Color Explorations-and a good colored pencil

Color Rendering, scanned and adjusted

It has been a while. I feel out of integrity, not working on the Hot Chocolate project for a while. I haven't been able to get out and get the solid colors. It isn't that I haven't tried, I went to a quilt shop near my house and the selection of solids was not what I am used to at Glad's. I also was at another little shopping community over the holidays, where there is a quilt shop, and they too, did not have the selection of quality solids that Glad's has. So…. next wednesday, is my day to pick up the espresso and ruby, Jetta said there was no cream, so I will have to improvise when I get there.

In the mean time, I have done some preliminary project things for future posts. Planning and organizing my thoughts for the new year and aligning my self with the goals that want to emerge from my being in 2014.

A meditative practice, I have taken on since moving to this apartment in Roseville, is coloring. Color studies with my colored pencils. My favorite pencils are the Berol-Prismacolor pencils. They are a soft core pencil, but the colors are vibrant and easily blended.

After finishing a book of seashells and starting on an Art Nouveau color book that I have had for years, there is getting to be a collection of colored, copyright free pages for playing with pattern and photoshop.

I also have some fabulous paisleys that I have worked on. The color palettes are great fun to explore and the feel of the finished piece is interesting when looking at organic and geometric shapes.

There are many of these completed and I have wondered what I am going to do with them. But now, ideas are starting to emerge and a new direction is taking hold.

Slowly, I am getting in touch with my core self and seeing how the expression and development have taken hold, unconsciously over the years of my life. It is now time to take that raw passion and create something unique to me… I can feel it, stirring in my bones, pulsating in my cellular walls, gathering momentum as it becomes clear consciousness in my brain.

Yes, I am feeling it is going to be a fulfilling year.

Nothing New to Report on the Hot Chocolate.. But a New Race has Begun!

Good afternoon, nothing happening with the Hot Chocolate project since the last post. Well, nothing newsworthy anyway. The next step is to distinguish how I am going to use the stripes and the preprinted panels.

Determining if there is to be any fill in with blocks, strips and such. Then I will have a good idea of how much of the solids to purchase and start cutting.

This week has primarily consisted of re arranging my bedroom. Ever since move in from June, it has been a place to sleep. Sleep has been challenging, as the decor consisted of the unpacked boxes, and miscellaneous items that no longer have a home. Things I want to access and use, but there is just no where to put them.

Then, my sister approached me with the proposition of 'storing' her queen size head and footboard. It is a beautiful iron bed. One that I have always been partial to, it was the bed used for my first Home & Garden show room. They have just gotten a new king size bed, and I have been pining for a headboard, since I relinquished mine from the move last year. (Wow, that was only last year, it seems like it was 3 years ago…)

In the practice of Feng Shui, it is of utmost importance to have a headboard on one's bed. Without one, the experience of no support is rampant. I must say, it is true. Since not having one, it has been challenging to feel supported on so many levels in the past year. There is nothing to ground me in the new location.

My home base has not been established and I am finding it hard to really feel at home here. But now, moving my room around, making room for a headboard and a footboard, it is starting to feel good.

The highlight of the week, being introduced to , Danielle LaPorte on MarieForleo.com.  Danielle has a new book,  the Desire Map…. definitely going to get a copy of that! Both sites are filled with great insights on life, relationships and expression of self, professionally and personally. I am so grateful to have these women show up in my inbox!

Danielle's site and take on goal setting, has breathed new life into my thoughts. This morning, I found myself experiencing

Vitalichi!!! 

I have finally found my way back to the starting line of a whole new endeavor. I know my thing….. I am working on a way to share my 'thing' with the world. I have been doing 'my thing' for …. well…. almost my whole life…. yes, my first memory… I recall experiencing 'my thing'. Here is a hint… The first time I ever recognized being here… I opened my eyes, and saw the beautiful blue of the sky and the lush green leaves of the trees. I felt to myself, I made it, I am here, and went back to sleep. 

Block Candidates from a Beautiful Quilter's Resource

Peppermint candies? 

The fabrics have been determined, the blocks from the panel cut and the stripes have been sliced into strips. Purchases for the remaining Kona cotton will be later, once I have determined the blocks that will be added or incorporated using the panel. A stash only needs to be as  big as a stash needs to be.  Although, a healthy collection of solids would not be a bad idea. There is just that storage and accessibility issue. 

The go to book for an exhaustive and inspiring collection of quilt blocks is “The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns-more than 4050 peiced blocks for quilters” by Jinny Beyers. The blocks are consistently photographed, organized by grid, and beautifully rendered. There is even a grid tool that slips into the back of the book. 

Larger Peppermints, the solid green blocks will be the 4 1/2" printed blocks from the panel

Keeping in mind the sizes I have to work with, I set out just browsing the book of blocks I liked and thought would be fun to do, lending themselves to central blocks and use of borders. 

