Life is Busy!

Thought I'd just drop a quick line here on the blog to let you know life has not stalled out at Cuddle Bug Kids!  It's actually been super busy between Easter sales, looking into local venues to sell, and trying to keep a steady stream of new patterns coming.  I'm working on a new website design as well and think I'll be moving my blog over to the website in the not too distant future...we'll see.  In the meantime, my blog writing time has been occupied figuring out how to design and code it.  If you happen to be a Facebook person, I've decided to try to start more of a conversation on my Cuddle Bug Kids page about my designs, ideas you all might have for future designs, etc.  So if you aren't already, would you consider being my friend?  Just look up Cuddle Bug Kids and you can find my page! 

Photo Credit: jsklz on Flickr Creative Commons

Craftsanity Interview and Easter Patterns!

I've been anxious to share with you all about a fun opportunity I had this Spring!  Craftsanity magazine interviewed me about my Cuddle Bug Kids business and published two new patterns!  Flopsy Senior and Tweet the Felted Chick just returned from their photo shoot and enjoyed the warmth of the front porch yesterday.  You can pick up your print or PDF copy of the magazine over at Craftsanity.  I've given Jennifer exclusive rights to the bunny basket pattern for the next 3 months so if you're in love, you'll have to get the magazine.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  I love her interviews, patterns, and introductions to new crafts.  These are magazines worth keeping!

Musing on Inspiration... Children's books

I started thinking the other day about how I get my ideas.  I so frequently hear people say to me, "How do you do it?  How do you come up with all your ideas?"  I usually answer something very profound like, "Um...I don't know...they just come to me."  But I've been reading a great book by Twyla Tharp called The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use it for Life.  She talks about how we can intentionally cultivate creativity and push ourselves to create more and better ideas.  The book has gotten me thinking about my idea process and realizing that while the "Um.." answer allows the idea stage to maintain a sense of mystery, it's really not that profound.  I look and listen to everything around me and I expose myself to art, books, movies, Etsy Treasuries and these days lovely Pinterest photos!  (I prefer to muse on ideas outside of my own area of design since it seems to better fuel my design and doesn't have me worrying that I might copy someone else.)  And, I pray.  I ask God to give me ideas for designs.  I guess that is where the profound part comes in...God somehow fills me with ideas!

I was reminded this week of my daughter's winter "pixie" hat this year.  Want to know what inspired it?  The little boy in Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keates!

Here's a picture of the book and you can see where my idea came from!  I'm working on a design right now (which has taken weeks...it's not coming easily!) that is also inspired by a storybook.  So, yes my friends I once again am confessing that my brain is always designing...even when I'm reading kids books!

Asperger's Syndrome Story on This American Life

So, I must admit I'm a This American Life addict.  I love 85% of the stories they share.  I look forward to their releasing the new podcast each week and it actually can make me smile to get a new one.  So I wanted to share right away with you all that the second part this week's show #458 (Play the Part: 2-17-12) is about a married couple sharing about their experience learning that the husband has Asperger's Syndrome.  They then explain the process in which he studied and learned about how to act appropriately in all sorts of different social settings.  The husband Dave Finch has written a book about this experience which I've just downloaded to my Kindle called the Journal of Best Practices.  I absolutely love reading the insights of adult with Asperger's.  I'll share more with you once I'm in to the book.  In the meantime, I highly recommend the episode!  Here's the link as well to an essay he wrote for the New York Times.

Graphic Image: from This American Life's Website

Thinking about St. Patrick's Day

I've always loved St. Patrick's Day but especially since I learned more about the real man.  We found this great kids book about the real St. Patrick a few years ago and read it around the holiday with our son.  It's not an easy read since it talks about people dying for their faith and the idea of persecution but it's such a great story as a launching point for discussion.  After designing the heart pencil topper for Valentine's Day, I decided to push myself to make a few more holiday focused designs.  So here's the latest!  It's a super cute pencil topper, but I'm also thinking of making a hat to sew onto a headband for my daughter as well.  I mean, who doesn't need a Leprechaun hat headband?! 

If you've been around for a while, you may notice I've made a few changes to the blog.  I did some seasonal updating thanks to the Cutest Blog on the Block templates...love these!  And I've cleaned up some of the links on the sidebar.  I've also added a link to join my newsletter list...more about that soon.  Have a great weekend!

Ugh...the Hard Work of Learning How to Photograph Products

Have you ever thought that product photography is an easy gig?  I confess...I have.  I mean, there are no squirmy kids to get sitting still and you can adjust the product however you want it. So, no big deal, right?  Ugh...wrong!  I have had the hardest time getting my photographs up to a semi-professional level.  I've learned to crop and I've learned to play some with the lighting levels using the free online editing program GIMP. (Living as a family on loans for law school isn't really conducive to buying Photoshop!)  I've read multiple tutorials, made several light boxes which didn't produce the lovely photos shown in the blog tutorials, and read through GIMP tutorials.  My latest challenge to myself is to get my image quality up to a standard that the lovely sight Craftgawker would consider my photos worthy of posting on their site.  As the name implies, they want crafts (and photos) that make you gawk.  I decided it's a great way to challenge myself in photography quality to regularly submit and see if I can get a product image "up to snuff" so to speak.  Well this week I've been rejected 3 times.  Yep...3! 

So I've been working on a light box and practicing hard how to use GIMP to lighten my photographs.  I love the idea of photographing outdoors in natural light but the reality is that there never seems to be great light when I have time to photograph.  I guess that's why photographers have studios?!  So here's my latest setup...I'll keep you posted on how it's going and when I learn how to make better photos.  In the meantime, if you're looking for some resources on product photography, I found a great list of tutorials which look promising over at Handmadeology.

GPS Watch Locator for Bolting Kids

As a parent whose has experienced a season when my child was at risk of bolting in public settings, I'm always keeping my eyes open for new resources for parents who live with a bolting child.  I came across this GPS locator watch this week and was thrilled!  A few years ago I spoke with local police about a system in place using radio signals to triangulate the location of a person wearing a receptor.  At the time I asked the police if a GPS locator watch existed yet that he was aware of.  At the time he didn't think it did.  So I was super excited to see this on the market!  The monthly cost is well worth it in my opinion for parents who want the security of being able to locate their child.  It's even possible to use your cell phone to request location information.  How great is that?! For additional information and GPS locator products, look here.