Dreamland

To-doing.

With my son home sick the past few days, I've lacked the time -- and motivation -- to pay attention to my to-do lists.  (Cuddle with warm boy or work on tax prep...hmmm....)  But now that he is back in school, and spring break is a little farther in past, I started thinking a bit about all the to-do lists I manage at one time.

 
There's the family calendar, the work calendar, my monthly plan-everything-at-once calendar, my idea journal (a list of projects I want to try), my project journal (a list of projects I'm in the middle of), the work-brainstorming-notebook (future things to do!), and even a little something I call "my ideal day."  (And let me insert here, that deep down there is a little voice saying, "Are you sure you want to reveal that to the world at large?  Really?) 

One day when I was feeling a little frustrated -- you know the drill: rushing the kids out the door in the morning, wearing the same old-same old, too distracted to notice your own husband's new soul patch, eating two desserts after lunch, it's-almost-five-o'clock-and-I-still-don't-know-what-to-make-for-dinner -- I allowed myself a few minutes to imagine what my ideal day would be.  I mean, the day I was having definitely wasn't the way I wanted to live my one precious life.  I thought through one entire day, lingering on the details:  I'd be wearing clothes I made myself, feeding my family healthy meals, kissing my children good night with intention, enjoying time spent with my husband.  I then scribbled out my ideal day, from first thing in the morning to last thing at night, on one sheet of paper.  I didn't spend time on an elaborate vision board or even use my best handwriting.  And I kept my focus small:  one day.

I wrote on purple paper that's easy to spot.  I tucked it away and I really only read it when I need to renew my focus (like today).  Thinking about my ideal day, committing my ideas to paper, has helped me think about those goals every day, and helped remind me, too, about how fleeting the phases of our life can be.  I don't want to hurry, I want to savor.

Giveaway winner.

Congrats to Rachel Altmann, winner of her choice of either a stamp or digital artwork.  Rachel was among the first 50 to sign up for my newsletter.  Over 100 of you signed up in the first week, thank you so much for your encouragement!

Now I have another question (or two) for you.  As you know, I love to write quotes, and I have a Handwritten Quotation option in my shop -- I'll write out the quotation of your choice on a 4 x 6 card.  I have been wanting to offer my handwritten quotations in another format:  either as a colorful print or a pdf file.  So my first question is:  what would you be more interested in, a print or a file?  (It is possible I would eventually offer both; realistically though, I'll start with one or the other.)  And would a file in color with a background be more useful (similar to the way I present them here on my blog), or black on white so that you can alter it to your purpose (make your own cards or use on scrapbook pages)?

Then of course, there is the question of which quotations to choose.  I'd like to feature one each Monday and offer it for sale in the shop for a limited time.  I have plenty of favorites of my own, but would love to know if there's one in particular that speaks to you.  (If you need ideas, look here.)  Thanks for your help!

Home again, home again.

Most times we go away, I use the break as a sort of touchpoint -- an opportunity to step back and reassess.  This time, not so much.  I barely finished reading one book and I didn't even open my colored pencil tin.  My brain was really on vacation!  (Or maybe just mom-busy.)  And  yet I'm back now and already full of ideas I want to try over the next few months.

 
Our treehouse in southwestern Oregon.  (Well, not our treehouse:  www.treehouses.com)

 
Oregon Caves National Monument (fascinating!)

 
Redwoods in northern California

 
Oregon coast

 
The sand dunes were a welcome escape during a long day in the car.

 
Jellyfish at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

 
We flew out to Portland, but took the train home -- none of the drudgery of air travel (which we definitely had our share of at the beginning of the trip).  Pete & I even went to a wine tasting on the train.  And I loved that our vacation didn't end until we pulled into the train station in St. Paul.

Spring break.

I took a cue from Ali Edwards' On the Road scrapbook to get ready for our trip to Oregon:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I love how super simple it was to put together, and look forward to sharing it again in a few weeks.  In the meantime, I'm hoping to figure out how to use photos from my phone in a typepad blog post so that I can share our journey as we're experiencing it.  (If you have any tips, please share!)

