wohm, wip and wwt

wohm: work out of home mom

I'm discovering that my days of re-developing Bamboo Village are shaping into a somewhat predictable flow... and that flow simply consists of 5-minute bursts of time in which to get things done. Maybe if it was summer, it would be easier - I'd be able to open the back door and release these little hooligans into the yard. For now, it's Pacific Northwest winter, which means chilly, often rainy weather, and since my boys are to a large extent still crawlers, I can't really send them out into the elements so easily. I am bound by their needs and attention spans (as all parents are!), and this means my time to focus and concentrate is very limited.

wwt:
working with toddlers

My workspace is in our living room - susceptible to hands with a taller and taller reach, which means I have to do a lot of stacking and remembering where I left things. For now, I'm bound by the limitations imposed by my mama-to-twin-toddler status and the cash-flow realities of a single, stay-at-home mom. Not that I'm complaining - it's working, and I'm getting into the swing... I just figure if I'm going to blog and tell you my story, I might as well be real about it! I honestly don't know how other parents working from home do it!

my desk.
i finally got a bookshelf that now stands next to my workspace so i can get things a little more organized.

wip:
work in progress

Given this environment, it's been challenging to 1) come up with new ideas, and 2) bring the ones I have been able to dream up into production. I have been working on some new things, though, and I'm pretty excited about them!

I am developing a line of eco-friendly kitchen linens, and one project I've long had in mind is a design to print on produce bags. I'm about halfway there - I've got one of the papercuts designed and cut, and it's this papercut that will serve as the main silk screen. I've got two I'm working on: one for veggie bags, and one for fruits.

eat your veggies detail

I've got a new silk screen burned and fully in the process of development of a new print and Moleskine design. I hope this one will make people as happy as it makes me: it's a lovely papercut showing children at a panda exhibit at a zoo... maybe it's even the Panda Preserve in Sichuan? Either way, it's a sweet image, and I think it would be a great gift for a mom, a babysitter or teacher... a sister... or just for the love of pandas and general cuteness. It's going to be a pretty special design, and I'm particularly excited that I'll be offering it on those hot new Moleskine cahiers in deep red and midnight blue. Stunning! Here's a little bit of detail from one of my test prints:


Finally, here's a shot of my pretties all finished and organized. Oh, how I love and adore things that are orderly --- I've never been a very tidy person, but wow, I really value it now that I have extra small people wanderig around! Just the sight of all these cello bags makes me happy.




Hope you're having a nice early December! Stay tuned for weekly specials, new discoveries from Etsy and 1000 Markets, and more.

BUMP!

Yesterday was one of my best Etsy days ever. After doing some digging, I discovered that my Cricket Notecards were featured in Etsy's email newsletter "Etsy Finds". This is how it happened that I had 500 visitors to my shop yesterday!

You can read the full article and view items in four different international groups here.

Congratulations, my little cricket, and THANK YOU to Emily Bidwell for selecting one of my items.

a rose by any other name

Last week, the lovely Mei Gui Designs featured my "love" notebook in her gray-themed treasury. It's always so sweet to get a little note in my Etsy conversations letting me know that one of my items has been picked for a Treasury. It's a great way to discover new artists and get to know other Etsians.

Meigui is the Chinese word for "rose" so I knew right away that we'd have this - interest in China - in common. Then I discovered her shop - wow! - what a great collection of jewelry. Her prices are a total steal for such lovely pieces.

Julie is the brains behind Meigui Designs, and is mama to two daughters adopted from China. Maybe one day it will be my turn to adopt from the country that has meant so much to me, but for now, I'm just so moved by the families that have pursued adoption. Way back many lifetimes ago, I lived and worked at an orphanage in the Amazon region of Brazil, and those children made such a cellular impression on me. Would that every single child in this world would have a family to call their own. What a crime that this is not the case.

I will definitely be supporting MeiGui Designs. I particularly like these October Again earrings:

Thanks, Julie - so nice to meet you and discover your shop!

new this week

New to Bamboo Village Press this week, I'm excited to announce I finally have a PDF version of my popular iron-on transfers of various styles of papercuts. I figured for those of you who are savvy enough on the computer, you might enjoy being able to print these beauties at whim, using them in any crafty application that strikes your fancy. So far, we have the acrobat girls, pagodas and Chinese girls, and phoenixes and dragons.

 I am also slowing gathering up my collection of Asian fabrics to offer through the shop. I've added a really cool Robert Kaufman print that comes in both black and red, some really cute, kitschy China doll prints (photos below) that will be up this weekend, a Kona Bay dragon fabric that's now out of print, more silk brocades, and some unique Japanese fabric in a lovely goldenrod yellow that I particularly love. I'm getting low on brocade yardage, so get it while you still can! Wow, seeing that all listed, I'm amazed at what I've gotten done!

 

Finally, I'm particularly happy to say I've added one of my own prints - the double happiness fish is back, this time in the form of small-scale prints. I posted about the process of making them here. These beauties are a limited edition print - I used all of the gorgeous, nubbly handmade paper we had on hand for this print run.