The block sizes from the panel are as follows. 

1. Large blocks 10 x 10 finished
2. Medium sized blocks 7 x 7 finished
3. Small blocks 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
4. Large rectangles
5. Small rectangles
6. strips of 2” stripe
7. strips 2 1/2” stripe
8. strips of 3” stripe

All strips are 1 3/8” yds long. Pattern repeats are to be determined for matching pattern. 

A swirling cup with red handles, the green will be a border stripe

Some of the blocks are shown incorporating stripes into their composition. I think this makes for and interesting composition because the element of line is strongly introduced into the work. 

A band of mint candies through the espresso and cream

I went through again and looked at grid and finished size. Some blocks and catagories overlapped in my preference, this became my master list. From this list, I narrowed it down to 4 options, per block size, based on similar elements of the blocks.

Swirling Espresso and cream (not sure why the color shifted when I imported, still same espresso 

I think I may explore adding the rectangles or stripes to one side of the blocks and make assymetrical blocks. This could be an interesting challenge in layout. A hot chocolate sampler, without looking like a sampler.... I like that idea. There are so many blocks and so many interpretations of them! And I would not get bored doing the same thing over and over. Although doing multiples of the same thing in a repetitive manner also has its benefits. Such as streamlining production and efficiency and the ability to just slip into auto pilot and meditation, while working with such a sumptuous material. 

Swirling Mocha with a cherry

Also, my preference in design is assymetry rather than symmetry and one doesn’t see a great deal of it in quilting. Being a non-conventional quilter myself, the appreciation of traditional designs, methods and approaches to quilting is highly regarded. We can’t all do the same thing. Each of us have a passion that is poured into the projects and it results in a self expression that is individual for each of us.  

More Peppermint and chocolate

Espresso & Cream swirl

A Tasty Palette of Kona Cotton Solids

Ruby-a pink enough, deeply saturated, for the  most saturated red

The winter chill has set in, the holidays are fast approaching and my attention was drawn to a festive color combination for winter, boughs of evergreen, strings of cranberry, and HOT CHOCOLATE to warm the spirit.

The palette is what originally caught my attention with this fabric and I quickly noted the images of hot chocolate stimulating my sense of smell and taste. As my eyes wandered across the panels, the scent of baking gingerbread, steaming hot chocolate and creamy vanilla, cinnamon and sprinkles filled my mind.

Imagining, being curled up with a warm cup of tastiness and gazing at the winter landscape. I am connecting with the gathering energy just beneath the surface of the cold, hard ground,  as I know the vibrant life force of spring energy will again emerge in a few months. But for now, I will just savor the flavor of my chocolate decadence. I can just be, allowing the images to come to me. Flooding my senses with imaginary experiences and inspiring the essence of the project. 

The color card of the espresso, too much flash, the colors are much deeper

I know I want the simplicity of a deeply saturated and simple solid fabric. The detail will come from the additional peicing of the quilt, perhaps some pinwheels of peppermint? Cream and chocolate swirls of sweetness. The more vibrant the saturation of the color, the more I can almost taste it with my eyes. As the colors melt together, I can sense the flavors blending and melding. As the warmth begins to release the essence of the flavors, the air is intoxicated with the aromatic elixir of chocolate with whipped cream.

A great tool for a colorist, the trick is finding someone who  has it in stock!

Kona Cotton Solids- that is the ingredient that is going to get me the depth of color that I want. The fabric is a good weight and the colors are deep and intense. My favorite brown is esspresso. It is like dark, rich, raw cacao. It is softer than black, but with the qualities of black, intensifiying that which it comes into contact. It reminds me of my favorite chocolate bar.  Vosges Smoke & Stout Caramel. Paired with a deep chocolate-y  with a hint of cherry Merlot, hmm, maybe that is another project. Back to the project at hand.  (A photo of the chocolate bar here with some fabric)

The red with a hint of blue coolness, with a deep flavorful brilliance,that should set nicely against the almost black of the esspresso. The red’s within the printed blocks vary from deep wine, burgundy shades, raspberry tints and vibrant red of the candycane mints. A red that incorportates all the  flavors that pair well with dark chocolate, that is what I am looking for. The deepest red without turning to the hue of burgundy... Kona Ruby- has a slight hint of the esspresso, creating color relatedness and the illusion of the melting together of the hues. 

The cream contenders…...

Do you add vanilla or cinnamon to your whipped cream? These subtle additions will alter the color. Yes, I want a creamy white that has a hint of cinnamon and vanilla bean sprinkles. Blending colors can be as exact of a science as properly blending the flavors of a recipe. Cream works with the esspresso and the Ruby.  A common thread of flavor that runs throughout the palette. Cream it is! 

Hot Chocolate any one?

I am doing it! A project, It is simple and I am making it complex. It isn't in my nature to do something simple.

