A brief moment

It's the last week before school holiday and much to do to get ready for the baking festival that I have promised my girl. Much to-doing indeed!

There's also the annual contemplation of  turning another year older this week. I have some ideas about how I'd like to spend next year, oh yes I do.

So, I'm going a bit quiet this week.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Hello Monday - Frosty

I'm feeling a bit frosty this Monday morning. No, it's not the weather, in fact the sky is about the blue of that ribbon and the sun is shining gloriously. What is frosty is my attitude about this pile of slippery sparkly stuff. Still, I must get over it, I must dive in and get it sorted as the month is whizzing by and in no time I will be out of time. Darn you Elsa!

You see, after having a gander at the pattern, I decided I hated it, it wasn't right you know. So now I've got to re-design some key elements and put in some corset lacing instead of a zipper perhaps, and change the neckline and, and...

Well, it will all be fine. Though if you hear some unladylike language coming from my sewing studio, don't be alarmed.

Happy week all!

Flying and Falling

Or should that be; Flying into Fall?

It's been all about the start of school, which is always a little crazy and full of meetings with teachers and paperwork and explanations and referrals. That gorgeous kid in the picture is in a new grade, in a new school and doing great.  The early mornings are a bit rough, but we are settling into routine.

There is also a heap of falling food. I mean literally, there is food falling from the sky, ok, actually from our trees and I'm racing to process it all for the winter before it goes to mush on the ground. Our exceptionally warm Summer has put all the fruit into overdrive.

And well, there are 100 other little things going on that might explain my absence from this place. I'm ready to come back though. I'm ready to do some nesting at home and get back to my work. So bring on Fall (or Autumn whichever you prefer)!

Are you ready for the change of seasons?

In the Garden

Oh hello there! Feels as though I have been gone for ages. I have been busy as can be and I'll share some of the projects I've been working on this week. Today I'm just dipping my toes back in the water and giving you a glimpse of the readying of the garden.

One of reasons we fell for this house was the garden, both back and front of the house, it really is spectacular. There is a huge amount of maintenance involved, but it's worth it. Right now the Rhodies and Azaleas are just about to finish their bloom. The peas, lettuce and spinach are going gangbusters. We've been eating a lot of salad around here!

Those barrels are about to be planted with tomatoes and peppers this afternoon. Hooray! The fruit trees are promising a good harvest later this year, if we can keep some from the birds that is.

A quick peek here of the front garden. In the last 2 weeks it has gone wild, keeping up with the weeds and overgrowth is a challenge. Oh but you should see that giant red rose bush in person!

Well, I have food to plant and weeds to chase. What are you up to?

I'm painting again

I'll be scarce for a bit, I've got a big job ahead of me with a fast approaching deadline! See you soon!

Process

Oh now I've done it! I am actually writing a post on The Creative Process, excuse me a moment while I snarkily laugh at myself from a safe distance. There are plenty of books, essays, online classes and TED Talks all concerning The Creative Process; surely, they articulate the subject better than I could ever hope to. Still, here we are!

There are also a good many interesting quotes on process and I may share a few with you, but what has to be my all time favorite quote on the subject was one I happened to overhear.

Once upon a time, I was strolling through the art museum. I noticed 2 scruffily natty young men on a bench with their sketchbooks out having what seemed to be an impassioned conversation. As I walked closer to the bench to view a painting, an amazing looking woman in a caftan, turban, blood red lipstick and a silver cobra headed walking cane ( She looked about in her 70s) stepped next to the young men and stared at the painting in front of her. When she began to move on, she looked at the men and said, "Oh for Pete's sake, just shut up! You creatives are forever yammering on about the Creative Process! Your self important gobbelty gook is interrupting my enjoyment of this lovely painting, and besides, no one gives a flying fart!"  

Still, there is something to it, this process business, and at the moment I seem to be in the thick of it. The thick and slow like molasses of it.  It all starts with a tiny seed of an idea. Sometimes that seed sprouts quickly and makes it's way to a full fledged project right away. Other times, it takes ages for that seed to germinate. That's where I am at right now. I have this personal year-long project in my sights, but I am making my weaving way stumbling through it all. 

I find myself walking into my studio picking up the strangest pieces, working on the small, the details, creating laborious techniques, exploring funny ideas.  It's about textures and color and...I don't even know yet.

I have been "staining" fabric with fabric paint. Sort of like dying, but using paints and small individual pieces so that all are completely unique. Sewing in multiple layers, examining both the "right" and "wrong" sides of things. Then there is the rest of my work time, spent staring at the walls and ruminating.

