I’m so happy to be participating in Kid’s Clothes Week this season. I have been avoiding my sewing machine for months now. Chalk it up to a loss of sew-jo. Even if you love to sew, (or knit, or bake, or code, or run) you don’t have to love it every minute, right? You might even hate it sometimes.

I definitely did not hate making these pants. I used the Mini Hudson pattern by True Bias and I am so glad I did. The pattern is practically perfect: the directions are clear, the drawings are helpful, and WOOOHOO! there are notches. So many indie patterns forgo notches. Do they think they’re old fashioned? Well, I think they are incredibly helpful.  I say, “Bring back the notch!”

The fabric is a sweater print that I picked up a long while back for my cheetah loving boy (see this, this and this). He loved them immediately! But then I knew he would. They are soft, cozy, and cheetah. What more could you ask for?

My kids are going to have to wear uniforms this fall. If the clothes I make them are going to get worn, they have to be of the soft, stretchy variety for after school antics. I see many Mini Hudsons in my future. Do you have any other lounge-y patterns you like?

Just a quick note to say that The Creativity Club is postponed until next Monday. Kid’s Clothes Week is going on this week. It’s keeping me busy (and creative). Have you ever done KCW?

1. tumblingblocks 2. suikerwijzer.nl 3.boolahbaguette 4. brienne_moody 

There were a ton of submissions this month for the creativity club challenge: visible mending. I love a challenge that is both creative and useful. It seems you do too!

I picked a few I really loved. That cat with a backpack is killing me!! Do go see them all, though. They can be found under the hashtag  #thecreativityclub on instagram. If you’re not on instagram, you can see the tagged photos on the elsie marley facebook page (in the instagram app on the right).

1. stars 2. stripes 

Here are my submissions. These are both for my youngest, but the mending pile is large (and keeps growing) so everyone is getting patches soon. I just need their pants to hold out until I can cut them off and make shorts.

When I re-started The Creativity Club at the beginning of the year, I wanted to explore big ideas I thought artists should explore: form, inspiration, perception, light. I wanted to get to the ideas behind the making of things. But unfortunately I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. I am no art teacher. I know very little about the ideas behind art. The last art class I took was in high school for crying out loud.

My list of challenge ideas were at best difficult, but mostly just muddied and off putting. I needed to stop being so serious! Besides, for me it is through the making of things that the big ideas come about. The other way is too hard. So with that in mind, I threw that list away and started a new one. [this is the only thing I have on the list so far, so if you have any creativity club ideas please comment!]

THE CHALLENGE:

1. Mend something! Make the mending visible.

THE SMALL PRINT

This is pretty self explanatory, I think. There is some article of clothing in your house that has a hole in it. Fix it, but don’t hide the fixing. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. patch up your woolies 2. elbow patch 3. creative mending 4. visible mending as art form 5. sashiko tutorial 6. how to patch a hole with crochet

YOU HAVE ONE WEEK FOR THIS CHALLENGE

That means next Monday, March 23. Tag your work with #thecreativityclub so we can see it. This should be fun!

I think all creative processes start with copying. We copy people we admire, famous artists, not so famous artists, ourself. We copy things we think are beautiful, useful, delicious, helpful. We copy dinners and dresses and drawings and other things that start with D–and things that start with all the other letters too.

Some people see copying as cheating. They are wrong. Yes, copying something exactly and passing it off as your own is dishonest, but then again you can’t really copy something exactly. And it’s the differences that emerge between the original and the copy that I find particularly interesting and exciting. Your aesthetic gets in the way and the copied object starts to become your own.

It was difficult to come up with a challenge that I thought would be easy but also exciting and specific enough so you don’t just flounder. This is what I came up with…

THE CHALLENGE:

1. Choose from these 4 words: EYE, PENCIL, COFFEE POT, HOUSE. Look up your word on google images (or pinterest or my first picture dictionary or wherever).

