what could be better...

...than spending a morning 'flying' around the living room in your cardboard airplane? There was some disappointment that it never got off the ground and when I explained that I do not have access to actual airplane parts Adam suggested that we just cut out all the airplane parts we would need out if cardboard and put those together. Yes, I suppose that is another option. Due to time constrictions and lack of any mechanical knowledge we decided to stick with the box for now.

*sigh* That's my Adam. At age 5 1/2 he is so sweet, curious, persistent and energetic. He has become a bit of an attention vortex lately and admittedly I am a big part of that - the clock is ticking  and as the end of the school year quickly approaches my days with him are winding down. We have been lucky, I have had him all to myself for most school days for the past 4 years. Next year he will start school and, oh my gosh, so much will be changing. Lately I have had an intense awareness of the changes ahead and have been trying to hang on tightly to the time I have left with him before he starts his school adventure. So, as a result I have been tucking embroidery away more often and playing even more games of Memory (I'm terrible at that one!), hunting for more bugs, baking more cookies and holding onto those hugs a few seconds longer than I used to.

The shop and the blog are a little more quiet but my house is a little more loud for now. It will change again in time and I look forward to that as well. And I will do my best to not bore you too much with all my introspection, reflection on my past ten years as a stay at home mom, or all my excitement and anxiety about what lies ahead. Know that all of that is completely dominating my brain these days though, so it may creep out now and then over the next few months. Advice from anyone who has gone through this transition is welcome!!

springtime babies are born

I've made my way back to So September finally and am happy to share a brand new embroidery pattern collection: Animal Babies. I had a list of "musts" for this set as I was putting it together and those guided my creative decisions throughout. First it had to be cute but not "cutesy," you know? There are five mother and baby combinations here including a fox, dog, cat, elephant and bear. 

Narrowing down the animals was tough. There certainly is no shortage of cute animals in the animal kingdom so I tried to stop before this became an epic year-long process. Some contenders were left behind in the sketchbook but they may be birthed again one day in some way shape or form.

Second, this set had to be simple. Clean lines, limited stitches, limited colors. I really wanted to create a pattern set that was friendly to beginners. A lot of people ask me what patterns would be best for someone just starting out and I remember as I started out myself, I needed designs that would allow me to practice the basic stitches but also give me an end product that would be satisfying and useful.

That leads me to the next "must". I wanted to design something that could be used for handmade baby gifts and nursery decor. New babies have probably prompted more embroidery and sewing projects for me than any other event. Something about the sweetness and magnitude of that celebration makes me want to put a little bit of myself into a gift.

You know what part of this project I struggled with the most? What to call this set! I seriously lay awake some nights trying to come up with a clever name. In the end I just threw up my hands and called it "Animal Babies" (yawn- I know!) It (literally) is what it is though. Next time I'll come up with a name first and build the pattern set around that.

the wheels on the bus

Hi all, just got back from a morning field trip with Adam's preschool class (doubled up with the morning class as well - lemme tell ya - that's a whole lotta 4/5 year old right there!). We loaded the school bus and headed to the Firefighters Hall and Museum in Minneapolis. Most moms snapped up photos of their kids waving from the fire engine or sliding down the fireman's pole. Me, I got a photo of this guy. There is just something about mannequins, am I right? 

I've been on every side of kids' field trips in my time. I have worked somewhere where kids came for field trips. I have worked a job where I scheduled/arranged and went on field trips and I have been a mom on field trips with my boys. So, I have a fondness for this ritual and at the same time am always so glad when it's time to head home! I don't know how many more field trips are ahead for me but I suspect I'm on the last pages of this chapter so I want and need to soak up the experience while I still can. 

And while I do try to keep the focus of So September on my creative endeavors this kind of stuff is what I really spend most of my time doing. Field trips, laundry, helping with math homework, picking up, dropping off, laundry, dishes, arguing over bedtimes, play-dough, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, more laundry...you get the idea. It doesn't always make for good blog-fodder but it really what I am up to most days. Glamorous? No. Would I trade it? Absolutely not! 

book bits

Just sharing a neat little online find today for all you book lovers out there. I count myself as one of those and I thought this discovery was particularly delightful since I also count myself in the art/illustration lover group.

Take a peek at this collection of posters created by illustrators all over the world. Each one is a re-design of a book from the "The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time" published in The Observer in 2003. You might find some of your favorite reads and favorite artists - or discover new ones for both! (a portion of the sale price from the posters also goes to literacy programs) How cool is that?

how i spent...

