Relax, Make Stuff and Be Grateful

Are you like me? Do you have at least nine plates in the air, spinning precariously, threatening to spin out of control at any moment unless you keep them rotating.....with about another five people in your life who are trying to hand you a few more plates? How does one stop the madness? In my case, I really can't. I can't change my circumstances, at least not immediately. But I am doing things to help me cope. First of all I have to come to terms with the fact that I actually like having some plates in the air. I think I would be bored if I didn't have some sort of drama happening. I function best under pressure. But lately I have found that I really have to start doing more to manage the stress I have acquired. It's like baggage I keep carrying around. My friend Nicole sent me an article on stress management. It suggested that taking care of your body may be one of the most important ways to combat stress. Try to get enough sleep, eat a healthy and balanced diet, and get plenty of physical exercise. If you can actually increase exercise, it can be beneficial to your ability to sleep and to your mood. In addition to caring for your body, it is also important to tend to your emotional health. Working hard may be necessary, but take time for relaxation and engaging in activities you enjoy.

So here's what I am doing to decompress: Last week I went and got the first massage I have had in 10 years! I walked in to Massage Envy with a stride similar to that of the Edgar, dead guy in Men In Black, and an hour later I walked out feeling like I had been served a couple of glasses of fine wine. The masseuse let me know that on a scale from 1 to 10 I was an 8 on the stress scale. So I am scheduled for a follow-up massage tomorrow. I think this new path to wellness is for me! I don't want to keep going and going and going until I drop and all my plates crash down. I want to manage my health better, before a doctor has to manage it for me. Is this picture too funny?!

Another thing I am doing is taking my boys out for walks in the evening. It's fun! We feel like spy's in our own neighborhood. We sing songs as we walk, and we talk about what happened in school. We make up stories about what our neighbors may be doing in their homes as we pass by undetected. The air is crisp and sky is full of stars. It is very invigorating and relaxing all at the same time. I have also started to set aside regular creative time for myself on Sunday afternoons. A few weeks ago I went to lunch with my friend, Kathy - the Crafty Chica, and she encouraged me to set a schedule for designing and creating art. It really is the only way to achieve my creative goals. So I am doing that, too. Thank you, Kathy!

Speaking of thanks, Thanksgiving is in two days. It is a time of reflection on all we are grateful for - God, family, friends, living in America, a good job, pets, a home, etc. Focusing on all I am blessed with helps me put my anxieties in perspective. You and I cannot control the world, but we can control how we choose to face the world. Today I am choosing to relax, make stuff and be grateful.

The Silver Lining

Every week I create a trend report for my company that gives them a one-page 'snapshot' of some of the latest trends. They aren't always fashion related. Sometimes they focus on pop culture stories or political happenings. These reports are meant to answer the burning question (pun obviously intended!), "What's Hot Now?" Last week I though I was being clever by saying 'A Tight Belt' was what's hot. Although it appeared to present the gloominess of the economy, it also reported on the 'silver lining' of our situation. Some people actually made a grunt sound when they read the title. "You're so depressing!" one person commented. I told him to keep looking and to find the silver lining. I mean, really, isn't there always a silver lining in every difficult circumstance? We can read the news or watch TV analysts and know that retailers, the housing market, the auto industry, dining chains, the travel industry and many others are taking a major hit in this economy. Some may not recover. Aah, but there is a silver lining. Who is actually keeping their heads above water, maybe even swimming along quite fine? What is on the upswing? Let's look at silver linings. An independent research study said that this year 45% of Americans are eating out less in order to save money. That means they must be cooking more. Guess what? Borders and Amazon both report double digit increases in cookbook sales, particularly comfort foods. While other magazines are failing, Bon Appetit magazine reports that its had a 39% increase in sales this year. Gas prices are plunging across the country. The national average has dropped almost in half since July, to $2.18 a gallon. That means you can afford to take a drive. And while it may not be to your favorite fast food chain, it will probably be to a movie theater. Movies - comedies and epics especially - tend to do really well at the box office during economic downturns. Seems people need to escape from their daily trouble in times of economic woes. And who doesn't want to look upbeat and cute while your belt is nice and tight? Lipstick and cosmetic sales tend to rise as the economy drops. Almost every retailer is seeing red - lipstick red - in recent months. The "lipstick" indicator seems to be pretty accurate when predicting how the economy is doing. As the stock market started to free fall, cosmetic sales have rocketed by 40% according to industry reports. Troubled retailers, in an attempt to woo strapped shoppers back to their stores, are expected to slash prices on everything from jeans to plasma televisions to laptop computers to automobiles, analysts say. 'Black Friday' deals are expected to be the best they've been in years. Crafting holiday gifts is rumored to be big this year. So here's the plan: The day after Thanksgiving get up early and cook yourself a nice homemade breakfast - maybe using a recipe from that new cookbook you ordered from Amazon. When you're done, brush your pearly whites and put on some red lipstick. Loosen your belt a bit and slide in behind the wheel of your car that you can now afford to drive and head to the movies for a little 'escape' time. Better yet, head to your favorite craft retail store and show them the love by picking up some beads or fabric or paint to make a favorite craft project(s) to decorate your nest or to give as gifts. Don't let the dismal economy put a damper on your holiday season. Look beyond the dark clouds to find the silver lining..................

