Amber Dusick

organize to save time

So.  I have this huge pile of paper templates in my studio that I've designed for my wooden (and now ceramic) figures.  It is literally just a pile in a box.  It takes forever to find something specific and I've even lost some.  They are just small (under 6") pieces of scrap paper.  But they are rather important.

This is just one example of how inefficient I've been over the years, just digging through there trying to find a specific template is a waste of precious time.  Every time I've dug in there I swear I will organize it.  So, now I'm gonna.  Get organized = save time, yes?  That is the plan.  To run a business you have to stay organized.  Well, you don't have to but I've heard a rumor that it helps.  Being organized saves time and time is money, right?   

How can I store and organize these?  Obviously my shoe box (actually it is a wooden wine crate) method is not working.  Maybe an accordion folder?  A binder with plastic sleeves that I shove them in?  Anything I'm not thinking of?

How does being organized save you time?  How does being disorganized waste time for you?      

Pretty & Colorful Bakers Twine (25% off)

I love this twine.  I used bakers twine for my ornaments and packaging way back when so imagine how excited I am about finding it in multiple colors! 

 

The Twinery sells "eco-friendly cotton twine" that is made in the USA!  Even better, use code WEDDINGS25 (from my weddings website) for 25% off your order until July 31st. 

I got some yummy twine and can't wait to use it on ornaments this coming year.  Feels funny to be planning ahead for ornaments, but in previous years I would have started making holiday stuff by now.  I'm not really feeling it right now but I'm sure I'll be kicking myself come fall and winter when I'm scrambling to get holiday gifts finished.  Oh well.  Way too nice out and too many ice cream trucks to catch.  Speaking of, the ice cream truck still hasn't come back.  Sniff.     

ice cream trucks. happiness on wheels.

Ice cream trucks are magic.  Pure magic.  Think about it, they slowly drive around randomly through neighborhoods with a truck filled with ice cream and other frozen novelties.  They bring it to you.  It is one of the last remaining services that come to you.  Plus, it is ice cream we're talking about here.  Not door to door vacuum or encyclopedia salesmen.  Ice cream!  It finds you!  Tell me there isn't something magical about that. 

A happy tinkling melody carried by the breeze through the trees...is it?  Could it be?  Yes!  You hear it and pause for a second and listen intently.  Is is coming this way?  Up my street?  

A dash for cash and then run out the front door as fast as you can and line up.

 

Enjoy your treats in the yard, racing the sun who is trying to melt them.  "Wanna play hide and seek later?"  

Then the ice cream truck moves on, bringing happiness to the next bunch of kids.  

Please, let there always be ice cream trucks for each new generation.

-----------

PS - I heard one wind through our neighborhood as I was painting this truck.  Not kidding.   This sounds almost too precious but honest, it happened.  I didn't however try to catch it - I was too engrossed in toy making and didn't have cash anyway.  I really hope I didn't disturb some ice cream truck karma balance and that it comes back my way again soon.  Next time I'll be ready.

(I'm keeping this set.  I cannot possibly let it leave my house.  However, I did make another one for the shop.)      

Woodmouse Circus

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Step Right Up!  You won't believe your eyes!  A menagerie of spectacular animal feats!"

I love the circus, actually the idea of the circus.  A vintage circus anyway.  And the circuses of my childhood.  I love the history of them especially and the vintage advertising for them.  

I grew up just outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin which is home to the Circus World Museum...the largest collection of circus artifacts in the world.  It is also the birthplace of the Ringling Brothers Circus (who later bought Barnum & Bailey) so the circus is close to heart and home.  I even knew some professional circus folk, a whole family of stilt walkers.  I like to pretend that somewhere in my family tree there are a few trapeze artists hiding but I don't think that is true.

(UPDATE: Upon talking with my father in law, it turns out that my husband has a great great + uncle who was Harry Houdini's assistant for many years. I've grafted myself onto their tree thanks to marriage.  So I can claim this, right?)         

