This is the CUTEST shop! If I had a  little girl I’d be so tempted by all those adorable dresses! She also has great kimono-style pj’s!

I’m very close to finishing the first quilt I’ve made for myself!! Such a nice feeling :) Usually I only make quilts to give away. We have one that I made for a charity auction… my husband bought it because he didn’t want to part with it :)

My Grumpy Quilt is actually a crazy quilt. A few years ago I decided I wanted to make a quilt to snuggle in when I was grumpy (hence the name), made of tons of red, pink, and orange scraps. The quilt includes pieces of clothing I used to love, and bits of fabric  from other projects I’ve done.

It’s taken me a while because projects for myself tend to take a back seat to projects for other people and purposes. But I sewed a bit here and there. It was a great stress reliever because there is no rhyme or reason. The only rule I made for this quilt is that all my scraps fit into the color scheme. Beyond that, the crazy quilt offered a really nice change of pace. I was able to just sew for the fun of sewing and seeing something come together without worrying about “messing up”.

Then last week, I realized I’d finally made enough blocks to complete my quilt! I pieced them together with bright pumpkin orange and backed it with a shade a bit richer than hot pink. Looking at it nearly makes my eyes burn, but I love it!

Right now I’m busy doing freeform quilting all over the orange areas. Hopefully it will be officially done within the next few days!! But for now, I offer a sneak peek phone-pic for your viewing pleasure!

So far, going through The Crafter’s Devotional has been a lot of fun. I’m on day 19 (I did a few days all at once in the beginning to get caught up), and it’s been quite an enlightening experience. Today’s task was to think about imagery that pops up in your work over and over, and then to brainstorm about possible interpretations. What I learned about myself and my artwork was quite surprising! They are things I knew, but didn’t realize I was expressing when I paint.

Overall, I’ve really loved going through the book. It’s making me explore crafts I’d never tried, and helping me loosen up and try new techniques. A lot of collage is involved, so one of the big things for me has been stepping outside my comfort zone and cutting up “cherished” magazine clippings I’ve been hoarding for ages. I’m finally doing something with them rather than just sifting through them occasionally for inspiration.

This horribly-captured phone picture is an example of a combination of a few of the collage assignments. I glued the images to a photo box top, and painted over it with varnish. The paper came out all wrinkly, which is regrettable, so I need to learn a better way to decoupage. I’d saved these clippings forever: the woman because of the amazing colors and textures in her clothes, the eggs (which came with the bird) because of the colors and because the eggs reminded me of some of my dripped grid paintings, and the pumpkins, birdhouse, and money jar because I loved the imagery. But without encouragement, I most likely would have still been staring at those clippings when I’m sixty.

Often sewing makes me feel like I’ve done something great. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, and everything turns out wonderful. But, ugh… sometimes sewing can become a near nightmare. That’s what I experienced today.

I made a mei tai for my sister, because she has her hands full with her newborn twins. In the process I broke three… THREE. needles. Within the space of five minutes. I was sick. After that, I only had three inches left to sew and something with my machine stopped working. I couldn’t find my manual so I had to sew the rest by hand. It was annoying because it doesn’t match and I’m not the best at hand stitching.

But in the end, I must remember that functionality is most important, and that this was a labor of love. I’d do it all over again.

(Photo by GulfCoastCottagePDF)

I nearly died when I saw this shop :) My sister and I LOVED playing house (for far longer than either of us care to admit…) and if we’d had access to this shop then, I’m pretty sure we would have lost our minds :)

GulfCoastCottagePDF sells patterns for adorable felt toys. Each pattern is only $5.99! There is a wide array of imaginative toys for both boys and girls. I want the above tool kit for Dex, and *cough*hint*cough*, Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles, Dexter might enjoy some of the other patterns for Christmas… :)

I got a new book last night called The Crafter’s Devotional: 365 Days of Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Unlocking Your Creative Spirit. I’m so pumped about using it.

The only thing that makes me a little sad is that they leave out fine art. It would have been beneficial for me to have painting projects included.

The book is set up with a division of 52 weeks, and each day has a different theme:

Monday- Journaling

Tuesday- Recycle, Reuse, or Revive

Wednesday- Collection, Stash, and Materials

Thursday- Personal History

Friday- Noncraft Inspiration

Saturday + Sunday- Collaborate, Gather, and Experiment (these days are combined for projects that require more time and energy to complete)

Since I bought the book on Wednesday and couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around, I’m going to do multiple entries for a few days to catch up. I love this sort of thing, and anything that inspires me and gives me something to work toward is worth checking into!

PS: If any of you artists are interested in getting the book and working through it at the same time, let me know in the next few days. I’d be willing to wait to let you catch up! It might be fun to share and discuss what we get out of it! (I got it for $25 at Barnes and Noble, but I found that Amazon has it for $16)

Someone recently mentioned to me the importance of viewing your life as building toward something. Not just scattered, random events, just living life until you die. But truly meaningful, purposeful living.

I know I tend to forget to live like that. I’m more of a live-in-the-moment kind of girl, which has its merit, but I think that working to bring the two ideas together could create a richer kind of existence.

I want to internalize that, and over the next week I’m going to begin to dwell more on a forward-thinking perspective. I’m going to think more on what is and will be most important to me (which, for me, is God and family) and see how that shapes the way I do things

I finally got around to listing some of my sock monsters in my Etsy shop: www.lemonwoodclock.etsy.com

So far I have 3 listed, stay tuned for more!!

I’ve been in a desperate dash to the craft fair finish-line this week! I’m pretty sure I’ve never been quite so goal-oriented in my life :) Alex helped me create an action plan, and thanks to a management and production book he’s been listening to, I’m now acquainted with such terms as “throughput” and “bottle-necking” lol. I’m currently trying to maximize throughput by avoiding bottle-necking. Which is fancy-schmancy speak for trying to finish more products by identifying and tweaking your most time consuming steps. I don’t fully understand it, that’s why I said “acquainted” with the terms and not “best friends” with them :)

Everyday I have a specific production goal. Yesterday’s goal was to complete 3 dolls (I decided instead to complete 7 doll *bodies* and have them ready for faces, which I can do anywhere).Today’s is to finish all the sock monsters I already have started, and to hopefully begin a few more. 

I haven’t had time to take real pictures, but here’s a sneak peek at my dolls, via my phone’s camera:

  They’re babies, not big girls, hence the barely-there hair. Some of them will have dresses, some of them will have diapers. But I plan to make them all a tiny blanket to match their clothes.

This baby had pigtails, which left her hair all freaky :) I definitely plan to replace them asap!

I received my application for the craft fair today! So I have all the info:

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Thompsons Station United Methodist Church 8th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival

Saturday September 19th 2009 9am-5pm

Arts & Crafts, Food, Bake Sale, Homemade Ice Cream, Children’s Games, Petting Zoo, Live Music all day…

1517 Thompson Station Rd. West next to the Williamson County Rescue Squad Building.

For more info call 595-1855 or 794-8113 (I think those are both 615#’s)

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I have so much work to do… hopefully I’ll be accepted, but if not I’ll have a lot of stuff ready for Etsy, so no worries!

[When I typed all this out, I didn’t realize there was info on a website. For anyone who’d also like to apply, while there’s still time, here’s the link to the downloadable form!]