A Fun Little Suprise! (For Me)

Happy Sunday! I just got a fun notification that I thought I would share with you.

A while back, Bronwyn and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and had a great time with My Mom and newly adopted sisters. I took lots of pictures and posted them on my Flickr Page and also blogged about our experience. About a month ago, I was contacted by Emma Williams, the Managing Editor for the online publication SCHMAP! asking for permission to use one of my photos for their Seattle guide. Of course I agreed, and the guide is now published. My photo is this one:



I like this picture, but you should see the others that were also chosen to feature the zoo! Mine is pretty shabby when I look at those. But still, my ego is a little puffy (I'm like a chickadee in winter right now) because someone liked my picture enough to publish it! Here's a link to the Woodland Park Zoo Shmap feature, where you can see my photo as well as the others:

Fashion Magazines

This morning we are feeling a wee bit better, but I have been more creative in my mind than with my hands. So this post will be a little different. I read a blog post yesterday by the fabulous Kristina of Inaluxe that got me thinking. She talked about how fashion and home magazines are always placing limitations on us rather than empowering us to express our true style. I almost never read fashion magazines for this very reason (plus they always make me feel fat), but I did a little research and came across a gem: Viva la Moda, a fashion magazine dedicated to personal style through the handmade movement and vintage items.

Viva la Moda is a bi-monthly magazine, and features fashion spots for adults and children. Additionally there are articles about green products and home decor. I was perusing the magazine and found a great article about Sicily and it was written by a good friend of mine, Judit Wild of Vadjuka! What a fun discovery. In short, this is a magazine that offers fashion inspiration, supports artists, helps the planet, and it is readable! WOW. I think my faith has been renewed.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Autumn Inspiration

We are sick. Again. It feels like this happens every October, and I really dread it. But I'm trying to stay positive, so I'll focus on the things that October brings that I enjoy:

Pumpkins.

Sumptuous moss.

Jewel toned leaves.

Raindrops suspended in webs.

Apples.

Flannel sheets.

Looking inward

Knitting.

Soup.

Really it's a longer list than any reader would have the attention for. But it's good to remember a few of them when I'm feeling lonely from our quarantine.

Bronwyn and I went out for some air yesterday. There was a break in the rain and we really needed to breathe. We didn't go far, but even around our house we saw many of the lovely things that I love this time of year. I don't have the energy for creating right now, so I'll share with you some pictures that I took on our walk.

There is Warmth in Rain

It has been raining and winding for the past coulple of days; darkness is setting in, and I find myself feeling more groggy in the morning. At the same time, I find warmth and beauty in this weather. The trees are still turning, and the moss is greening up. A heavy comforter on my bed insulates me in the night. I am snug.

My neighbor commissioned this special scarf from me; it is made from vintage Japanese silk and an Italian silk twill. I think the colors of the Japanese silk are so perfect for this weather; it's grey, blue, rust, brown, yellow, and more. And even though the scarf weighs almost nothing, it is incredibly warm! If only silk weren't such a fussy sew, I would use it more often!

Walking on Sunshine

I have come down with a pretty bad sore throat, and can hardly speak! As a child I almost never got sick, but now that I have a child, I think I'm getting all of the ailments that I missed out on before.

Goody.

I'll keep it short today, but I wanted to share with you this cheerful new wallet that I added to my Tomboy series. I made it for my good friend, Dianna, who wanted a sunny yellow, happy wallet. I liked it so much that I cut out another one for my artfire and etsy shops. I have to admit, it makes me feel better, just looking at it!

Sometimes you have to Suck it and See

Today I want to talk a little bit more about one of the things that I realized when I was immersed in my color workshop a few days ago. In that post, I said that I thought that the creation of art was a lot like life. Let me elaborate a little bit on this topic.

One of the first things that helped me with this realization was when Brandon (the workshop leader) showed me how different my piece looked from a distance, compared to how it looked in my lap. As I had been working on it, I really didn't like how it was turning out. Brandon emphasized that it was critical to hang your work up on the wall and stand back to get perspective. "When your work is 10 cm from your nose," he said, "You are blind to it."

Now I ask myself: how many times have I had an inter-personal struggle (at work, at home, with my child, with myself) that was basically solved when I stepped back to see another side of the story? How many times have I been overwhelmed by a difficult moment in my day, only to realize that it is only one piece of a complex puzzle which is composed of both joyous and hard pieces?

Brandon pointed out that at a distance, you can see what is working and what isn't. And one of the rules of the workshop was "No undoing what is already done." If something wasn't working, we were encouraged to change our method, change our color pallette, change what needed to be changed and move on. After the change was made and worked up for a while, then we were to step back again and compare our change to what came before; to examine improvements, and also see what could be changed yet again.

With every step of the workshop, the life analogies became more and more obvious; so much so that sometimes I'd let out a little giggle. "What's so funny, Blossom?" Brandon would ask. "Oh nothing, just enjoying myself," I'd reply. I mean, in life there's no backspace; there's no "delete" button. You have to either ignore your mistakes and keep on making them over and over again, or you recognize them and say, "let's not do that again if we can help it, okay?" The value of the "No undoing your work" policy in the workshop was that your "mistakes" served as a lesson that you could witness. You got to make an improvement, with your mistake being your guide. In this way, I realized that mistakes are actually my friend! WOW!

At one moment in the class, I was struggling with choosing another color and went to Brandon for help. I asked what additional color he thought my pallette needed, and he said, "well, let's go to our materials and find out." I was struck by this because, 1) He didn't have the answer in his head, and 2) his method was exactly what mine would have been, had I not had someone there to ask: he went to our yarns, laid my work down amongst them, and just picked through different colors to see what he thought would look good. In this way, I realized that I am trustworthy. I actually do know what to do. I have my own perspective, which is unique and interesting and worth expressing. Both in life and in art. I ask myself, "Will I like this flavor of candy?" and the answer is that I will just have to Suck it and See! Maybe it will be bitter, maybe it will be just right; I'll never know until I try.

A Thoughtful Reprise

Good Day! I am still reeling from my intense workshop on color, and I have more to say about my experience and what I learned. But for today, I will keep it short. First, I'm excited to tell you that I did a brief interview about my fabric stash with the lovely Mary Beth of the amazing blog True Up: a blog devoted to fabric. You can read the interview here and see photos of my fabric stash here: http://www.trueup.net/?p=6256

And I will leave you with one of the little card wallets that I made from fabric designed by Michelle Engel Bencsko of Cicada Studio. This fabric line is called, "Dogwood" and it is so lovely!