The Satisfaction of Crafting

So the Presidential election is over. People are optimistic. History has been made. Great! Now what? It is still a scary time..........our problems aren't solved overnight just because we have a new president-elect. My friends are still nervous. Things are still tight and our bills still need to be paid. I peeked at my 401k statement and almost fell over. When I start feeling overwhelmed by the reality of life I have to stop myself and focus on what I am thankful for. I do a mental inventory of all I am blessed with: My family, my home, my job, my creative abilities, good friends.............so much to list! I must say that being creative - getting 'crafty' - can be an enormous outlet for my nervous energy. I have to carve out time to escape to my art studio behind my house where I make jewelry. This doesn't happen very often because I am a busy working mom. But making beautiful things has a way of bringing me great calmness and great satisfaction. I have always made gifts for special occasions and holidays so the economy doesn't necessarily dictate my choice to make gifts over purchasing them. This made me wonder how others were going to approach Christmas. Will people get more into making their own gifts this year? Choosing to craft and create can be economical as well as nourishment for the soul. But do people craft to save money, or is it about being less consumptive and finding satisfaction in creating a one-of-a-kind gift? I think it just feels good to make things, and to make a difference when doing so. The satisfaction of getting back to simple pleasures - while maybe even saving money - may be what's driving the resurgence of do-it-yourself hobbies.

A vest, a tee-shirt, some paint . . .

It's intriguing to watch the way celebrity fashion choices influence mainstream people, and even more interesting to see how a trend trickles down and is interpreted by the craft community. Back in August I talked about the menswear trend in women's fashion, specifically vests, as a look that was gaining momentum. Now I am seeing vests screen printed onto tee-shirts (Levi tee) and vests being altered with paint and embellishments. Thrift stores are a great place to find gently used vests that don't cost a fortune and you can feel good about personalizing them - painting, altering, embellishing - because you haven't made a big financial investment in them. The other fabulous thing about the vest trend is that it appeals to both men and women. Can't find the right vest for you? Skip buying the vest and create the look on your favorite tee-shirt. Take a look at this easy project for creating a vest for him or her using fabric paint.

Want to get in on the latest trend? The vest is a sure bet for looking good this fall.

