365 starts today

Christina came over this morning. Adam cooked us a delicious Sunday brunch and afterwards we started chatting about our current craft plans.

We decided that today would be a great day to officially start our 365 projects since it is the first of the month. We each set our own parameters for our goals and we will meet together every week or two to check on each others progress. I will be working on a project for a minimum of 30 minutes per day and limiting myself to 2 projects at a time. I will allow myself 2 because there are some projects that I can easily work on at my job and others that I can only work on from home. I am limiting myself because I know if I didn't make myself finish then I would start a new one all the time and never complete anything. I am starting with some embroidered wall hangings, a set of 4, and a spring dress that I need to work on the fitting and the hem. Here is a pic of the first embroidery so far.

Hopefully I will pick up some momentum after finishing the first project and get more excited. Right now I feel like being a slug rather than getting my creative juices going.

More again soon.

Prototypes

I've been trying to keep up with Etsy's blog the past few days. One of the posts I read today was talking about how to get your shop noticed. Suddenly it dawned on me: if I could make the Bloggess or Wil Wheaton a hand knit geek ornament and somehow send it to them, I am sure they would show it off and other people would want to buy them. So now I have to design the prototypes and start knitting. I already plan on making a TARDIS, Star Trek logo, and a binary ball. I sent out a call for suggestions to twitter. All suggestions welcome. No geek shall be ignored. Wish me luck for staying focused and Adam not getting frustrated that I haven't finished his Jayne hat yet.

365: A Year of Creativity

My brain is tired and I want a nap, but I told myself I would do this post before moving from the couch. I can't seem to catch up on energy lately. I need to go for more walks, they seem to help me feel alive.

I am going to start a year long create-a-day project along side my good friend Christina. I was inspired by an Etsy blog post and a reminder that practice is what moves basic understanding to incredible execution. I invited Christina to join me because I knew that I would get a few weeks in and drop it completely if I was on my own. She also seems to need the extra nudge to think outside her full time job and normal life.

The problem I am having now is figuring out what will be the thing that I create every day? Part of me says knitting because I enjoy doing that and can easily fit it in while working at my job. But then I think I want whatever it is to be quick enough that I can get one done every day. I have lots of different craft/art skills that could use some additional time and practice but I need some sort of focus so I can't hop between them constantly. Maybe I can switch monthly. Some skills I could make a new object every day and other skills I could work on every day but only finish one object in the month. That might work. Later I can plan what the agenda for each month will be. Since we are part way though this month already, I will start with a new object a day. I am thinking about some simple embroidery. I have a few patterns from Sublime Stitching that I want to try.

Hopefully I will post at least once a month to give an update on how the year adventure is going.

Until again, shalom.

Curve-balls and itches

Life is sure good at throwing curve-balls. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I am taking a leave of absence from my full time job. My plan is to take this down time to push myself towards habits I have been wanting to establish and goals I never thought I had time for. Of the minor goals, I will get myself in a daily exercise routine and I will tackle many of the lingering house projects we have had looming over our heads since we bought our house a couple years ago.

The biggest push will be towards taking the energy of my creative itch and turn it in to a small business. I keep reading articles about going for your passions, quitting your day job and finding something more meaningful, and how our current culture is ripe for small creative endeavors. I don't plan on making my living off of my art, at least not yet, but I do want to contribute to the greater creative conversation.

Although I wish the circumstances leading up to this were different, I look forward to being able to step off my current path and reevaluate where on the spectrum I want to reenter. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I know I will need lots of encouragement to keep motivated. I will need lots of wisdom and guidance to make sure I take this time to seek God's plan for my life.

Peace be with you all.

Honeycomb Thoughts

Wow, it is almost amazing how distracted I have been this morning. I am trying to focus and do one task at a time, but apparently my brain wants to do a couple dozen. The infinite amount of information on the internet does not help. Absentmindedly playing fetch with Alyx and Buddy getting jealous is not helping either. But how can I resist my adorable dogs?

Several hours later I am here again. Must avoid the distraction of hundreds of episodes of Doctor Who at my fingertips.

