Toddler Backpack.

I recently bought this pattern from happygiraffe on ETSY. I had been looking for a backpack pattern for my little one for awhile now and I was so happy to stumble across this one. It turned out great and my daughter just loves it.

A day at the Crafters Market.

A friend and I went out for a little stroll around one of the local craft shows today. It was put on by a Fredericton based group who are pretty new as far as getting shows together and the whole thing was very casual and very wonderful. In fact, I knew most of the vendors there and had great conversations with many of them. I may consider becoming part of this group in the future - as I had mentioned before, selling some of my work at retail prices would be a really positive thing for me.

One thing that was said to me that has stayed on my mind was a comment made by Denise MacLean (a fellow potter) who said something about "working smarter, not harder". This really struck me because I have been working so darn hard these past few months and since all of my sales have been through wholesale orders that means I'm only getting paid half of what each pot is valued at. If I started to do some more retail, then I would only need to sell half the work to make the same amount of money. Half the work means less time, although overall more productive time in the studio. And since time is something that I hardly have an abundance of, I think that would fall under the umbrella of 'working smarter'. An ideal scenario though, would be to find a balance between wholesale and retail.

There it is again, that ever elusive balance I am always striving for.

Oh, and I bought myself some fabulous handmade soaps and a new journal. I am very excited about these. I just hope I can gather up the courage to write something in the journal soon - I am someone who is absolutely terrified of writing on a new, blank page in fear of ruining it. A silly thing I know but I've had a sketchbook for over a year now that is just perfect and I have yet to put a single mark in it. I keep telling myself that the right time will come...

Serendipity at it's best.

I was feeling a little blue this morning and found myself sitting (ie. wasting time) in front of the computer when I came across a little video on facebook posted by an old friend from high school whom I had not talked to in years. I was feeling overwhelmed with all the work that I need to be doing in the next few weeks without having any real sense of direction, and feeling stressed due to the lack of time and money that I always feel is hanging over my head. That video was just what I needed to regain perspective.

I had so appreciated this at the time that I left a short, simple message just saying "Thank you for sharing, Namaste". I didn't expect anything to come of this but then I quickly got a message sent back to me offering an email with some e-books on the subject of spirituality that I might be interested in. Of course I was, and so within such a short time of feeling lost, I received those books that had just the perfect information in them in regards to the direction my work has been taking over these past few years and with inspiration to spare. It truly was just what I needed.

Thank you Dave. Namaste.

I have a toothache.

"Unmade art is like a toothache. It's always there distracting you. You're always focused on that darn tooth. If you are writing a novel, the novel is always with you, always posing the question "what next?" Ditto for a sculpture or a painting in process. That brainchild wants your attention!

Unmade art will always pain and distract you - yes, even when you're supposed to be listening to your child's homework or focusing on world peace. Don't get me wrong or understand me too quickly. Children matter. They deserve to be really listened to, and we cannot do that if our unmade art is still competing for our attention. World peace matters, but you may not be able to do anything contructive about it today, while you can make art - and, in my opinion, if we put a little more energy into creation, we might put a little less into destruction.

Maybe all you can do about world peace today is make some art and improve your own goddamn mood. What do you think?"

-Julia Cameron, 'Letters to a Young Artist'

I think I need to get over it already and go buy those supplies I've been thinking about for weeks. I need to get back into the studio to fill the few orders I've got pending then I need to get a start on my paintings (they all exist in my head!) for my show in July. I need to get things moving again. NOW!

Down Time II

So I went to bed feeling great the other night then I woke up feeling terrible. And I've since been in bed sick - three days now. Funny how when you finally stop to take a break then your body decides it has had enough and so it shuts itself down completely. I've noticed this pattern in myself over the past few years and I really wish I could find the right balance between feeling 'blocked' (i.e. not working) and then completely overdoing it.

Balance in all areas is definately something worth striving for.

Down time.

Studio work has come to a stall...not so much because I want it to, but because I've run out of supplies, though I have been enjoying the much needed break. After a few days from hell (excuse me) I decided that I needed to give myself a little something. With my schedule the way it's been lately, I probably only get time to shower twice a week or so - gross, you say? Maybe, but who am I kidding? Anyway, today I made a body scrub. And now I feel like a million bucks.

Here's the recipe I used. I just sort of made it up as I went and it was fantastic.

3/4 cup brown sugar, blend in some oil (I used sweet almond oil with a small amount of jojoba oil - so good for the skin. You can use anything really, even vegetable oil. I would suggest to avoid mineral oils though - so NOT good for your skin). Blend well until you have a nice, slushy consistency. I added 1 tsp. of a chocolate fragrance oil with a little vanilla essential oil just because I had it on hand (what can I say? I'm stocked better than most craft stores). You can use any essential oil you might have. Maybe 8-10 drops?

I put this on and well, scrubbed, before I got into the shower. I had never made a sugar scrub before and really liked it alot better than those salt scrubs you can buy. For one thing, it didn't sting (if you have any small cuts or scrapes), and the texture was much gentler. And once I got in the shower to rinse it off, my skin felt so smooth and the oil was so moisturizing that my skin didn't even feel tight and dry afterwards, which it usually does. You definately have to use this before getting in the shower though, because I tried using more in the shower (just because I wanted to use it again!) but the heat sort of melted the sugar and it wasn't as effective.

Now I'm soft and smooth and smell like a cookie. Mmmmm.

Birthday parties galore...

So birthday party season is among us. My youngest just had her first birthday at the end of April, with my oldest turning 3 at the end of May. We've also been to 3 other birthday parties in the past 2 weeks. The social lives of these two children is so beyond anything I could ever imagine mine to be these days *sigh* and so, I've been crafting lots. And it's actually been putting me in the mood to sew. For myself. Hopefully there will be more to come on that later...

For now, here's the little stuffie that I made for my daughter's first birthday. There's only one small problem - it would seem her older sister has fallen in love with him and he has since spent every night in bed with her and when I try to get the little one to play with him, she quickly throws him to the floor. Oh well, at least he's loved.

And, for another little one, I made this headband. Here it is being modelled by one of my little princesses (I couldn't help myself!). Precious.