Bari J.

The Needlepoint that started it all...

My mother is a painter, a stitcher and a general craft-a-holic. She is currently in a threaded beading phase (not to mention crochet and knitting ... she always has something cooking in that arena).

When I was a small child (three to six years old) there was a three year period where she was working on a very large needle point. It is this piece that I have found influenced my asthetic and design style more than anything I can put my finger on. I remember her working on it and watching her, I remember how excited she was when she finally finished it and had it framed. For years it hung in our dining room, and now it hangs over my parent's bed.

Of course my mother has hugely influenced my art and certainly gave me the arty-crafty bug (even though my dad claims for some reason un-known that "she gets it from me"). But it is this project that has become part of my consciousness and sub-consciousness and turns up over and over in my work whether in direct relation, a color combination or in bits and pieces. Just look how it relates to the current background on this blog.

Is it that it was made by mother and therefore warms my heart? Is it that I watched it being made? Or is it simply that it appeals to me? I'll never know why, but my mom's needlepoint is somehow part of who I am.

 

 

 

I find the process of creating endlessly fascinating. I never know where ideas will come from or where the smallest of ideas will take me. The only thing that is for sure is that I will wake up in the middle of the night thinking I've stumbled upon some sort of brilliance in my sleep. Often I wake in the morning to find that what I thought was brilliance at 3:14 am is nothing short of insanity. And then there's times that something just clicks. 

I had one of the clicking moments last weekend, and I haven't been able to get my mind off it since. 

I had been doodling Friday night and Saturday morning. Paper dolls. What I considered a complete waste of time, but oh, so enjoyable. 

Here's what I came up with:

   

And here's the WIP that I dreamt up at 3:14 am on Saturday morning...

 

I love it when that happens. And yes, I'm fool enough to fill in that whole ruffle on her dress with French knots... which will probably take me the better half of my life... but it will be worth every second!
 

 

 Way back when I first started sewing I am sorry to admit, I was afraid of the sewing machine. 

But with a penchant for fabric and thread, I did what any good color addict does, I started stitching by hand. I had picked up The Embroidery Stitch Bible at B&N, and away I went. It is truly what brought me to sewing.

I've gotten away from it for some time now... just busy with all the other stuff. 

Then prior to quilt market I got into it again with the idea of freely stitching embroidery and mixing it with collage and applique. The result of which was this pillow:  

The yellow border is turned under, hand stitched applique and then the center is collage using free motion quilting.

I then added bits of embroidery on top.
 

 

 

Over the past few months I've become more and more interested in this mix it up concept. Then in July I was introduced to the work of Judith Baker Montano... She was teaching at Sisters and I bought two of her books there... Floral Stitches and Elegant Stitches. You saw her crazy quilts in one of my posts below about Sisters. Seeing her work sort of brought me to a full circle of where I've been going in sewing for the past several years, and definitely reminded me how much I love to hand stitch.

These days I just can't get enough. I've started a new quilt pattern that I can't wait to get out to you. 
At the top of this post and below are a few bits and pieces of what I've been doing using Country Lane (which is now in stores, btw. Visit Fat Quarter Shop to get yourself some!)

 

  
 Anyways, lots of fun is being had here in my studio... and elsewhere as this is one portable sewing art! I am really looking forward to introducing this pattern... I think you all are just going to fall in love with embroidery as much as I have.

 
There will be an overload of fresh quilter's and sewers at Sisters next year if I have anything at all to do with it. Because even if I'm not teaching there (which I hope to be), I'm going to start a movement to get all of you there! Ladies and gentlemen, Sisters is Mecca for sewing and the needle arts. 

Led by Jean Wells-Keenan and her daughter Valori Wells, The Stitchin' Post has been around for 35 years, as has the festival which was founded by Jean. Jean is about to be the 40th person inducted in the Quilter's Hall of Fame. A huge honor for her and her family! The Stitchin' Post itself is a dream of a place with pretty much everything you can imagine you'd ever need to do what we do. Patterns, books, fabric, notions, yarn... and the best of it all. 

 

 The Quilter's Affair is a five-day program (M-F) before the start of the festival which is always the second Saturday in July. It was a huge honor for me to teach there. As I quickly found out, the teaching staff is world class. I would gladly take a class from any of them. And the students are so excited to be there, it's just a pure pleasure to teach. I taught two projects from my upcoming book (Inspired to Sew; to be released January 2011), an apron and a pillow, plus I also taught a two day class on my Garden Tea Party Quilt (see sidebar) and a handbag class. That was five days of teaching, and each day I learned something new and felt blessed to be sharing what I love.

I am overflowing with creativity and inspiration from my trip to Sisters. I met so many wonderful, talented people. And words can't describe how Sisters and the spirit of community there filled me with joy. This is going to take like a month to re-cap! I have so many photos, and so much to say. So, I'll begin at the beginning and wind my way through the trip. 

Due to lack of direct flights, I arrived in Sister's pretty early in the day on the 4th of July. Kind of a crazy day to land as everyone in Sisters it seems was in Bend for fireworks that night. After checking into the hotel... which has llamas, the first order of business was finding a shoe store where I purchased a seriously Oregonian, but surprisingly cute, pair of Keens... a necessary evil I found out. BTW, llamas spit, did you know this? I did know, but I was reminded the hard way. I know! That guy looks really nice, doesn't he? But truly, he needs to learn some manners!

After recovering from the spitting incident, I was then able to walk around before all became quiet and still. And I found my dream home. It was for sale too! Sigh.

I also stopped at Sisters Bakery. Don't be judgmental again. I was instructed by my brother, a U of O Duck, that I was to stop there and eat a chocolate covered, chocolate donut. I was just being compliant. Ask my brother. I do anything he says... ummm... yeah... and so... where was I?

 

So I ate my chocolate donut and then walked and walked and walked because I was sure I'd done some serious damage with that donut. By time I was done walking it was time for dinner, of course. But it was the 4th of July, so almost everything was closed by time I remembered that it was a holiday. Therefore, I was forced to eat at a BBQ. And they forced me to eat Danish Babyback ribs. It was all that was left, I swear. And I did have to walk back to the hotel and all. I needed to be nourished for the trip.

 

Ok. So. Tomorrow I will start in with some sewing photos for you! You are going to love what my students did in their pillow class. They were so cool! 
 

 

 

 

One of the most wonderful things about my job these days is all the wonderful fabric I get to play with. Recently, I've been playing with Art Gallery Fabrics by Patricia Bravo. I just love the peaceful palettes and sophisticated patterns. In fact, I finished one project using them, and loved them so much that I decided my book needed a "companion" project to the one I had just finished.

