Suzanna's Belly

I'm so excited to have the opportunity to photograph my friend Suzanna tomorrow. This is my first maternity shoot, and just a month from her due date, Suzanna's belly is beautiful. And to make things more perfect -- yes, it gets better -- we're going to have the entire Red Lodge School of Dance studio to ourselves. On the second floor, with great big windows, the light will be enchanting. I'll post a photo or two when I'm done.

Oh, and by the way, I did get my website going and gave my procrastinating self a deadline of Jan. 1. It's already been a lot of work, but I'm so excited to have this project underway. I'm using a template from BluDomain, a Denver company that specializes in serving creative professionals. The crew there have been awesome to work with. Can't wait for you to see it.

diving in

Lately, deadlines have been light and commitments have been few, so I've finally been tackling a few long put-off projects. Getting a website for my freelance writing and photography tops the list, but I have to admit I'm overwhelmed like never before.
I've been working as a freelance writer full-time for a year and a half, and, other than this little blog, have no World Wide Web presence. I hear everywhere that it's important for a freelancer to have a website.
I'm overwhelmed on two fronts. First, there's the idea of building my own site, or working with a template. How? And with so many options out there, just checking out my options has already sucked away countless hours, choosing one, I'm afraid, will take even longer. Then, there's the idea of defining myself. I don't know if I'm ready to sum myself up in a few kitchy paragraphs. It simply makes me feel as if I haven't done enough.
But this I know: no matter my shortcomings, deadlines work for me. Without them, I would most certainly be starving. So, today, I've given myself a deadline. Sunday by midnight, I've got to have a web presence. Wish me luck!

I'm in Love!!!

Long time coming

 The obsession will not end... I am still caught up in the grip of the clutches.  I have a seemingly simple pattern that I want to design but perfection eludes me.  Not that I don't have enough plates spinning right now I get stumped by a simple pattern for a fabled clutch, that I have promised to make, yet have not gotten the dimensions and tension figured out yet.  If I were to describe the process of pattern making when it comes to a small nine inch crescent shaped purse frame one word comes to mind... Unforgiving.  The tolerances are tricky, too tight and the clutch only holds one coin, too loose and you have folds of fabric that clearly display your mistake.  To say the least each and every one of my clutches has taken some time, passion, and design.  The process of knitting/ crocheting a clutch began in December of 2008.  I made a small knit/ crochet clutch for my sister Jill.  With much thought and design I came up with this small beauty, adorned by a vintage broach from my grandmother's collection.  See all the design details here.

  

I return to the thoughts of that simple design often and wonder if it should be revisited?  I still love it and vowed to make identical one for myself, yet I am hemmed in by this elusive new design! 

Fall back

Watercolor by Leontine May Greenberg

Everyone in these parts looks forward to the return to Standard Time from Daylight Saving Time, which starts Sunday. Although it means that the sun sets earlier, it also means that days start later, when the sun is up. Lately, it's been a challenge getting up before the sun.

I've noticed a few times this last week that I've struggled for hours, sometimes all day long, to write something or finish a project. It's very worrisome. Deadlines, folks, are for real in my little world. What I've discovered, though is that if I wake up at 6 a.m. or earlier to finish it I'm suddenly focused, and can zip right through a story or project.

Being a morning person seems so lame. I've always rejected the notion that I was an early bird. Early birds. Night owls. Who has more fun? Ah, night owls, for sure! But I'm getting so much done that it means I can have fun during the day instead of banging my head on my desk.

That's why I'm looking forward to this little extra hour every morning to get up earlier with less effort. I want to solidify this early-rising routine. Goodness knows, I've got a to-do list a mile long.

Astounding.

I don't often envy an others knitting.  I find that my way of thinking is "I can make it better".  Not in an elitist way, but much more in the vein of, I would rather carry around a purse I made then a Coach hand bag.  It is far cheaper if I make it and has more personality.  Yet browsing etsy this morning I came across something that I could NEVER make better or cheaper.  Knit deer mounts! 

Sounds weird. To be honest I don't really want to own one yet I am bewitched by them! The expertise and design is amazing.  And to think this knitter has found yet another way to incorporate modern knitting into daily life!!!  Amazing!

home sweet journal

I'm always surprised at how the simplest, sweetest things are pushed aside so easily. The other night, I gathered up three of my favorite pens and cracked open a brand new composition book. I recently bought two cases, yep, two cases of those black and white, wide-ruled comp books. They were on sale for $2 a case, so I had to.

Oh, sweet journal. How good it felt to write, to scribble and allow for such freedom to write without a care for conventions, spelling or even legibility. I wrote for pages, ideas flying. I had to wonder why this wasn't something I did daily? Why isn't it right up there with eating and sleeping?

Our grandmother has kept a daily journal since 1957. I know of no other person who has maintained a journal for as long a stretch. She started as a young woman and believe it or not, she uses the same journal each year. It's become hard to find, these days. It is always red or black, always with the year stamped on the front cover and a page for each day. Just one single page.

As an occasional journaler I always thought, wow, one page, I could never do it. But my grandmother is a different sort. Her journals are efficient accounts of her days. Though the one-page entries may not seem like enough, they somehow always are. With nothing to hide at 90, she allows me to browse her journals. I go to the day I was born, the day my parents married, the day my grandfather's dog died, the day my nephews were born. In so few words my grandmother never once failed to capture the emotion of each day. Every...single...day.

Once in awhile she'll call after looking back into her archives to read to me a fond memory that she's run across. Our conversations always end with her telling me that she plans to give her journals to me, and that she hopes I'll appreciate them. Oh, god, will I!