Storyteller overlooks Paperwhites.
Fabric postcard from heathersmeding.
Snow is predicted for tomorrow. I'm not complaining. We haven't had any snow whatsoever this winter yet...snow will be pretty to shuffle through. I got a little lost here today...thanks to Holly on Decor8. It's been a year since I took her BloggingYourWay e- course. If you want fresh ideas for your blog I highly recommend it.
Emma came home with some vintage pillowcases. Well, they went to immediate use. I have been thinking of how I want to package items from my Etsy shop and after consideration I am going to try to package everythihg in vintage or used fabric...as long as the item fits. I made this drawstring bag out of a pillowcase and some ribbon that I had already. Inside each of my packages will be a poem. This may need to change at some point but, for now it feels right.
So, do you fancy yourself a writer? Check out this great vintage typewriter! An Underwood No. 11 4476056-11. It's in really nice shape...all the keys work, the carriage return works and the bell still rings! This model is from 1923. Listening to the clack, clack of the keys makes me think of poets tapping out words or a mystery writer banging out another scene.
I made a pile of wool garlands for decorating...
We are embarking on a new project! Clothworks is now selling on-line in a Sarah Winter Clothworks store. As you are looking for our hand made Hemp goods you will find you have 3 ways to shop.
For our One of a Kind items we’ll direct you to our Etsy Store where you can buy with paypal. If it’s on Etsy, it is already made and we can ship it right out to you. Or perhaps you’ll stop by the house, or we’ll bump into you on Main street and complete the delivery!
For “Classic Clothworks” stuff we’ll direct you to our on-line shopping cart. As soon as you place your order we will begin production. Generally this takes two weeks for your order to come to the top of the queue and be dyed and sewn. We will put our usual attention to the details of your order. You will still have the option of specifying sleeve size, pocket placement and other details that you care about. “Classic Clothworks” are things like “the Murph,” Sweatshirts and satchels.
Finally, we still take custom orders. For these you will need to email or call us or drop by. We’ll talk your needs over , make a quick sketch and take it from there. We are adding soft sided instrument cases to our usual repetoire. These we will handle as a custom order. Odd shaped bags and boxes which hold things other than instruments would fall into this same category.
It’s been a fast ten months since Clothworks closed its store front. We are delighted to reshape ourselves into a form that works for all of us. Sustainable means just that and we hope this shape will sustain us all. Hurray for Hemp, Hurray for Local Economy, Hurray for you and me!
Hemp Star Gazer
Little Dipper
Dopp Kit... this would be great as a travel first aid bag for all of your herbal remedies.
Little Dipper
Big Dipper
Hemp Coin Purse
I'm so excited! I am going to have a booth at a nearby antiques/vintage shop. I put this display together in the back of my old volvo... to show the shop owner and drove my car up there and she said that I made such a nice effort that she was going to let me into the shop. There were fresh flowers in the display when I went there...they had wilted by the time I snapped this photo. Emma and I are going to be junking together as well as putting some of our creations, upcycled things and vintage finds in the shop. We are calling our business:
Gather...vintage finds & artful creations...inspired not expensive.
indie business: starting, surviving, succeeding.
I can't provide you with a link to this class but, I can tell you that the Indie Business class is so great. Elsie wrote a post all about Etsy. The ins & outs as well as her experience were shared yesterday. Etsy can be overwhelming if you want to create a successful shop. I must admit that I have an Etsy shop with a few things I put in there every now and then but, it has not received the attention it should. I took the link for the handmade shop off of my site because it really is not done as well as I would like. It doesn't really represent my ideal. I would like to have better photos of my items and of course more items would be nice. Also, the direction of my ideas are changing. While I do like to create and make things for sale that is really not where my goals are at this point. I like to create one of a kind puppets and art dolls. I also like to create things for story-making. It's pretty tough to list a whole bunch of these items at once...especially if you do special orders. I'd like to revamp that part of my shop to reflect these changes. In the meantime I'm working on the ideas that have been presented in the class, working on my class notebook, gathering ideas and keeping a journal to inspire my new changes and ideas.
