indelible studios

A new semester is almost upon me, and I want to get my crafting stuff in order so that I can use the activity of making as a way to unwind from academics.  An inventory of supplies is in order, but for the moment I thought I’d list all the stuff I’ve started or thought about starting.

Started:

• Quilt!
• Indelible studios embroidered blog header
• barrettes with yo-yos
• gray knitted scarf with black details
• cotton washcloths
• coffee sweaters

Want to start:

• another gray/brown knitted scarf or shrug?
• cross-stitch sampler
• embroidery for friends
• sewn pencil cases
• refashioned shirt projects

Need to get additional supplies for:

• More vintage button barrettes
• Vintage button brooches
• baby blanket for H’s baby – knit? crochet?

Just a few images from our trip to Old World Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago…

A stone building at Old World Wisconsin

woven blankets hanging from the rafters in the General Store

bolts of fabric at the General Store (plus my nephew)

an earthenware pitcher and mini rag-rug / coaster thingy - I love that idea and the colors.

(also, trying to figure out photo uploading and captioning in this new WordPress installation)

xo

Old World Wisconsin
Originally uploaded by digitalsuzi

Yesterday M and I went with my mom, sister, nephew, aunt, and cousin to Old World Wisconsin, a living history museum that shows how people lived in our state in the 19th century. “Interpreters” in each building show you how things were done — blacksmithing, baking cornbread in a woodstove, tending cattle and bees, running a stagecoach inn, teaching at a one-room schoolhouse, playing games and with toys. We loved it, the grownups maybe even more than the kids, although the kids had fun too. Many of the materials they use are from the time period, although some are reproductions, and it was fascinating to see how spare and beautiful everything was. It amazes me that people would put time and effort into embroidering or decorating things, because they worked so hard and needed things to be very utilitarian, and when did they have time to do it? But beauty was important to them, and I’m sure that handwork was something both useful — skill-building, even if it was just decorative — and relaxing. I loved looking at all the fiber tools and fabric, especially in the general store.  I got lots of ideas for things to make and ways to decorate — and I’ll post pictures once we get our camera-cord situation figured out (in the meantime, you can do a flickr search for “old world wisconsin” and get a pretty good idea of what things look like). Another thing that amazed me was how closely the homes there resembled the aesthetic of high-design, eco-friendly homes I see on the internet. And we were all astounded at the size of the place; the landscape seems pretty authentic with its untouched pasture land and woods, and there are several little villages, each comprised of one nationality of people and their traditional architecture and ways of doing things (German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, etc), although there was a bigger “crossroads village” and one that was an integrated community that included African Americans, even during the Civil War era. We didn’t get to stop there because the kids were about to melt down from hunger, but I’d like to learn more about it. M loved the schoolhouse since we actually got to “play school” and write on the slates and answer questions.  She also loved the baby animals, and a hoop game called the game of Graces (a game women could play, unlike baseball and other outdoor games). My nephew loved the hoop-and-stick game — of which you’ve surely seen pictures: a boy runs along, hitting a hoop with a stick, very simple!  Now we’re on the lookout for a way to make our own Graces set to decorate with ribbons, and maybe a hoop and stick set too.

I am always reminding my daughter, who’s 4, to focus.  Focus on the task at hand, remember the steps to get ready for bed or to get ready in the morning, just get this done and then you can play.  Of course, one of the major problems with this  (and maybe why I have to constantly remind her) is that I, myself, seem to have no focus whatsoever.

I have 20 projects going at once, all the time.  I love to think about getting organized – I’m particularly fond of the FlyLady and GTD systems, and the Zen Habits blog – but once I set up a system, I never keep up with it for very long.  The soft boundaries for my tasks make it harder – at the moment I’m in grad school, and I’m freelancing from home, and my craft projects are all half-done, and my writing projects are not even half-baked.  There are conditions in my life, like fibromyalgia and its associated fatigue, that make focusing difficult too.  But I need to find something that I can stick to – it’s so discouraging to keep thinking about it and never be able to do it.

Here’s my plan: clear a space (my desk), set things up so that it’s easier to stick to a system (a place for everything, and everything in its place), and just do a couple of things each day.  I’ve found recently that it is satisfying to cross items off a list, so I’m making short, do-able lists (3 items) and only adding things to them if I finish what I’ve already got on there.  I am also going to limit the time I spend on the computer / internet, which feeds my feelings of wishing my life were other than what is it or envying the lives of others as they’re represented online (even on the most superficial level, like: I wish I was more crafty, I wish my apartment looked different, I wish I were a real writer, I wish I could take beautiful photographs).

David Allen, the GTD guy, said that a goal is not the desired end result, but that it helps shift your attention, so that when you have a goal in mind, you’re noticing and thinking about whatever is related to your goal.  Andrea Scher said that we aren’t used to thinking about what might be enough.  In this world, in this culture, it seems like nothing is enough – but we each need to decide for ourselves what is enough for us and for our loved ones and for our own personal worlds.

The goal, then, is not to fight routine and commitment as a creativity-killer, but to embrace it as something that brings clarity and ease.  And then, also, to know that I have done what I can in any given day, I have done enough, and to let it really be enough.

I’ve wanted a Shabby Apple dress for a long time – they’re so pretty and ladylike.  And look – the ever-generous Grosgrain is holding a giveaway for one beautiful dress.  Now to do some more window shopping…