I have been busy knitting new projects as well as getting in some more photos of my current etsy stockpile. But I had some downtime to enjoy some good humor via Natalie Dee.

She’s hilarious.

nataliedee.com

In times of struggle a person has a choice, to runaway and put the struggle on hold, or face the fight and be brave. Being brave is hard.

At one time I wanted to be a filmmaker. I was in school. I made films. It was hard. I walked away from all of that worse for the wear. At a time in the world when nothing is certain I had felt that it was better to walk away.

I had a classmate, Rachel, who was a year ahead of me. I remember going to her big screening. I was humbled by her short film. It was full of heart and weeks after seeing it I could not stop boasting about how good it was to my friends.
My senior year I was lucky to have her help on my short animated film. She was so kind and helpful. Remembering that spurred me to look her up.

As luck would have it she is quite prolific on youtube. One video specifically cheered my heart. I hadn’t realized how much I lost when I turned my back on filmmaking until I watched her short candid video about her new years resolutions (that she painted on her nails).
I cannot wipe the smile off my face.

She is so brave. She may not know it but even now after all this time I look up to her.

If you could use a pick me up go on and check out her video!

My store is officially updated with new goods!

Click on the picture above to see the real thing!

I had about 120 photos, for 5 little knit purses, only about 30 were good.

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The bulk of the photos needed more light, or better exposure, because the more time I spent making adjustments in photoshop the more problematic the photos.
So today I am reshoot three purses. I had a pair of bags that looked exactly the same. There was no telling one from the other even though their sizes were different. I need to establish some scale maybe adding a ruler to the pictures will do the trick.

My new deadline for my store is this Friday, all five bags will be up on Etsy.

Last night, after a final round of sewing and pressing, my small knit purses were completed.
I took over a 100 photos. Today I will have to go through all of those and pare down the group to the best shots. I also have to work out what the descriptions should say. So I will be updating later today after they’ve all been added to the store.

For now here is a better glimpse:

A day of sewing is about to commence. Word of advice, don’t sleep in or shirk duties when you have a deadline. Especially at the start of a new week.

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My little purses will be completed tonight and hopefully uploaded onto Etsy this Tuesday.
Bad habits and poor choices are so easy to make, why in a list of rules…do I personally account for many of the do-nots, well not today. I have work to complete.
I always feel take charge after reading Seth’s blog.

Currently finishing up some of my new creations. They won’t be up on ETSY until Monday.

For the time being I am already turning my mind to new sources of inspiration.
After living in rented apartments for years I have become a little obsessed over the joys of decorating my home.
There is a pretty long document that says I cannot paint, hammer, glue, chip or demolish these beige walls. But as Cinderella would say, “They can’t stop me from dreaming.”

Here’s my kind of inspiration:

When your life becomes a matter of cutting fabric, pinning fabric, ironing fabric and sewing fabric it can pass by quickly. The day becomes night. Sunday becomes Thursday.

Here are some glimpses of my current life:

I still have much more sewing to do before I can update my etsy shop but at the rate I’m going by this weekend I should have 6 hand-knit/hand-sewn little purses. They’re more like wallets but who cares. They’re cute, handy and I’d love to own one. (I’m gonna keep at least one for myself)

Later today I will add a little treat to this blog, something I meant to post last weekend. Time flies when you’re sewing.

My life is now filled with thread and needles. It is a small existence.
A break was necessary so I scoured the net for something funny and this is what I found!

Thanks Married to the Sea…I totally needed a pick me up!

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I took a little tour of WeHeartIt, I love pop in random words into their search engine.
I feeling energized. I have work to do, hopefully Friday night I will have some new products to upload into my Etsy shop.
Until then enjoy these pretties:
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…things are so cute…so stimulating that you are compelled to share it with everyone you know.

Take for instance these delicious finds that I saw on Etsy today. They just make me smile.

What’s not to love?

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Hmm, I must be feeling a little peckish.
Time for a quick snack.
Big update tomorrow. Until then enjoy the finds.

My Tuesday was spent hand stitching knitted pieces together. I have a rocky relationship with stitching.

When I was little my mom struggled to get my stitches straight. Never took. As an adult I get easily frustrated and impatient. I have a bag filled with partially stitched scraps of fabric. What is it about a line that I can’t conquer. When I embroider its always free form.

Yesterday I grabbed a yarn needle and went to town. It was pure bliss. There is something so strange about yarn? It calms me and I find the strength to endure about any obstacle. It makes me bold.

I am hoping to conquer of a pile of fabric today, dreading-dreading, but its a necessary evil. So my mind is turned to stitching. Thanks to WeHeartIt I found a few images to compliment my state of mind.
Enjoy.

I have a pile of knits and fabric that require my attention. So two quick short posts.

First some fun from Natalie Dee:

nataliedee.com

I have spent the weekend toiling over photoshop but I completed another goal, I opened my shop on ETSY!