One of the things I'm working on is offering Flower Essence Consultations online along with Journeyseeds Creativity Facilitation. Flower Essences can create amazing shifts in your body, mind and spirit. I have studied for 30 years many modalities of holistic health. One of my passions is spirituality and how that impacts our journey. I have always combined these two paths and incorporated this into whatever I am working on. These ideas might be a festival I'm organizing, a flower essence consultation with a client as well as workshops that bring a holistic view into it. I am hoping to share more of the projects I've worked on in the past as well as currently to give you more of a flavor of my style, my ideas as well as ways that I might help you on your journey.
If you are interested in working with me now we can arrange this. I have not worked out a page to outline the entire process as well as information. But, those of you that know about or are simply interested in flower essences I am an Advanced Certified Practitioner in Australian Bush Flower Essensces, Delta Garden Flower Essences ...as well as study and certification in Bach Flower Essences, Animal Essences as well as working with other systems of flower essences over the past 20 years. I am available to work with you regarding your health process as well as your creativity process. I am also very interested in working with you in both of these areas while bringing a soul story perspective to the journey. I have lots more to share regarding all of this, so please keep checking back. You can contact me if you're interested. I am really looking forward to working with you to support you in your creative journey.
Creativity Seed:
Elsie and Rachel are presenting an online Art Journaling class coming up. I recommend their class as a great community builder, resource finder and inspiration challenge. Their ideas can be applied to any style of business or personal creativity journey.
Leethal had this over on her blog about a little project going on in the craft community. It's about making a lightbox for taking pictures for your blog. If you want better photos for your blog or for your Ravelry page of projects, here is a great resource. I'm going to give it a go as it's something I've been wanting to do for awhile now. It will go along nicely as a project for the Indie Business class I'm taking right now. By the way the class is great and I highly recommend any classes given by these fine women. Here is another lightbox tutorial listed at the Croqzine a blog devoted to crafts and indie business. Here is a handmade lightbox from studiolighting. Lastly, here is folding version of the lightbox. You can share photos when you're done on the flickr group so we can all learn from you! Thanks Meredith for turning me onto to this community event! I know what we are making this weekend...I can't wait!
Here is the Inspiration Board that I made for my Indie Business class that I'm taking right now. It was interesting to me that it turned out to be a board filled with Birds. It was not planned out that way at all. But, somehow all the images I choose...the birds placed on the actual board, the birdcages, the prints...all turned out to have birds in them.
Birds Inspire
Indie Business notebook for new class. We received our download of our workbook and it is filled with alot of inspiration. I'm looking forward to creating and thinking about this next step. I'm thinking about using my training as an RN in holistic nursing, flower essences, holistic health care, creativity coaching, handwork, puppetry, herbalism, soul collage, permaculture... and creating a program from this diverse background. Lots of ideas brewing. I like that this course work can be used in any way that fits for me. The ideas are great seed starters. There's that word again...seeds...journeyseeds...seeds on the wind...planting seeds.....
*What I learned is this: to trust my inner voice in my art: that art is a powerful form of communication: that in order to heal our inner wounds we need to let them out to be exposed to the light. Art is a viable means of doing this. Art is a vehicle for healing. ~linda hansen
I was invited by my friend to a writers group last night. Every time I see my long ago friend it is as if we just left off in the conversation. As if we were just talking together yesterday...when it might have been well over a year since we'd last seen one another. The meeting was held in a sweet little art gallery with paintings and artwork perched on every surface. All of the artwork made it feel as if there were more than eight of us there...all listening. We listened to poems being read. Offerings and insight were shared after each poem. Everyone made me feel most welcome and it was exciting to witness the process that these devoted writers have to their craft.
Poetry Like Bread is for Everyone
