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.

balance

Ah, the days of leisurely photographing and editing, thinking calmly about blog post content and product development in the shop... they are long gone! As the mother of twin toddlers (soon to be 15 months old!), I am always hungry, tired, on the run, and juggling a thousand things that need to get done. It's not a complaint - I love my life! Finding time and creative energy is a challenge, though.

I've been slowly re-introducing prints, cards, Moleskines, Asian fabrics, and other Bamboo Village favorites over the last 3 weeks. As I write, I'm sitting on a bed strewn with luscious silks and lovely cottons, all whispering to me their desired projects.

I know many of you are also busy crafters, always looking for small breaks in the bustle to get your crafting groove on. How do you do it? What are your tips and tricks for being creatively-driven amidst the daily grind? How do you self-employed folks with littles get anything done?

Looking forward to your inspiring tales!

She's One!

Happy Etsyversary, Bamboo Village!

Well, Saturday marks my one year mark on Etsy! In one year, we've accomplished so much! I've refined my product line and introduced a bunch of new designs. We've made over 300 sales, and raised more than $1000 for the Fund, including money raised through the shop as well as direct donations.

In the first year, I was also invited to participate in a gallery show, and now have some of my own items for sale in a bricks and mortar store in Seattle, and yet another design being used by a Chinese brush painting artist as her price tags. I've also had a few of my items on the home page at Etsy, in January I was a featured artist on Poppytalk Handmade, and have been spotlighted on several blogs. I've had the privelege of sending Bamboo Village Press goodies to four continents and at least nine countries. Wow, that's more than I ever dreamed of, really.

We've also had the immense and humbling experience of working with these amazing guest artists:





OUOU Designs








Anonymous Guest Artist












Sea Find Designs











Jealous Jewelry












Altinay Designs













Field & Sea







Additionally, we have another new guest artist, waiting in the wings! We'll be unveiling the stunning items she's contributed in the next month, as a part of the celebration!

Thank you all for making this year so amazing, but mostly, for making it possible for us to sponsor Zhang Lin less than 5 months after we started Bamboo Village Educational Fund. The next year promises to bring with it lots of surprises, lots of new successes and creativity.

春节愉快 - Happy Spring Festival

Happy Chinese New Year!

Lest you be thinking "what's she talking about? Chinese New Year was TWO days ago," don't be alarmed! Spring Festival actually lasts for TWELVE days, so I've got plenty of time.

I swear, I had all good intentions of having a Chinese New Year, and New Year's Eve post. They were actually saved as drafts. My week got steamrolled halfway through, and I'm only just now starting to recover. Not that it was bad news, not at all; in fact, I'll be making happy announcements soon. For now, though, it's all wrapped up in shiny red paper to be cherished and savored, much like Chinese New Year!


Would you just look at this little peanut? This is the daughter of one of my awesome customers, who recently purchased the dragon papercut iron-on you see on Little Cutie's shirt. How cool is that? I used to always ask those who purchased supplies to send photos, but I gave that up after a while. So, this picture, left in my feedback, was a very pleasant surprise. A special thank you to her, for sending the pic and allowing me to post it here.

I think she looks perfectly prepared for some lion dancing and fire crackers!

So, Happy Spring Festival, all! The Year of the Rat is here!

介绍 - introduction - Field and Sea

It is with great pleasure that I announce a brand new Guest Artist at Bamboo Village Press. Field and Sea is an artist I've been admiring on Etsy for some time, and through a little bit of serendipity and lot of fortune on our part, she's joined the family!

Her contribution is a graceful bamboo notebook - offered to Bamboo Village Press as an exclusive design.

I had the chance to hear a little about Field and Sea. Here's what she had to say about her process and shop:

On an average day, I will: collect one peculiar texture; notice one shadow or sliver of light that takes my breathe away; walk twenty minutes, looking above eye level at least once; wonder why; think of cheese or chocolate, and most likely consume a piece; forget to defrost the fish; take a multivitamin; and use a semi-colon. Eating lima beans will never be a part of this list.

I decided to start Field and Sea as an outlet for the creation of all the art and jewelry and miscellaneous beautiful things that just can't be crammed into a day job.

