Amber Dusick

On the Simple Path

Spring brings new growth.  I look forward to spring cleaning every year and the renewed energy and inspiration I feel with the season.  This year is no different.  In fact, I've been going through a period of transformation over the last few months and realize now where it was all leading.  My first steps on the simple path.

It all started with Christine's book, Ordinary Sparkling Moments.  (Actually, seeds of it were already planted by the time I enjoyed dinner with Christine, Sharon and Marisa where "change" was a common topic amongst all of us.  I mention this because maybe, just maybe, you are feeling it too.)  It is a beautiful art book, so touching and poetic and there is something in there that will resonate deeply with you.  For me, it was right at the beginning.  She wrote about what people put on their tombstones and that they never say "Successful" or "Rich" or in my case something like "Ran a Successful Etsy Shop".  Reading it was so poignant that at that very moment, with tears in my eyes, I knew immediately what I needed to do.  I needed to simplify.  I needed to make time for the simple moments in life that are so meaningful but so taken for granted and too easily pushed to the side.   

Serendipitously, the book Simple Living Guide arrived at my door that same week from a friend.  The universe was saying, "Hello!?  Are you getting this message?"  It echoed every message that I received from Christine's book and gave me ideas on how to actually go about change.  I'll share  what our family has been doing in future posts. 

These are the questions that led to some very important discussions between my husband and I, and essentially got him wholeheartedly on board with this family change... 

Thinking back at your life, what are your most magical moments?

For most people, magical moments are usually tied to a random moment on a random day.  Some of them are hard to explain to other people as to why they feel so special.  Maybe it was during a walk, maybe with a grandparent as a child, maybe it was a memory about a pet, etc.  The point is, most magical moments are simple and involve nature and people and places you love.  They rarely involve things or money.  Almost nobody says their "most magical moment" was "When I drove home my brand new car" or "When I got that promotion." 

So why do we spend our lives trying to get cars, promotions, success, money, etc?  How can we make time and space for more of the magical kind of moments? 

This is our family goal and our spring growth this year.  Making space and time for the magical kind of moments.  How are you growing this spring?     

       

Maternity Fashion: An Affordable Wardrobe for Six Months

Now that I'm feeling well enough to actually shower and get dressed occasionally, I'll try to share some maternity fashion-esque posts now and then.  

The key to my affordable maternity wardrobe is that I don't. buy. maternity. clothes.  Maternity clothes suck.  They are poorly made and expensive for what they are.  I do have a few nice maternity items I received as gifts (pants/jeans mostly, which are a necessity in later months) but my wardrobe is pretty much just made of choosing the right non-maternity clothes.  This way, after the six months are up I can keep wearing the same clothes.  They'll look completely different on and they aren't maternity so they won't look like maternity and I won't feel weird about wearing them either. 

Take this cotton jersey dress, for example.  I paid less than half what I would have if it was labeled "maternity".  Normal clothes are cheaper and higher quality.  I bought this before I was pregnant as a summer dress, but now (thanks to the stretch and empire waist) it is a perfect maternity shirt.  It is long enough that I can wear it the entire time and it even ties under the bust so it is adjustable for later.  

The jeans are just in two sizes bigger than normal and very low cut.  These won't last past the middle mark of pregnancy, but it is great to wear a normal pair of jeans that will also be great postpartum when I'm sick of wearing maternity and want to look normal but all my pre-pregnancy clothes still don't fit.  I normally don't believe in wasting money on "in-between" clothes with the exception of just one good pair of in-between jeans.      

The bag!  Yet another vintage carpet bag.  Oh how I love these.  This one was from an Etsy seller a couple months ago.  Notice the heels?  Say goodbye to those.  No more heels for me for the next many months.  I fractured my foot during my last pregnancy (weight gain + too much walking...imagine that!) so I have to be extra careful with proper footwear.  Good thing it is almost sandal/barefoot season anyway.  

