Category Archives: personal

american in paris

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So I mentioned back here that I am going to Paris- less then 2 weeks now! My life has gone into warp speed. Crazy!

I’m getting psyched. I borrowed some cds from the library to see if I could remind myself of some basic French. The conversation that I am learning seems to lean heavily toward picking up the mademoiselle. Hmm. I might have to see if they have Conversation for Middle-aged Lady who likes Needlework. I took out these movies too. I just find it difficult to make time to actually watch them.

I’d love to meet up with any like-minded people if you are near Paris during the last week of June. I’d love any suggestions for fun places to go, especially related to what I do. And I speak virtually no French and will be on my own for the weekdays. I know there are lists of a sewers guide to New York- is there something similar for Paris?

And on the life front- I feel like I am just settling down from Renegade. There is so much to think about. I continue to be amazed at how fantastic it was. Travel plans always make me feel like I need a new wardrobe, so I’ve got a pile of fabric and maybe it will turn into some shirts and skirts in the next 1 1/2 weeks. The garden needs me- the weeds are taking over and I still haven’t got all my dahlias in the ground. The tomatoes are looking very happy though. And, my intern has started- 2 days a week.  I have the projects that she can help me with and the other projects. I’m going to do dolls with her and my other projects when she isn’t here. That means the dolls will get finished slower but hopefully everything will move forward. Yes, it is busy around here.

grey-haired, mostly bald dude

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but let me butt in here to mention that today is my wedding anniversary- 30 YEARS! Woohoo!

And now back to regularly scheduled programming.

I had fun playing with my variegated grey floss to do the hair. More applied ears on this one-

He has the Statue of Liberty and the White House on his toile/tattoos.

And, the poppies are blooming!

going to Minneapolis in May

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Shout Out! I will be in Minneapolis in mid-May for my son’s college graduation and would love to have a meet-up with fellow bloggers and/or crafty types. I will busy on Sat. 5/15 but wonder if people would like to get together sometime at either side of that day. I am trying to plan the trip and want to figure out what works best. Leave a comment or email me at mimik(at)pobox.com.

A photo so this post won’t be too boring-

Happy Birthday Peter!!!!

thinking about 2009

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window

I have been thinking for several days about how to approach my review-of-the-year posts. 2009 has been a very strange year. Over here in blogland, things have been mostly fantastic. But, the blog is sort of a Christmas letter version of my life. In my “real” life,  there have been challenges, anxiety, loss of some people I care about- my view of how my own future is likely to play out has changed dramatically this year. I am happy to see 2009 over. I have hopes for a new year- why does a new calendar year hold so much optimism? Anyway, here we focus on my artwork.

I started out 2009 thinking I would make it a year of challenges- every month I would identify something I’d like to accomplish but was difficult for me.

January- make a pattern. When PurlBee asked me in the fall of 2008 if I would make a pattern out of their felt, I said yes- my first challenge!  I worked on it in January and delivered it as part of a fun trip to NYC.

February- teach a class. I taught the tiny world class at the end of February- it was great fun.

March was suppose to be the month to get back to work on the studio room… well, I did get back to work on it for a while… but, got totally off track when I got a contacted by Etsy about doing the Handmade Portrait. After that, all my energy went into cleaning up the house and studio. Luckily I only had about a weeks notice- otherwise I would have made myself crazy! It was a while before I got back to work on the room again.

April was probably the last month I consciously thought about the challenges. I said yes to participating in this print show– yep, that was a challenge (and a distraction). And I got to work writing my first pattern for sale- the tiny world pattern. It felt doable after I saw what a great job PurlBee had done, writing up the directions and photographing the steps for my doll pattern. I used it as inspiration and a guide.

In May, I launched the pattern- it felt HUGE! Apparently I spent June making dolls. Funny thing about that!

July was when I took a class and the first steps into Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone- that was 30 hours of stress. But, it turned out I absorbed more then I thought when I went back to it in November to work on another pattern. I also managed to get the studio room to a point where I could start the move-in process.

August- So busy! 1. All my kids were home for a few days! 2. I worked on settling into the new room, then figured that I really needed to get back to work and the mess would settle out in time… still working on that. 3. I taught another Tiny world class. 4. My camera broke. 5. And the Handmade Portrait came out. 6. Peter left for college and we became “empty-nesters”.

September was a trip to South Carolina and working to settle into the studio. October, another Tiny World class and some tattooed ladies. Also, I started working on a new pattern- a kitty. I got the pattern finished in November- and my head swelled up to the size of a pumpkin because I was so proud of myself for managing to get it done using Photoshop and InDesign- with a little help from Kerry! And December was, you know, December. Crazy month of selling and trying to fit in family and friend obligations.