 

A couple days ago, I emailed Patricia to tell her how much fun I was having using her designs... and to my complete surprise, she called me to tell me thank you. Yes, people. The actual telephone. Now that's nice. I didn't get a chance to meet Patricia at either of the fabric markets I went to, so I'm looking forward to meeting her in person this time. 

If you don't already know about her work (I'd be surprised if you didn't), you've got to visit her. I loooove her website and blog. Make sure you check it out!

 

On another note, in regards to the picture above... see the half square triangles? This has become a whole debate I'm having with myself about how these directions should be written. I've heard four hundred thousand (ok, 2) different takes on how quilters like to do them. So, I'm taking a survey, quilters.

This is a multiple part question... 

Tell me, do you like cutting your squares at 7/8" larger than the desired finished size, or do you cut up an entire inch and trim? And why?

Also, do you do the "Sandwich" method of sewing them together (ie one square on top of the other right sides together, draw a line corner to corner on the diagonal center and then a line 1/4" to either side of center, sew on the quarter inch lines and cut up the center giving you two finished squares in one shot.) OR do you cut the triangles and then sew on the bias? And why?

And, did you just understand what I said, or am I speaking Greek? 

Thanks guys!

 

Crikey! (Don't you love that word? I once said it in a play.)

It's hard to write a post when everything you are working on has to be reserved for it's Big Reveal Date. And, what's worse, is all this stuff gets done so far in advance of the time it gets released that it could drive a woman mad. Just sayin'. Seriously, I might start showing you what I'm cooking for dinner cause I got nothin' else. Oh, I forgot. I haven't been cooking much in the way of dinner. And I warned the people in this house that there wouldn't be much of that coming from me for a bit longer. Thank goodness for Super Husband. He's saving our souls around here lately. Pretty much. Except laundry. (I don't know what's up with that.)

None-the-less, I'm going to throw out a big little unauthorized hint about my upcoming fabric line. Which I learned this morning is scheduled to ship to stores in (I told you things get done in advance) late April. Actually the 25th. The day after my 41st birthday. 

So here's the hint: At least one of the pieces was inspired by soap. This soap to be exact. And that nest.

I can tell you that I will receive the discs with the final prints and colors tomorrow, will be creating cards, and probably just before I head off to Quilt Market (Oct 9) I'll give you the low down.

In the meantime, let's talk book. This is kinda' a funny and sorta' sweet story. Last night I'm chatting with Mr. Scott over at Blue Nickel. And he asks me who was writing my "Foreword". I didn't even know I needed a Foreword. 

Panicked, I emailed my "editor" (LOL that sounds silly), to ask, "Uh, do I need a Foreword? I know who I'd ask. And I think she'd say yes." . And apparently I don't NEED a Foreword. But, power of suggestion, after Scott mentioned it, I WANTED a Foreword. Yeah, I told him he is a turd. A nice, sweet talented turd, but at that moment, a turd. 

All that said, there was really only one person I wanted to ask to write my "Foreword". She's inspired me, encouraged me without even knowing it, and without her I would never have had the wonderful exposure that I've had (that was a hint). Plus, she writes (that was also a hint).

So after much hesitation and prayer (Because holy toledo! What if she said "No."?) I emailed her. Then I sat on pins and needles and prayed some more. But guess what? She said yes! Guess what else, I don't think I have authorization to tell you who it is. Arggggghhhh! That would sorta' give away the heart of the book, maybe. 

But I can tell you I am Thrilled-To-Pieces about it. And you know her, and you love her. That's all I'm sayin'. That and, it's not Martha or Oprah (I don't have their email addresses).

Murphy's law. I call it "Magical Thinking". And as a rule, I'm against magical thinking. What I mean by that is that I think that things don't just happen. I think that we make them happen. Just sayin'.

But over the past week, a series of unfortunate events (really just a couple) have caused me to look at that Magical Murphy's Law. {{{BTW, an aside and another reason not to like it... It's a negative law. So in the way of magical thinking, I think it's a bummer. If I'm going to think magically, it should be good things. Not: "if anything can go wrong it will.". Seriously, that's ugly.}}} But none-the-less here's how things went down:

1. I'd been rushing like a demon to meet a deadline, sewing and writing away when ... POOF! The circuit board on my sewing machine decides it's time to call it quits. 

I looked over my shoulder. Murphy, are you there? 

No. No. No. No magical thinking. At least not the negative sort. 

I called The Sewing Machine Shop in Walnut Creek, and happened to get the owner when he came to pick up the mail. He was just stopping in as he just had knee surgery. Anyways, I explained my situation, and he graciously lent me a machine until he can fix mine. 

The result of which is... this infinitesimally small peek (you are looking at about two inches of it) at this project... See that pretty Laura Gunn fabric?! To die for.

2. I lost the pen to my graphics tablet which is my life line to drawing. Of course, I really needed it right then. I had to think quick in order to save one of my favorite designs in fabric line number two from the cutting room floor... which is a cute story in and of itself and I'll tell you about that when I can show you the whole line in a finished form... which I think is really really soon. But I digress... Murph's law had me loosing a pen just when I needed it. Was I actually going to let him get to me again?

First of all, dear Murphy, I'd drawn my little hand off about a week ago, and found the perfect element I'd already drawn and finished to add to a pattern. (I'm sticking my tongue out and blowing razzes here.) Ha. I saved the "fabric pattern from having it's little head chopped off. 

(a peek at somethin' or another in the works, but it's not the one that almost got chopped.)

Then even though I knew it was a trick, I decided to use this so-called law in my favor. I figured this was the best way to find my old pen. I was already on the magical thinking tear so what the heck, I'll give in... I ordered a new pen that afternoon, and wouldn't you know... found the old one the next day. I'm keeping the new one as a back-up.

3. After Murphy had wrecked havoc twice in a week, I got a letter from my child at overnight camp that started "As I write this I am crying...". So of course this causes a flood of tears from me. (I don't know where my daughter gets her dramatic streak.) I wanted to rush right up there and get her. But. I think. And I realize that this note is written the first night of camp, she's tired, she's in new surroundings. And Murphy's law would tell me that by the time I got up there, she'd be having a grand old time and wondering what all the fuss is about. I'll wait a day. And I was right. Today's letter from her had a really happy tone. She's canoeing, hiking, and told me not to worry because she is drinking enough water and eating the food.

Ha. Magical thinking, Murphy's Law ... You've got nothin' on me.

PS... Just so you know, if that letter hadn't come today, I'd be in the car right now, feeling guilty that I left her there for an extra day. Murphy's law be damned.

I'll just say it. I've been holed up in here for months making projects for and writing a book. 

