Winter Work

Hello out there.  It seems like the common theme of my posts these days is: "I'm sorry it's been such a long time..."  So I'm going to skip ahead of that now and just tell you what I've been up to. 

Suzanne and me at our most recent Craft Fair

The holidays: it's an emotional time, but also a busy time!  I've been trying my hand at craft fairs now that I've got more time to do such things, and I've been pleasantly suprised at how welcomed I've felt.  The other vendors are lovely, and the customers are even lovelier!  One of the dis-advangages about selling work online is that I don't get to hear the thought process of my potential customer.  But at a fair, I can hear the conversation between two people that either results in a sale, or in a pass.  I can gather information about price points, colors, patterns, design, and quality.  And also the emotional reaction that folks have to certain things.  All of this is great for helping me refine my product and its presentation.

This past year has been quite a challenge for me, and after Bronwyn's passing I was left feeling like I was blind to my purpose.  But I've started to find my footing again, and after some soul searching I remember that I really do love the creative endevours that are BCharmer Designs and Mercy Me Designs.  So my next task is to turn those hobby businesses into bona-fide businesses.  My local community has a non-profit program called Enterprise for Equity, which offers business training to low-income entrepreneurs, and I've signed up to begin their training program in February.  I'm thrilled!  My hope is that I can turn something that supports my creativity into something that also supports me financially.  I'll keep you posted (I really will).

In the meantime, I've found some new fabric to love (big suprise) and a fun little project to showcase it.  The designer of this fabric is Lotta Jansdotter, and the line is called, "Echo" and I confess I fell hard for this whole collection before it was even released.  I don't have a lot of it, but enough to make piecework zippered pouches and headbands.  Isn't it delicious?

Bone Dry Ridge

Selma and Markthor, making tea.

This past weekend I had the great pleasure of visiting a lovely farm in my area.  Bone Dry Ridge focuses on raising livestock, with an emphasis on sustainable land use and husbandry practices.  Selma and Markthor, the owners and operators of the farm, raise a medium sized flock of Icelandic sheep, and a handful of pigs and Highland cows along with a flock of 50 chickens and several hives of bees. They have an elaborate water catchment system, which comes in handy in the late summer when the water on the land dries up.  I was completely charmed by Selma and Markthor, their passion for what they do, and by their animals and land.  When you meet people who are living their dream, you can't help but feel inspired and uplifted.

Good Dog, Kata: Photo by Nash

After touring the farm, Selma invited us in for tea, and proudly produced a jar of her homemade yogurt.  I probably don't need to say that it was the best yogurt that I have ever eaten!  Selma perfected the recipe over many months of experimenting with different strains of starter.  She would bring the end product to her neighbors with a survey until she eventually came up with a recipe that was the most liked by everybody.  Now she is hard at work on a business plan that would allow her to have her own creamery.  I'm so excited to be her first customer!

And the cherry on the cake was that I have recently been loaned a fancy digital SLR camera, which I used on this trip.  I'm pretty excited with the expanded photographic possibilities! And I would be remiss if I didn't thank Nash, my talented artisitc companion on this trip, who helped me with the elaborate menu system and some of the finer points that particular camera.  Thank-You Nash!

New Work

I'm crossing over a little bit to talk about the new work that I'm doing in my other business, Mercy Me Designs.  I'm so excited to introduce these new little cycle caps.  We're making them out of wool for adults and children alike.  You can see more information in my blog post over here about them.

A Brighter Shade of Blue

My Dearest Reader,

It has been nearly three months since last I wrote.  I won't lie, I've been having a hard time.  I often thought of coming to my blogs to write about my experience, but I felt so dark and so wobbly, that I thought it would be scary for anyone else to look at.  Inside myself, I knew I wouldn't leap off of the beckoning precipice, but you might not know that, and so I kept quiet. 

Looking back at it now, I would call these past few months a soulful time, but in the thick of it, it just felt hard.  Bronwyn's birthday came and went, and the weeks bookending the date were as painful as anything I can think of.   This pain is just something that I need to experience and integrate into my life now, and I cannot believe that I'm saying this but it does get easier. 

