clockwork

Labels: bits

Labels: bits
I have become THAT person - the one who must have everything written down in ONE place or else her entire world will just crumble into a million little pieces. Sure, back in my working days I had day planners and calendars and... shoot, what were they called? Ah yes, PDAs. ("Personal Digital Assistant" - if only it were all that- that name makes it sounds so all-encompassing, like that just by owning one your entire life will be magically organized and orderd as if you were suddenly Marth Stewart) But once I started the stay-at-home-mom gig, I got lazy and there just didn't seem to be that much I needed to pencil in anymore. I'd occasionally scribble something on the Hawaiian calendar we hang by the microwave, every once and a while I'd update an address in Outlook - but that's about it. Then the Summer of '09 hit. We've got summer school, swim lessons for two boys, my own work deadlines, vacations and birthday parties galor. I quickly snatched up one of the pocket calendars that wasn't quite up to perfection for the OUTof
theBOX Etsy shop last Christmas and began using it myself. It has helped tremendously! I was a signature away from signing a check for the youngest son's swim lessons before I realized they were in conflict with oldest's son's already-paid-for swim lessons when I saw the problem in my handy dandy little pocket calendar. And yes, maybe I should be methodically inputting all this stuff in a PalmPiolot or a PDA or Blackberry. But there's something about the scribble on paper - while it helps to keep my head from spinning, it also feels strangely wonderful to fill up those days. I'm here this day, there that, busy celebrating this then and dedicated to him, her or them on a week from this, that or next Saturday. Clear as day. And, paper won't crash. (filling up sketchbooks is equally as satisfying to me)Labels: bits
Labels: booties silkscreen links
Some random pictures of some of the latest things added to the OUToftheBOX Etsy Shop. Finally got a new order of fabric that I had printed from Spoonflower.com photographed and listed. Working on some new things, but it sure isn't easy finding the time!
freckles acquired from years and years of sun-burned shoulders. School is out for the 5-year old and he'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall. (Yikes! How did that happen?) I want it to be a fun summer. I want us to have adventures - take the train downtown, picnic at the beach, explore the zoo, maybe even brave the summer crowds at Legoland. At the same time, there's a lot I want to do, creatively. So I realize I've got a lot of balancing to do - finding that right balance of focus on activities with the kids and creative projects that help me feel accomplished in my art + craft. I've been losing it a little too much the past week.
Struggling with that balance and losing patience with the fact that two little boys quite often don't want me to have anything other than them to focus on. And yesterday, it occurred to me that the solution to my frustration might exist right here - within me - and I just need to acquire the right tools for unlocking the patience and understanding that make a good mother. So I picked up some books:
going to drive myself crazy. Just breath. Going to close my eyes, breath and find that balance.Labels: booties, etsy, fabric, reading, resolutions


Labels: inspiration
And I don't pretend to be the first person whose ever thought of drawing birdcages. What is it about all those lines on a birdcage? I'm drawn to them. I want to sketch them and construct them. This print by Jenny Bowers and this fiber art by Tamar Mogendorff are so precious and give me so much inspiration.
Maybe I might even have to pick up an ornate birdcage of my own to fill with stuffed Buzzing Boggies. But there are so many to choose from! I love the hand constructed bamboo ones in the shape of beehives from China. But there is also something lovely and modern about these colorful metal cages from Rose and Radish:
Of course I could always just opt for some wall art like this eye popping piece from Wall Sticker Shop. As much as I love the idea of having sweet chirping birds in the house, I remember the mess they can make. And by the time you do all you can to keep the birdseed contained inside the birdcage, your lovely imported, hand-crafted, bamboo cage from Vietnam is all covered up. I think the only way to go would be a large outdoor cage in the garden. I think the birds would rather prefer the fresh air too.Labels: inspiration