    

 

For the Love of Originals

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest the first time I saw Rima's work.  I immediately contacted her and asked her about originals to see if any were available.  Of the several that I loved, I was lucky in that she did have a few available still.  I now own the original of The Visitors and I can't even begin to tell you how much more amazing it is in person.  

         

I highly suggest you hop on over and check out Rima's blog, The Hermitage where you'll discover all sorts of wonderful things.  Including the fact that she tells her stories from her house on wheels.    

 

You can see more photos of her lovely nomadic home (including the inside) here, in this post.  

How amazing is the internet and the Etsy community that I can purchase an original painting from a woman halfway across the world from me who lives in a house on wheels?  

If you love storytelling and folklore please do check out her blog, lifestyle and work, it is really inspiring.  I feel so lucky to have a piece of her art.  An original.  One that I can see each mark of her pencil and brush on.  Almost like I am there during the creation of it.

I can't wait to frame it and put it on my wall forever.  I have my own story about this painting as does my husband, that is the beauty of her work, you can make up your own folktale with the images - yet somehow they seem so very old and real.       

Now for the unpopular part of this post...

I don't buy prints and I think they are the joke of the art world.  I will now duck to avoid the tomatoes thrown at me by my print selling friends.  No, seriously, they all know this about me and have come to accept it, mostly.  You see, I buy art to own an actual creation of a person, not a duplicate of one.  I also tend to see art as an investment and prints (unless in rare, always limited edition cases) do not appreciate in value.  

I'm also secretly jealous of my printmaking friends.  How is it fair that they can print something from their home printer on a piece of paper and charge money for it over and over and over?  More money than I could charge for an individually, handmade wooden item that I can only sell once?  So. Not. Fair.  I write all this in jest of course, but there is truth in it too.  So prints.  I don't buy them.     

  

Originals, on the other hand, I actively seek out.  The first thing I do when I discover an artist that I like is to see if they sell originals and see if I can afford one.  The crazy thing I've found over the years is that usually, I can.  For the price of a handful of prints that are worth nothing and will continue to be worth nothing, I can own the original piece of art.  Where I can see the brush strokes, every detail in real life.  It is like owning a piece of the artist and is such a huge honor for me every time I purchase one. 

So save your pennies to purchase an original next time you have a spot empty on your wall.  You won't be disappointed!

  

The Impermanence of Handmade

Jonah Lisa from The Toby Show wrote this post as a farewell to my shop and she summed up the impermanence of handmade crafts so perfectly:

"See, that's the trouble with small businesses and individual crafts people--they're just like you and me.  They're often families or work-at-home-moms and sometimes they just move on to a new chapter in their lives.   Sometimes they up and decide that life is entirely too short or too complicated or the sun is shining too brightly outside to sit around making adorable doodads for your children.  Your chance to take advantage of their skills and creativity are gone.  Poof."

This has happened to me too, way too many times.  I had a wooden puzzle maker bookmarked for ages but I was waiting until my son was a bit older and more into puzzles.  Now that he is puzzle obsessed I've recently discovered that her shop is gone.  Now I have to try to make my own.  (instructions here)  

Thing is, I hate making puzzles.  How to puzzle makers do it?  All those pieces need to be individually painted and sanded, it is all the work of making more than ten toys yet you can't charge $100 for it.  If you happen upon a wooden puzzle maker for an affordable price, please don't let them slip away - and let me know about them too!

Anyway, a long way of saying how precious handmade items are and that is why I continue to strive to buy handmade whenever I can and so happy to have been a part of the handmade community.  

  

The 1st Belly Shot & More Totoro Love

Made this totoro shirt for my son last night using the freezer paper stenciling method.  I haven't done any in a while.  So, so satisfying.  

Here is the official 12 week maternity shot.  Not a fashion-esque post exactly, but a starting point anyway.  

 

Celebrating With Totoro

First of all, the last shop update was amazing today!  Things flew fast - 50 sales in less than a half hour.  A huge thanks to everyone today who was there, I really appreciate it.  