 

But it's not fair for me to just announce that with out telling the whole story. Because the world works in mysterious ways. And I think you may find it interesting and somewhat intriguing how this all came about. Make of it what you will. But for those of you who are thinking that you would like to do the same thing, I hope you will be inspired by this little tale.

Something surreal happened when I got back from Quilt Market last fall. I'd just signed a contract with Windham Fabrics to license my designs, when I get an email from the new Acquisitions Editor at C&T Publishing, Susanne Woods, requesting a book proposal. She had been reading my blog for a while and had just realized that I lived practically down the road.

My response to myself was, "Me? I can't write a book. Besides, I just got some really good news, when is the sky going to fall?". 

My outer response was more like, "Well, let's find out what this is all about." (Remember that whole stepping through doors that open thing I've talked about before?). Susanne and I met for lunch. Some of you may know C&T for their traditional quilting books, but alas the vision at C&T is changing a bit. Susanne explained that C&T is starting in a new direction with "a fresh modern aesthetic" (wait till you guys see what that is all about!), and she thought that I would fit in well with this vision. Hmmm. Who knew?

That was October. Fast forward a couple of months... (the months that I spent procrastinating until Super Husband got on me about it: "Why the heck haven't you turned in that proposal?", was about how it went). I wrote a proposal in December, turned it in in January and by March was looking at a contract (with my head spinning in circles).

And between that, finishing fabric line number two, putting on a bat mitzvah, a bunch of extraneous stuff you have to do to promote a fabric line, I have been consumed since. 

That's why the stack of fabrics from Moda (in a previous post), from Windham, and from Michael Miller (above). The bonus of writing a book is fabric that gets to go in the book comes to you in big boxes from generous companies... who I can't thank enough!

So, that's my story. Lot's more about this adventure to come. 

I am definitely having a super exciting start to my Summer. I mean, what could be better (ok, close to better) than a trip to Pixar Studios? Oh, I don't know... maybe a box full of surprise fabric from Moda?

Shhhh... don't tell anyone, but I have a super-secret project I'm working on. That's why they sent it to me. Sheesh! I am a lucky ducky girl. 

 I couldn't be more giddy. Thank you Moda! You totally made my day. I've already started cutting into it. I can't help myself.

I've got other goodies laying around here too. Don't ask my why, but I love how these paint chips look all coordinated up in the cello bags. I've been getting ready to introduce my next fabric line (not just yet, but you know...). The printouts from my computer were kind of faded looking so, paint chips do the trick to let Windham know what color I want. But what do you think the peeps at home depot thought when I went in with a notebook and stood in the paint aisle for over an hour leaving with all of these? And no paint. 

The only problem with so many colors is... it's SO many colors. I couldn't make up my mind. 

At one point, I had my fabric printouts and cut up little pieces of paint chips all over the room. And glue stick in my hair. It's all part of the crazy process. And the good news is, I did finally decide. Color choices are on their way to Windham tomorrow. Yay-hoo! On to the next project. The super secret one.

(Photo disclaimer: my camera is in the shop, so I've been taking pics with my iPhone. Not terrible, but...)

I love calling cards. Love making them, love looking them and love collecting them. Awhile back I created a Flickr group so we could all show 'em off. And I've been meaning to make this a regular feature on my blog. If you'd like your card featured please join our group!

Here is my first group of favorites... 

French Garden House

Dreams Of France

Paper Relics

And, Farmer Julie

I promised more pictures from market, didn't I? This here is the name-dropping issue. 

And, since my friend Cindy says there are absolutely no pictures of me on my blog, and that is an issue for her, the first one is of me... and April Cornell. Yes, I have no shame, I dragged April Cornell over to the Windham booth going, "Look what I made!". No shame at all. 

Actually, April was really gracious and so kind. She even organized a Twitter-Meet-up. Which by the way is the coolest thing ever about Twitter. April tweeted "Twitter meet-up 10am Saturday, Moda booth." and a ton of us showed up. Seriously cool. And why I loooove tweeting and reported over Twitter the whole time I was at market.

Oh, and here's who I dragged April away from ... nervy, huh? Brandon Mably. Sorry, Brandon. 

Btw, I have no idea how I got into this picture. I meant to be taking a picture of them together, when someone said, "Hey, don't you want to be in the picture?". Uh. No. But. O.K.

Speaking of Brandon, I asked Kaffe Fassett if I could take his picture, and he said yes, but unfortunately he was so engrossed in his work, he didn't look up for the shot. Awww. He also was very gracious with my bumbling and bubbling. I was a little overjoyed to meet him. Eeeks. 

Here's a great shot! This is Myrinda from Fabric Hound and Kristen from Gocks Frocks with first Project Runway winner and fabric designer, Jay McCarroll.

Now, I know I mentioned something about showing you my own little spot...

This was the original quilt I presented when I showed the line to Windham. It's on it's way to France right now! I'll let you know when I hear more about this. Very exciting fun stuff.

And, here is a bit more... 

Well, that's all folks. Until next market. BTW, it looks like maybe, possibly, likely, I think my second line will debut there. More about that and some other unbelievable stuff later! 

If you'd have asked me five years ago what I would be doing today, I would never have answered, I'll be designing fabric. No way. I was a stay at home mom, and prior to that a graphic designer and copy writer. I didn't have much confidence in myself, let alone know what I was capable of doing. 

I couldn't possibly have guessed. But, life leads you in the most unexpected directions. Doors open and you walk through, or you don't is what I've always said. How different life would be today if I hadn't watched Alicia Paulson on HGTV that day about five years ago, and thought, "Gee, I think I'll make myself a handbag.". How different it would be today if I didn't go to the Country Living event last year and be told to speak what you want aloud. I would never have said that I wanted to design fabric aloud because I was afraid that people would think, "Oh, yeah, another one that wants to design fabric, yada, yada.".

So, today, when I got this Hancocks of Paducah catalog, I was pretty bowled over. "My fabric" is on the cover. Something I drew, something I created. And then to open it and be on a page next to my hero, Kaffe Fassett, oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me! 

If you ask me now what I'll be doing in five years, I'll tell you that I haven't the faintest idea. Who knows what doors will open, which ones I'll choose to walk through and which ones I'll just pass by.

When it takes you all day to make one placemat, does that count as "getting stuff done"? Why, yes.

Because I did get some panels for a sample bag for quilt market done last night too... I'm counting last night as part of today. It's all running together anyways.

Poor Super Husband. It's his birthday, and I can barely concentrate enough to look up and say hello.

I knew my strike-offs were coming today, and I couldn't wait, and then they arrived! We picked them up from the UPS store before heading to get some Indian food for lunch, which meant eating lunch with me was probably torture because that's all I could think or talk about.

