Dreamland

Spring envelopes.

The forecast calls for up to a foot of snow (or possibly only a few inches of freezing rain), more winter than we've had all winter!  And with the addressing of wedding envelopes on my horizon, I thought it was a good time to put a little spring in my step....

Reverse applique sundress, part 2.

I've gotten a little farther on the sundress I first wrote about in this post.  (The top is two layers of jersey, with beading and reverse applique.)

Pinning it onto Purnah, I've realized I'll need to make a few adjustments before I sew the final seams.  I don't know if that's because I made the dress from knit, and the original pattern calls for woven, or if my body just requires more darts, but it definitely gaps a bit here and there when I pin it together.

The bodice is done except for the little tiny beads that I'm adding all around the neckline, a combination of Japanese Toho seed beads, bugle beads, and Czech glass beads:

It took most of an episode of Glee to get that little patch of beads stitched on.  Here's hoping I can get the rest of it stitched before summer!

Messenger Series No. 1.

Remember this project?  I had it printed at Spoonflower:

The color was a bit washed out, so I overdyed it in a mix of robin's egg and turquoise:

Then I stitched around each phrase, embellishing the empty blocks with free motion embroidery:

Ta da!

(photos 3 & 4 by Nell Ytsma)

The words on this piece are from a poem by Phillip Larkin; I studied Larkin's book The Whitsun Weddings in college, had written this poem out with a fountain pen, and found it tucked in a book in the attic (bleached, faded, and all) at the time I was considering what words I wanted to use on my project.  Read "Love Songs in Age" here.

P.S.  My winter newsletter will have to wait till next week!

List: Books to fuel your creative fire.

And a few honorable mentions:  two I haven't read since college (The Courage to Create by Rollo May and Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke) and one that's on my list (The War of Art by Steven Pressfield).

The winter edition of my newsletter is on the way this week.  This issue will include another free download, so be sure to sign up if you're not already on the list.  (See the sign-up form in the upper left corner?)

And the winner is...

To be perfectly honest, I never look forward to drawing the name of a giveaway winner...because I want everyone to win!!  I appreciate the time it takes to leave a comment, and I'm grateful for all your kind words.  (And I've got a couple of other lists I want to share, so I'm thinking of making that a feature each week.)  The winner of the stamp is Amanda:

Very encouraging and inspiring!

My letter is m because My word is macaroni because it's my absolute favorite food. It's so reliable.

Amanda, please email me the names/address you'd like on your Amery stamp (and shipping information, if different):  lettergirl66{at}gmail{dot}com.  Thank you to everyone who entered!

Reverse applique.

You may remember seeing the start of this project on this post.   The embellishment is my own design made into a stencil, painted onto old black t-shirts from Goodwill (three, in the end), and hand-stitched.  The tank pattern is modified from Alabama Studio Style.  (And how excited am I for the third book in that series to be released later this month?  I preordered it months ago.)

15 Ways to Stay Creative (and a giveaway).

Now that I've finished my A to Z journal (or at least made it all the way to Z), I've compiled the creative habits I shared throughout the project into one list. 

1.  Let your ideas percolate.  Make lists, write notes, sketch, ponder.

2.  Build a bridge:  whenever you're working on a project, leave it in a place that makes it easy to start the next time.

3.  Find your balance:  recognize when you're in a rut (or when you're staying true to yourself in a groove).  I also seek the balance between planning and serendipity.

4.  Embrace (or at least accept) imperfection. 

5.  Remember your goal:  think big picture.

6.  Remember your intention:  think little picture.

7.  Exhaust an idea:  draw a pear every day for a month; create something green every day; use one word in your art over & over.

8.  Find a mentor.

9.  Do something (it's better than doing nothing).

10.  The right tools may not start your project for you, but they'll help you finish it. 

11.  Make your work portable.  Find different places to do your art, or make use of the places where you need to be anyway.

12.  When you're frustrated, go away.  Work on something else.  Clean your studio.  Take a walk.  Organize stuff.  Then come back.

13.  Have more than one iron in the fire.

14.  Think with your heart for a change. 

15.  Remind yourself that if you don't like the art you've made, it will at the very least teach you to make better art next time.

Now for the giveaway!

Meet Amery.  Amery is new in the shop this week, a cousin to Muriel.  You can win your very own self-inking Amery Address Stamp by leaving a comment on today's post:  in the spirit of my A to Z book, tell me one letter/word about yourself.  Randomness is encouraged!  I'll choose a winner on Friday morning.

A to Z.

Tomorrow I'll summarize the creative habits I've shared for my A to Z journal, and I'll have a giveaway to celebrate!

A to Z.

My creative habit:  My best work happens when I strike a balance between planning and serendipity.  When I started my A to Z book, I kept a little notebook for ideas (and added lots of scraps of paper when I didn't have the notebook handy).  I added things randomly, but also thought in terms of categories:  favorites, family, memories, nature, home.  And the book definitely didn't turn out the way I imagined it when I started, but I'm happy with where spontaneity took me.  Next week, I'll share my final A to Z page -- and a giveaway to celebrate!