Merry and Bright

I got around to designing a Christmas collection this year for Scrap Girls. I love the bright colors; they match the ornaments I made from my patterns.

Crafty patterns!

CraftSimple eBooklet: Christmas Ornaments
CraftSimple eBooklet: Holiday Garland: Peace
CraftSimple eBooklet: Holiday Garland: Merry

I finally got some new things I've been working on into the boutique yesterday. There are other things in the works, but I wanted to get some holiday projects out plenty of time before the holidays. I like to keep busy during the day, even when watching my son. I'm unable to get to my computer while he's awake, but I can sometimes grab a hands-on project and he doesn't object too much.

Isn't it funny how if you give your child all of your attention, they will play happily by themselves, but if you try to do something and turn your back on them for a minute, they want all of your attention? Ah, well.

Here are some images of my pattern samples. I donated some of my prototypes to the Sanderling Waldorf school we've been going to for our parent-child class. They had a craft festival in November.

ScrapSimple Club in the Boutique!

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Cabinet of Curiosities

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Specimen Jars

Christy VanderWall and Armi Custudio did some beautiful layouts for me using the club items.

Redefine

I turned my alpha art from my new Redefine Collection into a brush set. I love this hand drawn and random style.

Doing something for me

Let's not look at how many months it's been since I've last posted. Hey, I told you not to look!

Yesterday, I started a new online class called In the Fish Bowl, taught by Marisa at Creative Thursday. And this is why I have resurrected this blog. I've thought about this little abandoned blog almost every day. While my life is so busy at the moment, I feel out of touch with people I used to talk to, such as other fellow designers. I always wonder how other moms juggle writing on a blog, staying at home with their kids, and finding creative time.

Tonight, I'm going to post my answers to the questions Marisa gave us "fishies" for the first class. On a side note, I have to say that I have always been hesitant about revealing too much of myself on such a public blog. This is a brave step for me. Here goes...

What are you working on when you create?
Might be sketching or rendering in the computer a new digital scrapbook kit, designing sewing patterns, or stitching up something that I designed.

What are you working on when you lose all sense of time?
Designing, sketching, and sewing (a tiny bit). Sometimes I like to listen or watch tv beside my computer while creating. Usually I'm not concepting at that point, but working on the computer or by hand where I know what I'm doing without too much thought.

What does success mean to you? What does it look like to you?
I think it's mostly about feeling valued. Or maybe like I'm contributing something. I also like to be able to be independent and know I can provide for myself. I know I'm not supposed to mention money, but I saw my mother have the incredible challenge of raising me by herself and what that entailed, and I think that it is ingrained in me to make sure I'm not in dire straights. I've finally achieved the ability to work from home and not have to answer to a boss or have to go into an office to work. I can design and create whatever my heart desires. That says success to me. I have a young toddler right now though, so I don't feel very successful at the moment. My life and "work" feel very on hold. I feel on hold. I wish I didn't feel like the amount I output creatively was a direct relation to how successful I am. That's something I battle with every day.

How do you feel about yourself in relationship to your work right now?
I haven't felt like I have nearly enough time to do anything. That's a fact of my life right now. Some days I'm lucky to get near pencil and paper or my computer. I hate to say it, but I'm not so happy on those days. Being an introvert and a creative person, I'm much happier when I can find some time to myself to recharge. Designing and being creative also recharge me, and I feel like it's a valuable tool in my life that can relax me like nothing else. Of course, on the flip side, the beginning stages of my creative process where I'm feeling intense angst and self-doubt, I feel like I'm not capable of designing another thing. I worry that my previous successes were a fluke and the well has surely run dry. That's something I would love to change about how I work.

Are you feeling confident or a little vulnerable, deflated, inspired? Doubting yourself or sure of yourself?
As I mentioned above, I do feel doubt quite frequently. I feel quite inspired at times too, though.

Well, that's it for me right now. I'd better get to bed before the little one wakes up.

Ahhh, nuts

Ahhh, nuts. Or nurts, as my mom would sometimes say. Or is it spelled nurtz? Well, anyway...sometimes projects (I should really call them experiments) do not always go as planned, or envisioned. Oh well. I learned from my mistakes. Mistakes are good things, right?

I learned not to use stabilizer as a stitch holder when it's the kind that won't tear away.

I learned that I should do a SAMPLE first, especially before making dozens of French knots on aforementioned non-tear away stabilizer.

I learned to print out a color SAMPLE of my design on plain paper before printing onto expensive printable fabric, especially when there's a big possibility that the printer heads are dirty or I'm out of an ink color.

I learned to make sure I buy the correct ink cartridges for my printer, especially before opening up the plastic shrink bag and trying to shove it into the open ink cartridge slot.

I learned that sometimes a sewing machine is better than my impatient hand stitches.

I learned leaving a white border on my printed fabric design for stitching up a seam is a good idea.

Whew. Lots of education going on here.

Oh, and I learned not to give up, even if things don't go as well as planned. I am not necessarily a nincompoop because I "failed" the first time. Back to the drawing board. Or stitching board.

Creative Spirit

February is here and my new club is in the boutique! I loved working on this one. I was very inspired when concepting this kit. Thanks to my husband staying home for a week on vacation to take care of our little son, I had some time to tackle this. Normally, my days are so fragmented, I'm lucky to get any sketching time.

My main inspirations were folk art, Mexican cut paper, and milagros.

You can sign up for the club here.



Also, here's a glimpse of the mood board I put together for this (for inspiration while working) and a few sketches.