As a result of a lucky set of fortunate circumstances, I met Celeste of BambooVillagePress and found out about this wonderful woman's inspiration for how all of us can help a little more.

Without further ado, here's the gorgeous notebook, designed and handmade by Field and Sea:


Learn more and check out all the elegant, stylish pieces at Field and Sea by visiting her shop:




A special thanks to Field and Sea, and to all of the other wonderful Guest Artists who have contributed to such an amazing first year at Bamboo Village Press and Bamboo Village Educational Fund!

Read All About It!

Here's a little linky for Sunday night: the blog Arts in RI interviewed me, and the post is up. This Etsy street team of Rhode Island artists is writing a cool series of "Etsy Rhode Trips," interviewing sellers from the 50 US states. I'm happy to be in position in spot number 9!

Here it is: Stop Nine on our Etsy Rhode Trip: Pennsylvania!



A happy little tidbit about the RI Street Team: one of the members is our own Guest Artist: SeaFindDesigns!

Spotlight on BVP

It's fun to have a moment in the sun, isn't it? Things are going really well at Bamboo Village Press, and that means that things are also going well for Bamboo Village Educational Fund. For once, I'm excited about getting to the taxes, because then I'll be able to come and report to you how much we raised in 2007! Who would have thought that my little idea that emerged after visiting China last winter would have actually developed into something real? It amazes me.

I mentioned a while ago that I'm one of the featured artists on this month's Poppytalk Handmade Marketplace - very cool! It's packed with some amazing pieces, like wall graphics from One Up, these amazing cards I've been coveting for a while by uccello curioso, and even fine art pieces by eric leichty. If you've taken the handmade pledge, Poppytalk Handmade Market is a great place to bookmark and will make the sometimes overwhelming volume of items on Etsy much more manageable.

Tonight I switched around some of my items in the market, and this is what it looks like. Etsy doesn't provide site stats, so I can't tell how much traffic is being generated, but it's sure to be helping!

Meanwhile, Jen from Indie Fixx contacted me and made my day today by informing me that BVP is a pick in their Valentine's Day Gift Guide! What a treat - that was even better than getting a big heart-shaped box of chocolates! Look how pretty:

Indie Fixx is a celebration of the creativity, tenacity, and general
spunky goodness that is the indie design movement. The indie design movement
is made up of artists, crafters and designers who make
a literal smorgasbord of delectable indie products.
Once you shop indie, you’ll never go back.

Thanks to both Poppytalk and Indie Fixx for selecting Bamboo Village - it means a lot to me personally, but even more, the attention helps Bamboo Village Educational Fund, and that's what it's all about!

The Big Unveil

Monday morning greetings!! (*yawn*)

After a whirlwind of creating, photographing and editing, most of my new items are officially uploaded, and are now being featured on Poppytalk Handmade! I hope you'll visit this wonderful venue and check out all the amazing participants. I've been dying to post about this since my invitation about a month ago, but for once managed to keep it under my hat!

I have to work this morning, so I don't have any more time for details, but I'll be back tonight with more. ^_^

新东西- New Stuff - sneak preview

It's all coming together - new items are almost finished for the shop, just as I'm on my last few Cricket and Ancient Compass moleskines. I'm being a little hush-hush about what this is all for, but fear not - I'll be coming out with the whole story on Saturday! For now, here's a little preview:

a new 2-color printed moleskine, here's the look of color one:


The second is a new Year of the Rat design, seen here on some gift tags. These will be great for 2008 gifts, not only for new Rat Year babies, but also for all of your friends bearing the rat as their Chinese zodiac sign.

Rat year dates:

• 31 January 1900 - 18 February 1901
• 18 February 1912 - 5 February 1913
• 5 February 1924 - 24 January 1925
• 24 January 1936 - 10 February 1937
• 10 February 1948 - 28 January 1949
• 28 January 1960 - 14 February 1961
• 15 February 1972 - 2 February 1973
• 2 February 1984 - 19 February 1985
• 19 February 1996 - 6 February 1997
• 7 February 2008 - 25 January 2009

Here's our 2008 masot:


Finally, inspired by Lupin, I'm trying for a little daily craft by joining Crafting 365. I certainly accomplished the goal today! ^_^

ps: Did you see Laurie's new design? gah, it melts mah heart every time I see it!!

