#schoolofcreativemotivation

I'm starting something new today. It was an idea I had awhile back because I sit all day long and listen to podcasts. Podcast, after podcast, after podcast. And when I'm not listening to podcasts and working, I'm relaxing and reading a book. And most likely that book is some artsy fartsy business book. Because, you know what...I love professional development! I love learning! I love soaking in as much information as I can until I am sufficiently overwhelmed with ideas and motivation and strategies! I don't know if it's good to be overwhelmed with all of that stuff. Sometimes it can cause a paralysis through analysis complex. But that is beside the point. The point is that I want to share the knowledge I soak in every day.

There are moments when listening to podcasts or reading when I come across a quote or excerpt that makes me jump up and shout, "YES YES YES!!!!". Either it's a a-ha moment for me or I feel like someone just read my conscious or subconscious mind and replayed what was in there but much more eloquently. So as part challenge, part giving back to my followers, part a book for me and a book for all of you, I picked up an old fashioned composition book and every Thursday plan to give you one of my favorite quotes or excerpts for the week. Maybe it will be a great piece of advice or something valuable to reflect upon. I'm calling it the School of Creative Motivation. And like any good challenge, it has it's own hashtag...(insert Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake voice here)...#schoolofcreativemotivation.

This will be done mostly on Instagram but when I come across those really good ones that deserve more reflection, I plan to pop up a blog post about it on Thursdays as well.

Today's (seen below) is a really good one. I could write 100 blog posts about this very idea, and probably will eventually at one point. But today it will be sufficient to just give you what I wrote in the comments:

"First lesson for #schoolofcreativemotivation comes from Jen Lara of Upcycled Education as heard on podcast Elise Gets Crafty Episode 11.

I see so much noise and consumerism posed as art and creativity these days that it drives me bonkers. Hearing this was a huge YES! Very little I see adds value to the world and that is where my business and my industry don't mesh with my values. That is why I'm dedicating this year to refocusing my business so my art and my creativity actually will add value to the world rather than adding more consumer noise..."

Is this something other people feel? Would love to hear people's opinions on this. Please comment below.

When you find amazing collaborators...

It's been 20 days since I wrote my last blog post. WHOA! It's like I dropped off the face of the planet. And it feels like I totally did. But we can discuss that at a later date. Today, I'm here to give a huge shout out to an amazingly talented maker from the UK whose generosity and willingness to collaborate and help out other makers I totally admire.

I originally contacted Emma from Beau Tie to see if she wouldn't mind lending us some of her dapper plaid bow ties for a collaboration shoot I was working on in which we would be featuring "The Lumberjack and The Queen". She sent them out in a jiffy and was patient with us as we worked out the date and rescheduled and then ultimately had to cancel altogether due to situations out of our power. But before I sent the bow ties back to the UK for her collection, I snapped a few pictures of them. As you can see they are gorgeous and would really transform any man into an elegant lumberjack fitting for any lumberjack themed wedding or party.

You can find Beau Tie on Etsy here. Emma is a Fashion Graduate and she hand makes each item from carefully sourced fabric including vintage and recycled (a woman after my own heart). Her main ethos is to make each customer feel special, and to bring back the well dressed gent! You really should check out her store. The fabrics she chooses are beautiful, I especially love the floral fabrics. They create such a sophisticated and soft look. And she has bow ties for women and children, as well as gift sets, pocket squares, etc. She ships worldwide, does custom orders, and can send free fabric swatches on request. I really hope I get the opportunity to work with Emma again.



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Biz BFFs and Bacon and Brew

So much fun stuff is happening this weekend, I'm alliterating from all the excitement.

For those of you here in the Bay Area, this Saturday, October 10th is the 2015 Bacon and Brew Oktoberfest presented by The San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce. All the info is below in the event poster and you can get tickets online at Eventbrite.

Nothing like some bacon and beer to get you in the Fall spirit. I have to say that I am super bummed that I cannot make it but I hope you can all go check it out. 

And what does this all have to do with Biz BFF's? Well my Biz BFF is going to be set up there selling her awesome Handbrewed Soaps made with homemade beer. Her business is awesome. She started off making cold process soap to avoid using store-bought soap with all it's crazy unpronounceable ingredients (a woman after my own heart) and her husband loved brewing beer. Alyson (my Biz BFF) would experiment using different herbs and spices and one day decided to use her husband's homemade beer. And as her website says, they then decided to "marry their passions" and Handbrewed Soaps was born. I love it!

Alyson and I met through a business challenge. I decided to contact her to be my new Biz BFF since she is local here to Oakland as well and I am so glad I did. For any new business owners out there, get yourself a Biz BFF. It is so nice to gain an extra ear, motivational coach, cheerleader, sounding board, and  collaborative partner through your Biz BFF. I love relationships built around a mutual benefit of giving and supporting. With Alyson I have found an amazingly talented, passionate, and centered soul and I'm so excited to be her Biz BFF.

So if you go to the Bacon and Brew Oktoberfest, please go check out Alyson and her awesome soaps. If you have a hard time finding her, just look for the booth decked out in Lumberjack décor. That's because "The Lumberjack and The Queen" Collection will be accompanying Handbrewed Soaps to the festival. Their booth will have all the plaid and gold trimmings to appeal to the bearded, lumberjack, beer loving masses. And if you love any of the pieces, Alyson has so graciously offered to take pre-sale orders so buy a few Upcycled "Plaid Shirt" Cloth Napkins or a fun Upcycled "Plaid Shirt" Mixed Bunting. Heck, you can place a pre-sale order for a whole collection while you are at it. But don't leave without some soap. :)

Upcycled "Plaid Shirt" Mixed Bunting found on Etsy here

Designing and Creating a Unique Wedding Backdrop

This morning I was so excited to find myself tagged on Facebook in this photo.

