Tree Fall

Postcards

I've been slowly, slowly working on some new stock for the Shop . Not having full days to work is still really taking it's toll. I am managing to get dribs and drabs finished, but nothing major. Oh how I long for an entire day to concentrate on just one thing.

I'm pleased to say that Lily is already in a fantastic daytime nap routine (and a truly fantastic night time routine) and I am actually able to almost guarantee two 3 hour naps a day, so it's not like I'm not getting any time at all. It's just that there are a million other things demanding my attention in those 3 hours and by the time I get in to the swing of it, it's already time for her next feed.

Before I had Lily I worried that my creativity might dry up, with so many other things on my mind. But it's actually been the opposite. I have about a trillion things that I want to make, write, photograph, etc, etc.

Which is not a bad thing of course. Neither is my reason  for being so busy. And I'm definitely not complaining. I just wish there were a few more days in the week!
But in the meantime I shall just keep nibbling away at my To Do/Wish list and slowly, slowly get that shop stocked.

(I'm a little nervous about this, because I've never tried to sell any photo's before - but these postcards are in the Shop  now).

Meme (again)

Sarah tagged me a while back, which I'm only now getting around to (sorry Sarah!). I'm pretty sure I've done this one again, but it's a good one so I'm happy to have another bash at it.

1. Why did you start your blog?

After my first year at home with Bella I started the blog as a way to stop feeling quite so isolated. I was really excited when I discovered craft blogs and new that I wanted to be a part of the community. I never expected to meet so many great people though. And I never expected to feel such a part of something so inspiring and so supportive.

2. How did you come up with your blog name?

I combined two things that I like - trees and Fall! Simple.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think of it?

For the first year or so none of my friends or family read the blog but these days most of my family read it and a few of my friends. My family seem to like it and I get a lot of support from them - I'm constantly surprised that they read it though and very flattered. The only downside is that they can hassle me when I haven't posted!

4. How do you write posts?

Sometimes I have a plan but most of the time I just sit down and write what comes to mind. The main thing that dictates the subject though is whether I have photo's or not. I really hate to write a post without pictures. I'm very visually led and tend to be drawn to magazines or blogs that are heavy on the artwork, so I try and present the blog in the same way. When it comes to the content, I try to keep a balance between craft posts and personal posts. I never really intended to write about the family/personal stuff but Bella, the pregnancies and the miscarriages all play such a huge part in my life and all directly affect my creativity, so it became impossible not to write about them. I also realised early on that whilst I want the blog to be a happy place, I also wanted it to be a realistic - to a point.

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?

I've had a couple of spam comments but nothing actually unkind. There are occasionally some slightly strange comments though. But I'm happy and grateful to read them all!

6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how do you increase traffic?

I do check the stats and go through phases of being slightly obsessed with them and then I forget about them again for a while. I have to admit though that it does bother me how many read the blog, but I've never done anything to actively increase the traffic. Maybe I should but I really don't know how.

7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you?

I love lots of blogs, but I just don't have the time to read as many as I would like. I mainly stick to craft blogs but I read a couple of design ones too. If a post is too wordy then I have to confess to often just skimming, but that's mainly because of time constraints. As I said before, I'm really drawn to photo ladened posts. I also love reading tutorials.

8. What do you like and dislike about blogging?

I like pretty much everything about blogging. It's been an amazing couple of years and has literally been the making of me. I can confidently say that if I hadn't started the blog there is no way that my work would be  the  standard that it is. The sense of community is incredible and has had a huge affect on my daily life. I am a lot more confident now, and not just about my work. Being able to share my fears and worries (both work and family related) and hear that I am absolutely not alone really does stop me from second guessing myself so much. And being able to get feed back about my work from such a large group of people is invaluable. Especially when it's people that I respect so much. I think it's an incredible time for crafting and that blogging has played a huge part in it's resurgence.

The only thing I dislike about it is the fact that some people think that if you post about a design then it's public property. Obviously the issues that Hillary has had to deal with lately come to mind. And on a much, much smaller scale, I've found people ripping me off a few times. The most recent being someone that directly copied my Selvedge pin cushions and putting them in her etsy shop. It's bloody annoying but I guess it's also the price you pay for putting your work out there. And for me, so far, the positives far outweigh the negatives. But if I had just gone through what Hillary has I'm not sure that I'd be sounding so magnanimous!

