Friday Thoughts.

Is it bad to repost old posts? I don't care. There's no blog police hanging around, right?

I just wanted to repost this, since it is a saying that keeps coming back to me.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you notice how uptight people can get over the little things? I have. And I have to say, it's easy to let the little things get to you. Like when Ian poured an entire gallon of orange juice all over the kitchen counter, the open (clean) dishwasher and the floor this morning. But you know what? We just ended up laughing. It was a disastrous mess (especially because we have a very, very old kitchen with a lot of cracks and places for things to seep in where they shouldn't) but you know? He was aiming for his cup so confidently. And it was rather sweet, really. It took me literally all day to clean (between getting ready for school, errands and normal life with kids) but who's checking the clock. Ian is trying so hard to be a man, and it's really staring to show:)

So, here's a good thought for you this weekend. You can download it for free here.

And while I am on that, I've thought about illustrating more of my favorite sayings and putting them in the shop. Would you be interested in more?

Happy weekend!

xo

sarah

Commercial meets classic.

Kate over at Centsational Girl (fab interior design blog) just redid her little boy's bedroom, and I have to say I'm totally impressed. For a few reasons: She did a great job with color, but even more impressive to me: she solved a problem that I think a lot of mom's like me deal with: how to make action figures/commercially popular icon characters fit into your idea of a nice/simple space for your child.

Let me just say this first: I don't mind having commercially popular things in our home on occasion. But when it comes to "play" spaces, I am just really big on having spaces that foster creativity and imagination play with many things to do...and not dominated by just the commercial stuff. I've come to find that (for my kids at least) having too many "commercially popular" things around gets in the way of that kind of play. I guess what I am saying is, even for me....who has really strong opinions about good old fashioned play....still has to battle the ever stronger force of commercialism.

But the truth of it is...kids love those things. We don't even have TV (we watch movies...just not television) nor do we have video games. We're not Amish or anything....I just know how incredibly attractive and addicting those are, and I've seen how they can easily win the place over good books, educational play and imagination play. Nothing wrong at all with TV characters and toys....it's just that it gets harder to keep those things in check the older they get.  So how do  you incorporate what your child 'likes' and what you know they will 'like more?'

Enter Kate from Censational Girl.

She bought one of my prints (Whale Dreams) and I knew she was redecorating her son's room, and I was so interested to see how she was going to put the room together.

And I'm so impressed! She made a collage of all the fun things her son loves: Star Wars, Legos, Motercycles, Water, Boating all while keeping it classic and eclectic at the same time.  But this is how she did it: She chose everything to come together in blues. So Smart! It actually looks rather classic and nostalgic with the colors all working together.

And I must say the Whale Dreams print works so well. I never would have though that Sarah Jane art could look so good next to Lego Star Wars Figures.

And like I said: We're big star wars fans here, and lego fans...nothing wrong there. It's just how much the commercial aspect of it is around that I've put a lot of thought to.

Well, I may be walking a fine line here by saying what I would and would not hang up in my kids room...but tell me...have you had the same discussions with your children? Have you ever had to say things like, "No...I will not let you get a Mega Mind Bedspread. Sorry!"

I'd love to know your thoughts: How have you kept that balance between letting your children bring home all the "commercial stuff" while maintaining the kind of environment you envision for your kids? Am I the only one here who is constantly trying to keep the world out just a little bit longer?

Photography. The good kind.

While I was at ALT, I met such talented people. One of which was Sarah Wert of Modern Kids Photography. I'd visited her blog before (fantastic!) but I wasn't familiar with her work until now. And I love, love, love it! She was so willing to take a headshot for me (out in freezing cold I might add!)

Here are some more of her wonderful images. I've been craving good photography, as I've been without a good camera for so long. Aren't these precious?

If you are in the San Francisco area and could use some great family photography, you're in luck! I am so glad I got to meet Sarah in Salt Lake City. If only I had had my kids with me!

But the good news is, I am finally getting a new camera after my last DSLR died. Horray! I'll be posting more on that soon! Has't the digital DSLR changed the world? I mean really....there were such fewer options before it came around for the semi-professional/serious amateur photographer. Isn't it amazing? Do you have a fav. camera? I'd love to hear!

xo

sarah jane

A little super hero in me.....

