And the winner is...

I'm so happy to announce the winner of the Willow House May giveaway, the Keepsake Card & Photo Display...and it is...Michelle C!

Thanks so much for your order Michelle, I hope you really enjoy this fun accent piece.

There is a season turn, turn, turn

Turning the calendar over today was an act that I've been dreading a little. "How exactly is it June already?" I ask the universe. No response. Figures. As I flipped the page from May to June I see a big red star on the 15th. Moving day is fast approaching. I'm not ready. There's still much to do. This weekend is our big moving sale. My daughter is dog-sitting for friends who are going on vacation. We're still finishing up our math and language arts projects so we can put our homeschool year to bed. And then there's work, you know the act of service that pays the bills? And a cookout to plan with our neighbors that will soon be our old-neighbors. {sigh} Ah yes, much to do. I remind myself that it's all good as I start the procession of boxes that will soon fill the spaces where our lives took place. I will miss this house. I will miss these neighbors. I will miss it all. As I grab a tissue to wipe away yet another rush of tears, I remind myself too that I must look forward to what's next. I do trust there are good things in store. And in a few more weeks, Lord willing, there'll be a chance to turn that calendar over once again.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.  

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

 

 

Willow House sweet deal & giveaway

What can I say. I went to a Willow House party and fell in love with the products. Seriously, what's not to love?














Simple. Earthy. Chic. I took the bait and signed up as a consultant. Yay me! My first order came from the fabulous Janet over at theemptynest who purchased the Tall Glass Domes. And lookie what she did with them {love!}:

The artsy/craftsy side of me began to drool when I saw things like this:

Organized and so stylish. And then my baking/kitchenista side saw the sassy Cinnabar collection. The color of love. Gorgeous, right?

As a brand-new consultant, I'm trying real hard to meet my May sales goal. But time is running short and I'm not quite there yet. I figured it's the perfect time to sweeten the deal by offering FREE SHIPPING for all orders placed at my online store by May 31st.

But is that all a girl can give? I think not. How about a Giveaway?! Yes, now we're talking.

Everyone who places an online order with me in May will be entered into a drawing to win this chic and loverly Keepsake Card & Photo Display [#41481, $29.96 value]:

Currently Willow House doesn't offer a coupon code feature so the free shipping offer will have to be handled as a reimbursement. Just email me with your order number and I'll send your shipping back to you via paypal or personal check, whichever you prefer. Easy peasy. Then I'll put your name in the hat (literally) to see who wins this cute burnished metal display. It's a great way to show off family photos, cards, recipes, coupons, fabric swatches or anything else your little heart desires.

So, what are you waiting for? Hop on over to my online store and find something that you love!

***********

A big thanks to everyone who placed an online order during May! I'll be announcing the winner of the keepsake display very soon. I will also be announcing a giveaway for June so stay tuned...

Today

I'm still struggling with being in a funk. Clearly something everyone can relate to at one point or another in their lives. As I pull together my thoughts and to-do list this morning, I'm realizing that it's not only about what I'm going to do:

Today,
 ~ I'm finishing up a design proof for a new client
 ~ I'm purging/prioritizing my craft/art closet
 ~ I'm going to remind my kids that I'm here for them and tell them how precious they are to me
 ~ I'm going to create a coupon code for my etsy shop
 ~ I'm putting our Netflix account on hold
 ~ I'm fact finding about ISP service at our new abode
 ~ I'm going to get caught up on our Language Arts lessons
 ~ I'm going to take time to go for a walk
 ~ I'm going to focus on being grateful and present in the moment
 ~ I'm going to make dinner for my family
 ~ I'm going to go to bed early and get some rest

But it's also about what I'm not going to do:

Today,
 ~ I'm not going to be angry
 ~ I'm not going to be hard on myself or others
 ~ I'm not going to eat things that make me feel bad
 ~ I'm not going to stress about not doing enough
 ~ I'm not going to be short with my kids or my husband
 ~ I'm not going to feel sorry for myself
 ~ I'm not going to be sad

Today I'm realizing that the not-to-do's are as important as the to-do's. Actually more important because it's about my attitude, focus and appreciation today. And everyday. We all put up roadblocks that make our day easier or harder because of how we see ourselves and how we see situations that we're going through. Honestly, our current situation is a bump in the road. It's an inconvenience more than anything. But to me it feels like a giant sinkhole. I've got to find a way to reframe this emotionally. A way to turn it around and see it as an opportunity.

What are you going through right now? Are you being fair to yourself when you plan out your day? Are you taking time to be gentle with yourself and others amidst the tough stuff?

