Artfully Meandering: Resident Adventures - Florida Edition

Lately I've been delighting in resurrecting the idea of being a Resident Adventurer. After I had lived in Hong Kong for a year, I was in a state of "in-between"...I wasn't a native, I wasn't a tourist...I was a Resident Adventurer. I've been continuing to move and am now living in my 10th state. I've been trying to bring the idea of becoming an adventurer in my own back yard. 

It looks like I'll be sticking around Florida for a while. It took me a good year to settle in a feel like home. There are elements that made me feel at home immediately because it mixes elements of two places that I have very fond memories of - Texas and Hong Kong. Florida has the flatness (even flatter) of Texas and the weather of Hong Kong. Who knew Florida could be my version of a TexKong? (It's really hard to make up a compound phrase out of Texas and Hong Kong. Texarkana or Texhoma are a wee bit easier.)

These beaches make it easy to adventure. I mean, seriously? How cool is this? It's October!

And my favorite part - my little buddy that adventures with me. This little mischief-maker who likes to take herself on her own adventures if she can escape the fence in the yard (scared me half to death two weeks ago... grandpa fixed the fence so she can't do that anymore), will walk for 2 hours around the beach with me. After the first wave scared her a wee bit, she'll walk in the shallows with no issue whatsoever. 

I thought I wore her out.

But after a 5 minute Trix-nap, she was fine. Too bad for me.

Where are you Resident Adventures?

Artfully Meandering: Pivoting

Ain't that the way it goes,
Always stumbling into something,
Life's an open road,
You gotta take it,
If you just let go,
Lose your way to find that one thing
You've been missing
You almost missed it all

- "The Way it Goes," Gloriana

Songs that Speak to Me

There is something about the lyrics in Gloriana's 2009 song that really speak to me about my life's journey and my creative exploration. Sometimes getting lost leads to the best breakthroughs!

Texture & Patina - Where I Started

When I started the Texture & Patina collection, I took my cue from the colors in the photographs I took. Then I modified the colors a bit to capture more of what I really wanted. The core design that really struck my fancy was the textured plaid. 

I then added fruit designs with Zentangle inspired doodling in them. My mom thought the fruit made it country-ish. I think I agree.

I'm really torn between the above plaid and the Zentangle inspired background below.

Pivoting

And then I moved to Florida and wanted beach inspired decor. I started with the plaid that I loved so much and just fell in love with the coloring. So, I kept going and created a total of 8 color ways to expand the Texture & Patina Beach Bright collection. There are 12 designs in 8 colors coming over the next three months.

Your turn:

Have you ever "pivoted" creatively? Were you happy with the results? Or disappointed?

Artfully Meandering: Resident Adventurer... Florida Edition

Who knew I would enjoy living in Florida so much? My resident adventures have some great locations. At first it didn't seem like much, but if you look, it's there. 

Beach

Who doesn't enjoy time at the beach? I have to admit, I've only had one day of quality time at the beach. When you live here, it isn't as easy to spend oodles of time on the beach, but I do make it a habit to run over there, even for a few minutes every so often. 20 minutes away. Only 20 minutes. But sometimes, oh so far when you're in the midst of all the activities of daily life.

My Love/Fear Relationship with Florida

But I do have to admit there is an element of a love/fear relationship. There are a lot of sting-y (scorpions, mosquitoes) or bite-y (alligators, yellow flies, snakes, sharks) things here. But, if you exercise caution, you are reasonably safe. Reasonably. I'm still very cautious and constantly keeping my eyes peeled. I still don't see things easily, so I feel like I would be more susceptible to missing what's right in front of me because they blend in so well.

Palencia Boardwalk

Yet, it's so worth it. I mean, check this out. This little gem of a boardwalk goes out to the Intercostal River and gives you a peek into the stunning salt marshes that are hard to see otherwise. Such a treasure!

Sky Art

And the sky. The sky is constantly spectacular, especially in summer during the rainy season. Florida is flat as a pancake. There is a stoplight that I call the "Monty Python" stoplight because it seems like it never gets closer. And then suddenly you're there. But the clouds. Shift your gaze skyward and you're always in for a daily dose of art.

Now we're getting to fall and it's dropped down to the 70's. I've actually been chilled enough to wear long sleeves! Heh! Who knew I would acclimate to the heat? Well, we do complain in the hot, hot summer. I don't go to Disney in the summer months and I drive in the AC as much as possible. I don't know how people lived in Florida without AC. :-)

Artfully Meandering: Creative Floodgates Open. A review of the deluge...

So, the creative floodgates have opened. I am beyond jewelry now. Here are all the things I have percolating and are now starting to come to fruition!


Surface Pattern Design

I took a random class on surface pattern design and have now expanded my art interests into creating designs for my own home! Here is my "beach blues" I printed through Spoonflower.

And am finishing up re-upholstering a cute little bistro set. 