Adam rock hunting by the river

...my Spring Break.
Hello from Spring Break! No, I'm not typing as I sip on an umbrella'd drink on a beach somewhere but my boys are watching the Peanuts Easter special on tv so I have a bit of time to catch up with you all over here. It has been a really lovely week actually. I imagined breaking up fights and hearing about how boring I was all week but was surprised to find that instead, my sons actually played quite nicely and everyone seemed very content. I know, weird, right? I'm hoping that will be a hint about the coming Summer break but I won't believe it until I see it for myself.

We did try to sneak in a little fun (for as little money as possible!) here and there and thanks to some good weather we were able to do just that.

Here is the highlight reel:

* a trip to Stillwater Minnesota with ice cream at Leo's

* LOTS of drawing/cutting/coloring/and play-doughing!

* movie night: Titan AE (a great one for 9 yr old boys in my opinion!)

* I finished up Far From the Tree (whew! quite a reading commitment but worth every page) and started Ladies and Gentleman - in which I stumbled upon someone's social security card (they had been using it for a bookmark apparently). Library books always seem to hold more adventure than store-bought varieties  don't they? Peter worked his way through the Heck series and Adam and I followed some Junie B. Jones antics.

* made some rice crispie treats

* one pair of pajama pants were sewn up. I had higher sewing aspirations but oh well.

* a visit to Minnehaha Falls

* An afternoon at the Tropics indoor waterpark (not my thing and WAY too crowded but I did it anyway - am still waiting for my award/trophy)

* a good long hike at Hidden Falls Park

* Easter egg decorating

So, I think we did okay. We had a little family fun but also forced the boys to make their own fun part of the time as well which I think is important. I loved it and am now even more excited about Summer vacation. I should have taken more photos, I know. I just haven't been much of a shutterbug lately and I am not sure why. I need to get back into that.

I hope you all have had a chance to take a little Spring break and enjoy time with family and friends in this special season - there is really no better way to spend it!

wind & water arrives

It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of introducing a new embroidery pattern collection which makes it even sweeter to be able to do it today. So, Introducing...Wind & Water: a collection of hand embroidery patterns inspired by Japan! Available at the SeptemberHouse Webstore and in the SeptemberHouse Etsy shop.

What was the hardest part of designing this collection? Narrowing down my ideas of course. I found that to be the case when I made the Stitches del Sol and the Scandistitches pattern sets as well. Once you start wandering through the subject matter is it impossible not to get a little lost (in a good way!)

 My wanderings for Wind & Water lead me to origami papers, silk kimonos, family crests, woodblock prints , japanese gardens (swoon!) and more. Now you can see how one might linger a little longer, right?

I hope I harnessed a tiny bit of the grace and wonder I found in my research for these patterns and that people will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. I tried to include something for everyone here - some simple designs for beginners and some more complex designs for those who want to go a bit farther with their needlework.

Four of the embroidery patterns are round but the last one is set up as a continuous design. It lines up on either side so that it can be expanded and go on and on and on... like the ocean. Your fingers might go numb if you wander too far though! 

I know I enjoyed my journey as I put this set together and would you believe the next one is already in the works? It's true!

visiting old friends

Still here guys, I swear I am! I apologize for being so quiet lately. Like everyone I have been keeping myself busy. Lots of old friends have come by for a visit lately though and I must say, it has been nice to see them again. I had the opportunity to stitch up a set of towels featuring the Wig Wonderful ladies not long ago.

I also had the pleasure of sewing up a pillow cover with the Sailor bunny panel like this one:

It's been like a little SeptemberHouse reunion these days! I'm making way for new family members as well so I'm going full speed ahead. 

A couple bugs came through the house too and I am happy to report that I did NOT catch any of them - hooray!!!! Oh geez, I hope I didn't just jinx myself. I won't think about that right now, I'll just focus on the fact that, at the moment, everyone is healthy in our house and I hope it stays that way. 

As for my bad blogging lately I'm not sure what to do. I came across the book Blogging for Creatives recently and thought, gosh, maybe I should read up on this topic- get a plan together and really shine up ol' "So September". The more I thought about it the less enthusiastic I was about that idea. I really try to run SeptemberHouse according to the rules and advice of the crafting/ecommerce world. I read up on SEO, marketing, taxes - all of that boring stuff. But my blog, well, that's the place where I can let my hair down a bit and relax about the 'rules'. I don't want it to become a place where I have to follow a formula. I hope that's okay if I am a little rough around the edges here - I don't mind if you don't.  Besides, if I set those strict guidelines all my humor AND grammatical errors would never come through and then what would you all laugh at, am I right?

Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, I appreciate it!