I really am going to make some red velvet cupcakes for him, and in fact, I did make popovers this a.m. for breakfast (when in doubt, bake), but I am still marveling over this actual real fabric with my actual real name and logo on the selvedge. Holy moly. You can understand, right?

I spend the day on Mondays sewing with a group of women at the local quilt store. (This is what I worked on this week.) As I was sewing, I was thinking about the topic in this post. Everyone in the class was doing something different and creating in different ways. Which made me think about where ideas come from. Sometimes it's pretty mysterious.

As I create, I wonder, did this idea just pop into my head? Did I dream it? Did I see it somewhere before? The latter of these three makes me anxious. "Did I see this somewhere before?"

Like all of us, I want to be different. And I certainly want to think that my ideas are my own, that they are unique. But we are all inspired by trends and from the things we see around us.

Is the saying, "There are no new ideas" true? 

For example, it's clear that there are elements of historical design in many of our contemporary designers work. 

But to me, each one of these designers has done something new. And moreover, each, though possibly influenced by the same things, is special and different in their own way. 

I am influenced in different ways by different designers, nature, pop culture and other references.

Often I can start with an idea that I realize later came from somewhere in particular, but once I am done with it, it has morphed into something new. 

I think that is truly the base of creativity. 

We see, we are inspired and we recreate with our own special impression of something that possibly has been "done before" or even more exciting, we come up with something all-together different.

 

Ok, so now that you know how my little brain twists and turns and talks to itself...

On a totally different note: I am obliged to tell you... ok, I'm totally excited to tell you... that I just listed two new Frannie Patchwork bags on my website at a great new price of $74. Yay.

Many of you know that although I've been sewing for a while, I only just started quilting. I guess I had been doing many quilting-like things for years, but I had never made finished a whole quilt. When I got started on the whole quilt thing a couple months ago I had no idea... no idea at all... how easily I would become obsessed with it. I can't stop. I'll work all day and piece quilts all night and weekend. I've now finished three quilts and I am on my fourth.

I'm really excited about this one. I'd had Anna Maria's gorgeous incredible fabulous fabrics sitting in stacks calling my name for months and I was loathe to cut them... they looked so great just there in the stacks and I didn't want to make any mistakes. But then the other day Miss Laurie stopped by with her fabulous quilt made out of many of the same fabrics and motivated my butt. 

This weekend after all was settled in house and work, I dove in... foot loose and pattern free. I hate to follow a pattern. Not that I can't follow a pattern, I can, but I don't like to. Rules stink.

I decided that I wanted to really mix up the colors and patterns so that whatever color we paint our master bedroom in, it will work. (Did I ever tell you that we've had test paint splotches on our wall in there for three years? We can't decide. And it's such a big undertaking and such a messy process... that's our excuse anyways.) 

The other thing I wanted to do with this quilt was test out all sorts of angles and different kinds of piecing so that I can learn a bunch as I go along. One of the things I learned right away was that I need to learn paper piecing. Which apparently would have helped this block a whole lot... If you don't know, with paper piecing you build in the seam allowance on things like these triangles in order to get a beautiful point. I think the color play works here so I decided to ignore the wibbly-wobbiliness (I'm being kind to myself) of my piecing and use it anyways.

Here's a bunch more of the unfinished quilt. It's about 1/3 of the way there. I can not wait until it's finished!

While chatting with my friend, Laurie, on the phone this morning I was clearing the mounds of scrapage (a real word... it's in the Bari J. dictionary, so you can look it up) I had accumulated on my cutting table.

By the by, did I tell you that Laurie moved just a mile away from me? So now my virtual bloggy friend is a real friend!

But I digress... back to scrapage. I mentioned the scrapage aloud to Laurie and she asked do I ever make covered buttons. 

Why, just last night I had covered one to go on a pillow, so beneath the mounds of scrapage somewhere I found the buttons and button kit and started plugging away at that little job. 

Do you know that there are not enough buttons in the world for me to make in order to use up all of my scrapage? I used up all the buttons I had in my possession, and tossed the rest of the fabric into the laundry basket under my table that serves as overflow (it's a disgrace). 

Then I got back to work on what I was really working on in the first place which was creating a pattern for this... also a good use for your scraps. With the fabric line, I'm bound and determined to have some patterns to offer as well. This little birdie (the bird obsession rages on...) is my slow start to that project. I hope to have the patterns available ... uh... let's just say... in the near relatively near future. 

Right now, it's back to the cutting table for the next project of the day... and at least now I can find my cutting table. I'm thinking though that I need a skirt to go around it so that one can't see the carnage that lies beneath it.

Have a nice Thursday!

~b

Truly, was the cat ever in the bag? In March after the Country Living Women Entrepreneurs event, I told you that I was interested in designing a fabric line. I even asked you to hold me to it. I'd been thinking about it for a while, but until then I was too scared to say it out loud. 

But I've learned a lesson... saying it out loud is what makes it real.

Since then, I've been on a tear. Obsessively designing fabric. (LOL. First I had to figure out HOW to design fabric) After several rounds and versions and toss away lines, eventually, I came up with something I loved and knew I could present. For display purposes I had it printed up by Spoonflower (they rock), and off to market I went last week. Finished quilt and goodies in hand. Shaking and quivering in my boots. I presented to a lot of companies, and to my amazement, I ended up with a lot of interest.

A couple days later, and I now know that my designs will be available this spring at the Pittsburgh quilt market. I can hardly believe it. I have an actual real contract in my hands.

So, what do I take away from this part of the adventure? I am sure that the decision to say it aloud, to state what I wanted, that made me go for it in the way I have. Uh, somewhat relentlessly. There's probably some people who are a little sick of me. You know who you are. Sorry ya'll. (That's my new Houston-speak. I like it)

Next up on my list of to dos... paper. Hold me to it. Right after I get this fabric line out. 

Note: If you read this post earlier, you may notice I went back in and edited it. Sometimes it just doesn't seem like any of the wording in these blog posts are right. And I worry that things will be misconstrued. This post was super hard to write for whatever reason. I felt like the wording was too contrite, the story not completely told... which is bad, because I think that people reading this should know the details. It wasn't super easy to do, but it was all well worth it. So, you are now reading the edited version of the first post. I hope that whoever you are and whatever you are trying to do, that this post will inspire you to do it and know that there have been those who have inspired me as well. Thanks for understanding, and for your very kind support.

Tum dum... tee dee... What in the world do you wear with this in the Fall? I'm making new rules... are there rules anymore? No. no. no. no. There are no rules. If you are not in a completely cold climate where it's snowing and sleeting and something like this might get ruined, then I think it's perfectly acceptable to wear bright yellow, pink, green, blue and red all year. 

