little acorn creations Archives

balance with paint

penny on March 10, 2016

Almost a year ago I wrote an essay that was in large part about perfectionism. It’s been a struggle to write up more about this topic, not because they’ll be the wrong words and not (groan) perfect but because I really don’t know how I want to articulate what’s in my head.

I have many friends who write eloquently. Sarah is one of them. Please go and read her recent post, “in which I exhort you to paint some perfect little trees (we are all perfect little trees)“.

Oh wow, you came back! Thank you.

There are several areas in my life where I’m working to find that balance between not even starting (because I won’t do it right) and working tirelessly yet never finishing to reach that elusive ideal. Some days are better than others.

To that end I’m trying to doodle and paint more (as I did a year ago), and not only in my colouring book. Earlier this week, I took out the glue gun and affixed magnets to the bottom of the half pans so I could get rid of the icky plastic insert that came with my set and rearrange things how I liked. Bonus, there’s now room for my brushes!

Yes, it is possible to do this magnet modification with cheaper thinner craft magnets, but I had these so I used them. I’m much happier with this setup!

I’ve had a big watercolor project I’ve wanted to work on for the past year, to revisit and redraw my project bag doodles. I love the ones I doodled, but I want to make them more versatile and useful to how I record and track things. I plan to scan them and convert my doodles into mini labels or stickers. Anyway, I think it’s big to me because there are quite a few bags to doodle and I don’t have a dedicated small watercolour sketchbook or setup. I primarily use any paper at hand or if I want something special (which I do for this project) a 9×12 pad of student watercolour paper. As I tend to pull out the paints to work in a 5 min spurt, or on a small cleared corner of my desk, that generally isn’t helpful when staring at a large sheet of paper.

Today after lunch, I brought a lap desk out into the sunroom, sketched a few bags and started painting. I’m not sure if I like how I sketched out the box bags or if I want to go back to they way I’ve doodled before, but the thing is I started.

And it’s progress.
(click to see them bigger)

I do love how I doodled up my Split Yarn Perfect Pouch, it holds my Swatch Maker 3-in-1 Weaving Loom. More on that great tool soon.

Also related to progress on my perfectionism, I finally got over that not everything is to my ideal (related to my current pattern layout and photography) and released a new pattern this week, Ayrton. It’s been tech edited by the very patient Lindsey Stephens of Poetry in Yarn and received generous yarn support from Anzula. This classic yet understated design is a nice seasonal transition piece or for when the office AC gets cranked up. The stitch design and pattern name pays tribute to Hertha Marks Ayrton, an electrical engineer, feminist, physicist, and inventor. The pattern is available for $6 and immediate download at ravelry | craftsy | etsy.

Moving into the grey space between perfectionism and answering the question of “when is a work of art complete?“, the Met’s new space, The Met Breuer, the inaugural exhibit is Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible and with this Da Vinci as a part of the collection, I urge you to go! I hope to get there at some point.

balancing act

penny on June 4, 2015

Last weekend I was in Columbus, Ohio at the summer show for TNNA, The National NeedleArts Association where I was balancing helping Happy Fuzzy Yarn and working on projects both as PennyWise Consulting and little acorn creations. As has happened in the past, my flight home was cancelled so my week has been shifted all around, my schedule didn’t just go splat it tried to roll over and with a sore throat try to play dead. I’m catching up on everything and the cats are catching up on snuggles (more on that tomorrow).

my pen at work, april edition

penny on April 30, 2015

I still find these sorts of “where else you can find me” posts very difficult to write even though I know they’re beneficial (I’m not alone). They’ll appear here occasionally.

Some other spaces you can find words I’ve written:

Over at PennyWise Consulting, LLC, I focus on the technology my clients use. That shifts as my clients change, but at the moment there’s quite a bit of WordPress. I also write about the process of how I work and help you build technology literacy. Monthly I write for The Patterned Blog, where I offer tech advice for creative types in a series called Ask Penny.

little acorn creations has many of the making posts that used to appear here. I interview makers, gather up tips, tutorials, and techniques, and share what I’m working on. It’s still quite focused on knitting and crochet at the moment, but as I’m making more, the writing topics will expand as well. Now that it’s warmer I’ve started to pin inspiring wood working projects in addition to everything else. Now I just need to clean off the workbench!

Is the thought of visiting all those websites overwhelming? I also send monthly email newsletters that summarize the posts of the past month and highlight additional items of specific interest. You can sign up at the following links: PennyWise Consulting arrives in your inbox during the last week of the month (I sent it out earlier today). While little acorn creations distributes its newsletter during the second week (April’s newsletter).

I also was given a very special space to write this month, I was invited to write a guest essay for Tom Bihn‘s blog! You can read that essay at Lessons from a Kitten.

What would you like me to write about?

my pen at work

penny on January 29, 2015

I find these sorts of “where else you can find me” posts very difficult to write even though I know they’re beneficial (I’m not alone). They’ll appear here occasionally.

Some other spaces you can find words I’ve written:

Over at PennyWise Consulting, LLC, I focus on the technology my clients use. That shifts as my clients change, but at the moment there’s quite a bit of WordPress. I write about the process of how I work, help you build technology literacy and even how to think through IT. Monthly I write for The Patterned Blog, where I offer tech advice for creative types in a series called Ask Penny.

little acorn creations now sees more of the making posts that used to appear here. I interview makers, gather up tips, tutorials, and techniques, and I also sometimes preview current projects, as I did last week. It’s quite focused on knitting and crochet at the moment, but as I’m making more, the writing topics will expand as well. My garage workshop is unheated so that may wait until spring, though we’ve discussed the feasibility of bringing the scroll saw inside.

Is the thought of visiting all those websites overwhelming? I also send monthly email newsletters that summarize the posts of the past month and highlight additional items of specific interest. You can sign up at the following links: PennyWise Consulting arrives in your inbox during the last week of the month. While little acorn creations distributes its newsletter during the second week.

What would you like me to write about?

pen at work…

penny on September 18, 2014

Over the past decade this blog has seen my writing wax and wane, changed homes, changed formats, and changed names. I’m trying to carve more time to write into my day and I know public accountability and awareness will go far in helping me focus on that time. In that time I’ve expanded beyond this space and you can find my scribbles in a few other places now.

Over at PennyWise Consulting, LLC, I focus on the technology my clients use. That shifts a little as my clients change, but at the moment there’s quite a bit of WordPress. I am starting to write more about the process of how I work and all the tools and tips I use. Monthly I write for The Patterned Blog, where I offer tech advice for creative types in a series called Ask Penny.

little acorn creations now sees more of the making posts that used to appear here. Right now I’m in the middle of writing about resources for knit, crochet, spinning, and even more making. In the future I plan to show how to incorporate more making into your life with simple steps.

Both businesses have monthly email newsletters, in theory. A year ago I cut back drastically on what I subscribed to and felt too much guilt to actually send mine out and add to your overfull inbox. So I’ve not sent a newsletter for either business in about a year. Oops. Bad business-owner! I recently came to my senses and know that if you don’t want it in your email you’ll either not subscribe in the first place or unsubscribe when you get the next one and that’s ok. If you would like to see what they’re about, you can sign up at the following links for PennyWise Consulting and/or little acorn creations. I plan to release this month’s soon (the month is half over). As an additional incentive for little acorn creations, there will be discount coupons to items in my shop.

In this space I’ll continue to write weekly about the things that catch my interest. I have piles of books to review, more recipes to write up and comment on, some NYC metro area hikes to summarize, notebooks and other stationary to discover, and more. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to post cat photos, Buddy’s been super cute this week.

Please let me know, what would you like to read?