"Happy one month anniversary Justin! You're proving to be an excellent husband.
Let's do more standing in front of pretty backdrops while holding hands."

Justin (the groom) is an ex-colleague of mine who proposed to his girlfriend Maggie right before they made the cross country move to Boston. I had the honor of meeting Maggie at my own engagement party over a year and a half ago and then when le husband and I visited Boston this last winter we got to catch up with Justin and Maggie in the midst of their wedding planning. Maggie was super excited to work with me to create a unique backdrop for their wedding. And I was super excited to have this opportunity.

Working with Maggie was so fun. Even though I have only spent time with her twice, I feel like I got the pleasure of getting to know her more through designing and creating this backdrop and she is such a kind, sweet soul. I just adore her and I can honestly say Justin is a lucky, lucky man. And I know he knows it. :)

The process of designing was so fun. There were back and forth discussions centered around a Pinterest inspiration board and then I put together a drawing different from but inspired by some of the backdrops that Justin and Maggie got most excited about. It ended up being 3 columns and 4 rows of hanging fabric chevrons with strips of paper bag hanging from each column and pine cones hanging from each strip.

Design work in progress

The next process was sourcing the materials. As I love to use as much reused material as possible, I already had the pine cones and paper grocery bags for the bottom layers of the backdrop but I had to find the perfect fabrics. This involved a lot of pinning off some of my favorite fabric websites (Etsy, Fabric.com, and Spoonflower) and visiting and taking pictures at some of my favorite local fabric stores (Stonemountain and Daughter and a A Verb for Keeping Warm). Maggie and Justin marked their favorites and I made some possible combinations for them to choose. I was a bit surprised that they picked exactly the combination that I would've picked but I guess I really shouldn't have been.

Left Fabric / Right Fabric

THE ONE!!!!
Left Fabric / Right Fabric

Left Fabric found at A Verb for Keeping Warm
Right Fabric found at Stonemountain and Daughter

I purchased the fabric and was ready to get going by July. However I put off starting for two reasons:
1) I was in the process of finishing wedding décor for a late July wedding, and
2) I was scared shitless.

Up until now the process had been fun and easy. I don't think I attributed my procrastination consciously to fear but looking back, it probably was due to that. And if it wasn't, it should've been. Just a month away from their wedding I started putting the backdrop together. To be perfectly honest, it was a nightmare. I expected to have it done in one week and it took 3 weeks instead. Luckily, I had some time to get it finished and sent off to Boston but I wanted so badly to get it out there to Justin and Maggie with plenty of time on their hands. Well, I got it to them just in the nick of time.

The reason it was a nightmare is that it took a lot of trial and error. The design is so simple to plan up in your head but the logistics of pulling it off doesn't always work due to many factors: the fabric stiffener doesn't work as well as planned, the yarn despite being cut the same length stretches and causes things to be crooked, the pine cones are too heavy. It was one thing after the other. And to be honest, this is kind of the best part of creating: the engineering and reengineering, the thinking outside the box. But with time not being on my side and spending day after day on something and then having to start over from the beginning on the third day, and then again many days later, it was just a little stressful. If I was scared shitless, I had every right to be. This project really stretched me. But I'm all the better for it. As a creative person, the best we can ask for is to be stretched by scary, intimidating projects on a regular basis that help us flex that creativity muscle and grow all the better for it.

And the ultimate benefit of all of it, Maggie and Justin loved it! Blessings to them for celebrating a first month of marriage and to many, many more.

On my end, I hope I can be blessed with many, many more scary, intimidating projects in the future.

P.S. Maggie will be sending me some more pics of the backdrop in all it's wedding glory in the future and I can't wait to post it up here for you all to see.

Inspiration for your own Lumberjack Party

Every time I put out a new collection, I create a new inspiration board on Pinterest dedicated to it's theme. It's such a fun endeavor and I'm always surprised to find how much there is, out there in the universe, that would be the perfect accompaniment to my collection in every aspect. You can find everything these days, man! I love to pull in wedding dresses, grooms attire, venues, food and snack stations, flowers, traditions, décor (of course), and more. All things that would create the oh-so-perfect wedding or event along with my collection.

You can find the inspiration board (which is and will continue to be a work in progress throughout the Fall and Winter) for "The Lumberjack and The Queen" Collection here, but below you will find my top 8 favorite finds so far. It wasn't easy to choose, I'll tell you that.

Reindeer candlesticks can be found here on Etsy.

Plaid bow tie from Emma at BeauBowTies found here on Etsy. Her bow ties will be featured in an upcoming inspiration shoot we are doing with "The Lumberjack and the Queen".

Fantastic Royal Stewart shoes found at Upper Street London. Don't know if they are still available but this awesome site allows you to design your own shoe so ask them for some Royal Stewart and your set to go.

This cake!!! Amazingly awesome, I could never eat it. It's made by Sucre Coeur and was found here on Flickr.

Please get married in the redwoods. Pretty please! I mean what is more lumberjack than that. Photo shoot found here and the location was in Portland, OR (of course it was!).

I love this guys red tartan shirt and her sweet red cardigan. That red cardigan with the pristine white of the dress is just brilliantly beautiful. Shoot found here.

Okay, so if you aren't going to get married in the redwoods, go find yourself some snow, a sleigh and throw a tartan blanket over it. Then take beautiful pictures just like these found here.

So, you've been invited to a lumberjack party? Or maybe you are the bridesmaid for a lumberjack wedding? This dress, this dress right here, is all you need. (From ModCloth)