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