My in-laws were over for dinner last night. After dinner, while Jack was helping Adam fix two broken toilets, Kim and I started talking about my quilt project. A few weeks ago I had mentioned that I would like her help with the project since I want this to be a multi-generational project. She asked how she could help and what kind of pattern I was making with the different fabrics. My brain was dead from a couple of long and frustrating days at work so I had no idea how to convey the random pictures in my head to another person. After they left I tried to talk to Adam and make words for him to hear and get his feedback. He was much more excited about beta testing "The Old Republic" MMORPG than talking quilts, but he did pretty well. Next was a trip to Google and research time. I needed to find pictures and words from others that would match the pictures and half formed thoughts in my head. I came across several wonderfully helpful sites that are helping me understand the project better.

1. http://www.womenfolk.com/quilt_pattern_history/mosaic.htm Found this site first and

learned a good bit about the history of quilts made with hexagons. Besides Grandmother's Flower Garden, they go by the names Honeycomb or Six-Sided Patchwork or Mosaic. They are one of the oldest forms of pieced quilts and not made often anymore since they are more difficult to put together. No wonder I was attracted to it and decided I must try it as my first quilting project. I pick out the most expensive products without ever looking at price tags, and design the most difficult projects before I do the research. This is a quilt I found on that site. The way the artist transitions the colors with the different patterns of fabrics is amazingly beautiful.

2. Blogs! http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/ and http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/

I am really glad I found these blogs for the current and future inspiration they will be providing. Through the blogs I found this book. It has details on how to make machine stitching the hexagons together easier. Hallelujah! The local library has it and I put it on hold so I can devour every detail when it comes my turn. The book features this quilt, which looks a lot like the quilt stuck in my head. It is really exciting for me to know that my idea, grouping various yellow fabrics in no preset pattern, looks good. (Hi, my name is Bee and I am a fiber/craft/art nerd, and I am proud of it.)

3. http://www.fgqg.com/Quiltsizes.htm This morning I found a chart that lists the typical sizes of different types of quilts. I measured my hexagons (minus the seam allowance), did some quick calculations, and found out I need 375 hexagons to make my baby quilt. 22 rows with 15 hexagons wide.

I went back to my fabrics and realized I have far more than I need. I am going to keep 15 different patterns so that each hex in a row is different. Then each of the 22 rows can be arranged with the 15 patterns in different orders. Since I was cutting down the number of patterns, I decided to consolidate the range of yellow. I picked my favorite bee pattern and went from its tones of golden and orangey yellow. I now have 14 and think I know the perfect piece to complete the set. It seems really silly to purchase another fabric when I have several I am not using. Maybe I can talk myself out of it before I go to the store.

I think I have a clearer picture with words attached to it now. Now I know what part Kim can help me with and what steps I need to take before I am ready for her assistance. It seems strange but good to have a plan. Maybe I will make one closer to the beginning next time. :)

Green

Green: I love the color and the concept.

The color makes me think of growth and life and I love being surrounded by it in nature.

The concept I have been a fan of for a while but was not sure how I could implement it in my normal routine. I am getting excited because Adam and I are starting some minor changes that will change how we impact ourselves and the world around us. We have recycled soda cans for quite a while since the city makes it so easy with the curbside pickup. Since we have been talking baby so much, we have been putting extra focus on our health and especially nutrition. We are becoming more conscious of what we are putting in our bodies, avoiding the overly processed foods with trans fats and corn syrup, buying local grain fed beef, and trying to use more fresh ingredients. Because of the focus on fresh foods, I am wanting to grow a vegetable garden next summer. This summer I am going to take everything out of that garden spot and start a compost pile. It will be a great way to recycle yard scraps, kitchen scraps, and paper. If everything goes well with that plan, we will get a rain barrel to collect rain for the compost and the gardens. We have also been looking in to cloth diapers and gently used items for when baby comes around. I know Adam isn't excited about these projects and ideas for the exact same reasons I am, but I am still very glad he is supportive and interested for his own reasons.

Need sleep so I can have energy to conquer the day tomorrow.

Shalom.