Meet the woodmouse circus folk:

Clown.  I was a little hesitant to make a clown as so many people are creeped out by them.  I think he turned out pretty innocent and non-scary.

Lion.  I'm smitten with the lion.  I think he is my favorite of them all. 

Circus seal with stand and ball.  In first grade my class performed a circus play and I was a seal.  I had to wear all black and squirm around on the floor with a ball.  I remember being terribly nervous.

Dancing circus bear with a ball.  I have had recurring dreams about bears my entire life.  Maybe there was a bear trainer in my family tree?  Nah.   

Circus elephant.  The first (and only) time I rode an elephant I cried.  It was at the Circus World Museum actually.  I was a child and the elephant was stinky.  Then I felt bad for knowing that he was stinky and plus I was scared.  And excited too because I really wanted to ride him.  So I cried and cried because that is what you do when you are four and can't make sense of things. 

And of course it all takes place in a big top tent!  I secretly wish I could paint our house like this, but it would just look like it was being fumigated.  I think it is odd how they make those tents looks like happy stripey tents...doesn't that attract children to them?  We have termites in this climate so we see tented houses often around here.  

Finally, I have to take this opportunity to share one of my most precious articles of clothing.  My vintage Baraboo Circus Parade shirt.  From 1980.  That I've owned since 1980 when I attended the first ever circus parade there.  I had a red one that actually fit me too.  I wore this shirt like a dress back then as pajamas as I was just a wee thing.  It is one of two articles of clothing that I still have and wear from childhood. 

Enjoy the show!    

------

PS, Maya is doing an at home circus theme right now go check it out!

 

 

  

in love again

I'm going to try to make this short and sweet. 

You know what can happen when you get reunited with a long lost love?  You jump back in.

It just happened.  Toy designs started coming to me and they wouldn't go away.  Really, really fun designs that I couldn't ignore.  I was daydreaming about them.  Even night dreaming about them.  And before I knew it, I was sketching new designs.  And making them...

And I'm in love again. 

Robot blocks!  A set of robot parts to play robot factory.  I love these.  I want to stay up all night and make hundreds of them just so I can play with them.  But I won't.  Sleep deprivation not allowed this go 'round.  I've got rules in place about that sort of thing.   

Puzzles that happen to be stand alone toy sets...

Or are they toy sets that happen to be puzzles?  Yeah, probably that.  I like puzzles in theory but hate that most of them are "just" a puzzle.  I wanted to have each piece be a toy itself.     

Plus!  More new designs that I'm really, really excited about...but I said I'd make this short & sweet so I'll save those for another day.      

Apparently, I'm in the toy business again.  And believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are.  Okay, maybe I'm not terribly surprised.  Did you see this coming too?      

clay, meet wood. wood, this is clay.

I got them together at last.  Clay and wood are friends.  Stoneware mounted on poplar... tiles?  Plaques?  What do I call these?  Any suggestions? 

 

I wanted to make work for the walls as I still have some bare walls around the house but not much shelf space. 

I'm having a really hard time deciding how to photograph these.  They go on the wall yet I need to show that they have depth.  Still working on this but I'm just going to go with what I've got and work on photos as I go along.     

I have just a handful finished but I think more are in my future as I'm really loving these.  I think they'd be amazing in a grouping on a wall.  (Note to self: make more with the intention of keeping them.)

  
It felt good to cut wood again, it has been a loooooong time.  Such fun to find a way to combine my two loves.  

(These will be in my Amber Dusick shop soon.  PS - I split my shops, keeping woodmouse strictly for wood.  Even though they play well together I didn't like them living together.) 

I don't have time for perfection today

Sometimes the uncropped version is better, right?  His little funny face makes me laugh every time I see it! 

 

This was going to be for a fashion-esque post, but I realize I've already worn all this stuff in other photos.  Good grief, I first posted about those shoes when I got them for my birthday two years ago.  Nothing new to see here. 

Then, I took these photos of one of my current displays I've been loving...but those photos are all fuzzy, this one included.  Ack!  I'm sharing it anyway.  I don't have time for perfection. 