I also printed some pillows through Zazzle in a bohemian collection for my bed. I've also been  repainting and refinishing my furniture so it coordinates better and just generally organizing my home.

Kanna Inspire

I did a pilot of an inspiration magazine with an original cast of 16 artists. The enthusiasm from the initial launch was great! I'm working on getting legal ducks in a row to relaunch my inspiration magazine. Here is a proof of the next issue (launch date is still open).

Sticky Note Project Management

Another thing I've been piloting on myself, and select friends and family is converting what I've learned from my day job into a personal task/project management system. In the digital age, I've found there is a nice balance/tension to still using old-fashioned paper. But, not just any paper. I am known at the "sticky note queen" when I'm collaborating with my team at work. I've combined my new surface pattern designing skills and have made a way to manage my own tasks in a pretty and organized way. I still use digital lists, but the paper is more tactile and "in-my-face" so I don't forget as easily.

Jewelry

And hopefully, I will be able to return to the thing that started this whole journey... jewelry! I'm not sure about being able to start up lamp working again, but if I can't do that yet, I will explore polymer and ceramics to round out my skill set and materials.

Knitting

Last but not least, I've finally conquered knitting! I've been knitting scarves for years and years and years and now have graduated from scarf land (although I still love making scarves). I have decided to keep this piece of creativity as something I do to relax at the end of the day. I will still need a creative outlet if my art business takes off. As I was starting to gain a small amount of traction at one point in my business, I realized that making art would become a responsibility and not a creative outlet. So, I had to find something to stay as joy for the joy of creating - no strings attached and I've decided knitting will stay mostly in that arena.

Artfully Meandering: Designing fabric - new beach themed pillows and fabric

A few years ago when I was coping with chronic migraines I started taking a bunch of different classes. One of the classes was surface pattern design. 

It was a very random side trip in my art journey. I never really had a particular interest or even knowledge that such a thing as surface pattern design existed. It was just kind of a "hm, that's sounds kind of interesting, I'll take it" type of experience. And I truly started from scratch. I didn't have any design or graphic art background that most of the other students had, so some of my early work? Heinous. But, some of it surprisingly good and I'm even starting to revisit some of the ideas. It's been a consistent pattern as I learn anything new such as lamp work, polymer clay, metal clay. I start with really ugly things (but with interesting possibilities) and some surprisingly good stuff. I'll share another post on the surface pattern design journey. 

What I love about surface pattern design is being able to make things I visualize for my home into seamless repeats for pattern and objects. Learning how to create repeats that I can use as backgrounds on my blog? Score! (Yep, I made that bright yellow/green organic plaid on my blog.) Creating my own fabric for use in clothing and pillows. Bonus!

Texture and Patina Beach Blue

by Jenn Borek

Zazzle 

I've searched some of the various third party customization stores and I settled on Zazzle for the level of control I had over the products my designs would be on. I earn a design royalty on each object sold with my design on it. If I promote the product, I can also earn an additional commission.  I've ordered products from Zazzle for my own home and have been very pleased with the results of the pillows (my favorite!) and the wall art and cards. Their service is excellent and the prints have turned out very well. 

Recently, I started decorating my home in a beach/ocean theme. I'm not a huge fan of the ubiquitous motifs (that are everywhere especially once you move to Florida). I decided I wanted to embrace beach living through color. The varied blues and green are what take my breath away about being near the water. 

I got my pillows yesterday and I'm in love! I made four designs in the brighter palette for this effortless boho vibe. 

And to maximize the designs, each pillow has a "bright side" and a "subdued" side. The subdued side is two-toned. Flip the pillows to mix it up.

If you're a "matchy-matchy" type of person, just order two of the same pillow. 

Spoonflower Fabric

In addition to pillows, I got two yards of the fabric through Spoonflower. The colors in the fabric pop a little more than on the Zazzle pillows. I'm going repaint and reupholster some bistro chairs with this fabric. Can't wait to get moving on that project!

I really, really love the pillows I ordered through Zazzle and fabric through Spoonflower. I've been very happy with the quality and service of both companies.

If you are digging the fabrics or pillows, order yours through the above links! I earn commissions on each sale. 

If you want to design your own, both have "create your own" options on each. I have been very happy with their service and can happily recommend them to others.

Artfully Meandering: More Knitting

More knitting. I can't seem to stop. I'm currently super obsessed with Cascade Casablanca yarn. (I have been liking the discounts at Yarn.com). I'm a color-a-holic and I love, love, love the way the colors graduate from one to the next. 

This scarf is knit as a wide scarf or wrap in the fern lace pattern using the Casablanca discontinued color of neutrals (tan, brown, cream, gray, offwhite, and black).