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:

新东西- New Stuff - Crickets & Compasses

Here I am in my second week of self employment, and only now do I have a chance to check in! It's been a real process of adjustment, getting used to the new flow of time and trying to reorganize my space without spending a ton of money. Things are finally settling down, and I've got some new introductions to make!

Emblem of Courage

I've been working on this new design for a while - I had the idea a few weeks ago to pair a screened image of a hand-written letter in Chinese with some sort of symbol. I took the letter of introduction we received about Zhang Lin during the process of coming to sponsor her education and made it ready for burning a Gocco screen. Then I spend quite some time toying with which symbol to overlay. Too busy and it would fight with the Chinese characters. Too simple, I could end up with something meaningless. Finally I settled on the cricket, a beloved little beast in Chinese culture and a symbol of courage. Courage seemed like a perfect match for Zhang Lin, who has been through so much in her young life.

Last night I did the printing, both on moleskines, cards, and tags. They came out so well! I'm excited about posting them in my shop as well as using these cards in my Bamboo Village correspondence. Whether or not this story means anything to you, I hope the design will stand on its own as a beautiful print.


Ancient Compass

During the process of developing the cricket design, I was suddenly inspired with another design idea which ended up being a quick and successful print. I launched the Ancient Compass Moleskine last week and have met with great success and attention. Every time I list one, they generate more traffic than any other item in my shop. These are a great gift for guys - evidenced by the fact that every one that's sold has been purchased by men! Very exciting!

The design is a modified photograph of a fengshui luopan (风水罗盘） - a compass used in hard core feng shui consultations for determining energy flow in physical space.


More Cozy for the Coffee

Finally, I whipped up a couple more french press coffee cozies (one and two). These pretties have been warmly received in the shop since I made up the pattern last month, so I've got one on the needles just about all the time now.

December is turning out to be my best month ever, for more reasons than just Bamboo Village Press. I'm so excited to be fully engaged in this new endeavor, and can't wait to get more work done on the Educational Fund! Coming soon, we've got a new guest artist, and I will finally be able to do some writing about life in rural Sichuan, China.

Attention!

I was sitting in front of my computer, tending shop before heading out into the world, when one of my items' views started skyrocketing! I called Laurie in, saying something must be wrong at Etsy, and then we realized: my item is on the front page!!! See it there, above the fold, center top row??? Wow!

I love this treasury, featuring indigo items! Check them all out by visiting Etsy.com before they switch the collection!

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!

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.

新东西 - New Stuff - Gocco & Fiber

Happy Sunday! The Nadeau girls have been busy this weekend, making and finishing new items for the shop!

After a successful rollout of my hand knit coffee cozy last week, I've made two more - a knit one and a new quilted cozy in rich Asian blues.

And we were so excited to get the Gocco rolling yesterday. After spending about 8 hours on our feet, testing out designs and print quality and color, we've got two new designs by Laurie up in the shop! Click the graphic and check them out in full detail. We'd love your feedback!

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!

Li Wu - Gifts

Recently, one of my closest friends spent a couple of weeks in China, and he graciously brought back for our shop some amazing Chinese silk brocade fabric. I waited a whole month to see it - he drove up to see me in Portland last weekend and brought the silk with him.

This is a pretty cool thing about Bamboo Village - all kinds of friends and strangers are becoming involved in supporting the Fund. It's a very cool thing to be here in the middle of it all.

This weekend, I'll be listing the silk in the Fabric section in Bamboo Village Press.

You can check them out there or on Flickr!

fellow etsians

Here they are! Jealous Jewelry, who donated those gorgeous earrings, and Sea Find Designs, who coordinated the whole thing:



Sea Find Designs - Genuine antique and historic sea glass, found by the Prince family, on the beautiful shores or Rhode Island. Each piece is one of a kind and unique. All jewelry designs are by Tracy Prince.

Shop News

Coming up this week, you'll be meeting Bamboo Village Press' new Guest Artist, Lori from JealousJewelry. She very generously donated these gorgeous earrings to raise funds for Bamboo Village!

The earrings are now listed in the shop - I hope you'll check them - and Lori's shop - out!

Hooray for awesome artists!