Babies on the Brain

Meet Alex and Layla Black. They were born to Amy and Fred Black on April Fool's Day 2011. They are precious and adorable and I want to steal one.

Things have been coming together for Adam and me. We have been talking about trying to have a baby of our own soon. There are still

a good number of things we need to work on and learn about before we start trying, but thinking about it makes me excited for our future together.

There is a project I have been thinking about on and off for a while. I have been gathering differently patterned yellow fabrics to make a honeycomb. I did not know what the purpose for the final piece was going to be until recently. I have decided that Bee's future baby needs a honeycomb quilt blanket. I have never made a quilt before but my grandmother and great-grandmother have definitely created their fair share. My fabrics already have different symbols for different family members, including at least four different bee patterns. I am hoping that I can get participation from all four current generations in the creation of the project. I love the idea of a shared and passed down history through objects. I am a very visual and kinesthetic person and find comfort in knowing an object I am using was made with love.

The plan for the end result will be kind of like a "Grandma's Flower Garden" quilt. Instead of grouping like colors together to make a flower pattern, I will be scattering the different fabrics randomly. It will be kind of like this one but all in yellows. I don't know what the backing fabric will be yet. I think I need to find out if the baby will be a boy or a girl before I pick that out. And if he is a boy, I will need to find and add some less girly patterns. That seems to be harder than I expected.

To count my blessings, one good thing about my job is that the summer is slow and I have plenty of time to cut hexagons between working on other things. Then I don't get so bored with the hexagons or the work.

Don't Panic!

Once again it has been a while since I have posted. Nothing to fear, I did not fall completely off the face of the Earth. Maybe just off the face of the Internet. Slowly but surely finding my balance so I can stand up and move forward again.

Although moving anywhere in the massive amount of snow we are getting the next few days is going to be hard. We are gauging the depth of it right now by how much we can still see of the orange life vest in the back yard I gave Alyx to "age" for me. It is almost covered and we are going to have to find a new measuring system. [Edit: there is no sign of the bright orange vest any longer] It is already deep enough that Buddy is having to hop to get around. I am going to have to take a video of him when the air isn't filled with quite as many snowflakes. We have been doing minor things to prepare for if the power goes out. I sure hope it doesn't because I will have a very cold and bored husband and teenager on my hands.

The cabin fever has had at least one benefit for me. In my boredom I have turned to my sketchbooks and journals and am getting excited about starting or restarting some mixed media embroidery projects. I started talking about the materials for one project with Adam and he wisely suggested I plan out a timeline and try to do some troubleshooting before I order anything. It would be bad if I bought more than I can afford and then they sit gathering dust in my cluttered art room indefinitely.

The deadline for images for the University of Missouri Craft Studio Women in the Arts show is 16 days away. That is a really short timeline but maybe that is what I need to kick my butt in gear. If not that, then I think I will contact Kelsey at the Craft Studio and find out the availability for summer shows. I think I have enough ideas for a show in that small gallery and that would give me a really good reason to work. I sold a lot at the last show. Maybe that can help me raise funds for another summer idea. That idea will have to be on another post. Way too many thoughts and details to go into.

Be safe in the Snowpocalypse and remember, Don't Panic!

To Breathe or not to Breathe

There is a knot in my chest: a physical manifestation of my anxiety and depression. I am doing all that I know to loosen and untangle the knot, but the process is going very slowly. There are times I get it to a point where I hardly feel the knot at all. Unfortunately, no matter how long I am able to keep the knot at bay it is able to rebuild itself very quickly, sometimes within minutes, and it enjoys building upon itself.

Honestly I have so many things to be thankful for lately that it is sometimes hard to understand why the knot is there at all. Between my predisposition to the knot and the reoccurring triggers of disliking my day job and chiseling apart my self-esteem while applying for new jobs, it builds and tightens and distracts from all of the amazing things going on in my life.

Sometimes those old clichés have a golden nugget of truth, so here I go counting my blessings.

First of all is my family. I have a wonderful loving family who typically understands me and the things going on in my head better than I give them credit for. Adam is perfect for me. He is ever the problem-solver, comforter, and provider that I need. I am also very thankful that one of my sisters, Ellie, is able to spend a semester living with us. I am so excited to see how much she has grown up and that I can be the good big sister every girl wants. Also, my puppies are awesome, especially when they are calm and sleeping near me like they are now.