It all started a week ago. I went to visit my mom and we went on an adventure to St. Cloud. We went to one of her favorite places to shop for 'crafty' things as she call them.

We went into the fabric department which is most all quilting fabric, and just looked at the novelty prints. She started loading her cart with things for making her christmas presents and we both found an adorable panel collection called Hot Chocolate. It had stripes, the blocks were fun, and I love the deep rich chocolate brown, warm vanilla cream and vibrant berry red that dominate the color palette.

Ideas just started popping into my head and we had them in the cart. I figured out roughly what I thought would be the ideal amounts of fabric to play with and mom decided it was going to be too much. So we put it all back….. and then realized the christmas fabric was 50% off. So, back into the cart it all went.

It seems a small enough project, one that I could do at the dining room table without taking over the living space (as most of my projects do).

The concepts and inspiration is evolving and the details are coming through as I plan this project and keep working at it.

It isn't going to be a project that is all consuming and takes over my life. I have too many things of priority to work on right now. But, it is a small niche of personal creative time that I am allowing myself.

So far the panel has been cut apart and the stripes have been trimmed.

Stay tuned for the next phase of the design process as I discover what to do with each of the blocks and how it will all come together.

I will be drafting blocks, mitering corners and making layout choices. Sharing the journey and documenting the adventure is what you will find here.

Until next time… in the mean time, enjoy your hot chocolate as you follow along with the design process.

Cars, colored pencils and patterns...

It has been a week and a half now with the new to me wheels. Snow White is the 06 Jeep Liberty that I have found for the next phase of transportation.  She has plenty of room to haul around fabric totes, furniture finds to paint and what ever other creative goodies need haulin'.

Now that is out of the way, new projects are just around the corner and with the weekend, moving garages is the task at hand. The garages here leak. They flood in the wet season and then the heat of summer grows yucky stuff like a green house! We are moving to garages that the drainage is hopefully better and closer to our door.

Snow White will live in the garage, she is clean and well maintained, even under the hood and doesn't look like she lived outside in the elements much. I wouldn't want to stress her out. I need to be able to depend on her....

So, more boxes came in the house, it felt just a little too much like moving again and made me almost feel sick to my stomach. But.... it is just another chapter in the purging saga... Where does all this stuff come from? I have done a huge purge about 5 years ago... this one seems to be dragging on for ever.

So far there is no space set aside for any creative doings... with my creative overflow, I have been revisiting my colored pencils and coloring... it is relaxing and great for playing with color relationships and value.. I like the Berol-Prismacolor brand of soft core colored pencils. The color is fully saturated and they blend beautifully with one another. I have been focused on a seashell coloring book and some book marks that I bought at the Renaissance Festival late this summer. It is my end of the day winding down routine. It will do for now, but soon I will need to feel the texture of fabric at my finger tips and get back into writing again...As the idea of a blogging schedule would help me, so I thought, I found for right now... it paralyzed me. So random and inspired, seems the path to finding my voice again. To reacquaint myself, this is briefly what has had my attention lately... aside from the logistics of life mentioned above.

Lately the urge to gather my patterns has been nagging at me as well.  There is quite a collection from over the years and I am always on the lookout for some intriguing vintage ones. Clothes just inspire me... they always have. So, cataloguing, sorting and organizing those in one handy and easy to access system is working through my subconscious.

Well, that is the post for today, rather chaotic, but from this will come order... and then it will be time to move again!

How does your creativity get thwarted? How do you make promises to yourself and keep them? Or do you.....?

A New Vehicle for Navigating through Life... for now.....

Emerging back into the 'out there'. I have been hermit like for the past few months. More recently, not by choice.

My car of 11 years decided she was done one friday night a few weeks ago. I knew she wasn't feeling well. She was starting to really show her age. Age spots were starting to mar her complexion (rust). It was just beginning though. But moving quickly along her back door....  When she just had a bath, she looked pretty good on the outside. Inside, the upholstery was cracked and dirty. She mostly lived outside, only last year did she have a garage.

She always had a bit of a tick or knock when I started her. Like a bad cough. I was very connected to that car and have relied on it for the past 11 years. It got me around, except when there was an issue, we took it one thing at a time. She just had brand new tires and new belts put on 3 weeks before her demise.

So for about a week and a half, I was stranded. Literally, no way to get anywhere, luckily, there are stores like Target across the street, on the other side of our apartment complex. (We face a courtyard, so the trees are nice, not looking at Target parking lot!)

It was challenging, projects were becoming ready to install (or so I thought, that is another story, not getting into here). It is like having the water shut off for a day that you become aware of how much you need to use water, if you know what I mean?