2. Pick an image you find and copy it (draw it).

3. Now copy it again, but use a different medium.

THE SMALL PRINT

You can do all of the words if you like. I just didn’t want to ask you to “copy anything!” I thought I should narrow it down a bit. Feel free to do step 2 as many times as you like before moving on to step 3. As for what a different medium is, well pen and pencil are different, but come on. Watercolor, oil paint, finger paint, free motion quilting, frosting, legos, balsa wood, playdoh. Push yourself to try something new or at least something different.

YOU HAVE ONE WEEK FOR THIS CHALLENGE

The challenge is due February 23. I will be away next week, so I’ll won’t be able to collect your assignments. :)  Tag your work with #thecreativityclub to put it on my desk while I’m away.

1. spring 2010 2. fall 2010 3. spring 2011 4. fall 2011 5. spring 2012 6. fall 2012

I feel a little sheepish about writing this post, but I think I should. For the first time almost 5 years, I’m not sewing along this kid’s clothes week. As I pulled together all the buttons from all the KCWs, I counted how many I’ve done. 14!  14 including the very first one where it was just me ;)

Maybe it’s because I’m Midwestern, but I still feel guilty for not sewing along this week. Everyone who is sewing along is making such amazing things! Peer pressure might make me venture down to my studio yet.

1. spring 2013 2. summer 2013 3. fall 2013 4. winter 2014 5. summer 2014 6. spring 2014 

There is another reason I’m not sewing this week. My kids’ school just announced they are implementing a uniform policy. I’m torn by the decision. I think uniforms are fantastic, but my job is making kid’s clothes and getting others excited about making them too. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Do any of your kids wear uniforms to school?

1. fall 2014 2. winter 2015 

Do go see all the awesome stuff being made this season. The theme is UPCYCLED and everyone is hitting it out of the park.

1. stop knocking yourself out 2. why not just start 3. just because you are good at being busy does not mean that being busy is good 4. the hard way is the easy way

Amazing submissions this month for the creativity club challenge: inspire yourself. I picked a few of my favorites, but I urge you to go see them all. They can be found under the hashtag  #thecreativityclub. If you’re not on instagram, you can see all the tagged photos on the elsie marley facebook page (in the instagram app on the right). 

1. let out the noise 2. the internet is ruining my creativity 3. what if something amazing happened today? 4. sarcasm is my superpower (no really…I mean it) 

And here is my submission. I wanted to say something about how I always get in my own damn way; how I stop myself from doing things; how I get caught up in analyzing things until the moment has passed; how I can’t move forward. I thought this summed it up in a round about way:

Because if art were a beautiful chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, I would eat the hell out of it.

A few people wrote to me saying that the first creative challenge this year was too difficult. I didn’t mean it to be hard, but I did want it to be a bit of a stretch. The challenge is:

…quote yourself and illustrate that quote. Pick something you thought or said and write it beautifully.

The title of this challenge is “inspire yourself” and maybe that’s where the problem lies. When we think of being inspired we think of lofty, erudite, carefully crafted, words of wisdom that are supposed to move us. Don’t do that. Not because you won’t succeed (you might) but because it probably won’t be true–true to who you are. That is what this challenge is about, listening to yourself and writing down what you hear.

Hearing yourself think is harder than it seems. It’s not just because of children and beeping toys and beeping phones and the to do list that runs on repeat in your head. It is hard because even when we can hear ourself, we actively try not to listen. I’ve come up with three ways that will help you hear what you are thinking:

1. write it down

Many authors have said that they don’t know what they are thinking until they write it down. E. M. Forester said, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” John Updike said, “Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what one is saying.” Joan Dideon said,”I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.”

These people know what they are talking about. Sit down and write for 10 minutes, maybe more. See where it takes you.

2. pay attention

I was going to title this meditate, but then realized that sounds too difficult. Paying attention is not that hard. You can do it while you are cleaning the kitchen, or changing a diaper, or driving. Try to tune into the quiet voice that is constantly murmuring in the back of your head.

p.s. this is actually all mediation is.

3. listen to yourself

When you have kids you have to talk a lot about everything. There are days when I explain how peanut butter is made, what protesting it, why our cats eyes glow, what is a website, why hitting people is wrong, why baths are important, how water gets into the pipes in our house. Why not listen to some of your answers?