The biggest challenge always seems to be how to make a reasonable living doing what I love. Because this is my job. I don’t mind working really hard but I don’t want to burn out. I am always looking for ways that I can generate income that doesn’t mean making more dolls- like the teaching, the patterns, cards, etc. We’ll see what 2010 brings.

Tomorrow I will be doing a wrap-up of the dolls and tiny worlds of 2009. I always love seeing everything all together. Happy New Years Eve!

checking in

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This seems to be the time of year where very little posting happens here- too many secret projects. I looked back through some other years and yep, pretty quiet around here.

But, there is a lot going on. I don’t like post without photos near the top so I’ll start with the wildlife adventures-

mouse

Yikes! Mouse in the house! Mango assumed that Santa made an early visit, just for him. Our neighbor says about mice- there is never just one… I am hoping it came in when I brought the plants in from the porch.

And, we have rearranged the living room and put up a bird feeder. This is my view as I work on the computer now-

bird

We got snow from the big East Coast storm although not as much as a lot of other places. The kiddos are trickling in for Christmas. Peter has been home for more then a week- sleeping mostly or at least when I am awake he’s sleeping. Julian came home last night, just after the snow stopped. Pick-ups at the airport in snowy weather are becoming a new Christmas tradition. Eleanor is due in on Wednesday. I guess we should assume that means we will be getting more snow then.

I’ve got lots of projects going- enough that I am making myself crazy and they will never get all finished. Hey, another Christmas tradition! I want to try out this bleach pen technique, inspired by this post at Angry Chicken. I had a heck of a time finding a bleach pen. Then I did some tests. Now I am super nervous about the actual project- Silly me!

I am doing some baking and major mess making in the kitchen. We got the tree on Saturday before the snow came. It is not decorated yet. I no longer do Christmas Tree- someone else can do that job. I can be very Grinch-y around Christmas. It is a very stressful time for a maker. Especially when you also have a family that expects to have a Christmas. I find myself screaming in my head to everyone in my vicinity – If you want a f…ing Christmas, help out a little around here!! I keep it to myself though. My problem. Breathe.

Very soon I am off to the Boston Handmade Downtown Gallery. I’ll be working there today- 11 to 3.

fantasy islands

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oh yes, I would love to spend a week or so in this tiny world!

island1a

island1b

island1c

The first has a tropical feel. This second one feels more like a cabin on a lake to me.

island2b

island2c

island2a

Hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We had 2 out of 3 kiddos- missed you Julian! And we got to see cousins Kate and Caleb- when everyone grows up, it is wonderful to get a chance to spend time together. Now the haul to Christmas begins. Ahh!

ghosts of Halloween past

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When I was a kid, Halloween was never about the costume. I was focused on was the bag of candy ahead. I would usually find something left over from my brothers that could be a costume- like a too small (for them) football uniform. That is one I remember.

It got more fun when it was my kids dressing up although we started out very casually. I went on a little nostalgia trip today…

This was the first year with costumes- construction paper circles, cut out and attached to shirts= clowns!

halloween1

We skipped a year- I seem to remember croup.

Second costume year- sweatshirts with ears and tails= cats. Except Eleanor also wore a frilly skirt and wings, so she was a kitty fairy.

next was one of my favorite Eleanor costume memories- little Indian girl. Julian was a boy in armor. The armor lasted about 4 houses before he came back home and took it off. It was way too uncomfortable.

halloween2

And then there were 3.

I put a paint brush in Peter’s hand and, being 6 months old, he held onto it… add a beret and tada- he was an artist! Eleanor was a fairy again, although more traditional this time in a pink tutu. And Julian… well, he found that yellow mask and he really wanted to wear it. He put it together with some other dress-ups and told us he was “Love Man”, the most powerful force in the universe. Gotta love that 4 year old brain!

halloween3

Okay, enough of that. So much fun though!

another studio update

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I am actually working in the room now. The move got to a certain point of trying to get things arranged, and I realized I had to start working in the space to know where things should be. The result is that the room doesn’t look great but I am essentially moved and back to work. I will probably do a blog studio tour in a month or so when things have settled a bit.

The desk area-

This is working pretty well, although I have been rearranging the drawers as I try to find my tools. I moved my sewing machine off the desk and onto a smaller desk. The big desk will be my main work area now.

The shelf above my desk is still rather empty. I haven’t brought any of the dolls that were on the attic studio shelf down yet.

And I have to work more on the wool storage bins. They still seem disorganized, but what can I do? It is so hard to decide what is the right way to organize. Color? Material? (wool, cashmere, etc) Size of the fabric pieces?

On another topic- I will be in the Columbia, SC area around Labor Day. Does anyone know of any not-to-be-missed crafty goodness in the area?