 

Thanks as always for your interest and support!

child labor

Today on The World, there was a segment discussing child labor. Specifically, they were talking about exactly the issue that we're trying to deal with at Bamboo Village Educational Fund: children dropping out of school in their early teens to become migrant workers. Click here to read the transcript from today's broadcast. You can also check out their photo stream here.

This also prompts me to stop procrastinating and let you know that Zhang Lin has been accounted for! Daniel just returned from China on Sunday.

More Sichuan Coverage

Today on Talk of the Nation, they're interviewing NPR reporters who were actually in Sichuan when the earthquake struck.

After 6pm Eastern time, they'll have it uploaded so you can listen to it. Here's the link.

I've been looking for current blogs written by people on the ground in Sichuan, but am having a hard time finding any that are really talking about up-to-date issues. If anyone out there happens to have any links, I'd love it if you'd post them in the comments.

Daniel is leaving tomorrow for his trip to Chengdu, and of course I'm just longing to be on the trip with him. I hope he'll be able to take a lot of photos, and beyond that, I hope that he'll be able to help in some way. Maybe he'll come back with some new ideas for Bamboo Village and how we might be able to help from here.

Thank you for your comments - it really meant a lot to me, to feel like Bamboo Village is something more than just me posting random things about the Fund or the shop. I was also amazed yesterday to be contacted through Etsy by someone asking when the shop would be opening up again.

I'm not yet sure when I will be able to get the shop back up. It involves quite a bit of space, and of course, the physical ability to run the shop properly. The twins are due sometime between September 5 and October 10, so that last 6 weeks is probably out, though my sister has said she'd help me run the shop. I don't know... we're living out of boxes right now. Part of me really wants to get things rolling again, especially in light of current events in Sichuan. If anyone has any advice or ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Finally, we still haven't located Zhang Lin. Daniel is going to make sure to track her family down while he's there, and he's carrying her scholarship money for the next school year with him. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.

节日- Holidays - 冬至- Winter Solstice

I'm away and traveling for the holidays, (and so happy to be online, however briefly, after 4 days) but just read a nice summary of Chinese Winter Solstice and thought I'd share! Happy winter!

Wish me happy driving tomorrow, when I'll be making the 6-hour drive home. :o)

新年好 - Happy New Year Prep

As all the holiday revelers attend Christmas parties and wrap their presents, the gals in this house are in full preparation mode for 2008. As such, in the weeks to come, you'll be seeing some ideas being kicked around and new products emerge from my harried mind, which hopefully will be the cause of some good hubbub! Just to make things extra fun, Chinese New Year falls on February 7th this year, which means that basically I have to launch all my Valentine's Day -and- Chinese New Year stuff simultaneously. Fun for Celeste, I tell you!

新闻- News

Laurie wrote about this last night, but I had some excitement yesterday when I was contacted by the wonderful Linda Woods, telling me that she'd featured Bamboo Village Press on her blog! Sisters Linda and Karen write the Rev It Up list, a blog that introduces art and ideas to fuel your life and imagination. It's a fantastic new space, and I was so thrilled that one of our products was spotlit by these very talented and accomplished women. Thanks, ladies! Squee!

In other news, it's been quite a whirlwind these past 2 weeks. Last week I negotiated my very first contract work and began doing some consulting in the area of my "professional" expertise: marketing. I should clarify, since now running BVEF and BVP are both online, that I am not an Internet marketing professional... oh, no... I'm having to learn all of that as I go. Rather, I've been working for an ad agency, specializing in print marketing, art direction, and planning. I'm sure you can imagine how thrilling it is to be in the process of building my career in this new direction - it's awesome!

买卖- Business

It's been such an intense 6 weeks! Seriously, I have been astounded by the number of sales that have come through the shop. I sold out of my Happiness Fish floursack cotton towels, which was amazing after thinking that design wasn't going to move. The two new gocco designs: the cricket moleskine and the ancient compass moleskine, are actually close to being sold out, which was also a wonderful surprise.

The thing about this apparent success is that it's very encouraging to me as a designer. Being a technical crafter is very different from actually having some reliable sense for design work, and I'm keenly aware of my status as a novice in this arena. I know some will argue with that assessment, but really, it's different to create something and give it as a gift and create something, make as many of them as I can afford, and offer them for sale.

研究 - Research

Finally, I've been doing a bit of information gathering of late. In thinking about products for Bamboo Village Press for 2008, I've realized that I'm going to need a constant influx of ideas from the Asian realm. I've kind of painted myself into a corner by tying all of the Bamboo Villages together in the sense that for branding purposes, my work for Bamboo Village Press is going to have to be predominantly of Asian flair. You do all know that I'm not actually Chinese, right? So, the task might be a little challenging.

Today I received the latest addition to my library: Symbols and Rebuses in Chinese Art. If you're like me, you have no idea what rebuses means, so here you go:

rebus: n., pl. -bus·es.
A representation of words in the form of pictures or symbols,
often presented as a puzzle.

Pretty spiffy, eh?

I've also been reading quite a lot about Chinese New Year, so that I can write you a wonderful post about this most beloved Asian festival. I'm particularly excited about 2008, since it's the Year of the Rat, which is my animal. I have major plans for the year, so watch out world!

