Creative Slump

Lately, I've been in a little bit of a creative slump....

I have lots of projects I would like to be doing, but by the time I get home from work, I am lacking the energy and motivation to do them. The great thing is: my job keeps me thinking, and on my toes. The bad thing is: I have creative things at home I want to do too! The past few weeks though, I am worn out by the time I get home, and eat dinner.

I know I have a lot of creative friends reading this. How do you stay motivated? I have some really cute fabric (aptly named Hope Valley), and a great pattern for a tunic that I really want to sew!* Also, the business cards (and brochure) I was commissioned to design unfortunately won't design themselves.

The funny thing is this: as I write, I keep remembering very recent projects I've done that I haven't posted yet.

STILL, please let me know what you do to keep your motivation up, after a long day of _________ing! Thank you!

*I also have 2 meters of Marimekko shirting that is aching to be a duvet cover!

New (Pink!) Little Monster

The world is home to one more little monster, this one hott pink cashmere!

She now has a new home with a very sweet one-year old, named Sage. Sebastien and I went to Bremerton (Washington) with his parents this past weekend to celebrate Sage's big day with Sebastien's sister Vanessa, her husband Dennis, and their wonderful son. It was such a fun weekend, and I hope this cute monster can bring even more fun to Sage in her NEXT year!

Vanessa threw a wonderful party, with lots of kids and treats and flowers (it was a garden party theme).

It was awesome to go and meet so many new people, and be able to hang out with family for the weekend. I especially loved watching Sage and "Brother" (this sweet little boy's name for the time being) flirt with one another too!

Re-Gifting Made Nice (8 Reusable Gift Bags)

I started with an idea from a friend. Then I moved onto this sketch:

From there, it was just pretty fabric, and some sewing. The bags virtually made themselves!**

These are the first three I made. I really love how they turned out.

These five are a different pattern. I don't think the bags are as elegant as the ones in the first few pictures. The sewing did go much faster, and I was happy to get through all these bags in a relatively short amount of time!

Another friend asked for a rush job on Christmas Eve Eve, making 10 wine bags (from the green, orange and red polka dot fabric above) for their annual Christmas party. It was a challenge to fit it in (and get all my own presents finished in time), but it was worth it. Everyone apparently love their bags!

What did you use to wrap your presents this year? (Check out this lady's awesome little touches to her gifts - maybe next year....)

I guess in the same way that the cobbler's kids had no shoes, the reusable giftbag maker's Christmas presents were wrapped in paper this year. Next year, hopefully I can do projects for myself, too!

**This is not true. While it is a pretty simple project, unfortunately the bags DID NOT make themselves.

December Calling - Shall I Put You Through?

As many of you know, our December was a tad bit difficult, so as the saying goes, Sebastien and I made lemon curd from the lemons (isn't that it?).

Short story long - after moving back to Portland in the beginning of November, I miraculously got a job with a great office within a month. That is very good. Then my job got a little sidetracked (distant past - I LOVE my office now!). Basically though, for December we landed in a new apartment, with lots of time and very little money. We started S'ope's Creations, and were off to the races! It turned out to be a GREAT time to start a little side business, and it kept us very happy, healthy (we would have gone a little crazy, me thinks!), and slightly more flush. Here is one of the fun projects we worked on in December (this particular project was making 17 bags of granola and 2 jars of lemon curd for a friend to give to family and work clients):

counting up each type of granola and lemon curd

We had a choice of Apricot-Ginger Pecan, Blueberry Almond, or Cranberry Walnut Granolas.

The Little Monsters Finally Got Those Little Monsters

So sweet!!!

My sister-in-law just received her package with the "those little monsters" for my nephews, and wrote a really sweet blog post about it! I am so happy they like them! These are some cutey-pie little boys! I love them so much. They deserve the stars!

Anyway, I thought you might like to see them, actually being played with, and not just by me, around the city (those are to come, now that Chris and Chip got the package). Enjoy!!

Whew!

I am a lady with many missions these days. I have many (fun and exciting) things on the burner; things that will be spoken of soon enough.


I am working on a tablecloth for Tamara, some wedding shower invitations for my friend Leanne, adding some things onto an apron I got as a birthday gift, and I still need to send out those little monsters (sorry Chris and Chip - they are coming!!!). Things are also pretty busy at work, and I just got home from softball practice, and.... and.... Well, like I said, there are many more things on the burner.

Take care. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Even Monsters Love Photo Booth

Well, I was home from work this afternoon (with a stomach ache), so I put my time to good use, and finished the three little monsters I started a bit ago!


Like l.o.m. (little orange monster), these little buggers are more than a little lively!

Maybe they are taking after me a bit (or maybe this is just monster-nature), but the first thing they wanted to do was play around with Photo Booth, and - well, I'm a pushover. These are the results. Yikes! I hope Christine and Chip are willing to put up with goof-balls! OK - I'll admit it - I joined in the fun, too!

I will try to get them sent out this weekend, along with some other treats, but first we may tour Vancouver together (they are insisting). Cross your fingers for some sun this weekend!

