Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pruning Back and Pushing Forward

Of course, after a long period of being overworked, as soon as I take a moment to rest and take care of myself- I get sick. So this is a catch-up post relating a couple projects in the works. I'm finally halfway keeping up with my dishes as I dirty them. I've finally alphabetized and tucked away the records I've purchased the last few months. My house is slowly recovering from a lack of attention.


Now, just need to focus on eating that apple a day to keep healthy to enjoy my newfound free time. A recent new focus for me has been that of renewing. An easy example? Stan surprised me with flowers a week or so ago after one of those long days. The other afternoon they were looking droopy and sad. But just a couple moments of plucking and re-trimming the stems and they were as good as new. A totally different bouquet than before. Sometimes all it takes is a little pruning in order to incite new growth.


To follow the plant metaphor a little further...The less energy we spend on keeping "dead branches" alive the better chance those other branches have at surviving. So, I'm thinking about the dead branches in my life. Busy-ness is one. I need to take more time for myself. And, though it might be hard to admit- because I love my stuff, I think maybe my clutter is a bit of a dead branch. I have collected a lot of things, and sometimes those things take over my spaces and make them stressful.

It's my intention to de-clutter, prune, and be more intentional overall with my things and clothes over the next couple months. It seems appropriate for fall, to let things fall away from my life. My living room is the first focus of this effort. I've transformed some mismatched pillows for a more adult look.  I had the flowered pillow already and tried to work around that color scheme. The grey herringbone fabric I picked up at a thrift store for a buck, the patchwork pillow is made from upholstery fabric swatches from a look book I got garage sale-ing this summer. 




To cover or not to cover? It would certainly be a "pruning back" moment design-wise. But the chair is super cute as it is, a possible solution a friend mentioned would be to make a zipper pouch cover (with piping!) for the seat cushion and a general slip cover for the chair body. It may be in the works, soon. As it is, repairing and recovering my health takes precedence right now. 



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Getting Ready - Babies, Weddings & Fall

Supposedly, the first official day of fall is around the corner. I would beg to differ. Today is the day. It's crisp out there. It's official sweater weather. The communal desire to pick apples and carve pumpkins is palpable. People around these parts are ready for a change in the seasons. (Here's a couple autumnal shots from the farm in Covington where my department held our staff retreat late last month.)




So, now... I'm finally in the clear of a long "season" of busy-ness and excited to tuck in for a cozy crafting season.

I made some little booties the other day. I made up the pattern on the spot, it's super easy. Its all single crochets. I started at the toe from a circle cast on, and then just added and reduced until I had a nice toe, then once I'd reached the arch started crocheting back and forth as if on a scarf leaving  3 or four stitches at the top open for the foot to go in. I blanket stitched the heel shut and added cutesy things when it seemed appropriate. This set made its way to my gal pal expecting twins.


Amongst sampling some of those tasty looking pumpkin baked goods on pinterest, I've got some serious autumnal work cut out for me. I have three more 2012 weddings and several babies in progress to make gifts for. I've done a little reconnaissance for the wedding gifts, and a little supplies shopping for the baby-kins but the real work has yet to begin.

I'm headed up to Michigan this weekend. I'll have to transfer my design to fabric and get a move on the detail work for wedding gift #1. Other crafts in the works include a possible recovering of my crazy blue chair. Several years ago I acquired 5 yards of italian merino wool herringbone suit material at a garage sale in Minneapolis. The seller was hesitant to part with the fabric, he told me he was a costume designer in the theatre world there, but gave me the bolt anyway (a crazy steal at $10). I had always intended to cover this cute little fainting couch I had in college. Now I'm thinking that my chair might suit the fabric well.


This isn't the fabric, but it's a pretty close match. What do you think? Should I make the transformation? Part of my reasoning is that I feel like my living room needs to calm down a little.

More to come. It has been a season of productivity on the work front lately, and my own personal projects fell to the wayside (hence my absence here). I plan to make up for my lack of creativity with an exponential output of awesome in the next couple months. Get ready.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

BRB

So, an unprecedented month-long absence deserves an explanation. Let's just say: work, boyfriend, work, no internet, work, 12 hour days, work, tired, work. Anyways, I'll return soon enough with something halfway interesting and non-consequential to share.

Until then, enjoy this William Carlos Williams style apology.

This Is Just To Say

I have lived
the life
that was in
the office

and probably
you have missed
missed
my blog

Forgive me
it was out of my hands
so tiring
and so worth it

(Yeah, I know I'm ridiculous.)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...