always look on the bright side?

Let the Sun Shine poster on etsyWell, April showers bring...May showers?  After a long Saturday of watching the online forecasts more obsessively than my Facebook updates (if you can believe it), and truly BELIEVING that I could wish the rainclouds away, Sunday came with clouds and scattered showers, as predicted.

So, our exciting first weekend of Crafty By Nature was canceled until next month.  Boo hoo!  I feel so bad for all of the artists who were planning to attend.  Many were traveling, and I'm sure all of them were up late packing their cars and getting last minute details together.  I know I was--too late!!  Corey managed to snag a few shots of me painting the sign for the location entrance Sunday afternoon.  It's sad that Saturday's hard work didn't get to pay off with a fun show on Sunday, but at least I'm ahead of the game for the next one!

painting the sign for Shupp's Grove

Obsession begets a dream fulfilled...

i heart brooch found on etsyI am writing today to announce outloud and officially to the world that persistance, passion, and more persistance DOES pay off!!  After many visits to a potential location and much number-crunching and soul-searching, Corey and I came to the final decision that we will be opening an indie boutique and gallery later this summer!  A real, live, actual brick-and-mortar, all our own!  The name of the shop is (tentatively) Hello Bluebird, and it will feature a mix of wholesale items that meet a specific criteria, and handmade goods made by local artists and makers from around the globe!  The criteria for wholesale items will be that they must be either handcrafted, eco-friendly, made in America, or have some other redeeming quality (like supporting a tribe of women--you get the idea).  It is a two-story space, so the main shop will be on the first floor, and Corey's illustration and design studio will be upstairs in a totally gorgeous room with exposed brick and a big bay window.  That is also where we will house the gallery, which we hope to fill with urban art, illustrators, and slightly "edgier" items than downstairs. 

Downstairs will, of course, be a beacon of loveliness, bright colors, and fun, upbeat designs (guess where I'll be).  The overall "feel"of the shop will be mid-century modern meets farmhouse chic meets japanese zakka meets vintage charm...so far!  Stay tuned as we make progress into this new venture--I will be posting lots of photos as we transform the space over the summer. 

Of course, if you are an artist and want to apply to be featured in our shop or gallery, I would love to hear from you.  And if you are a shop-owner, I wecome any words of wisdom or encouragement!!

Things to try: Lavender Bath Sachets!

Primrose Design Vintage Feedsack Lavender SachetsIn my last post, I mentioned Janet of Primrose Designs, who makes the most beautiful embroidered pillows and sachet stacks out of vintage linens, feedsacks, and newer fabrics with vintage charm.  Since I met Janet a few years ago, I have been curious about attempting some lavender sachets of my own, to give as gifts or just stuff in my drawers to make everything smell yummy.  My daughter makes "body buddies" that you can heat and rest over your shoulders to relax your muscles and "de-stress," and I thought a bit of lavender added to the dried corn inside would make a lovely scent when heated.  I was looking for sources for dried lavender today, and found this handy tutorial on making bath sachets, which I am eager to try!  If you make sachets or have any advice for a first timer, or if you decide to try some of your own after reading this, I would love to hear from you and will happily post pic's of your work!:

Lavender is used for beauty products and is an ideal ingredient for bath sachets and essences - it has both a relaxing aroma and soothing effect on aches and pains.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp lavender flowers
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• Spoonful Epsom salts
• Fragrant oil or perfume

Steps

1. Place two tablespoons of lavender flowers and rosemary into a muslin bag.
2. Add a spoonful of Epsom salts. Mix together.
3. Add a drop of fragrance oil for longer lasting fragrance.
4. Seal the bag with a rubberband or ribbon.
5. Decorate with ornament.
6. Hang the bag under the hot water tap. It helps if you loop it on a long string first, or place it directly in the water instead.
7. Dry the sachet between use and discard it when the scents fade away. It will last for approximately 3 - 5 baths.

Tips

• These make excellent gifts also.
• Use to freshen closets, drawers, workout bags or hang from car mirror.

