Week 39 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
sketchbook : week 39
gift tags and a caption contest – updated
update 12/17 :
Thanks so much for your wonderful imaginations – so many good captions! And there was – by unanimous decision – a tie – so 2 birds will be awarded. And the winners are:
Debra : “Four calling birds, three acorn caps, two spools of thread, and a pincushion filled with many needle sharps!”.
And Bach Hanes : Everyone ready? Let’s get the flock out of here.
Thanks again to everybody who came up with a caption.
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I sure do like to make a little bird, put an acorn hat on it and take its picture. I love the photos in part because everyday things are transformed into little bird world things – I imagine their perspective and peek into their world and wonder what they are up to…
What do you think they are up to? Make up a caption for the photo above and leave it in the comments of this post. An esteemed panel of judges will choose a winner who get’s their very own bundled up bird. Everyone is welcome to participate.
And gift tags! A little yellow house in the forest – print them on card stock, fold at the roof and add a little glitter and a string or ribbon. Click here to download the little house tags.
A couple notes:
* The red ribbon in the photo above is 4 mm silk ribbon – I love it – you can get it here.
* The pattern for the little birds is here.
* And the little birds in the photo are in the shop now and I restocked a couple bunnies and squirrels too.
my big creative year : can does not equal should
This has always been a sticky spot for me. I make myself very busy with work I CAN do without carefully considering if it is work I SHOULD do, work only I can do, work I am meant to do. A yes to one thing is a stealthy no to something else. A lot of my efforts this year have been around making those choices more carefully or at least more consciously and treating time like the precious resource it is.
I first came across Elizabeth Gilbert through her Ted Talk on Creativity and just lately put her new book Big Magic on my list (have your read it? I’d love to hear what you thought). And there is a companion podcast series to the book – Magic Lessons. You know I love a good podcast and I listened to all 12 episodes during a marathon sewing session. I love the way she talks about ideas, inspiration:
“Inspiration is looking for you, it’s waiting for you patiently while you’re making your mistakes, making the things that must be made on the way to what it has for you, it is a collaboration and a synergy…”
The podcast is a series of interviews with other authors and artists and conversations with women trying to move past fear, procrastination, guilt and busyness into their most truly creative work – their big magic.
Find the podcast – Magic Lessons – here:
sketchbook : week 38
Week 38 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
very nice mice : pattern and instructions (and it’s free!)
I’ve made you something! A free sewing pattern for some very nice mice. You can download the pattern here and all the instructions are below. So little – just 3 inches tall. They are quick and very easy. And they love to go boating – they are the perfect size to captain my little felt boats.
Support free patterns like very nice mice with a very nice donation.
Click here to add your support.
pattern notes:
I designed this pattern specifically for hand sewing and felt. The seam allowance of 1/8 inch is included. I recommend small, tight, straight stitches with cotton thread.
material list:
felt ( wool or wool blend)
matching sewing thread ( I think cotton works best)
embroidery thread
stuffing ( I like wool)
pencil or disappearing fabric marker and – optionally – pink colored pencil
sewing and embroidery needles ( a sturdy sewing needle is helpful for sewing through multiple layers of felt)
pins
chopstick for turning and stuffing
1. Cut one back and two side pieces from felt.
2. Mark both side pattern pieces with the guide dots on the pattern.
3. Cut out the small pieces – I used a lighter scrap of felt for the tummy oval (textured wool or cotton is nice too).
4. Stitch the side pieces together from the tip of the nose to the bottom guide mark – your stitches should be an 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the felt.
5. Optional – use a colored pencil to add a little pink to the ears.
6. Open the side pieces you sewed together.
7. Place the top of the back piece (the narrow end) in the center, matching the top edges. Insert the needle 1/8th of an inch from the top coming out on one side of the center seam (the side you intend to sew first). Make one tiny stitch and knot tightly.
8. Turn the back piece to one side and begin to match the edges and sew the seam-following the curve and maintaining an even 1/8 inch seam allowance.
9. Stop sewing and knot your thread just before the pattern guide dot on the side piece – leave there needle and thread attached.
