It’s been several years since I wrote and posted here. Here is a quick crochet round up of what has been happening in the studio.
Crochet
The crochet studio is under a buying ban in an attempt to reduce my quite sizeable yarn stash. It’s been quite unorganized as I put it all in storage as drawing become more important.
Four crochet blankets, three crochet striped pillows, and five crochet tote bags in the past 9 months seems a like a huge amount of work. There has been no pattern writing, though there have been plenty of rough drafts written. Two of the crochet blankets were WIPs (works in progress that have been finished, finally!
It was time to see Matisse: In His Time this past weekend and it was incredible. Seeing over 100 works of art from various big name artists on the same day was exciting. Kuddoes to my art history teachers as it was surprising how much I remembered from the classes I took.
Chihuly’s glass to a Calder mobile to Matisse and Picasso, made the whole visit fun. Calder’s mobile was in a special exhibit downstairs of art held in private collections throughout Oklahoma. Please excuse my photography. Photography was allowed without flash and many of my photos are dark or too blurry to share.
This painting is by Matisse and the other by his friend Albert Marquet. The view is the the bridge Pont Saint-Michel. Matisse and Marquet shared a studio when they were young men. It is fun imagining them sitting side by side painting and sharing in the frustrations of putting what you see in your mind down on the canvas. There were a total of 50 works by Matisse and 50 by his contemporaries.
This is a Le Corbusier painting and one of my favorites of a man playing a guitar.
This week:
I have been busy working on tutorials, videos and new aprons for the consignment shop. The shop is located in downtown Jenks, Oklahoma, and opens on August 1.
Art is always a great inspiration. Inspiration hit for a new afghan that I can’t wait to show you. Yarn shopping is on my horizon first and then I will get started crocheting. Time is filling up with finishing up an afghan in browns and greys. Crocheting with a different color palette than I normally use gives my brain space and cleanses my color palette. There are some fun new patterns that are quick, easy and perfect for this Fall; in the works as well.
We took some time this week to go to the Monet exhibit at the Philbrook art museum in Tulsa.
It is a lovely museum with lovely grounds and gardens. It was a bit too warm to wander around the grounds on this visit. We  did get to see the Monet exhibit.
We were not allowed to take photos in the exhibit so the only photo I have of any Monet work is this one from the front entrance. His artwork is lovely and I really enjoyed how he worked with light. We also saw some Native American Pottery.
The pots on the bottom are easily 3-4 feet tall.
I hope that if you live in the are you will take the opportunity and go see the beautiful paintings by Monet. FYI kids 17 and under are free!
I have been working on this for several weeks now. The blues were relaxing and fun to work with. Here are some of the teaser photos that I have shared with you via Instagram and Facebook.
This is a photo of the lovely fringe! So textural and fun!I see this poncho with black skinny jeans and boots or a fun flirty skirt! This is the latest installment in my new line of ponchos/shawls. I love crocheting these wearable boho works of art! Each one is unique and you can be sure that there won’t be another just like it! It takes about two weeks of off and on work to reach the point where I can add the fringe.
I personally picked the yarn for this poncho. At the end of every row I ask myself which color or texture does it need next. It will be available in the http://www.chocolatedogstudio.etsy.com shop on Friday at 6 pm. I will never make another just like this one, when it is gone, it is truly gone.
Looking back at this challenge. I would say that it has helped me think outside the box. I had to get out of my comfort zone in my sewing and forced me to finish some mending projects. I finished a bunch of things in a short period of time. Â I forced myself to use what I had on hand to fill my shop. It was good for me as it pushed me to create new and different things. It was an incredibly freeing experience to
We also saw a wonderful exhibit of recycled items called Come on down by Lisa Hoke.
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This collage art was about 30 feet long and the colors covered all the colors in packaging that you see on your grocery store shelves. There was a video at the beginning that talked about how she created this art work. Â She worked in 2 or 3 foot sections to make it easier to work with. You could watch a time elapse of her putting the collage on the walls of the museum.
It is awesome incredible artwork full of life and color. She has friend and family save their recyclables for her. It is a great example of creating with what you have on hand.
