currently

Oh dear, my blogging has been so quiet lately. It's not for lack of desire! Just no time. You know your blogging has been sporadic when your own sister asks how things are going "because the blog has been quiet". Ha! : )

I've thought about this blog a lot this year, and it's had quite the evolution over the almost decade (!) I've been doing it. I used to blog out of necessity - this need to do it. And while I still love blogging, it's definitely taken a back seat to WORK. And LIFE. And that is the way it should be. Anyone that blogs knows that blogging is A LOT of work. I had to redirect a lot of the effort I've put into this blog into "real" work, paid work. I think the desire to really contribute financially to my family really has started to kick in now that our kids are older and more self-sufficient. It's hard when they're little to get much accomplished, you know?

I've put a lot of my focus into Kitschy Digitals over the past year and I'm currently starting up a freelance graphic design business! Super, super excited about that. I'm working on my online portfolio so it's not "officially" out there yet, but I was contacted a month or two ago by someone interested in me designing a media kit for their business - so the ball started rolling faster than I anticipated, which I'm grateful for! I'm starting all my new design business at the beginning of 2014, so if you're in need of ANY design work (I'm open to anything!), drop me a note at thousandclowns AT gmail DOT com. I have 15 years of professional graphic design experience for print and web, and while I took a few years off to work solely on my own stuff (Kitschy Digitals, etc), I'm excited to start doing work for other clients again.

All that shop-talk aside, I've had lots of projects keeping me busy! We're having a Christmas party in early December and we've had pretty much 100% RSVP of everyone coming which never happens! So it's crunch time. We don't entertain very often at all, but I'm always glad when we do because it forces us to knock out house projects that we've been wanting to do for, um, YEARS. I've had some furniture I've wanted to paint and that's what I've been doing for the past couple weeks. Although, I think I over-committed to too MANY pieces to paint! Everything is turning peach and coral, and I'll be wallpapering one wall in our formal living room. Hoping I can pull that off without losing my mind! Luckily it's temporary self-adhesive wallpaper - no paste! You can see some of the pieces I'm painting in the photo above. The original chalk (?) drawing of the girl was at a favorite vintage store that I visited recently. I'm itching to go back and add her to my collection.

More fun with perler beads using a Japanese cross-stitch pattern book I found...

This weekend we rented a little log cabin outside of Sylva, NC in the Smokey Mountains. Gorgeous view and total relaxation - just what we needed. We rented a cabin around this time last year and I think we're going to try and do it every year. This time of year is so hectic, it's so nice to just get away from the house and spend quality time together, just the four of us. It has been so good for our family.

I crafted (made that little redhead at the beginning of the post!) the entire time, Ethan played guitar, we watched lots of shows and the boys were able to just cut loose. So much is expected of kiddos these days, at school... with sports... after school... it's so important for kids to just be able to be silly, wrestle, jump on the couch (!!), run around outside without any adults hounding them about what they need to be doing. No work, no obligations. We need moments of that as humans, don't we? We hardly left the cabin the entire weekend - and it was bliss.

I actually started prototyping my little felt doll in January of this year and had big plans to have a pattern drafted to sell in our shop not long after that! Gosh, time flies doesn't it? It's now November. Better late than never, right? I wasn't completely satisfied with her face design, so I did some tweaking and I'm liking it. Designing doll facial features is always a case of trial and error - you never really know what it's going to look like until you actually stitch it up and stuff the head. It's a lesson in subtlety for sure. I hope to have this pattern ready by the end of the month, not too late for Christmas gift making! I plan on designing several girl patterns (as well as some boys!), and clothing patterns. These dolls will be designed so that you can change out their clothes which I'm really excited about.

I know my blogging might be sporadic, but be sure to check back for some Christmas crafting and decor inspiration. I might not be an everyday-blogging-blogger, but I like to say this blog is quality over quantity. I'm not going anywhere. : )

P.S. Thank-you for all of the Catherine Deneuve movie recs! You guys are awesome!

(All pics taken on my Android - sometimes all you have is phone pics. Follow us over on Instagram to always be in the loop about new Kitschy Digitals products and other fun eye candy!)