you don't look back

I've never been much of jewelry person.  I wasn't one of those people who obsessed over their wedding ring.  I knew more about what I didn't want, which was the opposite of most brides. I didn't want a diamond and I didn't want it to be expensive. I ended up with a 1920's art deco amithyst ring and I adore it.

I've started wearing (and making!) more jewelry as of late, mostly earrings.  As I accumulated more pieces, I quickly realized how little storage space I have.  I also decided that if it was organized nicely than I'd be more inclined to wear it more.  I knew I wanted to craft something and with a quick google search I came up with several options.  I bought the wire, spray painted an old frame, and added some fabric.

I learned through trial and error what to do differently with my 2nd attempt.  I found a more intricate frame at a yard sale.  I painted it with a nicer acrylic, instead of spray painting it.  I decided not to drill and attach hooks, as I had so much trouble the 1st time around and didn't want to compromise the frame.  This was a gift for a friend. 

over the quilt that you've been spinning

I've been crafting up a storm in the months since I've updated here. The next few posts will be snippets of what I've been up to. 

I took a quilting class in the spring, which I've been wanting to do for years.  I was the youngest student (by far) and by the end of the class I'd became pretty close with two of my fellow students, who I refereed to as my surrogate grandmas.  I'm a grandma at heart.  Since the class ended I've completed 3 quilts!  I'm a quilting machine.  I love it.  I'm currently working on my 4th and have excited plans for several more.  I also want to take another class to learn more about freeform machine quilting.  I dream of getting a long arm sewing machine, but I don't think that will likely happen until I truly am a grandma or strike it rich.

This quilt was a gift for my favorite munchkin's 2nd birthday.  It's my second attempt at quilting and I designed this with leftover fabric from my 1st quilt.  I like my pattern better than the original pattern.

Put out the fire in your head

I have had my crafty goods in the store Gossamer for the last year and a half.  I can't believe it's been that long!  In that time I've learned a lot about consignment.  Although I make less money than selling my things through etsy, I actually prefer it.  When you consider the time I spend packaging, mailing, posting items, photographing, marketing, etc., it's so much easier to make it and leave it in a shop.  Besides, I think people are more interested in my things more when they can see them in person.  Although I have no big intentions with this little business, I've been dreaming about owning a little craft store one day.  I imagine quitting my day job and making art all day.  What a sweet thought.  Now if only I could have someone else take care of the business end of things, which I struggle with right now.  In reality, I just want to continue with this little business so I can share my creativity with others and make a little extra money to keep funding more creativity.  That's all it really does and it's been nice, especially these past couple months with the holidays and more orders coming in.

One of the things I've learned about consignment is how important it is to check in with the store's owner, to switch up your items available in the store, and that pretty packaging does make a difference.  I spent this last weekend redesigning all of my packaging, business cards, and tags.

   
I spend a lot of time in my head.  I'm always multitasking, listening with one ear and making to-do lists with the other.  I'm frequently planning my next adventure.  I love to travel, escape my reality and the stress of daily life.  The more stressed I am, the more likely I am to buy a plane ticket.  It's rare for me to take two weeks off and stay at home.  My two week staycation in December made me realize just how relaxing it can be to stay at home for two weeks.  I barely left the house, save an appointment with my acupuncturist, a massage, some dog walks, and a couple holiday celebrations.  Mostly, I spend that time sleeping in, organizing and cleaning my craft room, dancing around my kitchen, sewing owl pillows and paper crafting (on a project that I lost interest in after two days and I'm not sure I'll ever finish), playing video games with my love, and cuddling with my pups.  It was beautiful and made me rethink my use of vacation time.  I say this as I just bought tickets for a two week jaunt to Europe in March.   

i wish i had a river i could skate away on

One week into my vacation and one week to go.  It's been wonderful and I don't want it to end.  As far as crafty goodness, I spent much of last week finishing a Christmas gift for Jayden.  Of all my Christmas gifts to him, it was by far my favorite.  I made him a coupon holder.  I worked on it while he was at work and then for several nights after he went to bed.  The pattern was for intermediate sewers and I am clearly a beginner.  It was challenging and took much longer than it should have, but it turned out beautifully and he loves it.

Here's more of the owl pillows I've been making lately.  One was my first attempt and full of mistakes so it will likely be torn apart and repurposed.  One was made for a friend who gave it to her girlfriend for Christmas.  One I made for the DIY elephant gift exchange at our holiday party.  One was given as a gift to a new friend after watching her disappointment when it was snatched from her in our DIY elephant gift exchange.  Now I need to buy new fabric and make more!  They are pretty time consuming little buggers, but I'm a sucker for owls.

she killed it will kisses

Today is my first day of vacation!  Seventeen glorious days work free.  I'm going to make the most of every one.  I look forward to lots of crafting, game playing, dog walking, reading, cooking, and anything else I fancy.  Tomorrow night is our annual holiday partay.  We still have a lot of work to do (mostly cleaning) but it will be worth it.  We used to entertain folks at our house on a regular basis, but it hasn't happened as much these days.  We usually do an elephant gift exchange, but this year we are doing something new and asked everyone to make it DIY.  So every one's gift needs to be homemade and I can't wait to see what our friend's come up with.

As promised, here's more photos of anticon - North Pdx's version of santacon. The first is with my friend Rhienna and the mayor.  We were both ridiculously excited that Portland's major, Sam Adams, welcomed a bunch of santas to his house.

Here's some other goodies, including gorilla santa in all his glory.  I took a beginning sewing class during the fall and our project was a robe.  I was scrambling for a santa suit when I decided to use my robe.  Conveniently, it's red and white and made a festive makeshift santa suit!     

santa told me about you

First, lets start with the exciting news - one of my mobiles was featured in Modern Handmade Child!  It's a beautifully done online quarterly magazine.  You can find my owl mobile in the article, "The Wonder of Wool".

I spent yesterday with hundreds of other folks dressed up as Santa while bar hopping and walking around the streets of North and NE Portland.  It was so much fun and I had perma-grin the entire day.  My favorite part was the beginning of day when we went to the mayor's house while singing Christmas carols.  The mayor graciously came outside, welcomed us, took photos and handed out egg nog.  Such fun and I can't wait to post more of the photos.

I work for the next two weeks and I have two weeks off work this month for our holiday break.  I'm looking forward to crafting every single day.  I want to start so many projects and make the most of my time off.  I just need to get through next week's finals and the stress of this term will come to an end.  Fall is always my busiest term, because I'm teaching two classes and have more students to advise.

Sew Happy

I posted a photo of my latest sewing project on facebook and a friend said, "Congratulation. You are your grandmother." Yep. That's about right and I'm not ashamed. I love it. Although, I didn't know either of my grandmothers very well and I'm not sure if either of them sewed. I imagined they both did. Both were poor, raising a lots of kids (one had 7 and the other had 9!), and my mom and aunts sew. Growing up my mom loved to paint, make jewelry, sew, cook, and garden. All of it and I had no interest in any of it. I couldn't be bothered. I'd rather read, watch tv and hang out with my friends. I've only started appreciating these things in the last few years. These days instead of spending my Saturday night out late, drinking and dancing at the bar, I'd rather drink hot cocoa, listen to music, and sew.

Yesterday I finished making a robe and today I finished this tablecloth. Our kitchen table is a white resin (why did I get white?) and gets dirty easily, especially since our cat uses it as his bed. He likes the view and it helps him avoid the dogs. I've tried breaking the habit, but I give up. So I wanted something fitted so he couldn't move it around much and vinyl so I can easily wipe it down. I also imagine this will be helpful when I one day have a munchkin.