I hope this is helpful. The challenge is due on Monday. So write your quote and tag it #thecreativitiyclub. There are a few already up on instagram! Check it out.

For the inaugural challenge of The Creativity Club we are not going to be inspired by long walks, or art exhibits, or perfectly staged pictures on pinterest. We’re going to be inspired by our own damn selves.

Recently I was reading a book by Werner Herzog. He is my absolute favorite director and this book was a kind of journal about one of his films. The book was impossible to read: stories about his dreams would be mixed up with costume deliveries would be mixed up heat stroke induced hallucinations would be mixed up with breakfast. Half way through the book I realized that he was writing down everything he thought. Every single thing. And he thought all his thoughts were important.

This was a rather a shocking discovery, because I sure as hell don’t think every single thing I think is important. But what if I did? What if I paid attention to what I thought and wrote it down? What if I tried to write down exactly the things I thought and not the things I thought I’m suppose to think? In other words, what if I was honest with myself about myself? What if I was then inspired by that honesty? Doesn’t that sound like a more meaningful way to find inspiration than link-link-linking on a laptop?

Get to the challenge already, sheesh.

THE CHALLENGE

The first challenge of The Creativity Club is to quote yourself and illustrate that quote. Pick something you thought or said and write it beautifully.

You are going to write down a bunch of things you think and pick something that strikes you as honest or insightful or meaningful. I used to make fun of middle age ladies who had mottos for the year. Well, now I am one of those middle age ladies and I think anything that helps you be a better version of yourself is worthwhile–no matter how hokey my 20-year-old self thinks it is.

THE SMALL PRINT

You can write your quote in bubble letters, you can use gorgeous fonts on your computer, you can cut out every letter from different patterned paper. In this challenge, the making part is almost secondary. The paying attention to your thoughts, that is the creative part. But the making is the pretty part.

Oh and it can’t be just one word–that’s cheating.

 YOU HAVE ONE WEEK FOR THIS CHALLENGE

That means next Monday, January 26. Tag your work with #thecreativityclub if you want us to see. This isn’t the easiest challenge, but being creative isn’t always easy. And besides, I know you can do it.

p.s. 

If you follow me on instagram, you probably remember how I feel about inspirational quotes. This is still true for most of the 900,000 illustrated quotes on pinterest. They either make me feel guilty (for not seizing the day), or are insincere, or are straight up stupid. Anything that resonates with you honestly is not going to be any of these things.

I started the creative assignments last year to push myself creatively, just a little bit. Many of you joined in, sewing eggs, snapping pictures, drawing patterns, and making other random & awesome things. More of you have been watching from the sidelines–which is totally fine!–but I want you to jump in too. I thought if I updated the assignments a bit: a new name, a proper schedule, pretty buttons to put on your blog. Then maybe I could get you to push yourself creatively too (just a bit).

So join the club, the Creativity Club.

• How do I join the club? Say, “I’m in!” Out loud. Okay, now you’re in the club.
• When does the club meet? The third Monday of each month.
• What do I do in the club? We make things. I will give out a creative challenge each month (on the third Monday) and then you have a week to take on the challenge. You can draw, paint, collage, sew, dance, cook, anything, but it has to be something, not just an idea in your head.
• Where does the club meet? We meet at the hashtag #thecreativityclub. Mostly instagram, but facebook and twitter too.

This isn’t supposed to be stressful, or another thing on your list. This is just something to mess around with, play with pens, cut some paper, make something without a freakin tutorial. Amy Poehler says in her amazing book (amazon affiliate link) which you should go read if you haven’t already, “The doing is the thing.” or as I like to say it…

The thinking about the thing, the googling the thing, the talking about the thing. Those are not the thing. The doing is the thing.  The making is the thing.

So let’s do the damn thing already. Next week, Monday, first challenge. Please take the images in this post and plaster them on your blog, or wall, or face, or facebook. And for those of you who need a bigger push to do the thing, here is your button: