Lettergirl

Fabric + starch = instant wall decor.

Recently I revisited a technique I used in college to decorate my dorm room walls:  letters cut out of fabric and adhered to the wall with liquid fabric starch.  Want to freshen up your wall?  You can peel these letters off, wash the wall, and start over with a new quotation:  no need to repaint...easy peasy!

First you cut out your letters.  I like to use batik fabrics because the weave is nice and tight.  I also cut my letters freehand; I don't mind the imperfections.  If you're not up to that, you could stencil letters to the shiny side of freezer paper using a nice dark pen (like a Sharpie). Iron the shiny side onto the back of your fabric, cut out the letters (the pen should show through enough for cutting), then peel off the freezer paper.  The freezer paper also keeps the fabric stiff for cutting, but watch when you're peeling so you don't get too many frayed ends.

Dip your letters in a shallow bowl of liquid starch.  I did this entire quotation with less than a half cup of starch.

You don't want too much extra starch on your fabric or it will drip onto the wall.

Press your letter against your (clean) wall.  I like to do one word at a time, stand back & make sure it looks straight/even, and peel the letters off if necessary.  You can reapply them without adding more starch if you do it quickly. 

Once I'm sure I like the placement, I blot the letters with a paper towel to catch any extra starch that could drip on the wall.

Ta da!  Now why did it take me 25 years to remember this idea?

Daily inspiration (free!)

This week I've been having lunch with Jennifer Lee -- at the Right-Brainers in Business 2013 Video Summit, that is.  Get your free ticket here.  Tuesday's session with Bari Tessler was brimming with little nuggets like this:  reframe your bookkeeping by changing the names of your categories so your spreadsheet is more in sync with your vision.  (I'm changing "misc office art supplies" to "creative stash".)  You can spend your lunch with a different speaker every day.

Resolutions and such.

About two weeks ago I started a post on my typical workday for January.  And there it sits in my notebook, all lonely and forgotten.  Well, not really forgotten -- more like whining: Remember me?  I will get back to it.  I will.

Meanwhile, here are a few things that have inspired me this month:

New Year's Resolutions, handwritten!

list it tuesday at Artsyville, because I love lists (and Artsyville!)

The Reconstructionists, part history lesson/part glorious art/part feminist groove thang

Happy Wednesday.  And if you've seen anything inspiring you'd like to share, please leave me a note in the comments.  I'm slogging through some bookkeeping this morning (which I really don't mind, it's just that I'm so far behind) and wouldn't mind a little something to look forward to at lunch.

Getting organized with Circa notebooks.

Yes, I know it's already ten days into the new year.  I'm deep in production mode for post-holiday stamp orders and the first Quote of the Month is already in the mail, but my left brain has really been clamoring for attention:  plan, organize, get my mental house in order so I have the freedom to be creative.  Welcome to my new organizing obsession:  the Circa notebook.

Circa notebooks have these sturdy little disks that allow you to customize the guts of each notebook.  And how I love to customize.

For about a year and a half now, I've been doing a brain purge at the start of each month (or, ideally, near the end of the previous month).  I write down every little thing I can think of that I need or want to accomplish during the month.  I'd been using random spiral notebooks for this task until I discovered the Circa.  Now I have my very own blank sheet of paper alongside a page that lets me sort out everything into manageable tasks.

This way I also have a sense of the big picture.  When I start categorizing all those to-dos, I can shift what's needed to another month (because I have another blank sheet of paper for the next month all ready to go...yay!).  

Between the monthly summaries I've made a two-page spread for each week:

I've actually only made the first three months of the year so far, as I know I'll want to make a few adjustments.  I'm also trying to encourage myself to record my business mileage as it happens, not days (or weeks, or months) later.  If it makes me happy, I'll use it, right?

I've also got sections in the back of this notebook for big picture planning (the whole dang year) and miscellaneous notes.

And, because I had so much fun putting this notebook together, I made a couple more.  One for the notes I'm always gathering at Magic Wand Collective events, and one for new product ideas (trust me, I need a whole notebook for that).  