A Glorious Vancouver Weekend!

I had been hearing rumors all last week that the weather was supposed to be cold and rainy. Needless to say, I was SO happy when I woke up Saturday morning, and the sun was up! I did a little sewing in the morning (working on the monsters), and then met Sebastien for a nice long walk along the seawall before dinner.


This is one of the first places we walked, I have always wondered about this installation. This particular quote reads fully, "Come to time where people talk different but good together." For a little insight...


My sweetheart, looking sweet.


Us trying to take a picture of ourselves lying on the grass together. I have to admit that I like the way it came out, anyway!


The concrete factory on Granville Island.


An art installation along the seawall. The bird's wings flap in the wind (the sails are a little worse for the wear right now though).


A very cute and VERY excited puppy we saw on our walk.


The floating ramp to the water taxis.


Logs on the beach.


Sunday we went to church, and then I met a good friend for an exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver, and then we went for a walk around our neighborhood with our friend and former professor, Stephen Duff, making a map of interesting restaurants and points of interest for a group of architeture students. The students are from the University of Oregon, and are doing a three-month study abroad term in Vancouver. I am very happy to say that I will be helping out with their urban design charette this week (giving the students design feedback)and then assisting through the term as well as an adjunct instructor.
These are just a few photos we took around our neighborhood:

This is a block or two from my office.


There are so many flowers in bloom!


Here are three trouble-makers, up to no good.

Little Orange Monster

Here are some shots of the first of the little monsters I've started sewing. He is made out of the same wool sweater as the hat I made a few posts ago (I love that color orange). He is now living with Sebastien's sister's very cute son, outside Seattle. They live in the country, so hopefully he won't create much trouble.

He is naughty, though. Really naughty. Look at the havoc he created around my office!


(As I showed him around, l.o.m. hid in the plant on my co-worker's desk.)


(He answered my phone for a bit, but I found out later he was rude to a client....)

(Then I lost him for a bit, and when I found him again, he was having a little "office fun.")



(These photos are edited - there are MANY I couldn't show here.)



(When he found out we were in the Olympic host city, l.o.m. just HAD to get his picture taken with the mascots.)


My other three sweet nephews will get the next little monsters. They are all totally different, and totally fun to make. Why don't I have more time to sew and do projects, again? Maybe I should ask l.o.m. to come back and help me do paperwork, so I can have more time at home!

The Beginnings of Some Fun Sewing Projects

Over Christmas, I got really motivated. Remember that?! Remember (umm, say two posts ago) when I said that I was going to be more on top of writing? Well, I haven't been very good at writing posts, but I have been doing lots and lots of fun stuff. --And writing on my blog hasn't been one of them.

January was a very full month, and so far, February is trying to outdo it! I am loving it though! I just want more time to do all the things I have in my head!


January was full of productive weekends, sewing fun projects and making our own (gulp) sausages!

While we were in Eugene over Christmas, I went shopping with MH and V (Sebastien's mother and sister) to get some cashmere sweaters to felt at Value Village. They are such good shoppers, and I definitely walked away with more sweaters than I anticipated buying, but I couldn't figure out any to put back on the rack!
The colors (or patterns) I bought were: autumny orange, hottt pink, raven black, peppermint candy (pink and white stripes with a green collar and cuffs), sunbleached sunflowers (cream with beige flowers), and my favorite - a rich creamy grass. I am so excited about all of them.


SO, my first project was to figure out how to make hats and mittens for the cold weather we were having. It was fun to figure out the patterns!

Sew.... Long Time, No Talk

Okay, so Thia's website isn't the only thing I have been doing. Last week our internet was down, and I set up my sewing machine. It is kind of a pain to get the machine out and set up, and then take it all down when you are done, and I would love to be able to just leave it up, so I could do small projects on it, without getting annoyed. Once I get it set up, though, I love to do little projects on it. I finished our bedroom curtains, and we are very happy with them. They are linen, and the light that comes through them is so nice, although I couldn't capture that in the pictures.

I have also been getting more and more excited about some gorgeous fabric I got from Marie-Helene (Sebastien's mother) when she and Tim (his dad) were in Vancouver. I was super excited about the fabric when I first got it, but then it just sat in the corner, in a bag, making sad eyes at me. The summer was really busy for me, and there wasn't much sewing going on..... So, the fabric sat and sat for much longer than a month, calling to me when I came into the room, "Hey you! I'm still here, in this bag! Take me out and use me!" So last week I did. --Or at least I started.

I finished our curtains before anything else, and then moved into hemming some of our tableclothes, and then I finally took the fabric out of the bag, and (gulp) made something. And it felt good. And what I made was a tiny little bird.

I thank my wonderfully crafty friend, Jenn, for getting me going again (she gave me the pattern). I am going to try (please, please don't quote me here) to make enough to make something for our room, and sell some at a Christmas church bazaar.

I sewed for a large portion of the weekend, and once, when I got up to get some air by the window, I even had a little friend in our parsley! He was so cute that I had to take a picture.