Break on through to the other side

It's been forever since I've said hello on my blog. Or said anything for that matter. I can't count the number of post ideas I've composed in my head the last few months only to decide a minute later that nobody would want to read about that. I know it's a waste of precious time to doubt yourself but I also know it's a common thought pattern with artists at times. And bloggers, at least with bloggers who struggle with confidence. I've been in a serious confidence-lacking dungeon. It's a dark place, smells musty and there aren't any windows. Why I've stayed in that place for this long is a mystery to me. The longer I stayed the darker it became. I wondered if I was depressed? Stressed out? Having a midlife crisis? Probably a combination, I decided, of these and a half dozen other factors.

I finally realized I was missing the light. So I climbed out. And here I am. I'm feeling pretty stoked about being above ground again emotionally. My journal needs dusting off. And my sewing machine yearns to have the presser foot pushed flat. There's an empty space where newly made things will perch and items for my etsy shop will sit briefly before being whisked off to some far away place where the new owner lives. My brand new wacom tablet is waiting to be played with and understood.

I'm feeling a real sense of clarity about some things that I've been feeling pent up about for years. Like my website. A real honest-to-goodness website where my design portfolio will live. A place where I can confidently start to sell my services as a designer again. It feels really good to say that.

Seeing the light again is bringing about a flood of realizations. I realize that I need to shed some things. Do I really need a bricks and mortar antique booth and an etsy shop? Do I need to be in the vintage business at all? I'm realizing that my time management skills need a major tune-up too. I need to manage and manage well my current day job while building up my design business. And homeschooling. I've got nothing but improvements to make there.

I'm realizing that I have a passion for illustration. I always have. I'm giving myself permission to think of myself as an illustrator, to open myself up to opportunities to use that talent and passion.

I'm realizing that I've let myself take a big back seat to the people closest to me in my life. As a mother I think that's so innate. It's a good thing, in the right proportion. But I think mine has gone a little twisty at the ends. I've let myself go. I used to be incredibly fit. Not anymore. My clothing size has grown from single digits to double. I suddenly see very clearly that all these things have contributed to that dark little hole I'd crawled into.

So here I am. I'm singling out all the things that have contributed to the mess and cleaning them up. In some cases ridding myself of them entirely. If it was part of the problem then it's not part of the solution. I recognize that I've always righted-myself when life's knocked me over. But this time I feel like I need help. And no, I don't mean meds.

I need someone to help me redefine my focus and reset my goals. A coach perhaps? Maybe an organized way of connecting with others that share similar struggles? But what does that look like? Who is that coach? I started searching and about 10 minutes later I found Tara Gentile. You might know her as scoutiegirl. Her Art of Action program appears to have my name written all over it. I could probably be the poster child for it. I'm thrilled to say that I just signed up.

You've got to pop over and check it out. Her video intro is great. If you are struggling at all with who you are as an artist, where you want to go with your art or craft or feeling like you've gotten stuck in your own dark dungeon I recommend joining me in the Art of Action. I am excited about all the amazingly creative people that I'm going to meet and the breakthroughs that will be had. But most of all, I'm feeling grateful that God has helped me to see the light again.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

I wanted to share the first illustration created with my newly acquired Wacom Intuos graphics tablet. I drew him for a child's birthday invitation project.

I am itching to play with the tablet more. I love using the pen! No surprise there. It'll take some getting used to, but I can totally see myself bailing on my mouse to use the pen exclusively.

I'm excited (and hopeful) about the possibilities this media might open up for me.

Paris apron deadline extended

I'm so happy that Amy over at Angry Chicken has decided to extend the Tie One On Paris Apron deadline to the end of March. Yay! So. Very. Happy. February was a great -- but very busy and short -- month, so I was really sad-sacking around about not having my apron completed by months end. Thanks Amy, looking forward to getting my apron on (literally) in March!

Knitting lessons

I've wanted to learn how to knit for as long as I can remember. So the kids and I took knitting lessons at Orchardside Yarn Shop just before the holidays. It's a delightful little shop, nestled in one of the sweetest spots I've ever laid eyes on.

Carole, who's an incredibly talented knitter with many years of experience and even more patience, was our teacher. The kids each knitted a fuzzy winter hat. Sera really enjoyed the process. Blake decided about halfway through the project that knitting was not for him but it was a good lesson in finishing what you start. I decided on a felted tote for my first knitting project. I wanted something that required alot of stitches so that I could really burn the concept into my brain. This puppy was 96 stitches cast on, 50 rounds stockinette then 18 rounds reverse stockinette (purl), plus the two 27" straps. I worked with 2 strands of wool yarn which was a little confusing at times. I *love* felted wool so it was a pretty easy choice, plus I found out that felting would hide some of my mistakes. Nice.