Another thing I am grateful for is the possibly career pushing article that Aarik Danielsen wrote about me and my art in the Columbia Tribune. If you have not yet had a chance to take a look at it, check it out at http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jul/25/bee-simmons/. He did an amazing job taking an hour of my ramblings and molding it into a professional article I was very proud to see written about me.

I have many other blessings, but I think I shall stop for now before I bore you too much and since the purpose of me writing this, which was to relieve the pain of the knot, was successful.

So remember when your knot is tightening and feeling like it is going to overwhelm you, take a moment to breathe and think of at least one thing in your life that you are grateful for.

Shalom

Shalom

I was at a church service recently where the opening speaker mentioned how Jesus regularly used the phrase "peace be with you." I think it was a nice touch since we were talking about the fruit of the spirit of peace that week, but she left out the important aspect of context. Peace be with you was not a saying that Jesus started Himself: it was ingrained in His Jewish culture in the word "shalom."

According to Wikipedia, shalom has multiple meanings and can be used in many different ways. Shalom means peace, completeness, welfare or well-being, and can be used as both a greeting and a farewell. I am sure that in cultures that use and value the word and its depth, the meaning gets lost in its continuous use: just like Americans don't think twice about asking "how are you doing" without expecting an honest answer.

I am considering whether I want to adopt the word into my regular vocabulary. I would like for it to be there as a reminder to me of what I deeply hope that others experience. Maybe if I consciously incorporate it into my greetings or farewells it will help me be more aware of how my actions play a role in the peace and well-being of those around me. But despite my good intentions and the core of the word, I am not sure how it would be accepted in a culture that is often xenophobic and ignorant.

For now I think I will start out small. I will keep it as my word and as a word I use for those close to me and those whom I believe would understand its meaning.

So now I close this post saying may the peace, well-being, and completeness of God be with you.

Shalom.

Distractions

I woke up a half hour before my alarm and prompted myself to get up with the thoughts of being productive and taking some time to reflect. An hour later, when I really need to be getting ready for work, I am finally starting to type. The internet is a wondrous place with more distractions than I could ever imagine. Tonight Adam is going to be out with some friends being a very excitable dork. Hopefully I will be able to focus a little better and finally untangle some of the randomness going on in my head.

I will offer one preview of one of the many things that has happened in the last year.

One step, two step...

Haven't had time to sit and reflect the past few days. Life is not like a whirlwind right now, just that it is full of lots of little things so that I am constantly putting one foot in front of the other to try and keep up. I would like to sit and type for a while to understand all the randomness that is floating inside my skull. But the feet keep moving. Now it is time for dinner. Next it will be time for celebratory drinks with friends. Then sleep. Then work.

Well time to go so that I don't get left behind. Soon I will have to stop and write for a while.

It has been a while

It has been a little while since I posted anything on here. Honestly, I had almost forgotten it existed. But I recently finished a few new pieces and put them in the Columbia Art League members show, so I decided I should be a good little artist and start this back up again.

I was going to post more, but I got completely distracted by the new design features on this blogger and my husband showing me random internet videos. I will have to get back to this tomorrow and write more about the show and what has been going on over the past year.

Till next time,

Shalom.

Beauty in Growth: Part 2

The growing season is here and I am joyfully watching as our yard is turning into a very interesting little ecosystem. These pictures are of a few of my favorite things that are growing without much attention from us at all.

This is one of the baby apples that is growing on our tree. We do not have very many of them, but I am excited to see how the ones we do have turn out later this season

Here is a baby strawberry that I found. Adam thought there were only weeds in our back garden until I found these. Who knows what else is secretly growing all around us.

According to other people, roses are really hard to grow. But according to our yard, all they need is some sun, rain, and neglect. I am very happy to have them since they are so beautiful and I hope they continue to grow and be happy without us having to do too much.

I still have to plant my tomatoes and other annuals that we got at the store. Hopefully all of my plants will like it here as much the old ones and we do.

