allsorts

Everywhere at Once

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post. Words are pretty powerful aren't they? The telling and the hearing... like little hugs. So, thanks.

Several people asked to learn more about Katy's thesis and see the Two Boxes web site. She's here for a brief visit before she moves to Boston (sob), so I wheedled and she gave me a thumbs-up to share a bit about what she was up to at RISD.

The title of this post is also the title of her thesis. Well, the full title is (deep breath) Everywhere at Once: Narrative Multiplicity and the Digital Archive (whew!) The web site she created for it can be viewed here and the Box Project site is here. I'm not very good at explaining the premise of her thesis, so here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"Everywhere at Once addresses the tension between digital and physical within contemporary archives such as collections, libraries, and the urban landscape, and examines ways of extracting meaningful narrative from them."

And there's Katy, about to defend her thesis. I still don't grasp why they call it defending one's thesis. Anyway, the other photos are from one of her projects... might be my favorite.

I think it ties in quite nicely with my previous post.

Cheers my friends,

Jenny

A year ago, and two boxes

I love this photo of my mom from years ago. Always smiling... she smiled more than anyone you ever met. I thought a lot about what I wanted to post about on the anniversary of her passing. I finally decided to tell you about two boxes.

My daughter Katy was entering her thesis year at RISD this time last year. She knew I was having a tough time going through the many boxes of memorabilia my Mom had stashed away, so she proposed a unique project that would allow her to share in the process. In fact it ultimately became part of her thesis. I sent an unopened box to her in Providence, and kept another box for myself. Then every day for two weeks, as we each explored the contents of our box, we chose an item and wrote about it on a web site she created, a tandem blog.

So, as if we were side by side in real life, we shared images, wrote our thoughts and impressions, then continued the conversation through comments on each others' posts.

It was really an amazing journey. My mom saved just about everything, and I mean everything. We never knew what we would find next...

Spanish castanets and fans, tons of old photos, sorority and Navy ephemera, my hand print in plaster!

Old art projects, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, menus, Disneyland ticket stubs, letters and postcards...

A disco ball Christmas ornament, books and music scores... mementos of many happy times.

Memories of a life well-lived. You could tell she truly loved absolutely every minute of it!

So thank you Katy for making this memory with me!

Cheers,

Jenny

Blogging for Bliss

Today's the day! The release of Blogging for Bliss, a cool new book that is chock full of useful stuff about creating a blog, along with lots of bloggers' profiles and screen shots of blogs. There's a bit about Allsorts in there, along with most all of my favorite blogs, and some new blogs I hadn't discovered yet! Kari has organized a release party, and we're supposed to post a bit of our own blogging story today.

Blog... now that's a word that starts sounding really weird when you use it over and over. Blog blog blog.

Anyway, here is what I have to say about blogging... and bliss.

This is Mildred Ernst, my grandmother. When I was a wee little Jenny, her house was my creative playground, and with her love and encouragement I discovered what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to live. To me, her home was a magical treasure trove... toys, games, dolls, art supplies, musical instruments, every shelf and drawer filled with whatnots from bygone times. She left me to explore, lost in my imagination, or side by side we baked, painted, stitched, crafted, worked in the garden, or made music. She was smart and funny and made me feel like I could do anything I dreamed.

And what does this have to do with blogging you ask? Because the most important thing in the world to my grandmother was making people happy. Not just me, but everyone. I never heard her say an unkind word, or criticize or discourage in any way. She had an enormous circle of friends who loved her dearly. I fall so short of her, but in my own small way, blogging is an attempt to follow that ideal. It may sound sappy, but when I really think about it, Allsorts is just me trying to make people happy, just like she did.

And by the way, her maiden name was Millie Bliss... so I guess you could say I really am blogging for Bliss.

Cheers,

Jenny

Two little dolls

When Jade sent me this photo a couple of days ago, I have to admit that I was overcome with emotion. This is Xolchi, pronounced Sol-chee, a little girl at the Casa Bernanke orphanage in Nicaragua posing with her new doll, the little doll I stitched and sent in to Craft Hope. The expression on her face is worth everything to me.

I feel so blessed to have been a part of this project. Three cheers to everyone who contributed, many many thanks to Jade for organizing the whole thing, and especially thank you to Erin for taking the dolls down to Nicaragua. You guys are my heroes. See many more heart-warming photos here.

Cheers,

Jenny

You are cordially invited...

Home again from our travels, and I brought back a lovely souvenir in the form of a nasty cold. So, no photos of charming New England villages or anything like that until I feel a bit better. I don't even feel like making anything. The only thing I've been creating is a growing pile of discarded tissues.

To top it off, today is my birthday. Now that's not particularly fair, is it?

No doubt I'll bounce back soon, but in the meantime I will thoroughly enjoy my little pity party. Thanks for stopping by.