I don't usually tag other people, but because I like this one so much I'm going make an exception this time and tag Fiona (because I'm sure you don't have enough to do!), Shannon  and Amy .

Pink and grEy

Our kitchen is often (almost always) a mess, with various bits and pieces left lying around. Most of the time it drives me a little nuts. But occasionally I look up and notice that some of it is actually quite pretty. And sometimes the mess even coordinates. Which is nice.

And sometimes it leads to a fabric purchase (it doesn't take much)...

(Happy Kristy?? And Christine, the fabric can be found here .)

On My Desk

On my desk  today - mainly the makings of more pin cushions. As well as a new pile of fabrics that has just arrived.

It's been a good day today, work wise. Bella had an extra day at nursery and Lily was a superstar and had two 3 hour naps! So I was able to focus for longer than 20 minutes, for the first time in almost two months (can you believe that Lily is 2 months old tomorrow??). And actually managed to make a small dent in my to do list.

Of course, all day long those new fabrics were calling to me. Apparently they're desperate to become some new clothes for the Lilster. And I agree with them.

Selvedge

Although I've been downsizing on the magazine front for the last year, there are still a few favourites that I refuse to relinquish my subscriptions to. And Selvedge is definitely one of those magazines. Especially since it just seems to get better and better with each issue.
The latest one made my heart jump as soon as I saw the cover , and continued to do so as I turned each page. And don't you love that? The way you can see something and it just makes your heart race? I'm serious when I say that fabric totally does that to me and so does a great book or magazine.

The cover shot is of course the Kissing Gate screenprint by the amazing Rob Ryan  which unfortunately isn't available here  but some of his other wonderful prints are. I can not tell you how tempted I am by his shop! And I think this may actually be my favourite Selvedge cover ever.
Inside the issue there's an article on wallpaper  - something that interests me almost (but not quite) as much as fabric.

And then there's these...

Aren't they amazing?  How much does it make you want to go and decorate a doll house right now? Just look at those tiny little rooms?

I don't think you can tell from the photo's but all the furniture is made from cardboard!

I seriously could get in to making miniature rooms like these. Seriously.

And if that wasn't enough, there's a really good article about Julie Arkell's home and work.

How much would I  love to visit her house? I almost hyper-ventilated when I just saw her stand at a quilt show last year, lord knows what would happen if I actually saw her studio! She's most definitely one of those artists that makes me want to jack it all in because I'll never be good enough.

The article on childhood fashion and how it's finally (thank goodness) moving away from neon bright, label led fashions and reverting to much more traditional, vintage inspired styles is really interesting and beautifully laid out.

 

And if you're drawn immediately to the graphics in this article, then you'll love the fact that there's also an article about paper dolls and their origins.
The underlying theme of this issue is the childhood, with articles about dolls, including the history of the prairie doll, cloth books, childhood samplers and childrens authors ( an article about Lauren Child).
Which I'm sure is why it hits the mark so perfectly with me this month. And why I'm so glad that I didn't cancel that (expensive) subscription!
Oh and talking of selvedge and how much I love it...

There are some pincushions on their way to the shop and hopefully sooner rather than later. But of course that depends on a certain little girl and whether she's willing to nap!

Finally

I still find it quite strange that people think I can sew. Not because I secretly have a small force of professional seamstresses hidden in my studio (I wish), but because as far as I've always been concerned, if you can't make clothes then you can't really sew. And by 'make clothes' I mean understand and follow a pattern.
I know that I've talked about this before, but I've always had an almost pathological fear of patterns. I suffer from dyscalculia  and for some reason it seems to extend to patterns and plans. I tend to take one look at them and my mind just goes "blurrgghhhh" and I develop a headache.

But since I seem to be determined to conquer some major fears this year (having a second baby, learning to drive - nothing big) I figured what the hell, lets learn to sew properly too.
Of course I made a start with this last year when I sewed some clothes for Holly , but I just haven't had the guts (or the time) to tackle some real clothing until now.

I have subscribed to Ottobre for quite a while and have been desperate to make clothes for both my girls from their patterns, so the other morning I decided to make a start and see what happens.
It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but there was quite a lot of reading and re-reading of the instructions and once it was finished I realised that I'd made a few mistakes. But in general I think it was a success and I'm really excited to try another pattern.

