ponder press – Page 11 – custom keycaps, jewelry and crafts handmade in Seattle

Hello 2017

Beaded bezel (which is a bead). Another great color combination.

It’s day two of the new year, and I’m on day five or six of an annoying cold. I’m currently in the afternoon lull when I feel like I’ve finally kicked it. Sadly, the mornings and evenings tell me otherwise.

The last two months passed in a blur. The election, holiday shows, holiday gift making, the holidays! I don’t have photos of any of the gifts or the custom orders I made. Some day I’ll learn. (I did have my upper left canine baby tooth pulled to get ready for an implant. I put that tooth in a small bezel with glitter and resin. I will spare everyone that photo.)
Oh, and I’m happy to report that Morgan loves his newest pair of socks. I really need to work on the third!

I was so hoping to use some of this three-day weekend to organize my craft room, the floor of which is a minefield of beads and more. But, because of this stupid cold, I’ve mostly been scouring Ravelry for the right patterns for the right yarn.

This yarn, for example.

This photo does not adequately show just how bright the yellow is. Pity… I don’t even like yellow. What was I thinking?

I bought it several years ago. This is the second thing I’ve started with it. I half love, half despise it. It would for sure make a great scarf for someone who likes to take walks or bike rides in the dark. Part of me thinks I need to give it away. Much like there’s only so much time I like to give a book, I also think that a ball of yarn shouldn’t cause this much stress.

Oh, this is the beginning of a pattern that I used for mom’s Christmas scarf.

It turned out really nice, and I’m eager to finish this scarf. Plus, Morgan’s stepmom gave the yarn to me, so I’m eager to show her how I’ve put it to use.

And this yarn … such lovely colors.

It is acrylic, which makes it ideal for some projects and not others. I started a wrap, which I’m not crazy about. So, I have another pattern in mind. If that’s a bust, I’ll make a granny square triangle shawl and call it good.

And, beyond that, Morgan and I will be attempting some custom keys for mechanical keyboards. There are some fun ones out there, and it seems like a good personal challenge.

Beyond that, there’s blog more, paint (more, some, any), try new polymer clay techniques, make one piece of jewelry every week so that I’ll be in good shape in time for the market to start, beef up my Etsy store and use up my bead and yarn stash! Sounds doable, right?!
sigh …

Yecessarily so

As is tradition, it’s time for me to apologize for/acknowledge how long it’s been since I last posted anything.

October passed in a blur. First I was in the Bay Area at the end of September/beginning of October. If you’d like to know why, just check out the December issue of The Costco Connection.
Four days after getting home, my sister paid the PacNW a visit along with her husband, youngest son and granddaughter.
We went to the Point Defiance Zoo where a chance encounter with the right people got us a private viewing of the sea otters, whose exhibit was closed for renovations.
We also went on a whale-watching trip and saw several humpbacks. It was a small boat with a great and friendly crew.
As always, the family visit passed in a blur. They left on a Wednesday, I worked Thursday and then attended work’s craft fair on Friday.
Saturday morning Morgan and I were on a plane to Boston. From there were drove to Vermont for a four-day visit. While he attended a family meeting, I drove to Woodstock, VT, and past the Quechee Gorge. I feel in love with all of it. On Monday we stopped in Montpelier for lunch. Then we headed to Westbury for ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s headquarters. We ended up in Burlington, where we stayed in an adorable Airbnb.
I walked by a statue of Champ every day, and it made me happy to do so.
I love Champ. I love Vermont. It was the first time in ages that I’d been that sad to leave a place.
Since them I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about community in general, my community in particular.
Add to that this presidential election results, and I’m left doubly reeling, wondering about my place in the country and how it does or doesn’t align with others.
Are these the musings of someone dealing with the thoughts that all aging middle-class Caucasians have? Maybe. These are crazy days for sure. And while Seattle is a good big city, I can’t help but wonder if I’m ready to return to a small place.

In any event, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and I have more than angst coursing through my veins. I am thankful for many things. In fact, I am thankful for all of these things (plus many forgotten ones, I’m sure.)
Morgan, my family, my friends, for having once had Slinky as the best best-friend-curly-girl kittenpants a gal could have, my health, my still somewhat functioning brain, people who enjoy what I make, the fact that my jobs let me buy such lovely yarn (from San Francisco, Vermont and the great interweb), the Earwolf and Maximum Fun podcast networks, peanut butter and Christmas music that I will play on Friday while setting up my tiny tree.

I told you it was an incomplete list, but it’s genuine.