To celebrate my last day making items for others, I did something special for my son. 

You see, he actually has very, very few of my toys.  Something I completely regret and plan to amend over the summer.  He has several "rejects" that were messed up and I couldn't sell but he has none of the best stuff.  He didn't even have a wooden cell phone until two days ago!  I'm a bad, bad mama indeed.  Mostly, it was because I figured I'd keep on making it all and would give him stuff as he showed more interest.  That time has finally come!  For the first time ever he saw this very last batch and said, "For me?"    

 

So today I set up a trail of acorns just outside our door.  

 

He took the bait...

 

Which led to three totoros hiding in the plants!

 

Upon laying eyes on them he said, "Oh, nice Totoros there."  I asked him if he wanted to pick them up and he said, "No, leave them lone."  He didn't want to disturb them!  Such a gentle boy. 

I told them they were his to play with and with this realization he was delighted beyond belief.

They are from My Neighbor Totoro of course, the only movie we've let him watch so far.  We also have this picture book which is great and follows the whole movie plot in 90 pages.  He is fascinated by the whole thing and finds holes in trees on our walks and peeks inside to look for totoros.  He says he sees them.  I believe him.  

On Tuesday: Build Your Own Neighborhood!

I thought it might be fun to sell these little wee houses individually, so people can pick and choose several and build their own little custom neighborhood based on colors they like.  All of them are in the same color palette and look great together in any combo.  These will also be part of the update Tuesday.   

 

 Above are examples of pairings - each house will be sold individually, none as sets.  

There are stripes, solids and solid roofs.

These colors are a bit different than I usually use - these are bright and springy!

I have about a million of these.  Okay, actually only 30.  Should be fun! 

Shop Update will be Tuesday 1:00PM Pacific

It is official, the final hoorah will be Tuesday, 1:00PM Pacific.  I'll stock everything then.  See you there!  

Some Dr. Suess inspired trees.  These three will be for sale individually in the update.  Don't you love the trees in all his books?  They are my favorite part, actually.  

Shop Update Next Week...the LAST one!

Yep, I said "last".  I have a very happy reason though!  Next week I will stock with cell phones, bunnies, houses and few other goodies and then will go on an indefinite leave from woodworking.  The big news is that a new baby will be joining our family in fall so I plan to spend this summer focusing on our family as it is now and come fall will be focusing on a newborn of course.  The time has come to simplify things and this means letting Woodmouse go.  It has been a wonderful experience and I feel so very thankful and fortunate for all the support and enthusiasm my amazing customers have given me!

Remember these bunnies from last year?  I'll have only nine of them next week!

I'm not closing the door completely - the shop will stay "open" and of course there is a chance something will pop in it every now and again, but I can't make that promise.  I have a feeling I'll be back in some form or another many, many months from now, but no idea what form that will be!  Maybe not even woodworking, who knows?       

Good old cell phones!  I'll have around 12 of these in various colors.

I'll also have just a couple mama and baby birds next week - great for Mother's Day!

Since this is my last ever update, I won't be taking any reserves on anything.  I'm hoping to update the shop on Monday or Tuesday - will keep you posted!

Oh & I'll continue blogging here.  Lots of baby crafting coming (which is where my creative focus is right now of course) and I've been thinking about doing a maternity fashion series!

Found: My Dream Vintage Swimsuit

So the first day of spring is just over a week away!  Good timing too, since I spotted this green, vintage swimsuit at a flea market last weekend.  I've had my eye out for a skirty, vintage, green swimsuit for about as long as I can remember.  And there it was, hanging out alone on the rack among lacey nighties for less than $10.  And to think I almost settled on a navy version from an Etsy seller for nearly $80!  

Best part is that it fits like a glove.  This is the first ever one piece that actually looks decent on me, I have a long torso so they usually pull and flatten out all the good bits that shouldn't be flattened.    

The wicker hat was thrifted years and years ago.  I was wearing it when I met my husband at a park so it has a special place in my heart.