Seedling

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Felt Aid

Today I began to see a few new listings on Felt crop up under the shop name "Felt Aid." Curious, I investigated further and found that Lucy, Sarah and Ana from Felt....Like Something Different had created a blog and had begun fund-raising to help out the people of Christchurch, where a major earthquake hit just a week ago.

This, from an email that was sent out to the Felt community:

In the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake here in Christchurch, NZ on Saturday September 4th, no doubt many people's minds turned to how they could help out - this response was no different among those of the Felt community.... Ideas generated conversation, that was soon made into a cohesive plan, that eventuated in the creation of FeltAid and its accompanying blog "Felt like helping out".

In short, FeltAid is the culmination of an entire crafty minded community's creativity and of their desires to help out the best way they know how - by getting their craft on and donating the proceeds to a very worthy cause! And of course what could make a community of craftisans happier than being able to help out by doing what comes most naturally.

Hurrah! And amen. This is a bandwagon I am thrilled to jump on. Helping out always feels good, but being craft- and community-related, this effort feels especially satisfying. I was happy to submit a donation of an Organic Seed Pod Sleep Gown.

You can find the link for the listing here. Heaps of great stuff has been donated by other Felters, so take your time and have a good look around. If you would make your own donation, visit the donations site here. All proceeds will go to the New Zealand Red Cross.

A wonderful thing to be a part of -- go Felt Aid! Wouldn't it be awesome if Felt Aid continued as a fund-raising effort for different global issues after the crisis in Christchurch has been resolved? Perhaps the recipients could rotate each month. So much good to be done!

Come Inside

Yesterday I took advantage of a quiet afternoon and an extra long nap-time to clean out the studio. Since I really thrive in a well-organized space, it didn't take long before I felt needed a big clean out. I was able to make things work a bit better for me -- putting away supplies I rarely use, making space for things I like to keep in arms-reach, and putting a few use-all-the-time tools up on the wall where I can always get to them. While everything was looking extra tidy, I thought I'd take a few photos to share with you.

It was exciting to send a package with a few organic kimono all-in-ones off to a very new baby this morning. I always love to imagine the beautiful little ones that will wear the clothing I make -- a small but special connection.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

My Creative Space

All together now: Mistakes are fine. Mistakes are good. We learn from mistakes and they help us grow. Right? Right.

"Mistakes are good" has been my personal affirmation this week. I wouldn't go so far as to say I like making them, but I do recognize that sometimes interesting and worthwhile things come out of them. Take this "Welcome Swallow" blanket I've been working on. It hasn't been going terribly well. A new printing method I've been using has felt messy and inexact. The ink colors aren't right. The spacing doesn't visually balance. Just....Bleah. No matter how many times I walked away and returned to problem-solve, I didn't feel happy with how things looked.

So, the good side? I've tried out a new (potentially time-saving) technique and found it didn't work for me. What's the point of saving time when I lose even more trying to fix mistakes? Or worse, saving time only to have a product that I don't feel as good about? Better to go back to square-one and do things properly (if slowly.) Also, now I have a new blanket for baby Aya -- one which I can continue to use to test colors, inks and printing methods -- I'm sure she won't mind.

I really like the "Welcome Swallow" print on the blanket, so I've scrapped this one and began afresh last night. So far, so good. Nothing like a new beginning, is there?

In other creative spaces (not mine, per se) Solomon is loving getting out the paints this week. It's awesome that this has become a mostly independent activity -- he knows his way around a palate and brush by now.

I love the colors he's chosen. These have been put aside for birthday-card making. Lovely!

Find more creatives and their spaces here on Kootoyoo.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

In The Studio

I've been lucky enough to have some time in the studio over the past few days. Tinkering, working out new ideas and experimenting with a few new printing methods. It's been pretty interesting; things don't always turn out the way I expected, but the results have been pushing me to try out different things and digress a bit from my usual design modes.

I used a handful of different printing methods for this blanket.... I kept walking away from it, dissatisfied. But then was able to come back and find ways to fix the things that were bugging me. Seriously, I learn so much with each and every print I do. As for the one I'm working on now -- well, certainly learning from it! More on that later....

Monday, September 6, 2010

Monkey Pants

Solomon calls these awesome pants his "monkey pants." We were lucky enough to be given two pairs by friend and fellow crafter, Karina of Two Blue Monkeys. I sew rarely, but often enough to recognize (and admire) truly impeccable sewing when I see it. I love the details on the pants like the front and back pockets lined with contrasting fabrics, the faux-fly, and the adjustable waist.

For far better photos than I've managed to take here, check out Karina's new Felt shop. (By the way, S calls them his monkey pants because he can play like a total monkey all day in them -- I don't think he's even aware of the name of Karina's shop!) I can see these pants are going to get a lot of wear -- and they certainly look like they'll be able to stand up to it. Thanks Karina!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Baby, Unwrangled.

Um, taking pictures with babies (particularly mobile babies with minds of their own) is hard. Hard! I can see why the professionals hire baby wranglers. I always think photos with baby products are so much more appealing with actual babies in them. So, to better depict a new design for my line of organic baby blankets, I decided to give it a shot. I was envisioning my babe beautifully swaddled and looking serenely adorable; the photo would of course show both the print on the body of the blanket and the one on the hood. I made sure Aya was clean as a whistle and well-fed, and that we had a neutral background and good light. All perfectly planned, right? Well, you can see for yourself how things developed.

First this:

Then this:

This:

And finally.... this:

Lesson learned.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Felt like Friday

It's been a while since I had the pleasure of browsing my fellow Felters -- and a true pleasure it is! As always, I am amazed by the array of talent harbored by the New Zealand craft world. My theme for this showcase: just a little peek into my fantasy shopping habit. Do you ever do this? Sometimes I check out big online shops and load every little thing I fancy into my cart. Of course, I never actually click "purchase" -- hence all of the fun, none of the guilt (or debt.) When I fantasy shop on Felt, I simply put everything into my "Favorites" or my "Wishlist" baskets (I don't actually load up my cart because I fear it might interfere with some other lucky shopper's purchase.) For this showcase I transferred a few of my most favorite-favorite things over to share with all of you. My showcase this week features fabulous items from PBS Homemades, Honey Design, Mum of Twins, Plan-B, Jacolily, Bean Bags, Cool Crib, Honey n Spice, Moki Designs, The Busy Finch, Leaf, and Nezumi. Enjoy!

Eclectic Elephant