So I was forced to go shopping. 

And looky-loo what I found. I found an apple green jacket (fall fruit) at J.Jill... It's CORDUROY. And, if you ask me that is decidedly Fall-like. (Of course, in the Spring I'll tell you I think it's acceptable now too). Plus it was discounted from over $100 to $35. I'd actually been eying this for months and waiting patiently for it to be reduced... a game that paid off. They are having an awesome sale ... 25% off already reduced items. Wee hoo! I scored on a bunch of goodies...

Now, is there any way I could also wear this? And why is my daughter so embarrassed when I pick her up from school wearing it? I'm in the car... no one can even see me!

 

What I'm working on now is making various and sundry goodies to drag with me next week to the Houston quilt market out of the fabrics I had printed. This is the first of which is coming together. I'm also bringing with a bag, apron, pin cushions... and anything else I can throw in a bag.

I'm thinking this is going to be pretty exciting... even though I have no idea how this is going to work out. I have a couple of appointments though to hopefully license a line (and then maybe I'll have my own booth next year and actually be selling this stuff to YOU). I'm planning on doing a lot of shopping though for my Spring handbag line. Should be really fun meeting people too! 

If you are going to be there... let me know. I'd love to meet you!

I'll try not to go into the gory details... As you all with kids know, as soon as they go back to school they come home with all sorts of disgusting boogers. Literally. I don't know about you, but I think my immune system must be compromised because while they are just out for a day or so, when their little boogers infect me, I am down for the count. ie: I spent Sunday through Tuesday and even part of Wednesday on the couch.

Every once in a while I'd wander in here and decide I could take it. But dizziness bowled me over and back to the couch I went. I decided it was probably not worth cutting a finger off with a rotary blade.

And this was how half of the week evaporated before my eyes.

Then yesterday, Ms. iMac decided (or it may have been iMail) that it was not necessary for recipients to be able to actually view the attachments I was sending them. Hence, I spent the day, writing back and forth to various clients, "Can you see it now?". By about five pm I realized it must be the mail app, and went directly online to my server to send the pieces... and wowee... it worked. Aargh. If I only thought of that at 9am.

Another day... gone. Not sure where they go.

None the less, there was still one day left, I was sure I could get the entire list done today. There was hope yet.

Not so fast, Missy!

Today was a "Teacher Work Day". Excuse me, but how many of these do they need anyways?

Kids at home, a mattress delivery, a long back up of laundry, several other various and sundry people through the house, rush a slew of cuts up to a seamstress, and Blammo! Day gone.

What's the deal with that?

The deal is that certain people were forced to eat their choice of grilled cheese sandwiches or a corn dog for dinner or starve because I couldn't take it anymore. Suck it up, folks. I made some broccoli to go with it. What more do you want?

"Am I done whining yet?" Yes, fine. I did manage to get a little tiny bit up on the website (there are about 20 belts, a bijillion keyfobs and several more bags waiting their turn)...

Here are the two lovelies I managed to extract from their background and make shiny and pretty enough for all to see...

It's amazing how long this all takes. Is it ok to pay a 12 year old to take pictures, and spend hours upon hours photoshopping them? No? Hmmm...

Maybe I can teach Super Husband. I wonder if he'll go for that. I better wait until he's over the boogers. He seems to have just caught it. If you think I was whining, just wait. You'll probably be able to hear it from there. He's already asked for homemade chicken soup and announced he's going to bed at 8:30. Ugh. It's going to be a long night.

Generally, I follow the rules... unless I decide that it's a useless, ridiculous idea that only causes more problems...

Like for instance, there's this new rule at my daughter's school that you can't park in the front because there is a bike lane there. Nevermind we don't have a bus system to get the kids to school, and 800 parents try to drive through the circle pickup all at once. Nevermind that the line to get through is backed up down the street and through and around a major intersection. And, nevermind that all the kids are riding on the sidewalk anyways because the cars are backed up all the way down the street and in the bike lanes.

This rule, I ignore. Completely. I park my car for the ten seconds and run get my kid, cut across the parking lot with her, hop in the car and drive right off thereby bi-passing an half hour's worth of wasted time. (BTW, you can't get into the parking lot because of the car backup. So even if there are empty spots there's no getting to them.)

There's a couple of rules in Girl Scouts that have driven me nuts and these I ignore too. The Girl Scouts are so darn rigid. ... Just thought I'd get that in while I was on the subject.

All that ranting and raving behind me, there are certain rules that should not be ignored... especially when they are coming from Margrette and Janis (December's Child) and are sewing rules. I took a collage/free motion quilting class from Margrette not too long ago and she told me at least 10 times to pull the thread up from the back side.

I didn't believe that this was necessary and instead left them there. I thought it was a waste of time and hence ended up with a collage wall hanging that needs to be lined on the back instead of showing all the pretty quilting lines which in my project are not pretty but incredibly tangled. Not so smart a rule to ignore.

So now my rule of thumb is "Margarette talk, Bari listen."... And truly, things turn out much better when I do.

That was a whole lot to say in order to get to what that picture is up there at the top. That is the back of this front panel of a handbag. I wanted to show you how really very pretty the back does look when you pull that back thread up before you go merrily along your way.

Surely you enjoyed my rambling mumbo jumbo along the way to that, oh, so important thing to say.

Don't be like me. Follow the rules, boys and girls.

And just for added color in this post...

Have a great rule following day.

As you might know from my previous post, my family has been in need of a little of this. Thank goodness it comes in many kinds... we could use all the therapeutic treatments we could find... My sister and I found some of it when I visited her this weekend in Arizona. One of which was getting some blond highlights in her hair by a super fantastic hair "therapist". I have to say, Lara looked amazing, as did our mom. She needed a little treatment too.

I am relatively scared of hair color and thank goodness, I unbelievably haven't but a few stray grays. Plus, I actually like my hair color (hmmm... now that's unusual. I said aloud that I liked my hair.) Which makes me think... why didn't I go get the alternative and much-needed nail therapy? I shall indulge later this week, me-thinks.

In addition to beautification therapy, we also spent time getting some of our most favorite therapy of all... retail therapy as it is commonly known.

Amazingly enough, we didn't indulge in food therapy because we figured that would have been therapy that eventually would have made us feel worse. Plus, of course, the thought of weighing in at WW and weighing more is enough to scare me straight any day... Good girls...

The retail therapy was as expected very, very satisfying.

Below... a goodie from that part of our adventure... at Paris Envy, a shop in Phoenix that carries my bags... and btw, is undeniably "Wow.". I'm not just sayin' so because my bags are there either, it really really is. And the prices are reasonable too which I'm finding unusual (someone remind me later to show you the little spread about it that was in the Arizona Republic a couple weeks ago... it looked incredible).