My kids play super hero all the time. But one is usually the hero, and the other....his wife.

It's really cute, you know: Addie in her apron and clip-on earrings goes around making beds and singing tunes while she scrubs the floor with a pretty fabric remnant of mine.

Ian karate kicking imaginary villains out the window and clearing all evil out of the house while showing off his latest moves.

Put them together, and you have a turbo-deep cleaning-master-super-force.

That's what I am hoping to be over the weekend. Some weekends are for playing, but this one is a deep-cleaning and project making!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend! What about you? Are you working or playing this weekend? Hope you're playing...but if not, throw in a few karate kicks and a cute apron, and you'll be singing a tune for sure.

Embroidery love.

Wowzers! Thanks you guys for all your enthusiasm for working on embroidery with me! I had over 140 of you wanting to embroider for me to get my new spring designs out....yahoo! This is going to be so fun. If you haven't gotten an email yet, I'll be sending the rest out by tonight. And if this time doesn't work out, I have another project coming in April, so stay tuned! This is really so super exciting, and I am so ready to get these new designs out:) And most go with my new fabric, so doubly exciting! Stay tuned!

**If you want to still help, send me an email, but at this point the project is full. But I'll be saving your email for the april project. Thanks!

Wanna do an embroidery project with me?

Hello! So happy today is a friday. It's snowy and cold, but somehow I don't mind because there's a weekend. And weekends are usually busy here..but it's a weekend. And somehow that word just makes it all better. Yes?

So, this weekend, I am going to be working on some designs and projects that will be ready for spring. Which isn't that far away (even though it's freezing here and it's hard to believe). And I need your help. I am getting some new embroidery patterns ready for the shop, but I am hoping to have quite a few designs....and I don't think I'll be able to hand embroider all of them in the next 3 weeks.

So...I've posted this on twitter, so some of you are already in on the deal...but I am proposing an embroidery Sarah Jane swap. I need some help with getting embroidery finished in exchange for a complete set of free embroidery patterns, and some other goodies.

If you are a die hard hand embroidery gal, or just really love a good embroidery project (oh...and these are easy. Nothing complicated, I promise!) please email me and let me know if you are interested. I'd love it! And, I'd love to see people come together over some fun embroidery. I love it. I love that it's like drawing...just with thread. It's the perfect activity for 'before spring' weather too, yes? Yes. I agree.

So, send me an email, and I'll send you the details. This will be super fun...don't be shy! I'd love to hear from you. Hmmmm...I like this idea of working on a project together as fellow blogger friends. We should do this more often. Ooooh...ideas brewing. Well...send me a note and we'll chat!

Happy Friday all!

xoxo

sarah jane

Wanna design fabric?

I just got an email this week from Michael Miller letting us know that we can finally spread the word!

This is pretty amazing. A chance to design a collection of fabric with Michael Miller? I feel SO lucky to be one of their designers (even though I haven't even seen my own fabric yet!) and honestly, they are so amazing to work with. I feel seriously so, so, so happy working with them!

But there isn't just a one win prize...the top 10 finalists get some pretty sweet deals too. You can read all the deets here.

Go crazy! Start designing!

Organizing all that pretty stuff.

Pinterest. Have you heard? I just discovered it in January...maybe I'm slow...but I'm hooked.

Basically, it's an inspiration board for your online collections of all that stuff you love online. Being an artist, I'm constantly bookmarking, saving and downloading files that inspire me, give me some reference for a project I'm working on, or just plain make me smile. Huge problem solved! No more clogging up my "ideas" and "reference" folders on my desktop...now keep it all online, in categories for you  to reference!

It's seriously brilliant! I can just 'pin' any image I see online, and it goes right into my pinterest board. And it's a great way to keep track of the location of the image as well, so that you can find the original location as well as give credit to the original creator.

But beware. It's rather addicting. You can follow other people's boards, and make all sorts of friends...it's a heck of a lot of fun.

Do you have a pinterest board? Wanna follow mine? You can see it here. And if you have one...I wanna see:)

I just love brilliant people who think of these things. Don't you love smart people? The ones that make your life so much easier? I do. I love pinterest.