Chasing Felt

I'm thinking this could be the theme for this year. Well, this and another more crass term from the previous post. I just came back from a 4 day felting workshop at New England Felting Supply in Easthampton, Massachusetts. If you had told me a month and a half ago that I'd be on a plane to Massachusetts, I would've called you crazy. I'm thinking some of the women in my class thought this when they first met me ("You came from where??") but when you see a class being offered by someone with mad skills like Lisa Klakulak, you go a-running. And I did!

Lisa's one of the few artists out there (ok, in my opinion) doing things with wool and felting that are truly amazing. She's been studying felting for the past 13 years and has come up with techniques and designs that are so unique. They're just not done by anyone else. So the chance to take her class in Realism in Felted Imagery was something I couldn't pass up. The class alone made for an amazing week, but traveling alone, meeting the coolest people (one gal had a flock of sheep, another rode a huge motorcycle), hanging out in Northampton and exploring a part of the U.S. I'd never been to.... all of this made for one hell of a good time! The class had waaayyyyy more math than I thought was possible, and even she jokingly said that she was glad that she didn't put this in the class description because people may not have signed up! I'm grateful for her crazy formulaic mind, otherwise I wouldn't have a good foundation in which to start my own work. Thanks Lisa!

New England Felting Supply where I took the workshop. A fiber artist's dreamland!

More views of the shop.

 

This was my second time using hand carders and it took me a WHILE to get the hang of it. I butchered the pretty shades of blue that I made.

My little spool of thread!  

Carding wool to create the colors I need for my projects. I didn't finish the image on the left, but I did card all the wool and brought it home, so I'm hoping to finish it. It's me and my shadow on the beach in Gualala, Ca. 

  All of our felted spools before we did any free motion stitching.

Lisa giving us a free motion stitching demo. It was so much harder than it looked! Something I'll need to practice for sure.

Me and Lisa.  Check out more photos here on my facebook page!

My goal this year is to work more on my felting technique, honing my craft and spending more time on creating, discovering and seeing where I want to take my felt. I'm the worse at decision making.....I can hem and haw until even I'm so annoyed with myself, but after taking this class, I've decided (saying it out loud helps, right??) I'm going to take a leap this year, curtail my wholesaling and online sales and devote my time to exploration. This is where chasing felt comes in. You may recall, if you read this blog, that I took a felting workshop with Claudy Jongstra in 2010 (in Italy! Oh take me back!) and a 2 day class with Jorie Johnson, both women creating such beautiful work. I'm thinking this is going to have to be the way I get my felting education since there isn't a school or extended workshops that specialize in felt. So I'll be in search of classes this year! And possibly residencies too. I'm pretty excited :)

Hello 2013! Going Big

Ok 2013, I'm keeping this short and sweet.

I usually write up a list of my goals at the beginning of the year (looks like I missed 2012...it was a rough start) but I really don't feel like making a long-winded post about it. My theme for 2013 is "Go Big" or another vulgar one (my fave) "S*** or Get off the Pot". (And oh lord am I cringing at the amount of times I've written about pillow making and hiring help)

• Create everyday / aka get my hands dirty / more FELTING (and shut off that computer)
• Make a small line of pillows (I just ordered the wool and it's on the way!)
• Work with my most fave places to create something exclusively for them
• Hire some helping hands (anyone out there interested in a day or 2 a week??)
• Look into artist residencies

So that's the gist. Capisce?

And before I go, I've got some new and one-of-a-kind pincushions fresh in the Etsy shop! They're all made from scraps of my hand felted merino wool leftover from projects and pillows from years before. They're all a little wonky, different shaped with fabric backings. You can even have the option of getting your initials stitched on the back. I just love this idea just as much as I love the idea of pincushions being such a personal item in general.  I've met people who have had their pin cushions for a really long time. What about you?

Well, Hello 2011!

Whew. I'm happy to say the Holidays are over! Yes, I know this is the best selling time for people like me but I think I always forget that it ends up being all work and no holiday playtime! I did take a bit of a break the week before and after Christmas to do my own thing, drink lots of mexican hot chocolate, have a social life and work on things that I've been wanting to for a while - such as hang up some branches in my kitchen. It was all very nice :)

(The kitchen set up for a New Years dinner.)