There is also Puppy Therapy ... Lara has much of this... Roxy, our girl, will not leave her side and barks at anyone who comes near Lara these days. Amazing how animals know when we are vulnerable, isn't it? I threatened to take this cute potato home with me... She's the most amazing rescue dog ever. We think she had been abandoned... who in the world could abandon this???

Then all said and done I came home tonight finding the squeezing of my little peeps and Super Husband quite therapeutic as well... Then, unexpectedly... an added bonus... my own personal form of therapy... my Very Own Fabric Therapy... it arrived while I was away. I did really cry too. Very, very good therapy.

My most favorite therapy of all however... My Family. Seeing my Lara, hugging her and knowing that everything will be alright. There really is something to be said about the connections that siblings have. The shared experiences, all the ups and downs. I'll never know anyone like I know my sisters and brother. They are undeniably the best friends I'll ever have.

We have our mother to thank for that. She has always said, "I always wanted four kids, because I wanted you all to always have each other." And we do (she said through happy sad, sad happy tears.). Thanks, Mom.

Awww... darn. That was a sort of emotional post. Off to hug the squeezy girls some more!
Thanks for listening... Hmmmm... blog therapy too! Good stuff!
XO,

I'm having one of those days when I love what I do. I can't believe I get to play with fabric and goodies all day. Don't anyone tell Super Husband I am enjoying myself so much. Tell him I'm working my butt off please.

And truthfully, not every day feels like this. A lot of days are spent doing the dreaded accounting and paperwork. That's what you should tell Super Husband. Tell him I'm doing math all day. It's horrifying.

But on the sly I'm going to tell you that today I am in heaven. Fabric fabric pattern pattern color color. I love it.

Today, I mixed and matched and matched and mixed. It had my little pea brain all in a tizzy. "Ooooh, pretty! Oh... I know, not that fabric! This fabric! Move this here! Do that!" I was all a-whirl with thought.

As I was going along it occurred to me to wonder why it works out. What makes these seemingly random patterns and colors come together?

When I'm designing I find it curious that sometimes I have no idea where it's going. I'm simply taking various items, mixing them up and trying to make sense of them. It may look pretty random when I'm done, but really I think that as I'm mixing and adding my brain is tying it all together.

Sometimes as I am doing this, I have a hovering sense of doubt about what it will all look like in the end, but so often it has managed to come out "right" that I have taught myself to keep going even if it's not making sense at the moment.

I was having that sense of dread and doubt as I was lining up my piles of rectangles for this quilt for Jennifer. The blue wasn't doing it for me. Then the yellow made no sense. But as I mixed and placed and replaced the rectangles it started to meld, as it always seems to with pattern and colors.

And when it does all come together, it usually leaves me wondering why. Why does that look right? One color answers another and one pattern answers another even if the colors seem totally unrelated when you look at them separately.

Sometimes I do that I purpose. I take things I know have no business being together just to see if I can make it work. That's what I did with this particular quilt. And somehow or another, that blue does look right.

That's what gave me this sense of satisfaction today. For no reason at all... that blue does look like it belongs. It just brings me joy.

Of course, I better not let Super Husband know. Not that he begrudges me my happiness. He'll think I was having far too much fun, and might want me to (I can't bear to think it) get "a real job".

Next time he walks in, I'm going to have to switch over to Quickbooks on the screen and furrow my brow. That throws him off every time.

Impatience is a Virtue.

OK, this was not part of the plan, but I'm giving up some of the goods. I've been hinting and hinting at this and "duh" I know you knew what I was hinting at but ok so, I can't keep a secret. Never have been able to... Telegraph, Telephone, Tele-Bari. I can't shut up.

Actually, if you tell me a secret, I am like a vault unless you are endangering yourself or you are my sister. I can keep the secrets of others, but not my very own. It's ugly.

So... Oui. I am on my way to my goal of having licensed designs as a lot of you know I am DYING to do. You would not believe the single track mind I have. It's good and bad and all that stuff. No one ever said I wasn't totally type A. The good news is that progress is really being made (as S.L.O.W. as that process is).

However... I wanted to see what it would look like on fabric. It was driving me nuts. What would these designs on this little screen look like on real actual fabric? Honestly, I couldn't take it.

And, how cool would it be to be able to show fabric companies my designs on F.A.B.R.I.C.??? Seriously, is that cool or what?

So, I decided to take the matter into my own hands and print some of my own darn fabric. And, VOILA! These pieces showed up in my mailbox today (more on how later). I can tell you I really did almost pee myself.

I even used my fabric scissors to open the envelope. That's the kind of desperation we're talking about here.

And now look, I'm not even showing you the whole enchilada.

Seriously, I think I might lay down on the floor and cry.

EDIT: I just want to clarify that this is not a licensed line yet. It has not been picked up although I am making in-roads on that. This is my dream. This line in whatever form it takes will be licensed at some point ... because I am not going to let it not be. The getting to that point is a really, really long road. I feel sharing the process with you along the way will show that it can be done. Whatever that "it" is for you. Thank you so much for your encouragement. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

Ahhh... the artistic process. And, oh dear... the art of business. Oh, what a long road it is to get where you want to go. I'm making headway. So, you all will probably get a better idea of what's up in oh, about a year or so. Progress is good. I sure could use a nap though.
Here's another, yet even meaner, oh so much smaller hint... (paranoid much?)

On another note, look what came today. This sweet Stephanie made me quite happy. Oh, how actually finishing a project can fill a girl with joy. BTW, Mathilda and Grace... next week... (see below if you have no clue what I'm taking about.) Steph will take their place on the art bags page.

Some time next week Mathilda (on the left) and Grace (on the right) will be stopping by for a visit. I'll have to whip up some scones for them to enjoy.

You'll be able to find them having a little party here next Friday.

Yesterday I kept opening my webpage. And everytime I did, something didn't seem right. I made tons of updates including custom headers (you see some of the changes here), new dotted lines. I even widened the container. Nothing made me satisfied with the way it looked.

Today I woke up and the sun was shining. Happy. I think: Yellow. I got weighed at WW. Lost weight. Happy. Yellow again. Went for walk. Happier still. More yellow.

Ahhhhh.
Of course, now le Blog looks very... green.
Sigh. Thank goodness a weekend is coming.

Weekend synopsis:

When there wasn't some of this...

Or some of this...

or this...

There was some of this...

And I loved this...

And I know I promised you some of this...

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked to make a diaper bag. I don't know what the hold up has been really. I've been busy or whatever. I kept saying I was going to do it. And I was. I was just thinking about it.
Procrastinating about it.