You can see a panoramic photo of the installation on her website as well as her other collage work here:Â http://www.lisahoke.com/pages/newInstallations/74.html
I have been feeling overwhelmed lately. There just seems to be too much on my plate and not enough time. I remembered this email that my husband had forwarded to me and decided to take a look. It is from Michael Hyatt. He has experience and common sense. This year I decided that I needed to streamline my business and then I plunged into the 100 items in 100 days Challenge. I have been blogging and stressing about things to do ever since.
Here is Michael’s article:Â http://michaelhyatt.com/086-what-to-do-when-you-feel-overwhelmed-podcast.html
1. Decide that you need to make a change!
I do need to change some things. My schedule needs to be flexible and work with the ebb and flow of this retail business and my family life. I tend to get into ruts and many times say “No” when it should be “yes”. I have some natural built in things that keep me honest about energy and time usage. I need to say “Yes” to change!
What can I cut out of my business or home life? What can I do to change up what I am doing? I am working on some new spins on old items in my shop and some new things altogether. Can I organize things within our family that will allow me to be better organized overall?
3. Automate
I need to automate some parts of my business so that I don’t have to make decisions about little time consuming details. I need to blog and create weeks or months in advance and then decide when I am going to release different  articles.
4. Delegate
I need to plan meals, cleaning and other activities that take me out of the house and away from studio productivity. My family helps all the time so delegating more to them is not possible.
5. Three high payoff activities
These three things save me the most time or pay me the most money for my time ; creating new items, writing crochet patterns, blogs and tutorials, planning everything from grocery lists and menus, to vacation days and business ideas.
6. Productivity Sinkholes
I know that these eat my productivity; leaving the house and studio disorganized, spending too much time on the internet or watching tv, not following through on a task, starting more than I can finish in one sitting when sewing, being afraid of success or failure.
I need to plan when to sit down and sew for extended periods of time. Schedule it in on my calendar. I have already scheduled basic household maintenance things like changing the heat pump filters. It is helping me to remember to do the small things that save money.
I’m not really ready for a paid virtual assistant but I can work on using all the tools available on the computer and phone to help me keep track of expenses and mileage.
I hope all this thinking helps out. I have the beginnings of a plan and now I need to implement it one step at a time.
I finished up these pot holders and coffee press cozies this week. The pot holders have two layers of batting in the middle to keep your hands nice and cool. There is coordinating fabric on the back that I pulled from my supplies and the front is quilted from fabric I had as well.
Here is # 92
#93
#94 and 95
They turned out really nice and I love the thick potholders. I also finished up these coffee cozies using the supplies I had on hand.
#96
#97
#98
#99
#100
There we go 100 items in 100 days! I am so excited about being finished. I have a bunch of new items on the horizon. I did use up a bunch of supplies and it did stretch my creativity. I had fun and finished up a bunch of projects quickly as I was motivated to be able to buy some new fabric! I still have about four projects that are unfinished that I have started during the challenge time and I may continue counting them toward the challenge. I did have to breakdown and buy some new supplies towards the end of the challenge. If I hadn’t started the challenge I would not have been ready for the opportunity that came my way at Java Dave’s! Â I have a ton of things cut out, ready and waiting for me to sew.
Here are the other brooches that I have been working on.
Some Kandinsky inspired circle brooches.Â
And some Spring Tulips!
This is #71 – 76.
They were fun to make and something new for the shop. I still have a ton of felt left, though the bead supply is getting low. I started the challenge with this.
So, I am using up my bead supply with these pins. It is hard to imagine that I am only 24 items from being finished with the challenge. I started on January 17 and it is only March 17 now. Â So if you count the days;15 days in January, 28 days in February, and 16 days in March, for a total of 59 days! I am super motivated as I really need to buy some critical supplies for the shop! : )
It has been awhile since I posted in my 100 items in 100 days. I have been working on it nearly every day. I have just not had time to post photos of my work. It will be another couple days until I can sit down and take some great photos. It has also been overcast and cloudy, which makes for drab and dull photos. I will leave you with these quick pictures I took of some embroidery hoops I am working on. I am in the process of using up these embroidery hoops. As you can see there are so very many that need to be used!
So these would numbers 49 and 50, which makes me half way there and on the downhill slope of the Challenge. I never thought I would be able to get this far but this is working out quite well! I have been forced to think outside the box and work on bit and small projects for my shop! It has been exciting to sit down and sew everyday. Â I have made about 10 or more items that I need to photograph so I can show you.