Looking back on 2010, I can say that this past year was so good to me and my little business.  I love how organic it's all been so far.....just taking things as they come and seeing what feels good or not. I'm not one of those people who plans out the next 5 years in advance nor do I have any crazy goals. I just want to create work that makes me happy, pay my bills, go traveling and hope that in between others will love my work too. On that note, this past year has had some crazy highlights for me, like getting my work into the MOMA Shop and several other museum stores (Ok, I'm getting that my work does well in museum shops!), being interviewed by some local magazines and not so local, I've taught 3 felting workshops, my work was published in a cool book, I was on tv (by far the craziest thing ever) and I came out with some new pieces.

As tradition, this is the week where I look back on my year and write out my goals for the upcoming year for all to see. Putting it out in the blogosphere helps me feel more accountable and I think that throwing my intentions out into the universe can't hurt either. Before starting this post, I read back to my New Years post from 2010 to see if I made some progress from my last years goals. I think I did pretty good.....3 out of the 5.

-I found some great help from two gals who do a great job crocheting. And they happen to be the sweetest things too which really is the icing on the cake!

-I've really improved my time management and I find that I can get more into a rhythm easier han I used to. Those blogs still beckon but I tell them to just wait their turn dammit! And learning how to say no in general has been a lifesaver yet still a really hard thing for me to do.

-Working on wholesaling with stores and keeping up the relationship. This is still a tricky one and it's something I'm revamping and adding to my current resolutions.

-My pillows....oy, my pillows. It didn't happen last year but I'm very optimistic for this year. There's a little something in the works with a beautiful store that may be carrying my pillows. And this makes me very happy :)

Goals for 2011:

• Join a business group that meets monthly
• Change my website to a gallery site that will link to a shopping cart such as Big Cartel
• Create a smaller wholesale line
• Make smaller, limited edition pieces in my shop
• Carry my pillows exclusively through one or two select shops (for now)
• Saying no is OK! (to friends, other vendors etc)
• Teach more felting workshops
• Find an intern?

This is PLENTY to start the year off with!

Hoping that this post finds you and yours happy and healthy. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! 

Welcome 2010

(New little heart just listed for Valentine's in my Etsy shop....only 6 made!)

Say what???? 2010? Now that just sounds crazy! I always get nostalgic when I have to adapt to a new way of saying the year we're in.....is that just me?

I think I've been in a small state of denial so far this new year. This past holiday season really kicked my booty big time, just wiping me out and making it very hard for me to get my momentum swinging again. I don't like to say I thrive in chaos but it does seem that I can get quite a lot done! (That and some good strong coffee mixed with Netflix instant play) But that's not a good way to live ones daily life, so with this in mind comes my look back at 2009 and my looking forward to 2010.

I can see that I did NOT accomplish some of my resolutions for 2009 which will now be added to my 2010 goals. Regardless of this, I can still say that 2009 was such an amazing year of growth and happiness for me and my little business. I know I've said before how blessed I feel to be able to do what I'm doing, blessed to have the support that I have and blessed for all the amazing people I have met through this adventure that I am on, and I will say it again! 2009 was the year my website launched, my pod series grew, I participated in more shows/fairs, I was fortunate for some lovely press, I attracted more wholesale orders, found out that Canadians and Australians really dig my work (thanks guys!) and I got to travel around Eastern Europe with my best friend.

Here are my goals for 2010....which I love/hate posting because it's out there for the world to see and also helps make me more accountable:

• Find more help! - such a biggie....possibly an intern and looking into local senior centers for crochet help. I'm thinking there are some grandmas out there who can kick my ass at crocheting.
• Find a 2 bedroom home or live/work loft - I did find studio space this past year, but discovered that I love working at home way to much. So goodbye studio and hello craigslist.
• Better time management - I'm addicted to blogs. That's all I can say about that.
• Continue my wholesale relationship with stores - I'm learning how to go about making re-orders with stores who have already made an initial order. This is tricky to me.
• PILLOWS! - Oh for the love of god, my pillows! I plan to start small this year, maybe not pillows but little wall hangings, short runners etc. This ties into finding a bigger place.

And of course, always coming up with new designs! I still work a part time job so my time is more limited than I would like, but this is ok with me in times like these :)

A Happy Belated New Years to all of you reading! Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Looking To 2009

After spending a lovely evening at home with friends to ring in the New Year, complete with homemade limoncello and rum cake, Charlie Bravo and I went for a long and beautiful hike today.
photo - Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
(that's me in the middle, always trying to get Charlie Bravo to catch me in my dorkiness mid-air...doesn't always work)
It was the perfect way to welcome 2009. I'm tired and sore, but I'm feeling really great, renewed and just excited about the year ahead. 2008 was such a big year for me and my little business and I feel so very blessed. So much support came from friends and family (thank you guys :) but also from people I have never met in person, just over the internet - bloggers who featured my work, other small business owners with advice, lovely customers, people who just left inspiring and thoughtful comments. You all ROCK!

