on the last day of october...

a pocket library tote (part of a giveaway at the end of this post)

i must admit that the month of october blew by me. it just did. poof. suddenly gone.

i have been dipping into blog reading here and there and have really been inspired by all that you are saying. there is a "pulling it all up from the guts and looking at where i am in the world" going on out there. and i have read some words i really needed to read...and felt an invitation to stop keeping so much in and start sharing in this space in ways i used to, especially how i wrote when i first started blogging.

i have felt really overwhelmed about a few things lately and the lonelies have plopped down in the middle of the living room and won't leave me alone. but they are parked in the midst of so much clutter, literal and figurative clutter, and i have decided to finally tackle it. yep. i spent about five hours yesterday beginning to move the little room into the guest room (and from: the living room, the kitchen, the laundry room, and the family room). the little room will become the guest room. i can't wait. i want to just wrinkle my nose and have it done or at least just have the furniture swapped...or have one of you live near me and maybe you could just come over and help for a day. we could get so much done. i would take you out for dinner (sushi?) and you could even spend the night (the guest bed is really comfy) and then jon would make us breakfast. yes. that would be perfect. let's do that.

anyway, i have decided that i just might try to write in this space every single day in november. i'm not going to (at this point) sign up for anything as i don't think i can handle that guilt of not finishing (i am so very good at guilt)...but dar's posts have been pushing me lately...pushing me to let that writer back out of me. pushing me to realize that getting some of these stuck words and feelings out of me might just help me to get out of my head. and i so need to get out of my head.

i passed 700 posts a few posts back. and i really, really want to celebrate that. meant to do that at 600 posts and then at my three-year blog birthday last month. ahhh...this is the way it has been lately. anyway, i really want to celebrate with a thank you for all that you give me by stopping by and sharing yourself with me...and thank those of you with blogs who give pieces of yourself as you share your world...

the library pocket tote at the top of this post is a favorite of mine. i bought up all the yards i could find of that cursive writing blackboard fabric. it just makes me happy. and i use a bit of it every now and then. this giveaway will include that tote and then a few other of my favorite things like vintage buttons and other vintage bits.

so to enter this little giveaway that seems a bit hidden at the end of this post, please share something you are hoping for in this moment in your life.

i will start: i hope for change next tuesday.

one (really) good thing.

i was watching msnbc just now. chris matthews interviewing rachel maddow. she mentioned that people in florida are indicating how the lines are too long for early voting. and they aren't waiting. matthews said something about how when one looks back on history that excuse isn't really going to cut it.

yep.

not wanting to wait.

how are you going to tell your grandchildren that one?
how are you going to tell yourself that when you look in the mirror?

please just do this one really good thing.

please.
just.
vote.

in the moment. this moment.

port townsend view, photo by jonny

port townsend always invites me to feel refreshed and open. love that place.

back from artfiberfest, my heart and head are full of goodness and ideas. a sense of renewel is swirling around me. at the same time though, i am also feeling a bit lonely as my house is so quiet and when i plug in my sewing machine and begin to create, i am not surrounded by friends and laughter.

this is what happens. lots and lots of goodness. then lots and lots of quiet. and i am struggling with that a bit.

and when i struggle with this feeling, this lonely quiet sort of feeling, i try to just stay as present as possible. breathing. in this moment. just being here.

i took three delightful classes with mary stanley, ruth rae, and tracie lyn and marylin huskamp. really, really good stuff. i learned rug hooking (and began to understand how long each project takes and the talent it takes and proceeded to buy two fantastic pieces from mary at vendor night because i love it all so much - photos to come)...i was pushed to think of ways to use all the vintage bits i have been collecting for the last few years and i learned about how visually appealing layering is and how really really fun it is to dye things (more on ruth's class in another post after i finish my soulful doors)...and...AND...i totally painted a bird onto fabric. yep. can't wait to tell you more about that experience after i take some photos...

and i spent time with some wonderful people (list to come...promise...i just want to get all the links together and that takes a bit of time). the group that is the small retreat of artfiberfest just rocks my world. adore them.

tonight i am putting aprons into the shop (natasha reversible aprons and selma task aprons). we have been blessed with some beautiful blue sky around here, which made taking the photos a joy yesterday.

and i know i mentioned updating the shop with scarves this week, but i am sending the scarves i curently have off on an adventure.

so, if you are interested in a selma patchwork scarf (like the one above) and some fall-ish selma patchwork pillows (like the one below), head over to the online shop of artstream studios. i am so delighted to have my first batch of items listed there (a big thanks to susan for her kindness and patience and for helping me to live a dream that was once just a comment on a blog post).

sorry i have been quiet lately...but i so appreciate your emails and comments and how you remind me that i am not alone.
you are not alone either.
thank you for you.

two girls, two clicks {week six}

1. bounce, 2. droplets

photo collaboration with miss geek inc, week 6

2 girls, 2 clicks

two girls, two clicks {week five}

1. listing, 2. release

photo collaboration (for this group) with miss geek inc, week 5

having so much fun with these.