I will be adding to the shop over the coming week. Taking pictures is time consuming. *This cloudy weekend was no help either*

I also plan to work on my extra-special valentines surprise. Its a little something I’ve been daydreaming about, but I will save that for the end of this week.

For now I say goodnight. Here’s hoping for a brighter week.

This week has been a hard one to endure. In the past, these sort of disasters became a part of the cultural landscape of our day to day lives through media, the situation became so pervasive that people were desensitized to the abject horror of it all.

Yes it can be graphic. Yes it darkens the soul to think to long on the suffering. That would be the reason why action must be taken. We should help every way that we can.

There is a great fundraiser going on at Indie Fixx.

Its merely an auction. Bid on some lovely crafts. Each day there will be new items to bid on. 100% of the money goes to the Red Cross.
If you want to give back you can also visit ETSY.com. Some sellers on their site are giving some if not all of the proceeds from their merchandise straight to the relief effort.

Every little bit helps.

Going to school was never much fun for me. College may have its perks but it is hard work. I love to read but I learn from experience not from theory. So education was a constant struggle. One professor would lecture that after college we would find a mentor and everything we’ve learned will come to fruition.

That always pissed me off. Thousands of dollars. Mountains of debt. So that someday in my distant future I would meet someone who would scrape these elements into a whole. Gee, lucky me.

Having said that I came across this article about Ernest Hemingway. I adore Hemingway’s short stories. The more I read the more I want to write and create. In a very short amount of time (little over two months) I have become absolutely obsessed with his prose.

I wonder if it is possible to have a posthumous mentor?

I don’t know if you are familiar with Leslie Hall and her magical gem sweaters, but she’s awesome.  This song definitely helps crafter’s block!  Enjoy!

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I made a goal in December, may I clarify I did not make a resolution, I set a deadline last month that I would open my etsy shop on January 16th. Ready or not I would add which ever items I had on hand that were ready to ’ship’.

This week my blog will be a little unfocused. I usually panic as I near a deadline so these blogs will become a little infrequent and scattered.

My mind is buzzing with all sorts of concerns.

That was until I visited this blogger and saw her Sunday post. It may seem strange but I find it calming to look at a color palate.

Now I need to go and work.

I have three things to get done today. I want to get as much done this weekend before Christmas so that when January comes I am ready for my little Etsy shop.

First and foremost in my mind is a “notebook.” I was inspired by my favorite girl, Elsie, who is currently teaching style school. So my book is an exaggerated planner filled with inspiration that will hopefully prepare me for both my blog and shop.

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Second I need to bake. Strange I know. I’ve been putting it off for two weeks. This was a strange and hard year for my family so I am hoping to go home with a large bowl of some sweets. Thinking about making some blondies and cookies.

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Lastly my little Sophie is in desperate need for a sweater. I knitted the front half already I just need to complete the back. So I’m hoping to knit a few inches today and tomorrow.

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Be back on Monday, have a great weekend!

I am in constant struggle with my work area. Today I will both clean the mess and create a new mess.
I thought I would picture a clean and functioning work area. I found these images online at my new favorite haunt.

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I woke up this morning in a strange mood. I lost my focus. Over stepped my bounds. So I just thinking about everything.

Which was the perfect medicine. I spent some time watching TV. Knitting the stress away. I finally looked down and realized that I had completed a glove.

In the past I had “work” to help me feel as though I had some control over my life. Today I realized that I need to get over the notion of control and just enjoy life as it comes.
Here’s to enjoying the little things. *I want this.*

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I just saw this quick little video. Now I’m dying to shop and sew. Besides there is nothing more calming to me than animated knitting, which means that I love to watch these ETSY videos.

I have always loved nerds. So when I came across this adorable Natalie Dee gem I could not keep it to myself. ENJOY.

nataliedee.com

I found some Wednesday morning inspiration on FFFFOUND!.com:

FFFFOUND! | Thomas Doyle – BOOOOOOOM! – CREATE INSPIRE COMMUNITY ART DESIGN MUSIC FILM PHOTO PROJECTS

I stumbled upon a very good book last night. Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories. There was a particular passage that I feel in love with:

“He had destroyed his talent himself. Why should he blame this woman because she kept him well? He had destroyed his talent by not using it, by betrayals of himself and what he believed in, by drinking so much that he blunted the edge of his perceptions, by laziness, by sloth, and by snobbery, by pride and by prejudice, by hook and by crook. What was this? A catalogue of old books? What was his talent anyway? It was a talent all right but instead of using it, he had traded on it. It was never what he had done, but always what he could do. And he had chosen to make his living with something else instead of a pen or a pencil.”

It made me think about how I sabotage myself. How could I possibly know that reading Hemingway would inspire me to finish what I start. Breaks over — back to work.