Creativity

I came upon this article on creativity via True Up. A bit long, but definitely worth it for all you creatives out there. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

"The more interesting and diverse the things and the people around you, the more interesting your own ideas become."

"..failure actually stimulates creativity directly."

"..you’ve got to capture now and evaluate later. A big mistake people make is to start visualizing the criticism or the feedback while they’re still generating."

The last two really speak to me since I'm a perfectionist and hesitate to try new things for fear of failure. I've been working on being okay with failing and simply taking it as an opportunity to learn and to grow. One thing I learned in one of my graphic design classes is to sketch out ideas and to not cross them off, but to just move quickly from one idea to the next. Even now I tend to pre-reject ideas in my head rather than just jotting it down. There's definitely value in just getting it all down in my sketchbook, even if I'm crinkling my nose as I do it. I want to get better at doodling in my sketchbook.



Also, I just received this beautiful print from Seasprayblue! I've been eyeing it for a long time and finally decided just to get it. I love the little drawings on the wrapping.

New summer hat

I've been looking for a floppy hat since last summer, and wanted something that would be comfortable and easy to match. This hat at Anthropolgie was perfect and the gift card I had was more than enough. I love the wooden buttons on the side, and since it's cotton I can just fold it up and stuff it in my bag.



This weekend I finally gave a friend her belated birthday gift. I really love how the yellow string looks against this brown paper package.

A good weekend

This weekend I made guacamole for my dad...



... and visited a friend who patiently waited while I snapped multiple shots of the numbers on her door. I like metal numbers on wooden doors. I'm not sure why.



.. and went to an orchid nursery in Pacifica, where I saw many things that caught my eye besides orchids.

More Lotta

Just popping in to share with you guys this neat little Etsy video featuring Lotta Jansdotter. Enjoy!

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Just added these to the shop!

I love Target

Over the weekend I saw a dress on sale at Target for only $7. I liked the cut and the fabric, but it was really long - about mid-calf - which made it look a bit stuffy. It seemed like an easy fix and $7 is just too good to pass up. So I took it home, hemmed it, and took the sides in a bit at the bottom since it was sticking out and forming a very stiff triangle. It also had a sash that was strung through 2 loops on either side. It was a bit unruly so I cut off the loops and sewed the sash to the front of the dress to keep it in place. And now I have me a new summer dress!

Printing with Lotta

Lotta's printing party up in the city was so much fun. I tried not to get too worked up on the idea that not only was I in the same room with my favorite designer, but she actually TALKED to me (only for 5 seconds, but still!). Of course I stayed cool on the outside, but inside I nearly died of excitement. Basically there was a big table with chairs all around and blank squares of white linen and everything you needed for printing with potatoes, stencils, and lino blocks -- all pre-cut and ready to go. Lotta was super duper nice and went around the table to help people out and give tips and just make sure everyone was having fun. I did end up bringing 2 slices of lotus root which others seemed to enjoy printing with as well.

Here's Lotta and the very amateur print I made at the party using my lotus root slices, a stencil out of Lotta's book, and a linoblock she provided.




We had dinner afterwards at B Star, where we had these great lotus chips (yes, a very lotus-y day it was). We also walked around Hayes Valley where I enjoyed plenty of eye candy at Lavish, Fiddlesticks, and Cotton Sheep. I love bringing back little paper souvenirs.

Gift tags for the shop

I added some gift tags to the shop today. I love having these around (along with some kraft bags and tissue) when I need to wrap something quick.





Oh, and I'm going to Lotta's printing party in San Francisco this Saturday! I can't wait. I wonder if they'll let me print with these.

A Merry Mishap

A Merry Mishap is a beautiful new design blog that I recently discovered. I love how clean everything looks, and in addition to her amazing finds, Jennifer's got that DIY spirit in her. Check out her grocery tote! I love it.

So imagine how flattered I was when she asked me to guest blog for a day! Guest blog I did and boy was it fun. Thanks so much for this great opportunity, Jen!