Indolence, of course, is an absolutely crucial part of the creative process: you do not find poets sitting in rows in cavernous word factories, staring at screens. They are rather to be found lolling on the sofa or strolling through the groves, nursing their melancholic temperaments and losing themselves in extended reveries.
Tom Hodgkinson 

All of this is getting in the way of things I should be making; a quilt for a baby that is on the way, pants for my daughter, tutorials for the blog... Yet, I am compelled and consumed. All the while not having a clue where this is ultimately leading. Ok, I have a tiny clue.

Most of the little business I have been playing with will be thrown out, part of the learning curve, part of the process. I do find myself frustrated and impatient from time to time, but I can't hurry and I can't wait.

I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

What I love about the creative process, and this may sound naive, but it is this idea that one day there is no idea, and no solution, but the next day there is an idea. I find that incredibly exciting and conceptually actually remarkable.
Jonathan Ive 

Mirriam - Webster:

pro·cess

noun \ˈprä-ˌses, ˈprō-, -səs\

: a series of actions that produce something or that lead to a particular result

: a series of changes that happen naturally

Getting the Band Back Together

I know I've been gone, it's just that we've been busy getting the band back together. I promise regular posting will resume shortly.

Thank You Blogtown!
GOOD NIGHT!

She's About a Mover

This week is all about trying to recover from a nasty cold which has set me back and far behind, having a little panic over some very tight deadlines, and parenting a sweet girl going through some growing pains. I really am in the thick of it.

I hope that your week is full of happy things and I will see you on the flip side!

Serious Business

Hello Monday! Hello friends!

I have discovered a whole heap of admin type busy work that needs doing. Whilst I'm at it, I figured it was also time for a little shine and polish on my place here. So, for the next few days I am going to be nose to the grindstone, fingers to the keyboard and all that sort of serious business. If you stop by and see that things are out of place, a bit askew, and generally wonky, that's just me mucking about. Here's hoping I don't get myself in a sticky mess whilst at it.

I hope to be back by weeks end with a bit of very exciting news!

So until then, have a lovely week!

Sewing for Love

It starts with a little thought, or a wish, or a desire, or perhaps even a need to make a dress. It is almost always a dress. A cotton print dress. The kind of dress forms in my mind, a loose idea. Fabric selection then, holding prints up to the light, running my hands over the weft and warp, and making decisions.

Looking through patterns to find a basic bodice that is suitable for what I have in mind, followed by pattern paper and colored pencils. Deepen the armscye, alter the neckline, lengthen the bodice, add ease to the side seams. I scrap the inset cap sleeve idea and instead create a gathered shoulder three quarter length with a princess cuff, oh yes much better.

As I cut out the pieces, my girl is home sick and she watches. She gets up close next to me and asks questions. "How do you know to cut like that and not make a mistake?" "Why do you pin the pieces together here, but not there?" "Can I do the marking with the wheelie thinger?" "Is it time to sew the ribbon on yet?" I answer her questions and tell her it takes practice and patience and love. I give her some tracing paper and the 'wheelie thinger' and show her how to use it, where to make the marks.

As I sew, there is focus and intent along with assuredness; this is what I know. It is in my hands, my head, my muscle memory, my heart and soul. This is how Lola Nova was born, making nice things for my girl; this is how I grew my skills, found my passion, and it is love.

It is a little like therapy; it quiets the chaos and brings me back to myself, it restores confidence and brings joy.

And then there's this...

Thank you for all of the lovely comments and well wishes this week, I truly appreciate them. I am on the mend now and looking forward to the days ahead.

xo

New Work

A great big smooshy thank you to all you beautiful muses out there! All of your ideas and thoughts were wonderful. I now have a a whole big gorgeous list of makes for the future. I really loved Flaming Nora's idea for stitching me up some album cover art, that is so gonna happen! Colette told me to try my hand at something I've been wanting to for ages, and that is exactly what I did/am doing.

When you try something new you:
Make mistakes -
Learn a lot -
Possibly let some not-so-nice words escape your lips -
Have the satisfaction of being a bit brave to try something new -
Find out if it is something you want to do again...
...and yes, I do! In fact I'm just a-tizzy with the possibilities!

Thank you my friends, for helping to loose the cogs!

Care to try something new yourself? Have a wonderful weekend!

Animal House

A tale of the little green cottage, a wounded sasquatch, butterflies, a broody hen, a leaping stag, and a wild pony.