As you can see in the photo above, the purse {before} looks like it was made for a giant. The felting process, which I did in the washing machine using hot water with the tote inside of a pillow case, brought it down to a nice size. I found the tactile nature of knitting and the repetitive moves very therapeutic. I can see how it could become addictive. I expect when I have a little more time to play that knitting and visits to the yarn shop will become a regular activity for me. At least I hope so. For now, I'm thinking about how to embellish this with some chocolate brown and moss green accents; or maybe grey wool felt. And thinking about what my next knitting project will be. :)

random: napkin art

apron in paris

Do you remember playing jump rope with friends? One friend would stand at each end of the rope, swinging it, and you were just waiting for the right moment to jump in? That's kind of how I've felt about this. I've been toying with the idea of joining in on one of Angry Chicken's tie one on apron challenges for a long time. I guess I just needed a theme that I could really get into. And what better theme is there than Paris? Okay, maybe chocolate, which btw would be a great theme too. So I'm jumping in! My sweet friend Heather over at bebeandalice has decided to take this on too which makes me oh-so happy since she's one of the coolest esty-ecofashionista's evah!

Pop on over to tie one on if you'd like to join in on the Parisian-inspired apron fun. Hrm, I'm wonder if I can write-off a little vacay to France for inspiration?

Happy Christmas

Wishing everyone a very blessed Christmas!

35% off Chronicle Books, ends soon!

I've had such a big response from my post about the Haul-iday Book Giveaway at Chronicle Books. Thank you so much for your great comments! I've got something to share with you...I just found this generous offer in my spam folder (yikes!) from Chronicle Books for myself and my blog readers. Because it sat in my spam folder for a week unnoticed, this discount is only good for 2 more days. But there's still time to save on some really amazing books - so enjoy!

35% off + free shipping until December 12th! 

 Use the code FRIENDS at checkout!
 
Go here for details:
 
http://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=1627c9e9784c03e22ee2caab0&id=3fc985d31f&e=af22934b88 <http://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=1627c9e9784c03e22ee2caab0&id=3fc985d31f&e=af22934b88> 

Happy Shopping!  :)

Big, juicy book giveaway at chroniclebooks.com

Has anyone ever called you a bookworm? How about craft geek or cookbook freak? I've been called all three (and a few other choice names too, but I digress). I do love new books *almost* as much as I love old ones. If you're a lover of books and awesome giveaways you'll LOVE this: Chronicle Books is giving away a mouth-wateringly generous $500 worth of books this holiday season to two extremely lucky winners. They will choose one blogger to receive their very own wishlist of hard and softbound goodness and one lucky reader/commenter from that blog will win them too!
Here's my wishlist for the haul-iday giveaway: books on quirky words,  daddy diy, crafting, family travel, urban farm cuisine, drawing journals and deep, dark chocolate; because of course, no list of mine is ever complete without the inclusion of chocolate.

They've got a unique selection for nearly every area of interest, including children's books, journals and stationery. So hop on over to Chronicle Books, check out their awesome selection and then pop back here and leave a comment. You know you want to.

A real page turner

Oak & Maple leaf garland made from repurposed vintage books

Page Turner paper sculptures made from repurposed vintage books

I have a thing for old books. I was at an estate auction this summer where I happened onto four boxes of castaway reads. This stack of lonely old books caught my attention. They clearly hadn't been touched in years. They were begging to be picked up, held tenderly and leafed through. And so I obliged. Perusing through them, I noticed these weren't particularly popular titles. They didn't contain noteworthy illustrations or interesting typography. The covers showed the scorch of sun damage and were quite dusty. I knew if they didn't sell they'd be carted off to the local dump. But these wouldn't draw much attention sitting on an antique store bookshelf I decided. So I made a deal with the whole lot: I'll buy all of you and take you home where I promise to handle each one of you to see what you contain from cover to cover. If I find anything particularly unique I'll put you up on etsy for adoption to a loving home; but if I don't, I promise to make you into something new - something that gets you noticed. Overwhelmed with emotion, the books remained quite silent which I of course took as a sign of humble agreement.

Wait a minute

Holiday projects are waiting to be conceived.

Wine, leftover from a recent dinner party, is waiting to be finished off.

Thrifted wool sweaters are waiting to be felted.

 

Good books and a comfy chair are waiting to be enjoyed.