***

Well, there you have it! Another day, another blogger! Until next time, here's a happy dragon stack to make your day a little cheerier:

this is what happens...

When one posts only once a week, what happens is either you end up leaving out significant pieces, or you end up with a post that is rather more like a word smörgåsbord. Hopefully this will not be the trend here at Bamboo Village, because we are soon getting wireless internet and will not have to be computer-sharing as much. Hooray for our household!

Here is our week in review, working backwards:

Cozies a go-go.

I love knitting while watching tv, and these cozies are super-easy! Strangely enough, my own French press is still without its own cozy, but I think I'm going to fix that today. It's getting cold enough that the coffee is cold before I get to my second cup. I've always wrapped a towel around the cylinder, but I want my own cozy! Here's the new one, just added to Bamboo Village Press:

Saturdays are for Delicious Food

measuring out the rice

anise cloves

Yesterday I went to spend the day with Knittah, her husband and close friend Amy. It was a lovely, crisp fall day, perfect for slow-cooking meat. Don't worry, dear veggie friends, there will be no photos of the pork. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes, and it's always a hit with guests. It's very easy, and ridiculously scrumptious. It's the "Shanghai Ham" recipe from the Joyce Chen Cookbook, and is just one of many crowd-pleasing meals from this great collection of Chinese recipes.



红烧猪肉
Shanghai Ham

4lb fresh pork ham, butt or shoulder [we always use shoulder, bone-in is best, but buy more than 4lbs if you're getting one with the bone]
1 cup dark soy sauce [if you can, buy your soy sauce from an Asian market. it will give much better flavor than the kikkoman you usually get at the regular grocery]
1/2 cup sugar [honey is also ok!]
1TBS dry sherry [i skip this and use a splash of white or rice vinegar]
2 [generous] slices of fresh ginger - or 2 whole cloves garlic
few cloves star anise
1/2 - 1 cup water

Sear and scald the pork by soaking it in boiling water for a few minutes. Rinse with cold water.
Place the pork with all the ingredients in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer. Turn the pork over occasionally until tender - about 2 hours or more. Remove cover and increase heat. Baste the pork until about 1 cup of liquid remains (about 15-20 minutes). Skim fat and serve it hot or cold.

Gifties!

Unexpectedly, the gathering of friends yesterday also opened the birthday lead-up, complete with gifts and talk of cheesecake.

I received these two awesome books, appropriately, from Knittah. I think we have an unspoken pact to support each other's knitting obsessions on our birthdays. The first book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts, has been a long-time favorite. The photographs are stunning, and I like almost all of the projects. It was among my last batch of overdue library books, and was destined to be so again, so this is super-awesome!

The second, Knitting Nature, is as artistic as the previous is practical. The patterns are simply mind-blowing, so this will be a book of patterns to aspire to making.

I've also included here a gift from Knittah's aunt, Mother Earth and her Children, which was signed by the author. If you don't know the story behind this book, take the time to look it up. It's completely worth it.

Autumnal

On Friday, my sister and I were fortunate enough to take a 2-hour hike at the Wissahickon, one of my favorite places for outdoor bliss in this area. I say fortunate because it was our last chance to see the foliage before it all dropped to the wintery ground. Here are some of the photos... you can see more on Laurie's blog, linked above.

covered bridge along the "forbidden trail"

japanese maple, in full autumn glory

And, although that is not a *week* in review, it's all I've got in me! Stay tuned next week for a new moleskine design honoring Bamboo Village's China roots and Zhang Lin, our sponsored student.

Jie–shao – Guest Artist Altinay Designs

Just in time for the holiday season comes Altinay, who has showered her support on us by contributing a beautiful Asian-themed necklace and earring set to Bamboo Village!

Not only are these pieces stunning, but they’re extra special because of the Chinese theme. Taking her inspiration from the novel The Secret Fan, the necklace features a carved fan pendant, with the body of the necklace and the earrings in a beautiful red coral.

Here’s an excerpt from her Etsy Profile Description:

My name is Altinay (pronounced Al-ti-nai), which means "golden moon" in Kyrgyz and other Turkic languages.

Jewelry design presents a crossroad where several of my passions meet: appreciation for aesthetic beauty and applied art, love for unique jewelry, and fascination with stones and crystals, and their inherent metaphysical qualities.

I create eclectic pieces that are unique, timeless, and do not necessarily follow the fashion trends of the day. Although I do not adhere to and limit myself to one particular style, at times I draw inspiration from my heritage and the traditional jewelry made by silversmiths of Central Asia, as well as ethnic / tribal jewelry from other regions of the world. I like incorporating tribal beads, like vibrant hand-crafted Tibetan beads and pendants, in my designs and giving a contemporary interpretation to old pieces.

A deep thanks to Altinay for contacting me and for her support!

Waxing Poetic

Lodge in the Bamboo

I sit alone in the bamboo that hides me,
plucking the harp and whistling long.
It is deep in the woods and no one knows -
The bright moon comes to shine on me.

~Wang Wei (701-61AD)

here fishy fishy

New design for the gocco.... survey says?

What do you think?






ps: I'd love it if you'd sign my guestbook at the bottom of the page!