Using My Muscle

When I was in college, I took a philosophy class for a humanities requirement. One week our topic of discussion was sleep. I don't remember a single bit of what was being discussed, but I remember trying to sleep later that night...just about to drift off...my mind asked the question "what IS sleep?" and then there was no sleep, only thinking about sleep...

This is one of those nights. We are traveling and doing all that is involved in getting to our destination. Our flight is early. My potential sleep hours are few. But my mind asks, "what about that invitation design?" (which, by the way is a custom project that I'm working on). And then there's no sleep, only thinking about a design...

So I get up and write down these thoughts. 

Creativity is a muscle. I'm convinced of it. But it doesn't atrophy from non-use. It lies there, tapping it's foot, waiting to be remembered and used. 

...Even if it's 2:00 in the morning and my alarm is already set for a 3:35 (3:30 seemed too harsh) wake-up call. 

Christmas and its creating is over. The three trees have been taken to the local recycling pile, the ornaments and vintage nutcrackers have been put away, and the giant, long-dreamed of but poorly-thought-out tent for my GrandBoys has found a for-now home where it can be enjoyed and squishing one's body sideways to get past isn't necessary. Honestly, I knew "how large" but I just didn't realize "how large". Honestly.

There's the collective sigh, that comes with Christmas clean-up. Things back in their places energizes me. It relaxes me. It frees up head-space that can be used for other things. Dreams. Thoughts. Then,

Oh, hello creativity and vintage-carnival project! I've missed you! 

My shop is closed for a few days while we visit some of our Dearests. I'll do some inventory revamping when I return. I'll toss some listings and create some others. I'll get my vintage books and scissors and glue sticks and inspiration boards back into action. 

I'm on vacation. 

But my creativity isn't. Thankfully.

Time For...

I'm an Empty Nester. More accurately, I'm an Unwilling Empty Nester, but, that's a story for a different time and place...

One of my favorite things about having Grown Children is my Grandchildren. I both excel and stink at being a GrandMother. It's the hardest and the best thing I've ever done. So many highlights and stories and memories so far, (and the oldest is only five!), so I'll know I'll have volumes-full in no time. Anywho...

I'm enjoying my Christmas preparations, as I always do, but I'm enjoying the timing of my to-dos this year a bit more than ever...decisions made, decoration-happy, cards out with just the right stamps, things like that...and I'm having time to do the things that I'd always wished I'd had time to do. This weekend we took our Eldest GrandBoys to view a new local light display and a drive-through at that. We weren't sure what to expect but thought we'd give it a go. Our 5 year-old was a bit grumpy, actually he said he would close his eyes as he didn't want to look at lights at all, but would rather stay at Munny's house (that's me, and my house, and his "place"), and our 3 year-old fell asleep on the way there...

But when we began our tour...the language changed. The talking, oh, the talking!

"That's my favorite color!"

"Munny, what's your favorite color?" "Where's Santa?" "Are we going to see Santa?" (Santa is new to them this year, long story... We prefer the Christmas Platypus, longer story.)

"We have to draw this when we get to Munny's house!"

"Are we going to see Santa?"

"Don't sing, Munny."

"That's my favorite light!"

"Munny, I said don't sing."

Then we left with toy laser guns (longest story...) and went to share pizza.

As I was straightening this morning, I saw this...

It began as a drawing of the lights, but ended up being a depiction of Rudolph and Bumble...

As did 3 year-old brother's, just with lots of purple...

Also, the Abominable's features I had to draw, as I'm given many assignments and they are my biggest fans, they like my drawing skills. However, they take great exception to my singing.

I tell you all of that cause I love those stories. Also, to simply say this...

In whatever form this season of preparation comes for you, I hope you find your own "Time For"...

A Baby Black Dog Version of Envelope-Lining (yes, it's a verb!)

My "how-to" posts are really more like "you could do this" posts and this one is no exception... Think of them as encouragement, really.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of paper-things: note cards, envelopes, journals, wrapping and the like. My first real job was in the stationery department of Neiman-Marcus where I learned to appreciate all the above. I vividly recall marbled papers from Italy and the Crane's paper line and engraved wedding invitations. And the materials we used when packaging a purchase...lovely tissue and Neiman's gold seals. And our shopping bags were of the most beautiful glossy and heavyweight paper.

My tastes were developed during those days, and over the years, through exposure and education, I've come up with my own must-haves with paper products.

One of those have-tos is lined envelopes. I love those. The wilder the better, but must always suit the occasion. I began lining them awhile back, for when the perfect card and/or envelope didn't come with its own.

Templates are too much trouble for me, like reading directions on a new toy, so I basically follow these simple steps...

Card stock works best, but the perfect vintage sheet paper or a bit of gift wrap will do, they just require a little extra patience in the gluing and cutting process.

I lay my open envelope on the backside of my paper and trace. (PS, I just use enough to cover the part that can be seen when open. I used to line the whole front but found it unnecessary...) Cut out the shape while shaving off just a bit from the sides. Use a glue stick and run it across the top edge and just a smidge down the sides. Place the glued-piece inside the flap, just under the envelope-adhesive, and press. Let it dry and give it a good crease so it closes easily. 

These are our Christmas card envelopes. I used the plain white ones that came with our card order. Also, I added this...

with a Sharpie cause I'm fancy. And I used green ink on our return address (done with a wooden-handled stamp, of course) cause I think too-much is just-right sometimes...

Also, I love that Rudolph is a "thing" this year. He and his friends look perfect on Christmas mail.

Happy How-toing to you this season!

Thoughtfulness and The Ensuing Celebration

My cousin, Brenda, is one of my favorite people. She's still just the way I remember her as a sweet teenager that loved my grandma (Ma) as much as me except now she's this graceful-grandmother who sets a wonderful example for me and others....

The other day and out-of the blue, she sent me a piece of fabric...

...with a note, "thought of you when I saw this and can't wait to see what you do with it". What a sweet gesture, as being thought-of by lovely-people is almost my favorite activity in all the world.

So, I took her thoughtfulness as a challenge and thought I'd write this post to share with you what I did...

I began by playing around with drawstring bags, as I'd been wanting to try some polka-dotting with them. I used black paint, made some ribbon (torn, of course) from the inspiration-fabric and attached them to the bag with needle and thread...

...ya know, like sewing.

The bags looked like real party favors, so a plan and a theme was born.

The images on the fabric, along with my "advanced" needlework skills, some old sewing patterns, and my fondness for chocolates & the like, blended so nicely together that I decided a "You're Just Sew Sweet" party was a perfect fit.

I used a brown Kraft paper runner and laid the pattern pieces randomly over the top...then set a table for five, using my old and very-inexpensive mismatched china...

I made corsages from brown coffee filters, tied them with fabric ribbon and set them on drinking glasses.

I used a black metal tiered-basket and some large glass jars (that I bought for a wedding Candy Bar my mom and I put together a couple of years ago that maybe I'll share on this blog one day) as the centerpieces and filled them with black and red "sweets"...red gumballs, Hostess cupcakes and Little Debbies...

..and a tall glass for holding red & black paper straws, oh, and some Twizzlers...

The table looked fun.

So, since a party can't REALLY exist without invitations, I fashioned some from sewing-stuff I had here & there, attaching hand-written "instructions" made of vintage adding machine paper to them...

...and put them in red striped boxes to send to 4 of my closest friends...

...then I also asked Elderly Jack Russell to join us, even though she eats with her mouth open...

All the guests were lovely and gracious, that is until the sweets had been devoured and Mr. Fox wore his corsage as a hat...

...and we began to take silly pictures with one another...

But then again, it's not REALLY a party till someone puts their hand in a candy jar and puts rabbit-ears on Momma Bear...

...and one of the guests falls asleep on the floor. Or sumpin like that.

I think we all kept the spirit of the gifted-fabric going by being Just Sew Sweet to each other and celebrating the thoughtfulness of a Dear.

I'm thinking that I may add a few of the pieces from this fete to my Little Etsy shop, which you can find at BabyBlackDog.Etsy.com, you know, in case you need a spark and a favor-bag to create your own celebration with those who are Just Sew Sweet in your life...

Creativity, Silly Pressures and Whatnots...

I've been thinking about creativity...mostly how I've not been being creative as of late. You know, not been-being busy with projects and my Etsy shop and what-not... Basically, I've made being creative a thing on my to-do list, as we so often do with things that we love... And that kind of thinking quickly turns in to thought of "I stink at being an Etsy-shop-keeper it haven't listed a single new item", or, "I could never be a legitimate blogger because _____(fill in the blank on that one)!"...

But instead, why isn't this my default setting: "Wow. I have really cool business cards (cause, I do!)"...or, "I actually have an Etsy shop! And it's filled with things that I created! (Cause, it is!)"...

I've been busy lately. Really busy. There's dogs to talk to & to walk...

there's friends to see...

...there's friends to miss, there's been too-much friend-missing, but that's another story for another time... 

And there's these Little People...

that I love and love being with...

Not to mention all the dancing. There's been so much dancing! Yes, there are pics but that's part of another story for another time, as most good stories are...

So I got to thinking about silly-pressures I put on myself. And don't look at me in that tone-of-voice, you put silly-pressures on yourself, too... I think I'm going to change that. From now on, everytime I think of how long it's been since I blogged or added to my Etsy shop, I'm going to think instead... "I got to spend the weekend with my GrandBoys (cause I did!)", or, "I'm going to see my GrandGirl in a few days (cause I am!), or, I made a cute gift basket for my friends who visited (cause I did!), or one of a hundred non-tangibles things that I thought, did or put together...

My personal-challenge in the past year or so was to put myself out there. To not be afraid of whatever it was that I thought might happen if I failed. To stop thinking what I wanted was just for other people. To start thinking, "why not me?". I really like thinking that. So I've done that. I'm doing that.

I read a quote from famous artist a bit ago, "Be good at what you do. If the universe needs something from you, it will find you"...or sumpin like that. In a world of social media and marketing strategies and business plans, have we forgotten to simply be good at what we do?

Your path might not include creativity or blogging or Etsy-ing, but it includes something. Go do that thing. Be good at doing it and I'll do the same...

If you need me, I'll be at Babyblackdog.etsy.com

Memory Boxes, How-Tos and Whatnot

I got a request from a potential customer for a gift for a baby girl, I'd had a project in my mind for a bit, something I'd been wanting to try, I told her the idea, she loved it, so I created it... It was fun, simple-well, not simple-simple, but Kim Marshall-simple, so I thought I'd share it with you, ya know, in case my thoughts could spark your thoughts, or, maybe you'd need to order one from Baby Black Dog...

I'd heard of Memory Boxes for new mommies, ways they could collect and/or store snippets of memories, either until they had time to work on their Baby Books, or, for keeping special items that might not fit in a Book. I think it's a lovely idea, cause, in this stage of my life, my biggest "want" is to encourage young parents to cherish these moments, see times, even trying ones, with a different perspective, knowing that they won't last forever, and, before they know it, their baby will be a DADDY living four hours away from you...but, I digress as I often do...

I found the most beautiful box at Target. It was a gift box but sturdy and perfectly suited for my Memory Box...

...and since this was a gift for a modern mommy of a baby girl, I loved the colors and patterns.

Then I set out filling my Box.

I have quite a collection of bags and envelopes of all shapes, materials and sizes. I'm drawn to them and most things made of paper. I think it stems back to my first job, working in the stationery department of Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Texas. I learned about fine papers and invitations and Waterman pens and gift wrap. I think that knowledge and appreciation has stuck with me all these years. But, back to my how-to... I gathered an assortment of pretty things with which to collect...

...and put them in a muslin drawstring bag (one of my current favorite "things"), with a pretty tag of explanation. Oh, the tags! I love them...

I have an assortment of paper punchers, and I used an especially perfect one to create some tags for categorizing and labeling...

...I used pretty, textured papers and put them in a sweet glassine bag, and tied on a tag for 'splainin with a piece of pink baker's twine (another current favorite thing).

I also made some tags out of chevron papers to match some chevron bags I'd collected...

...added some of the twine and placed them in a bag. Then closed it with some graphic washi tape, isn't it just too-too?

I added some pretty ribbon...some black and white striped grosgrain and, of course, some soft pink torn fabric ribbon, of which I'm very fond...

No celebration (and that's what it is, you know...an Everyday Collecting Memories and Taking Care of Your Family is...it's a celebration!) would be complete without confetti. So I added a sweet bag of confetti, in coordinating colors, of course...

...and there's that tape again! Love that.

I added one of my handmade paper corsages, just for extra sweetness, and put it in a muslin drawstring bag with a "what for?" tag...

I also added a hand-written note of how to use the Box, and placed it at the top of the package...

I used lots of pink shreds and tied everything up with the black&white ribbon...

I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and I think it will make a lovely and thoughtful gift. You may have someone in mind for one yourself. Use my thoughts to spur your own. Or. I've put one together for sale in my Little Shop. You can find it here...just in case...

A Custom Book Project

So, I have this Little Shop that I kinda like. This. I've been tweaking it and the way I think about it a bit...

Several weeks ago, my very-supportive and visionary friend asked me if I (and my Little Shop) would take on a special order, that she wanted me to create a Baby Book for someone special. I told her I'd look into it and began poking around...

The Baby Books of my own children are still unfinished (my youngest son is 26), but gave me some "don't do that" ideas. I read blogs for the takes from different mothers about wants and wishes with their current Baby Books. I looked in brick and mortar shops to see what was offered. I looked at websites to see what was popular.

I have to admit. I don't do well with comparisons. I always find something I prefer in someone else's work. But, in the Search for Baby Books, I began to gather my own ideas and liked the way I was heading. So I continued down that road...

The biggest challenge was how I was going to bind the book so I talked to a couple of local printers, seeing just what was available, thinking I would create the Book from scratch. But one day, I stumbled upon a Book in a favorite shop: a small, 3-ring binder Baby Book. A perfect solution for the way I was thinking...the pages could be added or changed as desired, so that I didn't have to make chronological decisions for this new Mommy and her wishes for how to keep track of these memories. 

I remembered that Target has the cutest little notebooks, small 3-ring binders. Really, Target has the cutest of a lot of things! They were the perfect size, about 6x9", just right for some thoughts and a photo or two.

Instead of many wordy pages, I made journaling prompts...

...on pretty shapes of cardstock. Things that could spark a way to capture a memory (your room, your first haircut, your arrival, etc) and could be easily adhered to a page, then I edged them in gold ink, just because. I also made some fill-in-the-blanks pages...

...for keeping track of weight and such...

I made pages from pretty sheets of cardstock and from watercolor papers. I made some pages from illustrations I'd cut from really old cards and Little Golden books...

...thinking a photo could be displayed on them.

I made some special occasion pages, too, like a First Birthday page...

...a page for Shower Memories...

...and, maybe my favorite, an "I'm Here" page, complete with a bag of confetti...

...and a fold-out for Birth Information.

I used the computer for some things, but mostly I hand-lettered everything using a gold Sharpie.

I put the journal-prompts, along with some pretty tags, glassine envelopes and sheets of sticky-dots for adhering, in a big vellum envelope, used pretty paper brads & bakers twine for closure and attached the whole envelope to the inside back cover. This way, everything this New Mommy will need to work on her book will be on-hand...

The Book cover was of the perfect colors-pink, peach, gold and minty-green, so I just tied a pretty ribbon around the cover...

 ...added a name plate to the inside, and packaged some extra pages...

...to go along in the gift.

This Book became the perfect combination of gathered-thoughts plus my own way of doing things. Oh, and a pretty binder from Target.

Use my thoughts to spark your own creativity, or, I could help you with that... This one is already sold, but I'd love to create one for your Special Occasion (think: babies, weddings, engagements!). Message me, we'll talk. Here.

Categories, Dreams and Life

I don't really fancy this to be a do-it-yourself blog. Mostly because there's a category of those and I don't want to try to compete or fit-in. Instead, I want it to be a be-yourself blog. There's no competition for any of us with that.

I wanted to begin by saying that.

To remind you and me that we don't have to fit into a single category. Let's make & be our own category...

So, this morning, I'm having an epiphany of sorts as I've allowed myself to dream. 

A big, scary personal dream.

I think the word "dream" has always bothered me a bit. Overused. Misused. Others made to suffer for our pursuit of said-dreams. But I think mostly what bugs me is that we treat "dreams" as though they're off in the distance. They're elsewhere and we have to chase them far and fast. And for me personally, I was too busy living a dreamy life. My life with my family, my home, my dogs, my friends...I've always been contented with my life. A perfect life? Ummm, NO! Far from perfect. Let me clarify that. Do I now or have I ever had a PERFECT life? NO! But, are dreams always perfect? I don't think so. I used to dream I could fly like a bird...but my dream-friends thought I looked weird, so...

But, for the past few months (while I've been living and helping and loving and working and...) I've been pursuing my own personal dreams. Mine. For me... This blog is part of that dream. My Etsy shop is part of that dream.

I say all that to say this to you: Dream. Hold tight and pursue your dreams. Don't let your dreams die in a sea of self-doubt. But, while you pursue those dreams, remember to LIVE the dream. My good friend, Aaron, replies something like that when asked "How are you?". So, I'm passing it on to you...

This morning I admitted a scary, big dream that I plan to pursue this next year, maybe I'll tell you about it one day. It was a big deal. Made me feel strange and elated and hopeful.

But.

I also brushed my teeth. And drank coffee. And thought about my children. And walked my dogs. 

And on our walk I found this...

...right outside my house.

And my beautiful Labrador found a baby pine tree and it was a magical scene.

And I noticed the wisteria were fully-and-fragrantly blooming, so I took a picture...

And I found this in my own ill-tended-to-but-much-appreciated yard...

My everyday life. Yes. My dream life. 

So, Dear Friends, this is my challenge and my well-worn-advice to you...

Keep dreaming. Go after those dreams. Don't be talked out of them. Keep them. Treasure them.

But also, don't forget... Go live the dream.