Life has been a little wild around here lately. The Engineer had his first surgery late last week, all went well and he is beginning to have less pain and hopefully beginning the healing. He's already talking about bowling again, "Sasquatch" is his bowling name and no, he wont be bowling with his injured hand, his bowling arm is just fine. It may still be some time before he's 'pickin' the banjo again though.

This last week the cottage has been taken over by animals. We had some caterpillars, we watched them turn into chrysalids and then watched them turn into painted lady butterflies. What an amazing process to see up close! I highly recommend doing this if you have some small ones at your house. Pony girl loves bugs and she completely loved watching them change and then letting them go. I did too! We ordered our caterpillars online from here.


That sweet girl there is Tweet Tweet, she is the most docile of our ladies and tolerates Pony Girl's shenanigans with great aplomb. This week I noticed some changes in her and it finally became clear that we have a 'broody hen' in our midst. A 'broody hen' is a hen that wants to set on the eggs until they hatch. The hen's body temperature rises and she will stay on the nest constantly. If she has no eggs of her own, she will often set on other hen's eggs. Now, we have no rooster in the hen house so...Tweet Tweet is setting on the ever unhatchable clutch, even when no eggs are present, she will not leave the nesting box poor dear. This can be a dangerous situation, even fatal, for sometimes a hen will not even leave the nest for food or water or to relieve herself. So, out I go 5-6 times a day to get her out of the nest, put her on cool ground to hopefully lower her body temp, make sure she is eating and drinking. This has not yet broken her broody and we may have to resort to moving her to a well ventilated cage away from the nest and her two gal pals.

Ah, the majesty of the leaping stag with the cuteness of a sweet fawn! I thought I would also share this wee dress that started the whole blue and orange business. This little number has been waiting around and chastising me all week for not finishing it. As I was making it up, I fell for the orange and blue combo big time! I'm hoping that the Fraulein and I will be spending some quality stitching time together this weekend and this dress will be leaping into my little shop.

No menagerie would be complete without a wild pony. Spring has her sprung with a herds worth of energy. Her enthusiasm unbridled, she jumps for joy and I can hardly keep up.

May you jump for joy this weekend and go wild!

Turning Mountains into Mole Hills

Hello friends. My little tumble down the stairs kept me fairly immobile for a few days, which in turn, meant that things started piling up around the little green cottage...and piling up...and piling up, until there were mountains so high that the peaks were obscured by clouds. So, I have donned my climbing gear, packed my oxygen tanks and am headed towards the tippy tops in order to turn those mountains into mere mole hills. I shall return when I knock them down a little closer to sea level.

Until then, take of yourselves.

A Change of Plans

Change, is it the spice of life? Wait, I think the saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life." Well, never mind, we have lots of both going on 'round here.

Have you ever zigged when you should have zagged?

Way back in November, I told you all of a little Lark, don't remember? Not to worry, I will summarize. I had gone on an interview and was offered a job as a freelance sewing instructor at a new fabric boutique that was to open this month. I was going to be able to create my own classes and would be teaching twice a week. It had a certain draw to it, and in some way, it felt as though it might more legitimize what I love to do. A little extra money is always a bonus (very little extra mind you). I thought to myself, "Well, this is something I should do, it's going to be good for me." You are a very observant lot, and by now you may have picked up on a certain lack of robust enthusiasm on my part.

Perhaps there was a twinge of fear, a worry that I might not be able to "pull it off", and then the whole scarcity of time issue. Knowing myself well enough to predict that I would be throwing myself into the work, taking on the role of 'doer of jobs' that were not part of the original contract. Recollections of my last secular position came to mind; where I was doing four separate jobs for the price of one and absolutely ragged at the end of the day. Despite all that, I was on the verge of going for it!

Then life gently tapped me on the shoulder saying, "Excuse me dear but, I'm afraid there are some pressing matters that need your attention." So I teetered there for a moment, weighing the situation at hand. Then life gave me a big ol' whack and said, "Come on now!" There were time consuming and specific challenges ahead with Miss Ringlet, both The Engineer and I were confronted with family concerns that could have us jetting off on the spur of the moment, and with a couple niggling health issues of my own...I realized that with family being priority #1, I must turn down the job. So, turn it down I did but, I was able to keep open the idea of future possibility with the shop owner. What's that they say about 'when one door closes, you'll have to climb through a window'?

Well, that was a lot of 'hoo ha' just to tell you that I didn't take a job that you had entirely forgotten I had even mentioned in the first place! "Riveting!" I hear you mutter under your breath. It's a roller coaster ride over at Lola's, you betcha!


Perhaps you will be more excited about the fact that later this week I will be giving away a pony!

O.k. No I'm not.

I will be back though, and who knows, anything could happen!