Artfully Meandering: Learning how to knit - I encourage Continental style

Here is a list of videos I recommend to help you get start with knitting:

Long Tail Cast On

Very Pink Knits. I love her videos, I usually start with her series when learning something, but I like watching multiple videos to find the subtleties that will work for me. This video is great for long tail cast on with a slip knot. I think it's a wonderful beginner way to learn how to do long tail cast on.

Long Tail Cast On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9cNEozOLc

Another version with the slip knot start: Long Tail Cast On

This is closest to the way I do it. I like how slow she is in showing how to do a long-tail cast on. Long Tail Cast On

Learning how to knit - Continental Style

Continental and English style knitting are two methods of how you hold the yarn while knitting. I learned English and was encouraged to switch to Continental because my hands would hurt with the English style. I'm very glad I made the switch. Continental is overall more efficient (i.e. faster) because you move your hands less. You can get very fast with the English style, but your hands still move a wee bit more. However, as is pointed out in the last video, it's good to know both styles of knitting to help when you have repetitive motion stress/injury. Being able to switch it up gives your hands and arms a rest. 

This is one is good with beginner continental.... but how she pulls the stitch through is good for beginner but very inefficient in the long run. However, I like how she teaches this because it's how I've noticed beginners tend to work when learning Continental.

Learn to Knit Continental Style - Tutorial - Knitting Blooms

When you get comfortable with the beginner, here is the version that helps you refine your continental knitting. This is the video I used to help me when I switched from English to Continental. 

Continental knitting demo

Artfully Meandering: Knitting OCD

Ever since I knitted three of these neck warmers for my lovely friend from New Zealand, I've been a knitting fool. 

Oh, yes. I've gone off the deep end. Below is the pile of things I've knit since then. Three blankets (one already given away) loads of scarves and cowls, three capes (two given away).

I'm particularly fond of the three very colorful pieces in the front. The one on the far left took two weeks of serious OCD knitting. I made a second one in a different color way and that was already given away. The middle one took about a month with a more intricate lace pattern. And the one on the right, I just love it's rainbow color transitions in the fern pattern. I did that  in three evenings of OCD knitting.

It's been so bad, I haven't even wanted to stop long enough to write these posts. I've composed them in my head... but I can't break my fingers off the needles. But, here I am. Finally trying to make some time to start blogging again. 

I'm going to have to start selling my stash of snuggly cowls and scarves to support my habit. See stash below. Oh yes. I have fallen in love with several expensive brands. Sunday Knits, Malabrigo, Cascade Ultra Pima. I have learned, if I'm going to spend so much time with these yarns, I want them to feel good, and I want to enjoy feeling and looking at them. I went back to knitting with craft store yarn for a one of the six projects I have started, and I'm not just feeling inspired. I'll try to get going again. It is teaching me useful techniques. 

Latest arrival of delicious Cascade Ultra Pima to be knit into a decorative baby blanket. Oh, the sheen on this cotton is sublime! Will probably make another one in the Cascade Super Wash for daily use.

I...
         Can't...
                       Stop! .....

Artfully Meandering: New knitter notes

So, technically, I am not a new knitter. I've been trying to learn to knit for 30 years. Someone taught me the basics when I was a teenager and I can make scarves. I would try off and on (mostly off) for years and years but would get frustrated and give up.

In 2009, a lot of the art blogs I read, the artists were picking up knitting and I really wanted to learn. I even signed up for lessons, but never really could break through. When I moved back to the U.S., I had a friend who was a knitter and I made more scarves and starting exploring unique yarns. Still, only progressed to scarves with interesting patterns, and a few blankets. One small breakthrough in this I phase was that my friend encouraged me to learn continental knitting. I switched from English to continental through a YouTube tutorial. Much much easier on my hands. It takes about 1-2 weeks to get comfortable with holding yarn in the new way (a scarf or blanket project). It has been totally worth it for me.

Finally at the end of 2014, I suddenly "got it." The Internet is a fabulous resource for figuring out certain stitches and how to read a pattern. YouTube for showing me how to try different stitches.

I'm going to credit my friend for wanting a chunky neck warmer.

I had been shying away from heavier and chunkier yarns because I live in a warm climate in Florida. I need thin, light yarns, right? Wrong! I can still use chunky yarns in blankets! Bring on the chunky yarns!

This simple neck warmer taught me a whole bunch of things: how to read a pattern and adapt and fix mistakes. Plus chunky yarns are very forgiving. My seams on the three neck warmers are not very good but you can't really tell. In addition, these projects were very satisfying. It's s quick, one-skein, one-night knit. Boom! You're done!

With the chunky yarns, I made up a cape of my own design, knit top down... This is teaching me gentle shaping techniques without having to be precise yet. My tension is still inconsistent. Another benefits of chunky yarn is it hides or embraces inconsistent tension.

To sum up, if I were passing along notes to another new knitter:
- start with chunky yarns and bigger needles
- English method is easy to start with, but switch to continental style when you get serious

Artfully Meandering: Florida = really really cool light

Full double rainbow. So cool.