.the current scoop.

i've received emails and comments asking me a few questions about my shop and updates and all that stuff, so i thought i would write a post to answer them.

when are you updating the shop?
i am currently getting ready for artfiberfest, where i will have a vendor table with aprons, scarves, pillows, pincushions, and a few other fun things (i am putting together some vintage sewing packets too). i am also getting together a couple of orders for some shops that will be carrying my creations. (i. am. so. excited. about. this!) because i am in full assembly-line creating mode (as these pictures indicate), i won't be updating the shop until after artfiberfest.

so, look for a shop update (aprons and scarves) the week of october 27. i will post an announcement here when i have things in the shop. my plan will then be to update the shop with a few items every 10 days or so.

are you taking custom orders?
after squam, i received several custom orders. and, as those of you who placed an order know, they are taking me quite a long time. because i am getting ready for a huge show in early december in seattle (urban craft uprising!!!! can't wait to be part of this incredible event.), i won't be taking custom orders for fabric items (meaning bags, scarves, aprons, and pillows) until after the holidays. thanks for understanding. i am always accepting custom soul mantra necklace orders and will continue to do so.

are you ever going to add any of those natasha slingbags you sold at squam? what about those big bags?
thanks to all the squamlettes who have asked about the natasha slingbags (they look like my everyday bag seen here). yes! i will be adding bags to the shop, probably the second week of november (or so). i have a nice stack of gorgeous fabric that will soon be cut into natasha bags. some of you also noticed my huge bag that i often carry (seen here). i am calling that the natasha big bag. i have several cut out, ready to be sewn together. look for those in november. additionally, i will be adding some selma totes to the shop in time for the holidays.

will you be adding long aprons soon?
some of you might have spotted me wearing a long apron at squam and art and soul. it is about mid-calf length and goes around the waist almost like a skirt. i will be making a few of these, in various waist/hip sizes, probably in mid-to-late november.

any other new items to share? what about that baby quilt you made?
new items for the holidays will include a few mom and child apron sets. possibly a few new pillow designs. and maybe a few sterling silver soul mantra pendant designs. i am also working on a smaller natasha "big" bag. same shape, smaller size.
and, i am having fun with that baby quilt (putting minky on the back...so soft and luxurious). might add some to the shop after the holidays, but probably not before. might even think about making a couple of lap quilt-sized minky-backed quilts. (i don't usually say yummy...but that would be pretty yummy i think!)

are there other questions out there? just let me know.

and now a question (a bit off topic) for you: know of any good arm warmers - mid-forearm to elbow length - that are knit or crocheted (and not itchy wool)? i would like to buy a pair or two. sewing late into the night in our home has made me realize i need to buy another pair or seven. i seem to easily misplace them in coat pockets and bags and on and on. and i just don't want to have to search for them late into the night. (if this is something you make for fun or sell, i would be interested in trading for some if that interests you as well.) thanks!

two girls, two clicks {week four}

1. happy orange, 2. spoils of fall

photo collaboration with miss geek inc, week 4

one little (huge. power-full. sacred.) word

(new soul mantra pendant in the shop)

it is a powerful exercise, thinking about what you might want to say yes to in your life.

many years ago, sark introduced me to the juicy-ness of the word yes.

in my college apartment, i had big sheets of white paper on the wall behind my bed. i remember deciding to put that paper up after reading one of sark's earlier books.* and inspired by her, i wrote yes in crayon on that wall and looked at it every day. i remember feeling like if i just said yes to one thing just for me each day, life was going to be okay.

i hadn't thought about that in a long time...about that wall i would write on and how i would hold onto that word. and then sometime this year, i started noticing maddie's sunday posts were all about how she was saying yes in her life.

and i remembered the wide, real power of this simple, petite word.

inspired by maddie and sark, i am bringing this word back into my life.

and tonight, i am
saying
yes
to

living this life with a wide heart
inviting in peace
letting go just a bit more
orange polka-dotted knee socks
cooking dinner
staying out way past my bedtime
naps
being an informed voter
a gigantic slightly off-kilter pumpkin
a poetry reading in the bathtub
taking a chance
a little johnny cash and friends
laughing until tears spring into my eyes
speaking the truth of my experience
holding onto love
drinking mugs of hot fruity tea
believing in all that might be

is there something you might want to say yes to today?

*i tried to find the page in sark's book (creative companion, inspiration sandwich, or living juicy) that inspired me to write yes on my bedroom wall so many years ago. i couldn't find the page, but i found all these little pieces of paper stuck throughout the pages of living juicy. notes on an index card from a psychology class, on the back of a note from my dad, on the back of a winnie the pooh day-by-day calendar page, on spiral notebook paper. the notes were all taken while listening to sark's inspiration line. tonight, i close my eyes and i can see that lonely, hungry-for-understanding, sad college girl in her little apartment with her roommate, daniel the cat, curled up beside her. she is sitting on her bed with the antique wrought-iron bed frame. she is wearing a flannel shirt and overalls. and she is wishing someone would see her. and she dials the phone and hears that magic laughter and kind voice** of a person who seems to see her. and this voice shares wisdom with words like, "take giant leaps of faith even when it is dark out" and "drench yourself in self-kindness." and she talks about "radical self-acceptance" and shares quotes and books suggestions...and the girl writes it all down, as much as she can. and when the message ends and she hears the beep, the girls sometimes just says, "thank you" through tears. other times she is too embarrassed and doesn't know what to say, so she just gently hangs up. and some nights she goes to barnes and noble with the notes from inspiration line and book list from one of the pages of living juicy and she starts collecting wisdom and truth and invitations to live in the form of books to place on her white bookshelves in her apartment. some nights, as she reads the pages of these books, she begins to say yes to the hope that maybe she isn't as alone as she thinks she is.

**hear this voice by visiting sark's online journal