But this week my sweet sister, Ilisa, pushed the issue when she told her son's class parents that she could get a diaper bag (from me) for the teacher who is expecting this summer... by May 28.

Ah hem... Sure. Totally doable. I'm on it.

Never mind I didn't have a design, a pattern, a clue what I was going to do. None-the-less, this morning I got to working on a prototype hoping and praying I didn't make too many gross errors ... You don't know this, but I am "geometrically challenged." I know what I want, but I have a hard time figuring out just how to execute this and that.

The good news is that I've learned a thing or two about construction so I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. I used what I knew worked on my carry-all and my messenger bags... plus cool gathered pockets on each side, I do to come up with this design.

This is just the unfinished outside of the bag. So forgive the wonky pictures. Bags w/no linings and unfinished seams don't stand up too well.

I am sending the rest of it to one of my seamstresses to finish up now that I have the basic body in place. I promise if it turns out well, I will have more made... Give me ... oh... a couple more months to get the goober up on the website.

I'm here because I'm indecisive. And because I can't make a decision, I'm procrastinating. Just for a minute.

Was trying to decide whether the dancer stays or goes... she's not nailed down yet. I think she's pretty cute standing on that saucer. Like she might just dance right into your tea. She's a little day dream standing on my saucer while I drink my tea and tap my keys.

Oooh, look. I didn't trim her left hand (your right) all the way. Hmmm haw.... dancer stays.

Later, gator.

But this time it's not me. How fun! I did this one for Tara Frey over at Bella Cafe.

Do you see her? She's in the tree. Middle toward the left. I'll admit that I was a pinch close to keeping her all for myself. I hate to see her go, but off she does to Elle Rue in Dublin, OH where someone ordered her up. Owner, Carrie, will have a website up soon. I'll let you know all about it.

Do you think the yarn in the bag gives you a perspective on scale? That's what I was thinking... other than the fact that this tote is great for that.

BTW, some of you thought that I meant that the piece I showed you was for my daughter. What I meant was, I made a bag some time back with that fabric for my daughter. This was made with left over pieces from that. Emily's bag is below. Nothing fancy. Just a bag for ballet class which the stinker barely used.

 

This is a tiny bit of a piece that I just finished up. I purchased the little dancer fabric that this was cut from for a little bag for my daughter to bring to dance class with her. But the truth is that it reminds me of my sister when she was a little girl. Lara is six years younger than me, and as soon as she was born, in my six year old mind, she was MY little toy.

When our parents were trying to tell us that there was going to be another baby they hinted around for a bit trying to get the three of us older kids to guess. My guess was that they were going to get me "Baby Feels so Real"... do you remember the commercials for that? It was a doll that ate and then pooped! I wanted that doll BAD. So, when I heard it was going to be a REAL baby, well then, it was going to be MY baby.

If you asked any of us, we all would agree that Lara was the most beautiful baby in the world. We called her Little Lou Lou. And she was my dolly. She just got cuter as she got bigger. There was only a period when I was about sixteen that I didn't want to be with her. Much to Lara's chagrin, I sometimes still think of her as my little Lara. Never-mind she's almost 33 (next month), a grown-up, married, and a lawyer... she'll always be my little Lara.

The dancer with the cutey little tutu flying behind her reminds me of my adorable little sister in her ballet recitals when she was maybe four or five. All the kids would be going one way, and Lara would be going the other. She's still like that. She makes her own dance. And, Lara, that's the best thing of all about you! XO

~b

Super Tuesday:

I feel obliged to say get your rears out there and vote if you are in a Super Tuesday state of the U.S.! I did my civic duty right after kid duty (morning drop off). I left with a big smile on my face, and am wearing my, "I Voted" sticker proudly. For some reason, this election seems really exciting to me... more than in the past.

The Biggest Mess Ever:

That done, I got myself right to work and made this mess... with-in about 30 minutes.

There is another picture of what is on the floor that I was too embarrassed to show you. So, I'll let you imagine.

A Must-Have Tool:

As I was sewing up the creation that was made in this hurricane, I was delighted to use my new Purple Thang (yes, that's really what it's called). I lost the other one so I bought a new one. And when I bought it I said, "I just know I'm going to find that Purple Thang when I get home.". And guess what? I did. Now I have two Purple Thangs which makes me happy because there is one ready and available for backup when I drop the first one behind the desk again.

As a good citizen, I also feel obliged to tell you that Purple Thang is the most wonderful tool ever. It has prevented me from sewing straight through my finger on many occasions. Purple is a most perfect tool for these collage type sewing projects where I have a million little scrappies sticking up all over the place and the free-motion quilting foot does not make a good barrier. Trust me, I know... thank goodness it was only the plastic that came down on my finger becaue that sucker hurt!

You can get a Purple Thang here... I have no affiliation with this website... just sharing. It seems to be a good resource for all sorts of goodies.

I'm working on a special little project this weekend. Very exciting. For several weeks now it's been business, business, business over here ... this was the first chance I had to be truly creative. I'm completely lost in it. Hours and hours can go by in the blink of an eye. Working like this is just pure joy to me. Here's a couple snippets of the project (and the fabby thread I was using) as it got closer to being finished.

Oooh, have you ever used varigated thread? Margaret at Quilter's Inn turned me onto this stuff. It's heavenly! Be sure you use a metallic needle with it because I had been using a jean needle and no go with that.

Today, I set out to get a head start on the New Year's resolution that I make every year... get organized. But as I was going through the piles of stuff I was distracted inspired by these and didn't get anything done. My one vice... design books (that and magazines, shoes, and for whatever reason, Target... I know you can relate.)

I'm a list person. Not that I get much checked off. I just make lists. This is all part of my futile quest to become organized.

When I make the lists (and this is all the time), I believe I'm going to get through them. I think that this time, once and for all I'll become an organized, efficient person.

The problem is, I have no concept of how long it takes to do stuff. So the lists go on and on. Today is Friday. I am on Wednesday's list. Remember Monday I bought Quickbooks? Thought that little set up would take an hour. It took six. This threw off the whole week. That's what I'm blaming it on anyways.

So today after an hour or so off trying to check off little items from the whole week, I decided I was going to tear up the list. I sat for a minute just staring at it (wasting more time) ... I couldn't do it. So, I buried it in a drawer and did something I actually wanted to do.

This is the beginning of what will go on my "art bag" page. It will be a Zoey Carry All with a patent leather bottom and handles. It was still work, and I think somewhere on The List is "Make Art Bags", but marked with a "C" priority. And there were plenty of "A" priority items that I didn't do yet. None-the-less, it made me very happy.

But I could practically hear that list calling my name from the bottom of the drawer like a big bag of Oreos. And blogging is not on it.