Two friends offered to take me out driving to check out new to me cars. It is the first time I have opted not to purchase new. I had a specific dollar amount, years and mileage requirement. The first day, I drove an 06 Jaguar, it was a lovely car, but the maintenance issues that I heard about them steered me away. Also, they aren't the greatest on gas mileage. Then I drove a handful of other cars, Trailblazers, Muranos, Vibes. They just weren't it.

Then I drove an Audi A4. A beautiful red... great handling, pass through back seats, good gas mileage, higher mileage than I wanted and a bit older. Great price.

Then I went on to drive a While Jeep Liberty. The car was in good condition, clean, leather interior, low miles, priced higher than I wanted, but lots of room for whatever I might need to move around. That is the one I got. There are some issues, with the experience of purchasing that car. Would not recommend the dealership to my enemies actually. But, I won't have to deal with them any more, as they don't respond to any calls or questions anyway...

So now it is just me and Snow White, navigating the roads again. She eats a lot though... maybe once I get those new spark plugs, it will curb her appetite.

Hold ups, Set Backs and Getting to Paris....

The summer seems to be over, there may be a few more days of warmth in our near future, however, the energy has shifted to back to school, routine and regimen, structure and discipline. Not at all bad things; keeps things orderly and running smoothly.

There are great ideas with the blog and sharing information, inspiration and all. The hold up seems to be doing it the way I want it to be done and finding my own style. Winging it is always an option and keeps one in the moment, which is great when there is a solid routine and knowing of one's abilities and  limitations.

Now, when it comes to creativity, there is nothing that intimidates me, frustration is lately at a heightened state, but intimidation, no. If I don't understand a technique or how to execute something the way I visualize it or a comparable outcome, I am off my game. There is a gap that must be filled.

Integrating technology is my problem these days. Setting things up to do things efficiently, daily, weekly and monthly tasks, keeping myself organized and accomplishing is of paramount focus recently. The world has been turned upside down in the last year, moving a collection of creative materials and supplies, along with just plain life paraphernalia, has had me a bit out of sorts. Talk about creating a whole new routine!

My life of 18 months ago is far different than it is right now. It feels like I have been put through the wash cycle, several times over and hung out to dry a couple of times too.  (Here would be a great place to post a photo of my recent laundry out on the line at my mom and dad's house. It was a wash day of my small vintage table cloth collection, beautifully blowing in the breeze against the backdrop of a bright blue sky and brilliant green grass.)

I didn't even think to snap a quick photo as my mom and I spent the afternoon out on the patio, reminiscing about my grandma and laundry and tips that my mom learned from her mother about properly hanging clothes out on the line. My mom was also pleased to share with me a newly cherished memory created with my niece, who had no idea the concept of hanging clothes outside to dry. Mom took the opportunity to share some home keeping  wisdom and memories of her childhood. I hope my niece remembers the experience, too, when she gets older.

But, that is not what this post is about.. I haven't been writing much, I have been slowing getting into creative endeavors, only to be thwarted by broken sewing needles and not sure where the supply is currently located. Recently, I have created a box of file cards with potential topic cards to keep the blog(s) more organized, consistent and fluid. That is the goal anyway. Getting back on a regular writing schedule with a routine of topics is my goal.

Sometimes though, just journaling what is in my head, keeping me stuck, is the best release. Being heard,  if you read this, you are thinking something about what I have written. It will go through the filter of your experience, you will either relate or not to what my experience is. My hope is that you will recognize the same or similar insights in your own areas of creating. Yes, creating, it could be a sewing project, a painting project, writing or a home project, even a life project.

Maybe you are in search of a new career expression, or expanding on an old one. Just looking at where you are at in the process, being with it, is all you need to do to move forward. After all, you can't get to your destination without starting from where you are currently at. It is impossible to get to Paris, via New York, if you are still in Minneapolis. Gotta figure out how to get to New York from Minneapolis first. (Although, Air France is back at MSP for direct flights to Paris!)

Paris greenery.... how quaint.

The Beauty in Chaos

Marbled paper 1990

It has felt as if my urge to create has been thwarted the past 18 months. Not a lot of production going on over here. Just an abundance of ideas and no where to take action on them. No idea where the tools and materials are that would allow implementation of such inspiring projects. So, they have not yet been realized.

Then this morning as I realize what I have been doing, in the past 3 months, in spite of unpacking boxes and purging, is that I HAVE been creating something. I have a goal in the back of my mind that is always emerging as I move a box from one corner to the other, not quite ready to take on its contents, or releasing items that have only held emotional connections for me.

I realize it is the memory, not the thing, so I snap a photo of the thing with my iphone and let it go. Maybe I will do a collage or something some day. There are some things though, a tangible item that a dear person who is no longer in my life may have touched. A sort of evidence and physical reminder of their existence. More like a channel to them, to experience being in the moment with them, one more time.

