

Are we destroying the essential for the superfluous?  

This is a question posed in a video I watched this week.  It's a beautiful video about the importance the forest and trees play in all of our lives, realized or not.  I've begun my holiday crafting, another year, another promise to stick with handmade and local.  I always seem to make it to the final week before Christmas, feeling good about all the things I've made and then I start worrying.  Is what I made nice enough?  Is it something that the recipient wants or would they rather I bought something?  Shouldn't I get them one more little thing? At which point I end up over spending, buying things that I wouldn't have even considered in the sanity of November. 

So, here I am in November, making a pledge to myself to remember the essential above the superfluous.

To remember what these holidays are really about and to spend time being thankful each moment for everything I am so very blessed with. 

People are essential, relationships are essential, gratitude is essential, love is essential..oh I could go on and on. And they are all free.  And they are all accessible.  And they are all possible if I just remember to take the time to pause, breathe and look at the trees.


Video from KarmaTube

paper + stickers + kids

Thank goodness I finally cleaned out my 'teacher cabinet' in the garage!  We have had nothing but good times with the different materials I found and organized.  I will never cease to be amazed by the amount of focused attention (almost) 2 and 4 year olds can have when engaged with projects of their own imagination.  Three cheers for cardstock, stickers, punch out stamps, crayons and glue! 

thinking about

Nate and I (finally) managed a low-key do nothing day, leaving my mind to wander and projects to contemplate.  Today, I'm thinking about...

:: how early is too early to start making gingerbread houses?  I'm sure this one will inspire Nate.

:: what natives I may want to add to our front garden once it rains a couple times. I'm thinking a sage or two to add to our collection.

:: holiday knitting projects- what should I make, for whom, can I finally whittle down my stash of yarn instead of purchasing new?

:: purchasing next year's Nikki McClure calandar.

:: holiday sewing projects- advent calendar, tea towels, clothing.

thinking about christmas

For years, I've told myself that "This is the year I work on an advent calendar for Nate."  Yet, the next thing I know December is here and nary an advent calendar is sight.  Well, I'll admit that I normally also think of the advent calendar around Thanksgiving so I don't really give myself ample time to make something decent.  But this year is different- I'm not working outside the home and I've remembered that I want to make one at the beginning of November...the stars are definitely in my favor! 

I like the idea of having pockets that contain various things like 'bake a treat today' or 'go to the library and check out at least 3 Christmas books' or other such fun things that I know my boy would love. 

Here are some designs I like...not sure which I'll choose to make yet:

from LookHappy on Etsy

 

 

from Purl Bee

from AllSorts

from Noodlehead

the most wonderful time of the year

I thought I could settle into fall a little bit longer.  It is, by far, my most favorite season.  Yet, a small home improvement necessitated a trip to Lowe's whereupon I was greeted by rows of shiny plastic trees and waving Santas.  This jarred me back to reality and the crafter/creator in me was suddenly overcome: it's almost Christmas!  While fall is my favorite season, it is definitely Christmas that holds my holiday heart.  Just last night Nate and I were in the car and he asked if I could find Christmas carols on the radio and I was sad to not have my ipod with me to fulfill the request. 

Yet, there's something within in me: tradition?  stubbornness?  naivete? that's refuses to begin true Christmas crafting until after Halloween.  (As full disclosure: I was able to sneak in making one present while spending hours on airplanes this month.)  And, inevitably, there will be a flurry of making and ripping out and joyous creation during the next few months.  And I just can't wait.  In the meantime, I will start allowing myself to peruse favorite crafting sites/ravelry/etc to begin my gifting lists. 

Here are my beginnings of inspiration...

Sew Mama Sew :: Pear Tree Advent Calendar

Christine Fromm Designs = magic with upcycled sweaters

Fish Hat by Thelma Egberts

intuition

How do you know? she said & the answers fell like feathers, or the first snowflakes of November, Light & without words I looked in her eyes & smiled. You just know, I said. ~ storypeople, Brian Andreas

creat(ing)(ive) space

September brought with it fresh paint, new shelves and some furniture moving.  I have been discontent with my sewing area for a bit now.  I have also been bothered with the fact that we had two living rooms- a seemingly 'formal' space full of antique furniture and a 'family' space with hand me downs and comfy seating.  I have always disliked the idea of a formal living room- I want to live in all my rooms- and I love all of my grandmother's furniture and want to get use of out if.  SO.  I decided to change things up a bit. 

