WOOLLETTE // Handmade

Woollette—one of the many projects I conjured up while not blogging.

It started with a crocheted necklace I saw in a magazine. The result was almost braid-like and the texture was beautiful. But I dreamed of something bigger. Oversized scarves were on my must-haves list, so I combined my new discovery with the need for bulk. And the complements started rolling in. People seemed to love them! So I started selling. To friends and family and friends of friends. One lovely lady bought 10 to give as gifts to all her favorites. I even sold them at a boutique in Seattle.

Sales were great so I built myself a website and branded it and made a Lookbook... and then I forgot to promote it. I made sales through word of mouth and random links here and there, but nothing close to making up for the amount of time I spent tweaking my freaking html codes and adjusting css (did I mention I'm an amateur web designer? Yeah. My skills lie in much less codey things). I spent way too long tweaking stuff. And then I closed my shop anyway because I couldn't justify it.

Basically, all that to say I make these lovely scarves. I sell a fair number of them to people in the flesh (and goodness they love them), but they are also once again for sale on the web in the most easiest internet-y way possible—Etsy. Check them out if you are even a little bit interested and let me know if you are some sort of creative genius and want to do a swap! :P

I guess I've learned a little: 1. Friendsy (human to human) is the best way for me to do business. 2. Things don't need to be "official" to be a success. 3. I need to spend less time on things that don't matter (code and web perfection) and more time in the woods!

Have you been working on any creative projects?

Also, thank you to those of you who said hello! I'm so glad some of you still exist and I can't wait to catch up.

Howdy

Oh, hi. I'm not sure how many of you dear ol' interweb/blogging friends are still out there but I'd like you to be the first to know that I am making (attempting) a comeback.

It's been a long time (697-ish days) since I've last posted here and a lot has happened. I've moved, quit my job, traveled overseas, gone on a gazillion road trips, learned to grow my own garden and shoot a gun, joined Instagram and started selling handmade scarves (for sale here). I hope to get back into the swing of documenting like I used to and sharing my photos with the world via this blog.

We have a lot to catch up on, so I think my work will be cut out for me for a while. In addition, I've made some plans and goals that I am excited to share with you.

If you're still out there or if you've just landed here for some beautiful reason, please say hello!

*Photo of the fam taken by my sister at one of my most favorite places, Mount Rainier National Park

Craft Night // Bubble-Dyed Paper

Did you ever make bubble-dyed paper when you were little? It's really easy and definitely something anyone can do. I had a little craft night yesterday and made some... it was quite fun and I really love the textures and patterns that resulted.

All you need is:
Paper (the thicker the better - it warps)
Straws
Food coloring (or some sort of dye)
Dishwashing detergent
Water
Small bowls (to mix in)
Heavy stack of books (to keep the papers flat as they dry)

Mix coloring, a small amount of dishwashing detergent and a few spoons of water in a bowl. Use straw to blow mixture until you have a bowl full of bubbles. Scoop those bubbles onto your paper and watch the patterns arrive as the bubbles disappear. Repeat as necessary. Once the bubbles are gone and you're satisfied with your paper, stack a few books on top and leave them to dry.










Easy as pie. And so pretty to look at.

I'll be making them into cards to send to my dear friend over in Mito, Japan. She is alive and well, but many are not so lucky. I'm sure you've heard the news so I won't go into it, but please consider donating if you can.

Chilly Sunset Bike Rides

Guess what? Sunset bike rides are back!



One of my favorite things to do in the summer is ride bikes to watch the sunset over Puget Sound. I'm lucky to live in pedal distance from a major water-front golf course/park/trail area, so sunset viewing is perfectly accessible. At least when it's not raining (I live in the Pacific Northwest, remember?).

Anyway, the weather has been wonderful lately. And by wonderful I mean clear enough for sunset bike rides. It's still a bit cold, but I've been dying to get the cruisers out and pedal our chilly digits around the neighborhood. And so my lovely sister and I went for it.

I will admit that the cold did get to us, as we weren't properly clothed for the last-minute excursion. So we settled for pedaling only to the nearest overlook, which meant we had a fancy fence to look at... but it was still so very beautiful. :)

Can't wait for more chilly sunset bike rides soon (with added clothing layers of course!)










Do you like to ride bikes?

Hiatus

What happens when I go on a blogging hiatus for a few weeks?

Work, work and more work (dang deadlines!), calendar photo shoots, P90X workouts, two birthdays (I made a homemade cheesecake!), too much sleep, lack of sleep, snow (!), garden planning, MINI cruises, Tacoma/Seattle explorations, bike rides and home hair cuts (Jam's, not mine).

I still have a large number of photos waiting to be gone through... hopefully I'll be able to make some time soon and do that, so I don't fall too far behind. I love photos - taking them and sharing them - but falling behind creates massively messy archives on my computer, and after a while, any photo related task becomes daunting. We aren't going to go there!

Anyway, here are a few recent snaps.






What have you been up to?