I used one of my favourite fabrics by the wonderful Prints Charming  with a contrasting print for the binding and inner yoke. The pattern itself is in the 1/2008 issue of Ottobre and is originally in linen with a cotton lining, but I wanted to use something softer. Although next time I think I'll give it a go in the linen.
The pattern was pretty straight forward, but it still took me the best part of a day to finish it. Maybe it would have been quicker without the constant interruptions, but I doubt it. I'm pretty slow when it comes to these things.
Lily debuted the dress yesterday. And was unsure at first whether or not she liked it..

But then she caught a look at herself and realised that she was looking mighty fine...

Definitely going to make a long sleeved top for her next.
Learning to drive, making my own clothes, goodness me, whatever next?

More..

Oh my! Look what I Lily was lucky enough to receive recently.

Uh huh. Yep, that's an actual, bona fide original Bella  baby dress! Isn't it just beautiful? Of course it is, Alicia made it.
I can't tell you what a shock it was when I opened the parcel and saw this lovely dress, it really was the last thing I was expecting. Of course I can't let Lily wear it because it's just too perfect, but I'm more than happy to have it hanging on her bedroom wall.
Another gorgeous gift that is hanging on the wall is this beautiful, soft mitten and bootee set.

They were knitted by the super kind and always generous Suzie of Suziesews and I absolutely love them!
Thank you so much Alicia and Suzie.
Goodness, that Lily's a lucky girl!

And talking about lucky, we were also lucky enough last week to spend a lovely day with Hazel.

It was a very relaxed affair and just what I needed. Bella really enjoyed it too because Hazel is fantastically patient and encouraging and very kindly spent ages sitting with Bella whilst she painted and whittered on.
Please come back soon Hazel.

Don't you just love blogging?

Evolution

One of the questions that I'm frequently asked is how do I fit it all in. Of course the real answer is that I simply don't. Anyone that has ever been to my home can and will testify that housework is almost always bottom of the to do list, as are many other equally important activities.
But one of the ways that I'm getting things done at the moment is by getting up earlier than everyone else or just staying up after giving Lily her 4am feed.
I use that quiet, early morning time to either catch up on emails or to catch up on sewing. And if I am up that early then I make a deal with myself that I can work on new designs rather than existing orders, so that I can have a bit of fun.
And over the past week I've been working on a new design that's been in the pipeline for a while.

The interesting thing about the design of my new Fraidy Squirrel, is that it's success seems to be based almost solely on whether I'm working on it early in the morning or late in the evening (the only other time the house it quiet enough to focus).  Because, as I discovered last night, my mind works better when it is tired from getting up early, rather than being tired from staying up late.
I did all the original work in the morning hours and it went pretty smoothly. I started off by sketching a few bigger versions of the squirrel that I used on my squirrel tote and then added a bottom piece to make it a little more 3 dimensional. And once I was happy with the trial runs made in muslin, I moved on to cutting it out in linen.

And sat down to stitch up the linen version last night, which is when it all went askew. To say the least.
First off, I mistakenly used the smallest version of the pattern and then I stitched it up without the bottom piece (is it the gusset?). Neither of which I noticed until I had finished it.
Then, having realised my error, I started again but with a dark grey linen. Unfortunately, in my haste to remember to sew in the gusset this time, I forgot to sew on the patchwork. Then I forgot to leave an opening for stuffing it and then I realised that I had used white thread (how did that one escape my notice?).
So this isn't quite the finished object because it still needs a little tweaking. But I'm definitely going to wait until the morning to do that.

Look, it's squirrel evolution...

   

It mocks me...

My 'To Do' pile of fabric keeps staring at me. 
And I keep staring right back. Longingly.

I'm still surprised by how much time one little person can take up. Even when it's just the two of us the entire morning still disappears without a trace of work done.
One thing I am finally managing to do though is learn to drive! And you can't imagine how big a deal this is for me. Not one single woman in my family has ever been able to drive (I don't know why). And almost all of my struggles when Bella was a baby were due to not being able to drive and having to rely on other people to get us anywhere. So this is going to change my life completely.
And as if that wasn't exciting enough, whilst I'm in the middle of my 4th driving lesson, Jim is taking the girls to Bella's first ballet lesson! She's almost beyond excited about it, and keeps talking about how she's going to listen to the teacher and how she'll dance and what she'll wear. And of course, she keeps dancing around the room. I personally think she's a natural!

That fabric is still looking at me though...