  When I finished this I thought of you. Those of you who are doing that really cute Sweet and Sinister swap anyways. I've never participated in a swap before... sounds fun... I'll have to do the next one that comes up... I'm so slow, I'll surely miss it. I thought I might do this one, and then whammo! October 1 comes and I've missed the boat.

Anywho...This Sweet and Sinister looking piece is a  handbag front. For guess who? Daphnes Cottage. She'll have it in a couple weeks.

The bottom two images are the fabrics that I cut up to make this. On the front of the urn, I'll be sewing on those vintage rhinestone and crochet buttons you see here. Once again, this is done with the use of free motion quilting... which I have found myself highly addicted to.

You may have noted I have several vices. At least they don't involve anything illegal or bad for you... or too bad for your wallet.

Todays work: a handbag front. Made with various and sundry fabrics, vintage buttons and ribbon, and the use of free motion quilting.

"I believe we can inspire change in each other, and in the world. I believe that we can help those around us to become happier people, even in the little things, like how we enjoy our clothes or our homes. These things give us confidence, and help us define our place. After all, if we can't find creative fire, love, passion, excitement and pure joy in the little everyday things, where will we find it?

~Amy Butler, Midwest Modern

There are so many reasons to read, look and love this book. We all know the incredible impact Amy has made in the world of quilting, fashion, and art. We all know the eye-candy that is her fabric, her papers, her patterns.

I had a pretty good idea, but I didn't totally realize the heart and wisdom that comes along with the world that Amy Butler brings to us.

I purchased this book earlier today. Sitting in a coffee shop with my kids, I started looking through it, and then I went back and started reading. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. This was a great surprise to me, as I was expecting the aesthetic beauty. I received that and more.

What I want to say is, "thank you". Thank you, Amy. Your inspiration is immeasurable.

~Bari

I don't need a real vase full today. These orange-colored pieces practically threw themselves on this bag. It's going to be another Stephanie mag bag for Daphnes Cottage. That girl has more Bari J.'s than you can shake a stick at! Loverly fun!

Tagged for the middle name game. Don't laugh, you're next. And it's not real easy. My middle name is Jill. That's where the J in Bari J comes from in case you didn't guess that. Here goes best effort:

J: I love Jewelry... especially the good old stuff.

I: Instant association... Igloos. But that's no good is it? Iguana? Island? Tsk Tsk. Hmmmm. Hmmm. I'll get back to this one... Ick.

Darn it! Two L's!

L: Linen. Antique Linen. Love it!

L: Lace. Antique Lace. Love that too. I collect pieces here and there.

Goof! That pesty I.

I: Independent Design!!!!! Can you get any better than that???

I now tag Bethany, Shannon, Missy, and Kalurah.

I just got an email I thought some of you might be interested in if you are in the SF Bay Area or surrounding...

My Daughter's Wish is looking for artists/teachers... Here's the what the email said:

"We know you are out there and waiting for a chance to turn your favorite hobby into more then just a past time.  Come share your ideas with us and our customers."

"This is a local design team call for anyone willing to come to our store in Walnut Creek, California!"

"We are looking for 6 local artists that can include; scrapbooking (page layouts), altered items, collage, stamping, and mini albums.  Must be willing to come to our store once a month for assignments and if you are interested, TEACHING!"

And the link to find out more.

PS They also have some exciting classes coming up including a Connie Govea Stuart creative correspondence class on 8/14. Sounds great!

(and, no, I don't work for MDW, just like them a lot.)

"This is a local design team call for anyone willing to come to our store in Walnut Creek, California!"

"We are looking for 6 local artists that can include; scrapbooking (page layouts), altered items, collage, stamping, and mini albums.  Must be willing to come to our store once a month for assignments and if you are interested, TEACHING!"

And the link to find out more.

PS They also have some exciting classes coming up including a Connie Govea Stuart creative correspondence class on 8/14. Sounds great!

(and, no, I don't work for MDW, just like them a lot.)

I'm honored. I've been tagged for a "Thinking Blogger" award by Bethany at Love from My Studio. I'm now supposed to do a post about 5 blogs the make me think. I've procrastinated doing this for a couple of days because there are so many that it's difficult to choose just five. So, here's my list in no particular order:

1. Print & Pattern: A blog from the UK about my favorite thing... prints and patterns. This was one of the first blogs I ever read, and I continue to check in almost daily. The writer of the blog as far as I can tell, doesn't list her name but we do know this from her "about" page: "i am a designer and trend forecaster with a passion for pattern in all its forms." Anyways, if for some reason you have happened upon my little space here, I am a great admirer!

2. Rebecca Sower: Rebecca wrote a post not too long ago dedicated to her daughter that made me cry. Her writing is thoughtful and sentimental. Plus I just love her fabulous mixed media work and the pictures are to die for!

3. Laura Gunn Studio: Now called "Paint in My Hair" ... My new favorite painter. I think I came across Laura on Flickr. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.

4. Anahata Katkin: One look and you'll know why. And... just look at this beautiful design available at cafe press.

5. Fieltromania: All about felt things... Grabs me everytime. Great photos, and coming soon in English too.

If you've been tagged, there are apparently some rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Beware... I'm going to get a little sappy here, but at least I mean it, sappy or not...

OK, so, I just read a post from  Little Black Kitty about how she's been feeling lately about her art. Those negative thoughts creeping in. First of all, I want to say how brave I think it was of her to write the post, and second, THANK YOU. For being real. I also need to mention how well I know those thoughts. For some reason those are thoughts I've tended to hold on to. Not good, but true. Although I must say, I'm getting better and better at dismissing them and holding on to the positive ones. I even said aloud a couple of times that I am proud of what I've accomplished. And trust me, that's big.

Recently, I learned that if I look back (and I mean look far back) to where those thoughts came from I can dismiss them more readily. I think "Who told me that? What made me believe that about myself?" I have had many an epiphany when I do that...."Well, now, that's silly. I've been hanging on to that one for... let's see... a minimum of 20 years? Time to give it up.".  These thoughts were cemented in so long ago, it's hard giving them up. And, unfortunately, for me sometimes they are useful. If I can tell myself these things, I have an excuse to not do or to give up what I really want.  Circling the drain over thoughts like that... not at all useful or helpful! Now I'm going to give you my very, very best piece of advice. This is what I've been doing (and don't laugh)... I listen (at a very high volume) to the Dixie Chick's "Not Ready to Make Nice". It makes me feel very powerful. Be nice, but not to those old useless voices... they may be loud, but a nice walk around the block with the iPod on full blast drains them out very nicely.

Happy saturday all... And thanks again, Little Black Kitty.