I don’t even know what week it is! I think I am two behind? I have made nothing. Really, no craft projects in the past couple of weeks. I have crocheted a few rows of blanket. That’s it. I’ve spent almost every free minute working on the final snowball frenzy of The Big Project that I’ve been working on for a year. Which is, probably not much to anyone’s surprise, starting a photography business!
I know, I’ve been photographing your weddings and babies since I was in college, but now I’m like… you know. A real business, with an 18 month business plan and budget and an accountant and all of those things. Which is a shit ton of work when your only business experience is having an Etsy shop.
So for a year I’ve been building a portfolio and going to free ebook business school and gathering advice and planning and. and. and.
My goal was March. Then end of April. And now it’s the end of May, and I might just get there. I have started rolling everything out, and so much fun stuff has happened already in May, with more coming in the next two weekends! Whee! Some places you can find me on the internets:
mountainchildphotography.com <--- nothing here yet
facebook <--- up and running!
Twitter <--- I might learn how to tweet?
Instagram <--- because I love it so!
google+ <--- I have no idea what it's for or if I just linked you to the right thing
I have not been crafting, but the supremely skilled Walt and Maggie have been busy on my behalf to make an upcoming newborn session awesome! Their projects to come, aaaand some of my own things in the works!
In the meantime, this kid. She lives for summer. She’s been asking since January when the pool opens, and lately we’ve been listening to this on repeat in the car.
The only thing I made this week was some photographs. Hazel wanted to wear wings to Cooper’s Rock, and proceeded to “fly around” singing her own made-up song about being a butterfly. For an audience of strangers who I assume were in agreement that she’s the most adorable and hysterical little girl in all the land.
There was also the rock that looks like a turtle. And EmmaLee.
This week once again saw an almost complete lack of crafting. But it’s going to be worth it soon, promise. And Big Project is going to lend itself to infinite small craft projects that will help sustiain it (Maggie and Walt are already working on Little Projects that will make my Big Project happen!)
This Big Project is so, so, so much work, and even though I’m super excited for it to exist in real life soon, it’s wearing me out and taking up all of my extra time. I needed to get my head out of it and find some zen, so on Monday I picked the yarn for a July birthday blanket and got to work on a vintage stripe. If I can’t finish this three-year-old sized blanket by July then I just don’t know.
A poem.
A parade.
A community.
A school.
A vow.
A moral principle.
One peaceful moment.
:: Maxine Hong Kingston
I didn’t make anything blog-able this week. This was a terrible week way beyond and before Boston, for so many people around me, and in worldwide ways that I’m still hearing about. I feel like something went terribly wrong in the universe for a few days.
I went back and forth between burying my head in Big Project research, taking notes and then filling pages with doodles while my mind wandered with what I would say to Hazel if she overheard something in line at the post office or elsewhere in passing. She didn’t. She doesn’t know anything. But today we had a forty-five minute discussion about bombs and war, anyway. (Thank you, Colin Meloy.) Her little brain is awesome. Her heart is even better.
Walt and I took turns keeping vigil over the news and trying to look away from the news.
We did plant some seeds. I made Hazel a miniature hopscotch board on the kitchen floor with tape (for Kitty.) I don’t think I touched a crochet hook. We flew a Yoda kite and played Jenga and watched a lot of Mister Rogers to keep our hoping machines running.
The Onion gets it right.
I will try for two projects in week 17. :)
Fifteen weeks in, there was some out of town tie-dying with three preschoolers! Thank goodness for spring weather, good friends and lots of patience. We helped the girls dye tshirts, tank tops, pillow cases, feed sack tea towels (Target has 4-packs of plain white right now!), and some thrifted hankies (aka blankets for little critters and dolls.) We used Maggie’s fave MX Pro dyes – beautiful colors that almost entirely washed off of little girl skin afterwards :) (and husband skin, who was mostly in charge of photos but still somehow ended up with green hands!)
Hazel was incredibly excited to do this after her teacher carried on *her* family tradition of tie-dying at Easter with the kids in her class a few weeks ago. All three of them had so much fun and were so good and patient that I’m pretty sure this is going to become an annual summertime welcome activity! Another regular Em & Mag summertime welcome will be showing up here pretty soon… :) We kind of love summer the most.
The finished products have been set and washed by Maggie & Danny, and will be mailed out to us tomorrow – I’ll post photos of them later this week!
More from Maggie, Erin, & James!