In the end, all it took was removing a couch from the 'family' space and voila, like magic, a new space was reborn.  I wish I had pictures of the room before but those of you who have visited know what it looked like.  It was largely a room with a big couch in it.  Now it is where creating happens.  Where Nate and I sew together, where conversations happen, where I work to embrace the gray spaces one day at a time.  I love this space.  So.  Much. 

 Oh, and the little table to the right in the picture above?  That's Nate's desk.  As he would say, "Love it." 

friendship

Can I count on you to be there, no matter what? she said & I said no & she said what kind of friend are you? & I said the kind who won't lie to you any time you want & I think she kept me around as a curiosity after that~ Brian Andreas

I am so clearly on a Storypeople kick.  By far, one of the more fun sites to waste spend an hour or two on the internet.  You can have get your own inspiration here.

must read

I just finished reading the most lovely book and I just had to share.  I'm not one for remembering titles so unfortunately lists of must read books and friendly recommendations often tumble from my brain when I get to the library.  Luckily, Vista has some awesome, on top of it librarians who will select their own ideas of must reads and prominently display them for those of us types who surely do choose a book by its cover.

The book is The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna.  Not a new book, it was published in 1975.  But one of those universal truths kind of books that hits you in the gut with a 'yes, that's exactly how I experience the world' kind of feeling.  The author of the forward to the edition I read, Pico Iyer, expressed it beautifully:

There are many ways of catching this carpe-diem spirit and the liberation that comes from waking up to one's limits (and therefore one's possibilities), and philosophers for centuries have expounded sonorously on these themes.  I love The Year of the Hare for not taking anything too seriously (least of all itself) and for sounding, in its freedom from received ideas of what is and isn't important, a bracing declaration of independence for the enlightened truant inside each one of us. 

First grade book summary: Man leaves job, wife, house, 'life' as he knows it to befriend a hare.  Finds his real life in the meantime.

On to find my real life in the slowly melting days of summer...

newest bag

It has been fun to examine my own process with sewing these totes.  Some bags fly off the machine- literally creating themselves as fast as I can think up an image, word, and find the right fabric.  Others take there time- maybe I'll draft the image over the course of a day, come back to draw it on the fabric a few nights later, open up the sewing machine a week later to stitch the images, so on and so forth.  

Choosing the words is a whole other endeavor entirely.  Sometimes the word will be right there, I know exactly which one I'll choose and it's stamped on without another thought.  This flower bag actually turned out to be one of the more challenging.  Grow, pause, patience, open, fragile, beautiful, and fleeting all came to mind when I saw my image stitched out.  Perhaps I'll have to just make one of each....

creating movement

Mark Hoekstra- Flickr

I get stuck a lot.  I get stuck on projects.  I get stuck in writing.  I get stuck in negative thinking.  I just get stuck.

I find it's often much easier to keep going with the same old patterns, the ways of being that are comfortable, that are known, that are 'easy,'  even if they don't making me happy anymore.  There are many a night where I am found clicking from website to website, slowly wasting away my time rather than dreaming or reading or sewing or knitting or stretching any creative muscles.

I came across this excerpt by Nina Wise the other day that spoke to me. I like the idea of starting small- a new recipe, sand castles, a shower in the song.  I was talking to a friend today about the joys of sewing- that there are times when you need the technicalities of a tough project to get your mind off of something but there are other moments when the mindless seaming together of straight lines is what's called for- something meditative and soothing in its monotony.  Creating something calls us to appreciate those small steps we take to make something out of nothing, to connect with other people when we share our gifts and time and sometimes to stop and notice the world that's right in front of us.  

From Nina Wise:

Everyone is creative. Creativity is our very nature. But for many of us, the creative impulse has gone into hiding...

Creativity is about having the courage to invent our lives--to concoct lovemaking games, cook up a new recipe, paint a kitchen cabinet, build sculptures on the beach, and sing in the shower. Creativity is about our capacity to experience the core of our being and the full range of our humanness.