As I let go of things and hang on to memories, I am forced to sort them, to file them in my heart, not keeping them cluttering the foreground for any new blessing to trip over. Instead in a sacred place dedicated in honor,  a location that I can retrieve and re-PLACE,  should I wish that experience for any length of time. A moment may be all that I need or desire.

Yes, what I realize I am creating is order. An order for my past to reside within, with built in flexibility to accommodate an ever expanding future. Life will no longer pile up in the doorway, scattered across the floor to step over and be reminded of incompletions. It is time to pick up the laundry, neatly fold the clothes and put them away in closets and drawers.

In preparation for writing this blog, I have organized topics and have sub categories of how to best communicate them. Actions are being taking, one small, baby step at a time to keep it orderly and fluid. Thus a context and expression in my life for all of the things that interest, inspire and have me being alive.

What makes me feel alive is a unique blend of images, thoughts, values and relationships. The relationships are the result. How to relate to these things, places and people. What has you feeling alive? Which takes precedence for you? Does the order of your things, in your places reflect the relationships you have with people? Which are most important to you?

No matter where you are in the creative cycle, find the beauty where you are, ground yourself in it. There is after all beauty in chaos too! http://www.chaos.umd.edu/gallery.html

The cracking open of the Cocoon!

Playing with my own photos and using them as creative inspiration, never having to worry about infringing on copyright issues (that is complex business!) This has been something I have wanted to do ever since my college photography class.

Technology has finally caught up with my desire and the ability to create quickly and eloquently is at hand. Painting and drawing have their place and I will continue to practice and polish my hand work skills, but learning something new that can net FAST results... that is wonderful!

I am starting out with a photo of some roses at Lake Harriet Rose Garden in Minneapolis. Yes, they really are that color! Isn't it great! I love this color!

The original photograph, taken with my iPhone

 After bringing the photo into Photoshop from iPhoto, I have simply posterized the image. This is in the Edit menu on Photoshop. It has become more stylized and the colors have been reduced. I didn't want it to look too simple, a complex screen print is what it is starting to look like.. hmm yes, I like that.....

The photoshopped version, posterizing the image. 

Next, the photo is shown with the color bars of each of the main colors in the palette. There are twenty colors shown in this image.... yes the idea is becoming more clear...  A few posts back, my fun with illustrator was featured, creating quilt blocks and a resulting pattern of two blocks used together.. stay tuned for how that gets integrated with this thread of thought... connecting vibrant threads to create something.. I can't see clearly where this is going, but it is definitely going somewhere... Welcome to the beginning of Vibrant Threads, the butterfly is cracking the cocoon!

The color palette extracted for identification

More Techie Explorations

For the past few years I have been fortunate enough to own Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. While playing around in Photoshop and getting comfortable with that part of the suite, Illustrator, well, that has been completely sit and stare at the screen wondering what the...??? Where do I start? What does it do? What do I want it to do? There have been ideas of things I wanted to do digitally, but where to begin to learn it... it is a whole new language to me....

So last week, I started a tutorial from a book I picked up at Half Price Books on Illustrator. It is amazing how a little bit of practice helps to pick up new things just by doing! I haven't even finished the first chapter yet!

Then I started researching hex codes on the internet. You know the color code that is the universal formula for all of the colors on the web? The look like this.. #FFFFFF or #000000 (white and black respectively) and any combination of numbers 0-9 and/or letters A-F.  I often wondered what the pattern or code meant...

Well, here it is.. there are three colors in the formula, Red, Green and Blue (these are the light primaries, as when all are mixed together they make white. This is subtractive color. Additive color uses pigment or dye and when all of the colors are added together the result is black.

The first two spaces of the formula are the code for RED, the second pair of digits/letters is GREEN and the last two spaces are the code for BLUE. The combination of 0-9/A-F in each of these spaces is the formula for any color.

It feels for me that a great mystery has been solved.

A photo I took at Lake Harriet and the main colors

The photo above is one of my favorites of sailboats at Lake Harriet one evening at dusk. Often color palettes are inspired by nature and the environment.

The pursuit of images and color combinations and how they impact emotional responses and communicate on a feeling level is an area that this technology will assist me in researching... and studying. My questions to engage you, my readers... are these..... the same questions I ask myself when working on a project of any medium.....

What do you feel from the image and the colors that emerge in the palette? What do the shapes in the photo suggest? Are they enhanced by the color palette or in opposition? These are the questions about design that fascinate and intrigue me.... this is why I love what I do... to create palettes, shapes and relationships to communicate a subtle message or cue. It is my way of being heard, without SHOUTING!

What do you think? Are you aware of the subtle language all around us? How do you feel about this communication?

PS The hex codes are as follows.... DDAABB, 445566, 778899, 886666 and CCAAAA.

I think there will be a lot more of this in the future. I am working the details on one, that is quilting inspired..