10. Fold the bottom of an ear together – with the pink inside.
sketchbook : week 37
Week 37 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
my big creative year : good ideas
Sometimes ideas are like mosquitos – whispers that won’t leave you alone. Sometimes they are slippery and hard to grasp. Sometimes they’re chaotic, tumbling over each other. Sometimes they are lurking in the shadows, maddeningly half revealed and sometimes they are frightening – too big to hold.
Whether they are big or little, scary, silly, sad, strange, embarrassing or brilliant they are in unlimited supply. You can’t run out.
And this is also true:
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
Linus Pauling
Lots.
And I would add this – have lots of ideas and write them down, record them, scribble them, sketch them – as soon as they show up.
Volume matters not because you’re bound to get lucky eventually but because asking your brain to generate lots of ideas keeps the wheels turning and the machinery well oiled. It makes you ask the second question and the third and the fourth etc. etc. that will lead you to new places, lead you deeper into your imagination and your magic.
sketchbook : week 36
Week 36 in my yearlong sketchbook practice.
gather ye scraps – the forest folk pattern is here
The forest folk pattern is in the shop. Little creatures that fit in the palm of your hand and are cozy in your pocket. I’m so excited to share this pattern with you – it is a satisfying project to make and, if you are inclined, a jumping off point for making all sorts of other creatures. The pattern has full instructions for a bunny and squirrel and with little modifications to the fabric colors and tail and ear patterns you could create skunks, beavers, gophers,chipmunks! raccoons….. you get the picture. I’d love to see what you make and you can send photos to ann at ann wood handmade dot com.
The squirrels and bunnies can be hand or machine sewn – I think hand sewing is best for beginners and it can be a nice travel project- I’m making lots for gifts this year – I pack up some cut pieces and sew them on the subway. The little bunny in the center is made from a worn cotton velvet that started its life with me as a skirt when I was in my twenties. About 15 years ago it became a pillow cover and now it’s becoming a flock of little velvet bunnies because who doesn’t need a little velvet bunny? The velvet was more difficult than wool to sew but I couldn’t resist it. (These creatures and some others are in the shop now if you are not inclined to sew your own).
So long little bunny!
sketchbook : week 35
Week 35 in my yearlong sketchbook practice. I accidentally took a 4 week break from my sketchbook practice. I wish I hadn’t. In a week that was impossibly busy it seemed like the sensible thing to do. I wish I had found a way to squeeze it in but it felt like the only option. Once the wheels came off I slippery sloped into avoidance and stuckness. At the same time I missed it – more and more – that little part of my day and all the good things it brings me even when I don’t feel like doing it. I got back on track last week. Lesson learned I hope, about the perils of letting go of a discipline that is working for me.
on my work table : a dark bird
I’m working on a dark bird made mostly from an Edwardian bodice ( you can see it here). I wish you could feel the texture of the velvet ribbon – it feels like the silky top of a cat’s nose. The dark bird is one of several pieces I’m working on – dastardly owls among them. It’s been a long time since I made things for myself, for my own shop, it’s been a year of special projects, wholesale, collaborations and pattern making.
The wings are stitiched an stitched, it’s a slow and peaceful kind of sewing. Her beak is carved from a twig – I use an exacto knife on a nice hard dry twig and then sand, stain and buff them. I think this bird’s feet will be made from paper mache. For a bird of this size (it’s one of the largest I’ve made) and owls I use 16 gauge wire for the feet and leg armature. If you’re curious there is a full list of my favorite resources and supplies here.
my big creative year : the power of uncertainty
Two great enemies of creativity are inertia and certainty. The fix for inertia is simple, not easy, but very simple – start, move, take a step forward. Certainty is trickier. Our brains are built to be efficient, they categorize, assume, learn, repeat and create habits and rules. It is work to notice – really look at things, consider them outside of their familiar context or history or purpose. Auto pilot is easy and comfortable and I catch myself slipping into it, in little ways and big ways, all the time. I see what I expect to see because subconsciously – it is already a certainty. And often I feel myself bumping up against rigidity in my thinking because I’m headed somewhere that conflicts with what my brain considers a given, a known quantity or a proven or even familiar course of action. Certainty isn’t open, it isn’t creative and it isn’t curious – it doesn’t have room for possibilities and possibilities are magic. I wonder:
What would the world look like if we could forget everything for just a moment?
What would my own possibilities look like if I could un-know all I believe about myself?