The question of how to become more creative is not about learning anything, or even doing anything, but about allowing whatever arises to gain expression. To do this, we must bypass the voice inside of us that says stop...

We obey this voice as if being guided by inner wisdom; but when we tune in, we hear a quieter voice calling out to us to express ourselves freely. This is the voice that can liberate us. If we listen and respond, our lives become rich with the pleasure creative freedom provides.

new bags

It's interesting for me to look at my process for making a bag.  I often get an idea or inspiration from a bag days or weeks before it's made.  I have a running list of different images and corresponding words I'd like to pair with each one.  Yet, when I finally sit at the sewing table and get out my chalk to draw my image, inevitably the image turns out to be totally different than what I thought I was going to work on.  So far, each bag has been something that was not on one of my lists or something I'd thought of before I sat down to sew.  I think my own openness throughout the process of creating each one has been something novel and enthralling for me.  I'm normally so much more of a planner, yet working within the familiarity of the tote pattern has allowed me to open up more- to allow my creations to truly be created in that space of time that I'm sewing.  Needless to say, I'm having SO much fun making these bags and am looking forward to giving them away soon. 

Thank you to those who have expressed interest in purchasing them- I am slowly putting together orders- though each one is custom-made with a different fabric for the image (I'm working through my scraps pile).  I'm thinking $20 for the smaller tote and $25 for the larger one.  I have a really hard time asking for money for these, though as they are truly a gift for me to be able to make them...so if you want one and have a different price in mind, I'm sure I'd be open to it :) 

Oh!  And I have one more style bag that I've yet to debut.  Waiting for a smaller stamp to come in so I can make a sample to show. 

inspiring

I have been in love with Candy Chang's art for some time now.  My first exposure to her was through her "I wish this was..." project in New Orleans.

~ image from Candy Chang website

The idea of direct community input into what a neighborhood would like to see in an empty storefront really spoke to me.  While I love Vista and it's variety of shops and storefronts, it can be a lonely bike ride through our downtown on a Monday afternoon.  We have our fair share of empty windows that could use a fresh perspective and new lease (literally) on life. 

Another favorite piece is the doorknob hanger she created to help connect neighbors...inspired!

~from Candy Chang's website

And finally, my favorite for right now: Career Path.  Perhaps it's because I'm asking myself the same questions right now or perhaps I just love messages scrawled on asphalt- either way, I love it.  On the ground she has posed two questions: When I was little, I wanted to be... and Today I want to be...

~from Candy Chang's website

Check out more of her site for the other amazing projects she has done or is currently doing. 

something

As I said in an earlier post, I am overcome with poetry right now.  So, here's a snippet of from Red Bird that I'm loving right now:

                         4.

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

                         5.

Two or three times in my life I discovered love.
Each time it seemed to solve everything.
Each time it solved a great many things but not everything.
Yet left me as grateful as if it had indeed, and thoroughly, solved everything.

 ~ Mary Oliver

what i've been working on

My machine has been a-humming and my thread has been unspooling.  I've been pondering the idea of selling things I make but at a loss as to what to make.  I realized that what bothered me most was the idea of just selling 'stuff' to sell it.  I also realized that the handmade goodness I'm most likely to purchase for myself is often inspirational or has a message for the world.  So, I started making bags, with a word to hold on to.  Something to remember as we go through our hum drum days, making the ordinary less ordinary.  These are my first tries- they have a waterproof lining- which I love as it can catch spilled water bottles, hold wet bathing suits or damp produce from the market.  I like the idea of having a story to go with each bag- a kind of- 'if i were a bag, this is what i would want to do with my life' kind of story.  Maybe that's what I'll spend nap time today doing.  In the meantime, without further fanfare...the bags.

poetry

Poetry has been speaking to me lately.  Perhaps it's my shortened, summer-time attention span, perhaps it's just the place I'm at emotionally, regardless, I'm happy to fill my days with poetry.  My poet du jour is Mary Oliver, so perfect in the way she captures the bigs and littles of our everydays.  But I'm going to save her as I have a feeling I will be posting a lot of poetry this month.  Wendell Berry is another favorite author, so I shall share a poem of his that I found this afternoon.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the least sound

in fear of what my life and children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light.  For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~Wendell Berry