Coming soon.

I have a lot of irons in the fire right now (in a good way).  I've been giving some thought to rebranding, combining my wholesale line (Dreamland), my etsy shop (lettergirl), and everything else under one roof, so to speak.  And with my anniversary approaching in May (19 years in business!), I think the timing is just right to get back to my roots with a newsletter -- only now I won't have to spend hours sorting zip codes for the bulk mail rate.

The first 50 people to sign up on my mailing list will be entered in a drawing to win a free address stamp or digital address artwork from lettergirl.  (And the sooner there are 50 people on the list, the sooner I'll choose a winner!)  Sign up using the box in the upper left corner of my blog.

 

I started sending newsletters by mail in 1994.  You can see samples here.

And lucky me, I'm off to a Magic Wand meeting tonight.

15 on the 15th.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wandering around the house with the Hipstamatic:

the photo wall I started last summer...and hope to continue until the whole wall is full :: my favorite buttons from Santa Fe (on Forest's duvet) :: my nightstand (can't quite get into No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency...my second try) :: an embarrassing richness of Legos :: we finally have a real bed (I love that it is so high off the ground) :: the hallway :: painted swatches last spring & still can't pick a color :: my favorite light fixture :: morning light :: painting in the dining room by an architect friend :: when Forest went through a drawbridge-spy-gadget phase, Pete installed a peephole in his bedroom door :: whenever there's a special vacation (summer, winter) Forest likes to decorate Juliet's room, including the doorway :: games :: Juliet's feet are almost my size...and  now I covet her shoes :: we used the photo board at Forest's carnival birthday party a few years ago, now it's a permanent fixture in the living room (I also want to make a giant fortune wheel for guests to spin)

New in the shop.

 
Lettergirl now offers a digital version of your name & address -- I'll write out your info in any of my 12 original handlettered styles and provide you with a pdf you can use for making your own stationery, personalizing your luggage tags, or signing your emails.

Thanks for all the iphone tips yesterday.  Keep them coming!

Love at first sight.

 

First thing after getting my new iphone was to make a home for her.  This little sleeve is made from cotton jersey scraps and I can easily see through the single-layer "g" on the front to see if the screen is on.  I'm going to test run the design for awhile, and then I'm considering adding these to my etsy shop. 

Since I'm new to the whole smartphone culture (I tried a droid last spring and it wasn't a good fit), I'm hoping you'll divulge all your tips and tricks with me:  What's your favorite app?  Have any smartphone guilty pleasures?  Since I'm still infatuated, I'd prefer to know what you love about your phone (rather than what it doesn't do).

 
 

 

Books 2010.

Yesterday I put together a page for the books I read in 2010:

 
You can find other posts about my scrapBOOK here:

2009

2008

summary

 

3 winners.

Here are the three winners of last week's giveaway:

Amelia: winter has such a crisp and eternal sort of smell. and my birthday is in the winter, so that's always pretty fun.

Crystal:  I'm in college and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the first big snow when all of my friends and I have a snow day and stay in with hot cocoa and movies and then later join outside for a snowball fight!! I also love the cute cute outfits that emerge on campus! OOo and I love baking with my grandma in the winter time, we make all sorts of festive goodies. Oh, there's just so much to love about winterr!!

Megan: Winter is: great patterned sweaters, thick rag socks, hot chocolate, and lake effect snows. I do love freshly fallen snow (not such a fan of ice storms).

Winners, please email me at gina {at} sekelsky {dot} com with your mailing address.  (Amelia, I think I have yours somewhere already....)

The comments for this giveaway were so refreshing!  I was really feeling winter-weary, ready to be done with the boots and scarves, the shoveling, the brushing off of the car, the ice on the sidewalks.  But reading your comments made me feel like it is November all over again -- the good part, when you're still looking forward to snow and hot cocoa and short days that lend themselves to longer, cozier nights.  Thank you!