Trends and the Economy - Connecting the Dots

Ever wonder how trends start and what makes them repeat themselves sometimes decades later? I do. Often the original reason for the trend is lost in translation because it may be recycled for a different reason than when it started. Or perhaps they are resurrected for close to the same reasons that they started. I like to read all kinds of material so I am always finding what I like to think of as "trend dots" - stories or pieces of information that help me tie trends together as I connect the dots. The economy is a dictator of trends in pop culture and fashion. In the 18th century, silhouettes (shadow profiles traced and cut from black paper) were a popular alternative to costly portraits. The word took its name from the French controller general of finance, Etienne de Silhouette. During the Seven Years War against England, he tried to raise revenues by heavily taxing the wealthy. Victims of his high taxes complained and used the word silhouette to refer to their wealth being reduced to a mere shadow of what it once was. Today silhouettes (see my April 3rd blog post) are trendy because of their minimalistic appeal and modern look. In times of economic downturns people tend to spend their money on affordable luxuries to make them feel better. In the decade of the Great Depression cosmetic sales increased 25%. There was a similar surge in lipstick sales after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Does tracking cosmetic sales indicate the health of the economy or the emotional mood of the consumer? (I know I always feel better after a trip to Sephora.) I've read that movie attendance increased during five of the last seven economic recessions. People tend to want to escape (think about the Superhero trend). They may not go out as often, but they when they do they choose something affordable, say, a movie night over a weekend trip to an amusement park. This last example is perhaps the most fascinating to me. I read an article in the Fresno Bee a couple of weeks ago called Hollywood dead aren't so scary anymore (Melissa Rayworth, AP). It takes a look at the dead-but-still-talking characters that are all over popular culture these days. From TV shows like "True Blood," "Pushing Daisies," "Desperate Housewives," "The Ghost Whisperer" to movies like "Twilight," "Ghost Town,""Over Her Dead Body" and the soon to be released, "The Lovely Bones." It seems as though across pop culture there is "an attempt to really start domesticating the notion of death," says Syracuse University television professor Robert Thompson. In times of anxiety, like the Great Depression, WWII, the 1950's atomic age, September 11th and now the tanking Stock Market, society has always turned to expressions of spiritualism, often the occult. The Great Depression ushered in the golden age of horror movies. But the monsters and undead of those stories were otherworldly and unfamiliar. Dracula and the Wolfman were not carrying ipods and sitting in a high school cafeteria. The article asks the question, why are we so focused now on making the supernatural seem mundane? Perhaps, says author Stewart O'Nan, it's because we are facing death on so many different fronts - climate change and natural disasters, multiple wars and terrorism, even our aging population. We need now, more than ever, to make death seem as manageable as a trip to Home Depot. Hmmm.......These are unsure times we are living in. New York's Fashion Week reflected this in the offerings from the designers. There were representations from multiple decades - the 1940's, the '60's, the '80's. What is the style? Some were left scratching their heads. I read in one of the articles that you would still be perfectly fashionable by pulling from your last year's wardrobe because anything goes. In fact, thrift store shopping is up 30% because of the refashioning trend that is happening. So what does one make of all of this? Connect the dots.............

My view of the river

I was telling you about my former home on the San Joaquin River. This is just about what my view looked like if I were standing on the edge of the river in my backyard. I had a little waterfall that spilled just enough to lull me into calmness when I sat in my swing on my deck. I had about twelve feet of grass between my deck and the river where deer, raccoons, foxes and possums wandered. And I had three sets of sliding glass doors that looked out on the river. It was my sanctuary.

The Glorious Peacock

When I was single and had my own little home on the north side of the San Joaquin River in Fresno County I would take long walks along the river and explore the rural landscape surrounding the area I lived in. That was eighteen years ago, long before the freeway hooked up to Friant road. I would leave the hustle and bustle of work behind and drive home, always feeling like I was heading out-of-town as I approached the road that led to my riverfront sanctuary. You couldn't see where I lived from the main road so I always felt like I was tucked away from the encroaching city. Anyway, as I was saying..........I would take walks with my dog, Bruno. He was a bird dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer. He and I would walk deep into the orchards behind where we lived to take in all the smells and sounds of the landscape. On these walks we would encounter these beautiful peacocks that roamed the fields and often watched as they flapped their way up into the surrounding trees. Bruno and I would stand quietly observing them strut, sounding off their mating calls. It was magical. The best part was around August when the birds were molting. The males would drop their feathers, leaving behind their gorgeous plumage for me to collect. I would bring home armfuls of them and arrange them in tall wood vases until I couldn't fit even one more feather in the vase. So imagine my delight with seeing that the peacock is inspiring fashion and color this fall. Did you happen to watch the finale of Project Runway? Korto, who came in second place, said her collection was inspired by nature and her roots in Liberia. The fans that the models carried and the beautiful color palette was very peacock-inspired to me. I loved it.

This ad from American Leather is an example of the use of the peacock color scheme. It is absolutely stunning. . . . . . I loved the message too: Personal expression...made to order.

Urban Outfitters is inspired by the plume of the peacock. A single eye-feather is simple and elegant for fall.W Fashion featured an article called Trend: Rhapsody in Plume by Vanessa Lau, saying this about the peacock trend, "......there's something irresistibly alluring and glamorous about these jewel-tone hues, including brilliant emeralds, indigos and purples - even exotic pops of fuchsia here and there. They don't call it peacock proud for nothing." The fashion world has long used birds and feathers for design and motif inspirations, and the peacock plumage and palette is a natural progression in this trend.