A Quick Fix Creative Expression-Illustrator and Quilting

Today, I sat down at my computer with my Jinny Beyer  The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns and created a couple of blocks from the 12 x 12 grid section. I found out from my friend Google how to color the sections then put a quick quilt together to see how the patterns create a secondary pattern.

Playing in illustrator a whole new creative quickie has been born!

The Jinny Beyer book is beautifully photographed and a true inspiration to any quilter or any one interested in pattern for that matter.

I like what got created. That may be as far as the idea ever gets... for this one, but what a great practice ground for exploring color, pattern and scale.

My next task is to play with the swatch libraries and create some of my own... the creative juices are flowing again... so, when lack of time or inspiration hits, there just might be a quilt pattern of the day showing up.

Writing and staying focused has been challenging lately. Feeling a bit like a pin ball in a machine, bouncing from one bumper to the other and occasionally falling into the hole... only to start a new game... Creative rescue has been found... at least for now!

Bodega Bay on the Balcony!

The heat has finally broken here. There is a beautiful breeze flowing through the apartment and the birds are chirping like crazy. Actually, it looks like Bodega Bay on my balcony! When we moved in so did some swallows. We didn't do much about it, as we were moving in and no time to sit outside.

Now that things are getting put away,  the babies have hatched and found a perch circling the top of the wind chime. Apparently the whole flock comes and feeds them and there are droppings everywhere. The chairs are covered! I will spare you a photo as it is not a pretty sight. Now, how to get them to move on. I like having birds around, but they have taken over and we can't even go out there. So, a request to the office, I guess.

Things definitely are getting 'put away'.  This weekend, I went to my parents and sorted through and reorganized the things being stored out there. Extra furniture, painting projects, and most all of the fabric. Not much here to work with. Everything is packed tightly to minimize the space that I would need to take up.

I would like to get my sewing machine cabinet back here, I think I have a space for it in the LR and so much of my sewing things can be stored in the upper cabinet. My bedroom is still a maze of boxes and unpacked miscellaneous things that need a home.

Sew, no painting this summer I am afraid, maybe some small pieces that I have here, but none of the furniture. Sewing, yes, small projects. I am really wanting to work on some silk Sylvia's blocks... but I have to find the silk. It is in my room somewhere, maybe even packed in the closet... Some serious organizing has to happen in there. The closets also have to be purged and sorted. Getting a system of storage and workspace set up is essential to getting anything done. Including design work.

Creating a new office routine, setting up new systems that work is a challenge. The thoughts of it have me exhausted. Which, is why there has been little writing. As I progress, documenting the process will be good blogging material, as this is the major obstacle of creating. The ultimate distraction!

I am wondering to write in the moment or to have planned blog posts. Sometimes I think the planned ones are more visually appealing, but the spontaneous topics, are more cathartic for me. Inspired, that is what they will be... until next time... 

Style- Your own Personal Discovery

Style -


We all have it. It is there, in our DNA. How we express it is also unique to us and part of that style. Self expression of style is a sign of a healthy relationship with yourself. 

Developing your personal style is like developing a personal structure. You have to follow someone elses until you find your own.

Magazine photo of a lovely tile floor

Where do you start? Choose an area of self expression that you are drawn to. Your personal clothing, your hair, make-up, a room in your house, the exterior color of your house... and look at what is out there... Find things you like. You don’t have to actually do those things, just begin collecting things that appeal to you. Gather a folder on your computer, or a stash of magazine tears in a folder (or in my case a box, well, no actually BOXES) Anything that you find that you like. 

Just collect, allow yourself to do this over a period of time, days, weeks, even months. Don’t anaylyse, just collect. 

After an allotted amount of time, start looking at your collection. Sort the photos in any way that makes sense to you. Maybe you like the colors in a picture, or there is a furniture piece that is really great. Perhaps there is a silhouette that excites you or a pair of shoes that puts a spring in your step. None of the things have to be related. There could be a pile of pics that feature the same color, shape, room, a wardrobe, a garden, just allow your intuition to sort it all for you. 

You may find at this point, that not only have you found fabulous photos that depict your style, but you may have found that certain objects, colors or apparel peices have crept their way into your possession. 

A beautifully textured white purse

Detail of a ceiling in a local ice cream shop

Congratulations, you are attracting those things that are the most expressive of your personal style.  The areas of your life that have your attention now, should start to shift.  Your consciousness is now engaged and you are beginning to know yourself. 

Remember, style is not stagnant, it evolves as a personal beacon, illuminating to the world how you as an individual are growing and expanding. (hopefully not your size!) While you may always be drawn to certain colors or clothing articles, keep yourself from becoming too saturated in one area, venture out into changing it up a bit. Venture out into a clothing article you wouldn’t normally wear, or a color that is a bit darker or lighter than what you normally wear. Maybe add a color to create a combination you haven’t tried yet. When you allow your style to breathe, it doesn’t date you. You find the things in current fashion that work and utilize them. You will inherently avoid the things in the current fashion that don’t work for you. There is nothing less appealing than being a slave to fashion and looking like it in your dress or in your home. 

