It's time for the 7th volume of my monthly overshare digest!
Spare time creations
In Volume 4, I shared a major (to me) challenge: I was determined to learn how to sew. Well, my goodness, did that evolve into so much more. You ever just say, “screw it, I'm going into that funhouse, spinning tunnel and all”?
Well, it turns out it wasn't scary, not one bit. I jumped in headfirst, watched three hours worth of restoration videos and then spent two solid weeks restoring a 1949 Singer Featherweight called Bitsy* (thanks for all the name suggestions, everyone!), and then miiiight have gotten a little too deep in said funhouse.
I loved every old-grease-coated minute of it. I [accidentally 😉] snagged up two more vintage machines after that.
Welllll, mid-restoration on machine #2, Laura finally asked me if I was ever going to actually use a sewing machine to sew anything, which translates directly to: “Please don't take up another hobby that will end up with you hoarding even more supplies" … So I listened, curbed my second restoration (for now), and marched upstairs and grabbed the first clothing item on top of the insurmountable pile I need to alter. It was jeans.
I'm not talking about length, either. When I intentionally bought jeans that were too big in the waist while traveling abroad, I did so with the intention of having them taken in. Side note: I challenged myself to take on sewing because of too many alteration nightmares.
I watched a few Youtube videos (this 4 min tutorial was my winner), and 30 minutes later, I had jeans that not only fit like a glove well fitting jeans, but they looked liked they'd never been touched. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE POWER I FELT IN THAT MOMENT?! DO YOU?!?!?!
I would like to make an announcement:
I'M A SEWIST! I SEW!
* The name Bitsy for the sewing machine came about because she insisted on being called Elizabeth. Like, screamed it. The cutest cutest names floated around in conversations via email and DMs, but she wasn't having any of them. I couldn't deny her of it. So someone said “What about Elizabeth's short form, Betsy?” and duh I love that. It worked. But it got a veto, to which someone said I could go with Bitsy. Ummm ok even CUTER! We're honoring Elizabeth's request with a unique-to-her nickname that came from a creative community and I couldn't be more pleased.
Favorite Things
I love it when I find a good ware. From essentials to splurges, these are my picks for wares this month…
-
This water bottle gives you the option to sip or swig. You know when items have a good hand feel? Well, check. It's also got a great mouth feel. Take that however you want. I'm also amused that the white color is called Shy Marshmallow.
- Going back to lip love (I'll try anything), this is easily my new favorite. I've been using the SOS Vanilla (clear) all month and it lasts nearly the whole day. I even tried forcing friends to get it.
I'm reporting back: It's that good.
A Little Lie + 2 Random Facts
Every month before sending my Playground update, I share a few fun recap moments on Instagram. And yesterday I mentioned that the lesson I learned was that Alexa lies. I know, I know, like it's a surprise …
But listen, I asked her a question that was completely, I mean COMPLETELY unrelated to her answer of: Sloths are related to cats. No explanation. No further details. Just a simple offering of what could have been the highlighted random fact of the entire freakin' year.
A couple days later, I'm on a call with our private community in The Flock, and I share this “fact.” And because I wrote it in my notes as an absolute must share in this email, I jumped onto google to confirm.
I can't find a single source confirming that this is true.
Needless to say, I am NOT HAPPY with Alexa. I've been talking about her lie all day right in front of her so she feels ashamed of herself.
To clarify, I am referring to the ROBOT Alexa 😂
So I'm stepping up and owning my lack of fact-checking before blurting such an exciting fact lie.
Instead, let's just go with a random fact for each of these dreamboat creatures.
Fun Cat Fact
Cats' purrs can help bones heal.
The frequency of a cat’s purr is between 25 and 150 hertz (not purtz what a miss), which is within the range that has been shown to promote bone growth and healing.
Fun Sloth Fact
Sloths' fur is an entire ecosystem.
Don't let this scare you, but a single sloth can host up to 950 moths, cockroaches, beetles, and worms within its fur all at once. Still want to cuddle one? 😅
Behind The Scenes: Student Highlights
I 👏 am 👏 gagged 👏 by the incredible pieces that students are creating in Procreate Lettering Lab! My goal is to give folks the structure to easily ignite their own ideas.
Because if ya build the skillset, learn how to engage the organic idea generator inside you, establish a clear start-to-finish structure for your process, you'll continually smash it with eye-catching designs like these 🤩
Obsessed is an understatement.
Left artwork by Freya R @plantlady.draws, right artwork by Nicole
A few people have even taken the time and made me feel like this course (that I so wish I had when I first started) was exactly the right move to create. Gosh, I can't tell you how helpful it is to get this kind of feedback (THANK YOU), especially when it's a bigggg time-intensive project!
Personal Musings
- The wait is almost over. I've got the first batch of ceramic paint tubes, hand finished with 22k gold, ready to release into the wild. Are you on my ceramics waitlist?
- I can't get over how much Jim loves his bag. He runs and sits in it like it's his room.
- My first completed sewing project was a zipper bag (and then 15 more 🤣) thanks to Dylan's super easy peasy sewing class.
- I got to dig through my grandma's photo archives and came across this one of her when she was a kid, and can you EVEN with those curls?!
- Yes, more sewing. I've brought my love of clown rabbits to fabric now, too.
- Not my photo but too good to share. Elina (our team unicorn) finally snapped a picture of her rabbit yawning and it's PERFECTION. The world needs this photo in its its life.
Don’t miss the next monthly digest overshare!
Who knows what’ll be in these emails, but I can promise you that they’ll be entertaining (to say the least). You can make sure you get the next one here!