Last year, at this time, I wrote down goals for the year ahead. Looking back on them, I think I did pretty good. The website is the main thing that didn't happen, but it'll be up the next few weeks and I can't wait! Here are few for this year:

• Hire an assistant part time
  
• Find a bigger work space
• Collaborate with other artists on combined designs
• Get my pillows going! (I'm giving myself until the end of the year for this one)
• Collaborate with shops creating some exclusive pieces
• Make some smaller, limited edition designs
  

Happy New Year to anyone who comes to visit me here. I hope it is filled with a lot of love, happiness, good friends, good food and a year where you start to make your dreams a reality.
Well, goodbye 2008 and hellllloooooo 2009! So nice to meet you.

This Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

It’s been way too long since I’ve written here and I always tell myself to try to write at least twice a week and then that overwhelmed feeling takes over. The one where there’s lots to do and I know I should just take it in stride and work my way through, but instead a paralyzing fear takes over and very little gets done. Talk about self sabotage, although it makes me feel better to know that I’m not alone after speaking with other people with small businesses. So in thinking of a post today and my new “Just Do It” attitude (no Nike endorsements here), I was looking through some old photos and started to laugh out loud with this one from a trip several years ago to Calaveras Big Trees State Park:And I’m still laughing because this is EXACTLY how I’ve been feeling lately.
(You want me to climb what? Uh….you mean this tree right here? Well…um….you’re kidding me right?)
That huge, daunting tree looms above me daily. There are days I look up it and think that it’s all so very possible and that I’m a fully capable and intelligent being. Then there are the days that are more frequent than not, where it’s all too much and I can’t even bear to look up at the tippy-top branches. I do stop myself often though, to point out to myself how beautiful that tree is and how fun it would be to climb.

I think a lot of this has to do with some big decisions I’ve made lately that have made my business more of a reality to me (hmmmm…..taxes anybody?) For starters, I just opened up my first wholesale account with a yarn company and even though it was a very scary (and expensive) thing to do, it was also so much fun, having a rep visit my house with bags of lovely yarn, looking at a myriad of color cards, touching and feeling all the wool skeins and getting a sneak peak at new products. Of course right after, my big tree feelings came back. Where am I going to put all this yarn I ordered? Can I possibly get through all this yarn? Do I even have enough hands helping me to GET through all this yarn? I envision skeins all over my apartment, yarn hanging down like pasta and criss- crossing back and forth like a huge spiderweb.

Does anyone else have their own tree to conquer?

Looking Up In 2008

Photo: Alameda, New Years Day
Taking a cue from decor8, and completely agreeing about the fact that writing something in such a public place like a blog makes one more likely to commit to doing it, here are my big goals for 2008!

*Hunker down and create daily, even if this means being out of the loop/society for a while*
I tend to do business first, design second and I feel that this is a big no-no for me and I want to break the cycle.

*Get my website up*
And I'm talking in the next couple of months

*Find a balance with my work schedule and my down time*
So that I'm not killing myself!

*Work smarter in regards to what I am capable of and the quality of work I can create*
If it means creating less but having a beautiful product, so be it.

*Stop the Comparing!*
Ugh, this can get ugly - stick with creating from within even when I see what's out there and start to feel like small fries....I truly believe others will love what I make when I love what I make.

*Stop and breathe every now and then*
Soak in the fact that this is what I've always wanted to do, so do a quick check - am I happy? am I still loving all this? yay! Then keep going!

On that note, I did do a check today and I am still loving it so this is good start to 2008!

Day 1 of New Life

Tomorrow starts Day 1 of my "new life".

You might be saying, "New life? Did you quit your job or something crazy like that?"Why, yes!! How the heck did you guess? Oh yah, and thanks for adding the "crazy" part to that question, cause geez...that makes me feel SO much better.

But yes, my last day at my well-paid, full-time corporate job WITH benefits, paid time off, 401K AND a really great cafeteria was Friday and there's no looking back. Well, ok, I've peeked over my shoulder for a second, but it was literally a nano-second and I don't think that counts.

So, now what? Well, I've decided to work part time, design and create full time and start my own business. I know times will be rocky but I really need to give it a go or I might implode. Anything is better than that......

I'm going to use this blog as a way of recording my progress and also to add structure to this new life I'll be living. I know thay I've been really inspired by the blogs that I read so my hope is that my blog will inspire ME and others who stop by.

My goal is to post about my new adventure once a week. So here's my first!