Jenny

Seeds of hope, one stitch at a time

Just read on Loobylu about Craft Hope, which has begun its second project, collecting handmade dolls to send to the children at the Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua. What a worthwhile and wonderful endeavor!

I've got a pile of new books with adorable doll patterns in them, and this is just the impetus I need to stitch one up! Maybe I could use one of the many free online patterns gathered at One Crafty Place just for this project. OR.... I could design my own pattern! I've made some dolls from scratch with no pattern, but never actually created a proper reusable doll pattern. That sounds kind of fun!

There's a Craft Hope flickr pool where you can see the dolls that have already been completed as well as previous projects, or you can even join the Craft Hope group on facebook if you like. If you're interested in participating you can sign up at Craft Hope. They will need the dolls by June 13th, so I'd better start stitching!

Cheers,

Jenny

A little post-holiday decorating therapy

I really hate to pack Christmas away but it must be done. However, the process ground to a halt when I reached this little white tree. It was the very first thing I bought at the beginning of my yearly Christmas obsession. Strung with pom pom garland and a pink flower thingie from Ikea, it had never felt quite complete throughout the holidays. So... I couldn't bring myself to pack it away just yet. Then it hit me... the little yoyos that I hadn't found a use for! I stitched on snowy floss for hanging, looped them onto the branches, and now the tree is sweetly perfect! I even placed my Santa Lucia clothespin dolls at the base... I'd given them to my mom last Christmas and now that they are here again I wasn't sure where they should go. Don't they look right at home beneath the little white tree?

Maybe I'm kooky to decorate with Christmas behind us, but this little task made me inexplicably happy. And I don't think I'm going to pack it away just yet... it can brighten up my studio for a while longer!

Cheers,

Jenny

Allsorts year in pictures 08

Welcome 2009! And of course you know that means a quick pictorial retrospective.

January I dabbled in virtual paper cutting with this adorable mailorder project from Amy...

Looks like February introduced a seriously pink period, starting with this image from Marie Claire Idees. I still want to figure out how to make those fabric plates...

March brought more pink, as Spring emerged in the form of cherry blossoms on my desktop.

In April I was mildly obsessed with restoring a yoyo quilt. Yoyos emerged as a theme last year...

May was the month I set up my Etsy shop...

And in June I added the first items to it, the Dollypops...

July was Clint and Lisa's surprise wedding...

August began well with a family vacation through the Texas Hill Country, but ended sadly with the passing of my mother. It was a tough time.

September I began to get on with things, starting simply by making yoyos. I still haven't decided what to make with them...

October I found my creative spark again and made up a batch of Jollypops for the shop...

And of course December was all about Christmas...

All in all, 2008 was not the greatest, but I am cheerfully optimistic that this shiny new year holds much promise for happy times. I'm working on my to-do list and resolutions, and already have lots of ideas for projects and so forth. Life is good!

And thanks again for being there.

Cheers,

Jenny

One word

Wow, gosh, gee whiz y'all. Those little dolls sold out in about 24 hours. Thanks ever so much, you made all the work totally worth it. My printer ran out of ink, and the places near me are out, so it will be tomorrow before I can ship them out. Hope that's okay.

And I loved this one word meme Alicia just posted. I haven't done one of these in ages, and this one looks easy and interesting.

Where is your mobile phone? purse

Where is your significant other? upstairs

Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? missed

Your father? awesome

Your favourite thing? making

Your dream last night? involved

Your dream goal? tbd

The room you're in? stimulating

Your hobby? creating

Your fear? failure

Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

Where were you last night? here

What you're not? confident

One of your wish-list items? Sweden

Where you grew up? Texas

The last thing you did? email

What are you wearing? jeans

Your TV? off

Your pets? soon

Your computer? mac

Your mood? mellow

Missing someone? Katy
Your car? old
Something you're not wearing? suspenders
Favourite shop? bookstore

Your summer? blazing

Love someone? yeppers

Your favourite colour? duh

When is the last time you laughed? lunch

When is the last time you cried? today

Feel free to play along!

Cheers,

Jenny

Getting on with things

Hello bloggy pals... I'm still here.  I wanted to let you know that things are okay. Sorry to have gone all quiet on you for a time there, I just needed to process everything that has happened lately. Many thanks for the overwhelming number of comments and emails, they have been a tremendous source of comfort. You guys are great. Quite a few of you wrote to share that you had lost your mom, too, and I truly appreciate that you shared that with me. Here's a hug back-atcha.

Things were under a cloud for a time, but it feels like bits of sunshine are beginning to peek through. I've been busy tackling the difficult things one has to do, like going through my mom's things, but I've also had a yearning for some sort of creative project. These last months I've carried a little stash of supplies around with me and found time here and there to stitch up some cheery yoyo's. Not sure how I'm going to use them, but having something simple for my hands to do was really comforting. And the yoyos have now become a metaphor for everything that happened over the summer, and whatever the final form, there will be special meaning in every stitch.

Cheers,

Jenny