All should be a natural expression and reflection of you and where you are at. Have fun with it.

Create a New Routine

In a different space, with different limitations, it is time to get creative about being creative.

Keeping the overwhelm demons at bay, is a challenge. As boxes get opened and the mish-mash of contents reveal themselves, context is missing. I wonder, what am I REALLY going to do with that? How do I really want this space to look when everything is put away? What will I really, feasibly be able to do here? How and when?

Then the demons start screaming again! The quiet voice of calm whispers, one box at a time, one task at a time, one day at a time. She at least limits it to three, or the demons start up again.. that is a lot to remember, one thing at a time.

The little things that I did for myself that others may think crazy, helped keep the demons under control. It appeased them, that we were at least doing SOMETHING! But there is so much more to do!

We want to do so much more. Perhaps the trick is to get the demons on board, align them with the same desire as the rest of us. What could they possibly be resisting? Success? Accomplishment? Those demons, they like to be victims, to be immersed in drama. It makes them feel important. I need them to be helpful, to become part of the team. I can not let them drive the bus anymore.

So demons, to the back seat with you! ...and put on your seat belts... we are in for fun and rewarding ride!

(Maybe I need to identify the demons and help them to be acknowledged... train them to be team members... yes, to quote a friend... "is she trainable?")  We will see with these guys!

What For? My current answer to a haunting question......

A Raging Minnehaha Creek, just above the Falls

Well, it is about time to try this again. Get back into a writing routine. The move is done, unpacking is coming along. Not so much of a deadline this time.

This time, I am focusing on the business, not so much making this home. I mean, it is what it defaults to, but this too, is only temporary. Creating a solid marketing plan and business structure. That is the next 'big' creation to focus on for me. I have some ideas that are still vague and hazy and became even more so with the intensity of the move. So, it is time to sit and write what I can and share the development of a dream. The sorting of an action plan, the deciphering of the what for?

What for? That has often been a question that comes up for me. What am I doing this for. Usually, it only occurs when it is something I want for myself. When I get caught up in the doing for others, that doesn't really show up. What's in it for me? Maybe that is the question that lies at the heart of everything I do, everything I focus my attention and energy towards.

What for? What is the meaning of life? I know a daunting and big question that is somewhat trite, but really, why do any of us do anything? Who knows what things will be remembered and what things will be forgotten? Who really cares what someone else did? I am often inspired by the stories of others. The challenges and triumphs of overcoming whatever obstacles were in their way of success is an intriguing story to follow.

For me, the meaning of life is to create. Not only pretty things, but experiences. The ultimate creation is to declare and create an experience. Hmmm, now let us distinguish experiences. An experience is something that engages all of our senses. Our sense of touch, taste, smell, vision and hearing are the five that are common awareness, but the sixth, the intuitive one, when that is activated and engaged, the experience is remembered, it can be relived over and over and over again.

Many of us have no problem remembering unpleasant experiences. Where we were, what we were wearing, the taste of something we were eating or the song that was playing on the radio. When we recall the experience, we go into the emotional state present at the time of the experience. Or we go to the emotional place that we make up as most comfortable or rewarding about that experience.

Remember your first kiss? The first time you met someone special to you? The first time you rode a bike? Tasted your favorite food. There were images and similarities that were grounding that experience into your cellular memory. Cues that will trigger the memory and emotion of the experience for the rest of your life.

The thing about emotions though, is they are meant to be transient, mobile and carry us through things. When we transform our emotions to the highest frequency, one of unconditional love, we have integrated our divinity and our humanity. Emotions are not permanent. A lower emotion, fear, anger, frustration, they all become an attachment. Love, possession, desire, they too are attachments. This is how people get caught up in defining who they are by their emotions.

 Emotions have the same properties as water. Stagnant water breeds disease, a raging river is carrying sediment and debris back to the source. The way water cycles through the eco system, a fine and beautiful balance, so emotions must run their course. There can be destruction in their wake, erosion of the establishment, the beauty and majesty of the Grand Canyon would not exist were it not for the power of water.  The goal of water is to get back to sea level, back to source.  

Creative projects can open our selves to the transformation of emotions, an expression via the other senses, vision, music, cooking. The passion of an artist, they are channeling their emotions.

What is your passion? How will you channel your anger, your love, your bliss, your fears? Doing nothing, is a block, it creates a stagnant pool. Nothing can thrive there. The giving life force of water is stopped, open the flood gates, CREATE for the sake of LIVING! This may be the best way to re-ignite an emotion, to shift the current of your being into one of alignment with your soul.

Back online and Unpacking

It is Wednesday and Internet service has been restored. The past two days have been spent unpacking and organizing the kitchen (which still needs some attention) and yesterday finding all of my work related things to prepare for a client presentation tomorrow.

