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.

Yes Grasshoppah

Big changes are taking place! Friday was my last day at my full time job, and now I am officially self employed! Hooray! Yikes! Exciting! Scary!

I've got a lot of change coming up in the next few months, so when I decided to leave my job, I thought "what the heck, let's give Bamboo Village a shot." I'll be taking the next months to form Bamboo Village Educational Fund as a real non-governmental organization, and will be spending lots of time doing product development for Bamboo Village Press. It's all terrifically exciting, and if you have any advice, I'm all ears!

One of the first projects I'm working on is a two-color Gocco print. My sister just completed her first last night, and after all of your brains stop exploding from the indescribable cuteness of her print, I'll be posting mine (which won't be fitting in the "cute" category). As a way to commemorate the beginnings of this new endeavor, I'm making a print in the spirit of Zhang Lin, BVEFs first sponsored student. I'll tell you only that there will be Chinese characters, a cricket, and moleskines involved. It's gonna be pretty cool!

Happily, being an at-home worker is going to mean more posting, more information on Sichuan, China, interviews with Etsy artists and others working for the greater good. I'm excited to be able to move this cause forward!

With that, I leave you with this shot of me from last night, working carefully over the light box. See you soon!

mid-week

As everyone knows, I don't usually do mid-week posts. But I'm trying to be more communicative about the ole BV, so here we are!

First, in personal WIPs, we've made some progress on my current knitting project, the 103-1 Drops Jacket. May I say again how dearly I love this yarn??? Goodness gracious me, it is so soft, it just exudes the spirit of comfort, into my fingers, hands and then straight to my heart (where I need it these days!). Who knew a mere fiber could produce such wonderous effect? Why, every knitter on the planet who has worked with yarns other than acrylic and novelty yarn, of course! But this alpaca is special. I will say that Misti Alpaca is just as good. Bulky weight alpaca wonderfulness. ::sigh::


So, yeah. I've made some progress! I am done both sleeves! I settled after quite some back and forth on a size large, and I'm sure I won't regret it. It's going to be the embodiment of cozy, and this fabric has a lot of drape, but I wouldn't have been happy if it pulled at the top button. So there you have it. I'm one happy knitter.

In other excitements and acquisitions, I have some new books in my collection! I'm looking forward to some quiet time because I think they're going to be pretty inspiring.

Here's one: China: People, Place, Culture, History - it's a gorgeous coffee table book I've been eyeing at B&N, but saved a bundle on by buying online! It's typical DK Publishing style, with lots of terrific graphics. I'm looking for lots of inspiring ideas for design in this one.



The other one I got is The Chinese Calligraphy Bible. It's a nice spiral-bound number with lots of great ideas for mugs & other etched goods for BV Press.

That's all I've got, besides a steaming cup of Sleepytime tea ready for late night sippin'!