If you like this notebook and you haven't subscribed to my newsletter yet, better get on it.  There'll be a related free treat in the next issue!  

Holiday spirit.

Handlettered gift labels for a customer in Missouri -- love how these turned out!

Wedding favours.

I just love when my etsy customers share photos of how they've used my stamps.  Here, Anna in England is using the Wedding Names & Date Stamp for her wedding favours.  Aren't they lovely?

Custom t-shirt art.

What can I say?  I loved working on this project!  You may remember the heart artwork I created for Cathy & Greg about two years ago in honor of their tenth wedding anniversary.  This time around, Cathy and her sister worked with me to create this word cloud artwork celebrating her mom's birthday.  The outline is the shape of the lake where they've enjoyed summers at the family cabin; inside are words that represent a full and happy life.  They used the art to make t-shirts that everyone wore at the party.  Happy Birthday Mimi!

Right Brain Business Plan: a book and a workshop.

A week ago, I spent one blissful day in the company of some amazing local entrepreneurs cutting and pasting our creative business plans. 

My little book is focused on my creative environment as much as anything else -- looking back at where I was 20 years ago and where I want to be a few years from now, and all the places in between. 

The back side of the book is for more specific information and goal setting.  I have lots of gaps in mine, but I don't mind it being a work-in-progress for awhile.

Our fearless leader, Amy of SpiritOut!, was so peaceful and open to all the epiphanies that were had throughout the course of the day.  Amy is a licensed facilitator of the Right Brain Business Plan, and you can read an interview with her here.

If you don't have access to a workshop, I'd highly recommend the book:

And the website has oodles of support in the form of grown-up worksheets that you can print out.  I can see this process being useful for all kinds of goal-setting.  (My favorite part turned out to be the visualization session!) 

Exhausted and exhilarated.

Please note, my blog has moved.  Visit me at ginasekelsky.com/blog . 

Highlights from five days immersed in surface design:

 

India Flint exhibit at the Nash Gallery.  When India's book, Eco Colour, came out last fall, I didn't pay much attention.  The book itself looked beautifully designed, but I just didn't have room for one more set of techniques.  I figured I would get to using botanical dyes "someday." Seeing her work, and the work she inspired in my friend Kathie, has made me say, Someday needs to be now.  (Another highlight would be Kathie's phone call on Monday morning, telling me she & India were standing outside my house, would it be okay if they took some of our peony petals for dyeing?)

 
What Matters?  a lecture by Jane Dunnewold.  I really only knew of Jane as a master of surface design techniques (through the books Complex Cloth and Art Cloth).  So I was really blown away by her talk on nurturing a creative life.  Tears in my eyes.  It would also be worth giving up a few hours of sleep to read her blog, Existential Neighborhood.

 
Hanging out with Natalie Chanin.  I have been working hard at narrowing my focus, and finding my own style with hand-stitching.  Seeing the work of my friend Linda Kollofski at the trunk show, and all the amazing pieces in the fashion show (especially my friends Beth & Beverly, whom I mentioned the other day, and featured artist Carter Smith), I was of course second-guessing myself:  wouldn't it be great to create something fluid?  sheer?  ethereal?  Enter a day spent stitching with Natalie, and I'm right back where I was, loving my common materials and eager to create more. 

Some questions to dwell on:

What do I have to say?

What do I want my work to say?

What is unique about my experience?

What is important to me?

A little off topic.

 
I'm always moved by a person who's authentic about their work, genuinely involved in what they're doing, not just going through the motions -- whether it's a performer or a salesperson or a tour guide.  The Janelle Monae show in St. Paul last night was so inspiring; I had heard her music, but seeing it/hearing it live was a different thing altogether.  You know how my motto is "I invent nothing; I rediscover" -- I think that must be her motto too, fully envisioned.  At times I wondered if she was influenced by motown, or James Brown, or hip hop, or Sade, or The Residents, or Devo, or Elvis.  So many influences, such originality.  Here's hoping that inspiration will carry me through a busy/sleepy day!