The wall elevations are done, just adding the potential fabrics to my data base and letting ideas solidify. More sketches to follow.

My own window, an eight foot sliding glass door, west exposure and open for the world to see is in desperate need of a window dressing! I plan to order a one way, hand draw drapery rod and make some very casual and informal type draperies to keep the sunlight from damaging furnishings and provide a bit of privacy....

The creative flames have been burning fiercely the past few weeks as I have been thrown into the frenzy of moving. It will be imperative to get things on the schedule to keep the fires of action alive!

Thanks for checking in, new things to report everyday, as inspiration is constant, action, still elusive.. Hoping to get to what I want to be doing soon! Painting and Sewing!

No Internet until Wednesday

Hello all. I am in the final days of moving... today and tomorrow and then tackle the big mess at the apartment... where to go with it all...

There will be a time of no distraction, Internet is not scheduled to be hooked up until Wednesday of next week... so... just putting it out there, not like you all haven't survived not hearing from me for weeks at a time anyway! heheheee..

Enjoy your weekend!

Shelly

Moving Update....

This is quite the process, moving on, and one that unless you keep the big picture in mind can suck you down a rabbit hole so fast you won't even realize it, until you find yourself deep in the labyrinth of confusion!

The little house by the river is slowly emptying itself out, one car load at a time... The apartment and garage are quickly filling up, a half a car load at a time!

In the midst of the chaos, I have managed to keep working on some projects, but the last of that was yesterday. Everything else is on hold until next Monday. Then starts the unpacking and the focus on design projects. As I look ahead to the weeks to come, it is clear that I will have to schedule very carefully to keep focus on the business activities and my personal life. A good opportunity, that I realize until now, I have focused on one or the other. Apparently, it is integration time! I am looking forward to that.

Carving out little activity areas for work on the things that need to be done. That will force me to keep things in perspective. They have easily been exaggerated in the past few weeks and some things have come out sideways, but I have also learned a great deal about the source of my beliefs about myself, some have surprised me, others not so much.

I am trying not to pack things too deeply, and unfortunately some things will have to be stored at my parents. I know my dad HATES that. On the bright side, I will be more likely to spend time out there working on things that I have been inspired by. In the light of having to discard some of those things, caused the spark of inspiration to ignite into a blazing passion for completing the vision. So,  over the summer, I plan to schedule time to be in the country, working on painting projects that I really want to do. I will have the fresh country air and the open expanse to work on them.

On the other hand, I realized, maybe my dad wants his shed to himself and doesn't want to share the space with anyone. He may want it for his own solitude and peace of mind. I will need to be mindful of sharing his space. I only want a little bit for a temporary time, until I can manage to find a space of my own.

Well, it is time to gather more for the next run later today....

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Life is Good - Right NOW! Being in the Moment.

Just taking a break from packing and moving... what a pain that is. A final last ditch of what am I going to do with THAT? Out it goes.

Finally, now that I know what I want to do when I grow up (that is just around the corner, but I am still committed to having FUN whatever I am doing, explore and create.. ) And maybe a whole other post can be about being all growed up.

Today, I am just grateful for the support I do have. Sure there are a ton of gaps and my life isn't what I want it to be right now, but I have a much more clear idea of where I want it to go. It is up to me to get there. No knight in shining armor on a white horse, no fabulous high paying job making someone else even more money... Just me.

Me, my ideas, my ability to trust (or not) and practice designing and creating my life. With as much practice and dedication as I have put into learning my trade, or design in general (specific) I should be able to master the Art of Living.

I am inspired by my friends, my family, my not friends (I don't have to spend time with someone to admire what they are up to and respect and empower them) even my enemies then, but then are they really enemies? Just because they have something I don't but want... the transformation is when I realized, no one is keeping it from me. Just me and my focus outside of me, keeps what I want at a distance that I keep wanting.

Wanting is over rated, desire, now that has a charge to it! That is the game of choosing and attracting, flirting with whatever the idea that catches my fancy. It is safer game flirting with an idea than a person. People can be so unpredictable.. and then you have to take into consideration what THEY want!

In a perfect world, there is alignment, but the real game is learning to GET in alignment... you or me and often times both...

Me, at Como Park Conservatory a few years ago

My Mom, at Como Park Conservatory a few MORE years ago!

Growing up is a process and not a destination. I am not the same person I was in the photo, neither is my mom. But we are at the core, the goals and dreams are still there, they may unknown in the photos, but the soul leads the way and it always gets what it wants.  It is the divine in all of us, we share it and it belongs to each of us individually. 

I love this picture of my mom. She looks so confident and poised. She said this is about '59?   I wonder what she thought her dreams were then and if any of them came true, or if it was better than she could ever imagine. I will ask her that... the next time we talk. I love my mom!