Saturday, June 29, 2013

Spacefem's Big Etsy Contest and Pomegranate and Puce's New Adventure



I've been playing around and getting on twitter more lately (Follow me @myvioleteyes), and have found a cool thing! Each day, Spacefem's Big Etsy Contest pulls newish items/newish shops to feature, in a "who's hotter" type fashion. Two items pop up. Click your fave, and that's it! Wash, rinse, repeat!



I think its an interesting story-she says she started the site to feature items that have "fallen under the great Etsy radar." I've sold on Etsy for many years, or at least had an account at all times for 7 (yikes!) years, and have managed to consistently feel like I'm falling under the radar. 

Do you feel the same way? 
Then SIGN UP

Its free-and we all like free promotion...

Now, let's face that falling under the radar problem together. A group of cohesive products seem to help that. Sooooo Guess What! I'm going to be putting together a line of QUILTING products. Stay tuned for a fun new future for Pomegranate and Puce!

The first item in the line up, is a tutorial with my secrets to How to Make a Wholecloth Art Quilt

How to Make a Wholecloth Art Quilt

Now, this one pictured is not wholecloth but its such a pretty picture, I just had to use it-and you've got to start your fiber art journey somewhere. Wholecloth is a great place to start. In fact, only one technique not mentioned in the tutorial is used to create this quiltie, raw edge applique!

My next tutorial will cover my method for raw edge applique in detail!


Thursday, June 27, 2013

Creativity Series: Why write?

I ran across an interesting quote in a podcast today, that has really made me think. First, the quote, then, my thoughts!


"There is no one-to-one [correlation] to 

the things you make and who 'you' are." 

Fizzle



I define myself by what I make, and I need to rethink this process. As a creative "maker" type person, it is easy to use what you produce as the essence of who you perceive yourself to be, but in reality, I am who I am regardless of what I make

If someone were to see a piece or collection of my work, they would be no closer to knowing "me" than had they not. This is something, however, that I do want to change-and that change will begin with my writing. So, in order to write more authentically, I need to take a moment to catalogue who I am, my values and belief systems, and how this impacts what I write. Almost more importantly, I need to explore why I write what I write.

Creativity is a subject near and dear to my heart. Creative is the essence of who I am. Helping others reach the point where they can feel creatively fulfilled is one of my passions. This is why I am writing the Creativity Series to begin with. I feel like others can see my journeys into the idea of creativity, and what it means to me, and start to explore their own creative selves.




Friday, June 21, 2013

Creativity Series: 5 Ways to stay Motivated

If you've been a reader of this blog for a while, you'll notice a common thread lately. I'm lacking in motivation! Today I'm feeling a bit more active and wanted to create a post for both you and I to reference during those times that "working" just seems too hard.

1) Consider your Goal(s)
Goal setting is an important skill, one that I have been putting to the side lately. Well, its time to get out those markers and make some signage for my office! I need to stay constantly reminded of my goals, in order to keep things ticking along as they should. Its time to make some concrete goals (with deadlines) and keep those in mind on days when I'd rather stare at the wall.


2) Just do it/Small Steps
Nike had something with this slogan, its gotten me through many a tough passages in my life. Sometimes, you just have to get in there and get your hands dirty. It doesn't matter what is created, as long as its something that can, even abstractly, be related to your goals. Small steps is often how I get this accomplished. For example, I have been having trouble "getting going" on a quiltie. I broke it down, literally into steps as small as "clip thread, thread needle" then take a break and walk around a bit, then "tie knot, make one stitch" was the next. Somewhere in the repetitive "take 5 stitches" step, I got going on it and haven't gotten blocked again.


3) No Fear
Another slogan, I miss the tees with this emblazoned all over. Fear is something that gets me down quite frequently. Its as often fear of success as it is fear of failure. Consider your goals, what happens when you reach a goal? Do you celebrate and take some time off, or do you jump right in on a new project, perhaps stemming from what was just completed, and take time off another day? Knowing how you handle completed goals is as important as completing the goal itself. Next time you complete something, do the opposite of your norm, and see how it affects your productivity!

4) Research
Ahh, an excuse to surf the web, or go to the library, or people watch. All those guilty pleasures in one tiny step. Research and learning are the backbones to creating fresh work and having a fresh life, no matter the topic at hand it is crucial to always be learning. Something I plan to research next is "hand washing dishes" for several reasons. 1) I want to be the most effective in this, as food poisoning is one of those things I don't enjoy. 2) I need an excuse to make/buy dishcloths, sponges get too dirty (or do they? Must research cleaning sponges) and 3) I don't want to do the dishes, but I might just get motivated if I find a new technique.


5) Play
Play. It seems so simple-but to me, this is the most important way that I stay motivated. Just all pressure off PLAY. This is how I started with my quiltie project. I wanted to experiment with freeform embroidery but I didn't expect anything to come of it, I very much enjoyed stitching trite little pictures that someone else had drawn. BOY WAS I WRONG. Freeforming it is a completely different medium! And that has led to incorporating fabric, and quilting, and making some of the best work I've made in my life. Goes to show, kids have it right when they just want to play!


What is your favorite way to stay motivated? Does it tie into any of mine? What is one step that you could take today to get closer to your goals?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Making it

Too many ideas, not enough time to make it.

Isn't this every artist's conundrum? At least at some point or another? There is also the converse that happens.

Too much time, not enough ideas to make it.

This one I hate more. Right now I seem to be waffling between one extreme and the other. I'm on a supply "diet" and not purchasing anything new right now, so I'm working with what I have, which I have plenty and that's not the issue. I want to make a chevron maxi dress, and a print skirt, I want to dye cotton fabric and make tutorials for fabulous things on my blog. What fabulous things do I want to make, you ask-dear reader? I have no idea. But fabulous none the less.

I also want to do hand work, like quilting etc, and just spend the time relaxing. I have a quiltie going right now that will be totally fabulous. Very excited about it, but can't seem to get going on the quilting part of it. No idea why, maybe because that is a somewhat less showy part of the work. Though the quilting will "make it" so wonderful.