Remodeling

Here are a few pictures of us and our friends remodeling our new house. It still has quite a bit of work left to do, especially with all the boxes everywhere from moving. We will get it done eventually. People keep telling us that home ownership is a never ending project but hopefully we will get the number of projects down to a reasonable level by the end of the summer.
Me scrapping wallpaper in the kitchen to reveal an ugly orange wall.

Sean scrapping wallpaper in the infamous airplane/guest room. The background of the airplane wallpaper used to be white.

Jack helping to clean off the walls in the airplane room. Jack has been an immense help throughout this whole process and I am very grateful for his help.

Amy licking the paint instead of putting it on the trim. Amy has helped provide a lot of comic relief as well as help. We are very happy we have reconnected with her.

Adam giving me his ever cheesy smile while painting the closet sized master bathroom.

John putting spackle on the places where the evil airplane wallpaper ripped off the wall covering.

Tyler helping rip out and carry away stained and nasty old carpet.

Skillet also helping rip out carpet. I think some days Skillet was more enthusiastic about working on our house than we were.

Buddy sleeping in his new backyard. Too many things to do, he wore himself out.

Beauty in Growth: Part 1

Spring has come and gone. Although summer has unofficially started I wanted to share these spring pictures of the apple blossoms from the tree in my new back yard. I need to get out there and take images of the baby apples that have started to form. I will have to keep taking pictures as the season goes on to show the transformation of growth over time. But for now I just hope you enjoy these beautiful blossoms.

Morning

So it is 6:15 in the morning and I cannot go back to sleep. Buddy is whining, Adam is sleeping, and the cats are exploring. Yesterday we moved into our new house. This house has been the biggest project I and Adam have ever worked on. I wish it was done but, as people keep telling me, home ownership is a never ending process. We need to unpack and settle in but we also need to finish painting walls and trim, packing and cleaning up the old apartment, and getting the 1001 other details done. Hopefully we are able to stay under budget and get all the things done that we would like to do. Unfortunately right now I am just exhausted, physically and mentally. I just want to take a mini vacation where I do not have to worry about all the things that should have already been done. Maybe I can find time today to do that since today is Memorial Day and thus a holiday off of work. Maybe i just need to take the time to watch a movie on our new big TV and forget about the boxes surrounding me. Wish me luck in de-stressing.

Su Blackwell

More beautiful things.

Altered books by Su Blackwell

This last one is not exactly in book form but it is still amazing and looks like it could be made of paper.

Hina Aoyama

Here are some of the most beautiful things I have seen lately.

Works of paper by Hina Aoyama
She also has a lot of butterflies but the words were what caught my attention.

Happy Dance Time

So I wanted to share two things. One: my application is officially submitted to the Graduate School and I handed in my CD of images and text documents to the secretary at the art department. *Happy Dance* Here is another one of my pieces that I submitted in my portfolio. The head of this poor birdie fell off but I was able to glue it back on for the shot before it fell off again. Adam spent several minutes trying to get the bow just perfect and the birdie going the correct direction. I am glad that he has his obsessive complusive behaviors sometimes, especially when it comes to my art.

Two: After who knows how many sketches and ideas, I finally figured out what I am going to do for my wearable art project that will not kill me over the next week and a half. I am going to make the dress on the Vogue Pattern on the far right. I love that dress and how it has a pointed train like a bird tail. I am going to use inspiration from the black Beth Teshome dress named Raven. I love how the entire skirt is covered in fabric feathers. I am going to use similar fabric feathers on the train of my dress to emphasize the bird tail idea. The colors I am using are based off of a bluebird. I am dying raw silk in a deep national blue for the outside of the dress. I am dying silk habotai, which is so smooth and wonderful against your skin, a golden yellow for the lining. I am not sure if I am going to use the silk habotai or silk organdy in the national blue for the feathers. I am going to have to do some tests. I am really excited that I will have a handmade, 100% silk dress, that will fit me perfectly, even if I do not currently have a place to wear it. I hope it turns out as beautiful as it looks in my head. I still have some reservations about how much time the feathers will take me. Wish me luck!