Happy, rainy day

What a glorious Saturday. The forecast called for 100% rain, and after last Saturday’s slow day at the market, I knew a day at home would do me good. It stopped raining around 11 a.m., but it is gray and blustery, so there’s no I-missed-the-market guilt.
Instead, I have every reason to feel good about today.
First, I got about 30 more minutes of sleep than I typically get on a Saturday.
After waking I spent two hour looking at yarn p*rn on ravelry. I am particularly interested in finding uses for these yarns.

The sad thing is that those skeins are but and tiniest fraction of the yarn I own. It’s really out of control. But, I am full of inspiration. Plus, I’m only about six rows away from finishing this wrap. The colors scream fall — as does today’s weather.

Then, I went grocery shopping; I want to try out two new recipes. Wish Morgan luck.
I tidied up, did dishes, did laundry and swept.
While none of that is exciting, I did gather the cabochons-in-waiting that I’ve been gluing to substates. The question is, which do I tackle first? I’m open to suggestions.

Anywho, it’s time to finish the wrap, or start a new bead embroidery project, or set out the yearn and needles for next knitting project. A Saturday at home is a Saturday full of possibilities!

All the stuff

About a month ago I filled out a survey that was sent out by Cloth Paper Scissors. (I’ve always kind of loved filling out surveys and am still kind of upset that neither I nor my family has ever received the long from census.) Occasionally I’d read questions aloud to Morgan. They were of the “which of these kinds of art/craft supplies do you buy or own?” Morgan asked if “all of them” was a choice.

I like my arts and crafts like I like my supplies: in bulk and as plentiful as possible.

Let's all go the lobby. — Let’s all go the lobby.

It got me thinking, once again, about all of the things I want to do and how I struggle to find time accomplish a fraction of what’s on my things-I-want-to-do list. (Please note: Tidying up is rarely one of those things. Supplies might get moved from one room or surface to another, but that barely counts as tidying.)

I still want to:
Paint (watercolor and acrylic)
Make journals
Do art journaling
Use this blog to review my ever-growing stash of craft books
Make more mini mosaics
Make mini collages to cover in resin
Put more flowers in resin
Organize my supplies
Use my cricut
Make more items with polymer clay
Read non-craft books
Practice my glockenspiel (I got new mallets for my birthday!)

That’s plenty, right?
Wait, there’s more. Add to that knitting. Now that the weather is turning a little cooler, I want to make wrap after wrap while mindless TV plays in the background.

Oh, and yeah, there’s bead embroidery. I dabbled. I retreated. I continued with basic beaded bezels. Now I want to do more free-form embroidery. It’s so much more fun and satisfying than I ever imagined it would be. I love how this project came together. Must. Make. More.

Oh, and in between the day job, the jewelry and time with the beau and family, I got my first wholesale order. Yay!!! It’s pretty exciting, and it’s giving my exacting standards a true workout.

Sure I’m busy. But I’m happy. And really, is that such a bad thing? I didn’t think so.

Be your own biggest fan today

As always, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the “worth” of what I create, which I manage to translate into some kind of measure of my own worth.
Why do I bother making anything?
Why bother trying to appeal to others and not just myself?
How much longer will people be interested in what I make?
Will I always compare my work to that of others?
Why aren’t my creative endeavors more successful?
And how is that supposed to happen without me hustling even a little bit?
Do any of those questions’ answers really matter? Isn’t it about having fun, scratching that itch and just doing what I’ve got to do?

So, I decided to listen to the most recent episode of You Made it Weird where Mike Birbiglia was the guest. They talked about the Birbiglia’s new movie Don’t Think Twice, and it was the right conversation for me at the right time.
The points that most hit home were that as an artist — whether your medium is sketch comedy or acrylics — what you do isn’t needed by anyone. Because of that you need to find something in it that you genuinely love, because you most likely won’t be able to survive on good feedback from others.
And, when jealousy was brought up one of the two said that he tells himself that if you’re going to be jealous of someone’s success you have to imagine taking on all aspects of a person’s life.

Then, after those two talking me down and helping me see that there’s no harm in keeping on keeping on, Morgan and I saw “Florence Foster Jenkins.” It is charming as hell. And, sure, she was a not a good singer, but she still loved music and pursued her passion. Do I want to be mocked? No. Do I want to pursue the things that stir my soul? Yes!

And then, to validate all of the reaffirming thoughts that drifted into my head over the past day, a friend posted this quote on Facebook: Be your own biggest fan today.

I don’t toot my own horn all that often, but it’s nice to remember that it’s OK if I do.

So, here I go … off to follow my bliss.

p.s. The quotes/art are from my 2016 page-a-day Today is Going to Be a Great Day! calendar. It’s pretty great!