It's all waiting on me. My attention. Oh how I wish I had the time to spend a full day at my sewing machine; plotting, stitching, making things happen. Time to photograph it all, blog about it, post it and hopefully, sell it! Or just some downtime, that would be sweet. Instead I am making other things happen. Helping a friend in need keep her business afloat while she recovers from some pretty serious surgeries. Stretching myself between everything and still trying to keep homeschooling our top priority. It's all good but it certainly is a different plan than I had for myself and for Liza Jane this fall. Someone told me once that man makes plans and God laughs. While I personally don't believe that God is cynical, I have experienced quite alot of derailment from my plans, especially lately. Seems to be the theme for 2010. My husband's motto is adapt and overcome. I'm trying. I remind myself that we are a homeschool family that works; not the other way around. Priorities in check it's about balancing today the best way we know how. Just like you do. Just like we all do. So tell me, what's waiting on you?

Lucky me

I was so excited when I saw that my new etsy shop was featured on bebeandalice this week. I hope you'll pop over to Heather's blog to show her some love. Heather runs her main etsy shop bebeandalice and the newly created go small, which features her line of adorable childrens goodies. I've got more vintage to destash and am working on some holiday handmade so I hope you'll visit Liza Jane often to see what's new, or what's old, depending on how you look at it.

Wordless Wednesday: Days of Summer

Introducing my etsy shop: Liza Jane

I finally did it! Liza Jane vintage, handmade & repurposed goods is now on etsy. It's been a long time coming and I'm so happy to finally have it launched. I expect I'll be a bit heavy on vintage at first because of my massive stockpile of lovely old things. I'll be adding more handmade, repurposed goods and seasonal crafts as I go. I'd really appreciate you popping over to favorite me and help me get the word out. I also have a fan page on Facebook. Please come on over and say hello!

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird

After the apron fiasco, it was time for me to take on a simpler project. I decided to repurpose the rest of the fabric from the thrifted skirts to make birds. I used this loverly pattern from spool, where it's offered "for personal use only, thank you." I kicked it up an oh-so-dreamy notch by adding lavender buds to the fiberfill. {sniff...melt} Now I'm working on creating my own pattern so that I can make some for resale. I plan to post my pattern and tutorial ~ for freesies ~ once it's ready. Because sharing is good.

Try, try again

Have I really only posted 7 times in the last 8 months? That's just lame. My life got really crazy for a while and chickaboom just didn't make my flaming hot to-do list.

But life has settled down and I'm settling into my wings again. I really want to thank all of my sweet friends and family for your support, love and friendship. To all my groovy readers, thanks for your patience and loyalty. You are all 10 kinds of awesome!

This week I dusted off my sewing machine and started into some long overdue projects. Ideas I've had brewing in my mind for months, or longer, are finally taking shape. It feels so good to dive into these new projects. At the same time, I see that I've got some obstacles to overcome where my technical sewing skills are concerned. I'm thinking I would really benefit from a basic sewing class where I can relearn all the foundational stuff. Right now my ideas far outweigh my skillset which is making the things I want to do really challenging.

For example, let's have a look at Exhibit A, the white & black floral apron you see above. It's a refashion project I've had in mind for months: a thrift store skirt I envisioned as a sassy little apron. It looks cute right? Well it's not that cute up close, trust me. The picture is hiding a multitude of sewing sins. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong while making this apron. When I was ripping out the left side seam, the fabric tore - and not just a little - we're talking about a 6" horizontal tear. While trying to stitch that up, my sewing machine ate the fabric and the only way I could free it was by cutting it again. Then I decided I would round the bottom edges a bit, except that I don't remember how to do that. At least not properly. So I fudged it. It's also not lined so it's more a rough prototype than anything. I attribute the attractive photo to my daughter's general cuteness, visible even when she's photographed from the waist down. :) The natural folds in the fabric do hide the mistakes pretty well. The bottom line is it's fine for her to wear around the house but I could never sell something this flawed.

So why am I confessing a #sewingfail when I am about to launch my etsy shop where I'll be selling hand-sewn items? Because I want to encourage anyone who has a dream to stick with it. Don't be afraid to step out and try something new. If you are willing to humble yourself and learn, you can succeed at anything you put your mind and your heart into. Don't sweat your mistakes, learn from them. Do what you love and keep trying. 

I've got ideas in my head for aprons and all sorts of refashioned designs. The next step for me is to learn the skills to make them happen. How? By finding someone who has those skills that is willing to teach them to me. In the meantime, I'll stick with simpler projects while I'm building my skills. I plan to take you along on this journey, after all we're all in this together right?  *wink*