Finally, I am breathing deeply again.  The world feels less viscous to me now; I feel like I can move more easily, more lightly.  In the midst of this, what I will euphamistically call "hard time," I was comforted by friends and relations, by little notes of concern from you, and by spending long hours in my studio; sometimes creating, sometimes thinking, and sometimes just doing nothing.  I'm so grateful for all of that time and loving care. 

One emotional turning point for me came just a few weeks ago, when my Husband and I took a camping trip to my all time favorite beach in the Deception pass area.  I spent a long time sitting on a bluff watching birds soar, waves crash, and kelp sway in the swirling water below me.  I let the wind go through me, felt the rocks below me, and the vastness of space moving around me.  I was a speck, and it gave me perspective. 

I know that as much as I experience sorrow and emptiness from the physical loss of Bronwyn, spiritually she is with me more now than ever before.  She is that seed inside of me that encourages me to shine, to take care of myself, to have compassion for others, and to be fully present in the world.  Love doesn't die in the absence of one's beloved, which has been such an important discovery for me.  I will love Bronwyn until the day I die, and hopefully I can let that love continue to grow and come through me and everything I do.  Now that I'm starting to understand this concept, more things seem possible.  My mind is swirling with new possibilities and new hope.  I wonder what will happen next? 

A Little Blossom

I am in the land of summer and blue sky right now, and it is lovely.  I found this giant dandi-head on a hike yesterday and fell in love with the whispery feathers of its seed pods, just getting ready to fly away.  This shape and color brought to mind a project that I worked on just recently for a customer.  She chose these fabrics specifically, and I thought she did a great job; it's a good combination, don't you think? 

A Confessional

I've "discovered" a new site on the internet that is both handy and fun.  The site is called Pinterest, and it's quickly gaining popularity.  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can organize and save all of the recipes, tutorials, photos, and other fabulous things that you find on the internets.  So, for example, I am about to embark on my first quilt, and I have only a clue as to how to go about starting.  So if I do a search for "quilting tutorials" on the web at midnight, I get a lot of hits back that look interesting.  But it's midnight and I don't want to read them all right now.  So I can pin them to a board that I've named "Quilting" on Pinterest.  This is my board and I can organize it, name it, and use it however I like.  But here's the other cool thing: other people can see my boards, and I can see theirs.  So I can also do a search on Pinterest for Quilting Tutorials and see what comes up there.  Trust me, there is A LOT of cool stuff on Pinterest, and I've had to limit my time there (because I could easily spend all day looking at other peoples collections).  I personally have 35 different boards, and I love it that I can come back to them, click on the photo, and it brings me right back to the original location where I found it.  Recently, I found a crochet tutorial for making bowls.  I printed out the pattern and promptly made four nesting bowls; aren't they pretty? 

Now I know that the internet is vast, and our time and attention are limited.  Pinterest isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I love it so much that I thought I'd better share, just in case it is yours.  You can follow my boards on Pinterest, if you decide to sign up; see you in the ether!

Quilt Progress

Okay, so I was hoping to be finished with my quilt by today.  Alas, the quilting bit has got me a little intimidated.  Here's what I have so far: the back (which I think came out well) and the front.  Plus the batting in between.  It's all pinned together, and I've also basted it, but I think it needs more basting.  I'm planning to bring it with me on my trip to Montana, where there are abundant, experienced quilters there who can help me.  My goal is not to do a lot of dense quilting.  I want the finished product to feel soft and fluffy, but I also don't want it to shift around.  So "Stitch-in-the-Ditch?"  Also, I'm thinking about hand-quilting; will it take too long?  I didn't end up finding the stripey binding that I was hoping for, but I found a lovely little freckle-dot (white dots on an espresso brown background) that I think will look great.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the final product!

 I left a little blank panel to the right of the owl and pussycat print where I can dedicate a blessing to Bria Rose, who is the little sweetie that will be getting this quilt.