Things You'll Need

• Muslin bag (small) - stitch your own if you cannot find pre-made bags in craft or dollar stores
• Decorative charm, heart ornament of flower

Feedsacks, fear, forgiveness

Primrose Tropical Bluebird

I have been so caught up in the recent bout of craft show crazies, that I have gotten away from the reason I began this new journal in the first place. 

My real inspiration comes from the simple act of making something beautiful.  It took an overcommitment (well, time will tell!) to get me back to my crafting table--or, should I say, the dining room table.  In truth, my real crafting table is buried in files and catalogs for my "day job"--a bit too symbolic, really.  So, I'm back at my old haunt, the dining room table, pretty papers and embroidery thread scattered down its length.  Dinner this week has been interesting--the kids have loved every minute of it.  Who doesn't like a Chinese food "picnic" on the floor?

I think I have resisted my return to crafting for so long because I have a fear of failure, and a fear of facing my weaknesses.  I don't like to do things half-way.  When I love something, I want to immerse myself in it.  I want to be great at it, to make an impact, to really create something amazing.  I make really good starts--but if I get tripped up along the way, if I don't live up to the crazy ambitions I have set for myself, I crumble.  And hide.  I know I am not alone in this.

Being a grown up is hard work.  I think the lesson of my life is to face my weaknesses head on, own them, and confess, often.  Confessing imperfection is particularly difficult, especially if there is another person involved.  Sometimes I dream up the most perfect "I'm sorry" I can think of (like Anne of Green Gables!), but they don't always work the way they're supposed to.  The important thing is to get it over with, to do the best you can, to make a new start.  You can only control so much.

Tonight I pulled out my box of feedsack scraps.  I bought them a few years ago, inspired by the amazing work of one of my very first Blossom consigners, Janet of Primrose Design.  I am completely in love with her embroidered feedsack pillows, like the one above.  I do not in any way possess her skill--I am so intimidated by my new sewing machine that I have only tried to use it ONCE since I bought it over a year ago (read: hiding again).  I love to pick through the crazy colors and patterns, and I like to think that I am connected to a great tradition of women (re)creating new and wonderful things from the bits and pieces of their everyday lives.  Again, it is intimidating.  Someday all of these lovely little remnants will be used up.  Who am I to risk an ill-placed stitch?

But this is the beauty of crafting.  When my kids pull out a paper and crayons to draw mommy or a tree or the cat, their joy is not dimished just because it doesn't look exactly like their subject.  It is the simple act of creating that is the thing. Dining Room Table "Studio"

The perfection of craft lies in its imperfection.  These are not the products of machines, but people.  In each crafted piece might live a dozen pulled stitches, false starts, a hidden knot underneath, a clumsy circle, a thread color that (luckily) worked out in the end, a pin-pricked finger tip.  In every piece there is the story of what it means to be a woman, a mother, a wife, a human. 

Lots of restarts and an unsightly underside at times, but, in the end, worth all the trouble.

"Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it."  Anne, with an "e"

A show by any other name...?

Crafty By Nature Outdoor Indie MarketWhat a whirlwind weekend!  If you read my follow up comment after the last over-zealous post, we have changed the name of our outdoor indie market to Crafty by Nature--An Outdoor Indie Market.  While I busied myself with Eden's movie-themed, 10th birthday sleepover party extravaganza (pics to come, I hope!), Corey locked himself in the studio/office/ex-dining room and slaved over our events' new site.  Well worth the "alone time" with six crazy 10-year-olds: the site is amazing!  Parts of it are still in progress, but the overall look and feel is better than I could have imagined, and it links to a new journal that should help in the meantime.  Tonight, Corey was "allowed" some free time, while I braved the depths of Photoshop and ImageReady.  After much whining and a steep learning curve, I produced a fairly handsome animated banner (for my very limited skills) that I am hoping will make it's way across the internet (hint hint).  Now on to the hard part--getting noticed!  Will we ever sleep?...stay tuned!