Yes, those are vintage boomerang ashtrays hung on the wall.  I collect them as art.  I've never been a smoker.  I just love the shape and color of them and how they are a part of history...nobody is designing ashtrays anymore.  Remember when they came standard in cars?  That is so odd when you think about it.

The monkey is by that designer who made those.  I can't remember the designers name!  Ack, I'm having a bad blogging day.  My mom found him for me. 

Whale book is vintage.  I have a serious vintage childrens book addiction so I rotate them around the house as decor.  I decorated the walls with them in my old studio but they haven't made it to the new space yet.

The insulator was from my last trip to Wisconsin for mere cents at a garage sale and the vintage lantern was an Etsy find.  Loving vintage lanterns and flashlights.  Here is a green one that I've also been coveting.  Oh and this one. 

There, I made a post!  It isn't perfect, but the sun is out and the little ones are going to wake up any second so it this will have to do.  

             

How to Make Beeswax Wood Polish (woodmouse recipe)

Over the years I've had many emails asking me how to make the natural beeswax and organic jojoba oil toy sealer I make and use on my wooden toys.  So rather than say, "None of your beeswax!" here is the official Woodmouse Beeswax Wood Polish recipe and instructions... 

Woodmouse Beeswax Wood Polish Recipe:

• 1 part beeswax
• 4 parts oil (options include olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, walnut oil, etc)

Simple, eh?  Just beeswax plus an oil. 

Instructions: 

Fill a measuring cup with one cup of your chosen oil.  (PS - I'm using olive oil in these photos because I had just made a jojoba batch and then realized I should have taken photos for a post but didn't have any more oil.  Jojoba oil is clear while olive oil is greenish/yellowish.)  Use a cheese grater and shave your beeswax or pound it into bits with a hammer.  I bought a cheese grater solely for my beeswax polish making because I don't want to use utensils that touch our food, especially for making polish that go on items to be sold.  Getting it into tiny bits will make the melting process go much quicker but this is optional.  Add beeswax to your measuring cup until it reads 1 and 1/4 cups.  This means you've added 1 cup oil and 1/4 cup beeswax.  

Next, you need to melt the beeswax.  Heat in the microwave or in a double boiler on the stove top.  It will need to be heated very hot, beeswax has a melting temperature of just under 150 degrees F.  Stir it around and make sure all the beeswax is fully melted and dissolved.  Suddenly, the beeswax melts and your mixture will look just like a liquid oil.  Careful, it is hot!  If you want to add essential oils* (I don't use them) now would be the time to blend them in, before it cools.

  

Pour it into a container with a wide enough opening for stirring.  As the mixture cools, you'll need to stir it every once in a while to prevent it from separating.  It will cool down and thicken around the edges of your container first, so scrape the sides.  Stirring just a few times over a couple hours is enough.  Stirring will ensure an even, creamy blend of your wood polish.  If you don't stir it at all, the center will be oily while the edges will be harder and waxy and it is difficult to blend together once it is fully cooled.

 

There is a difference in color between my olive oil beeswax polish (below left) and my jojoba beeswax polish (below right).  Olive oil based wood polish will often have a slightly greenish cast, but I haven't noticed a significant difference when used on wood.  See below for more info on oils you can use.     

Use it:  Once fully cooled, gather all the wooden items in your house and rub it into the wood.  Just a little goes a long way.  Wipe off the excess with a cotton cloth and if you have extra on your hands feel free to use it as a lotion, even as a lipbalm.  Your hands will be silky smooth.  Little ones love to help with this too!

 

About Beeswax:  I get my beeswax locally from Bill's Bees and it smells subtly like orange blossom because his bees hang out in orange groves.  Yum.  If you have a local farmer's market check and see if there is a honey vendor.  Even if they don't have beeswax there for sale (most don't) just ask them.  You might even get lucky and have a big ol' bag handed to you for free.  I'm sure there are online places to buy beeswax but I've never had to get it that way so no advice there, sorry.   

About Oils:  I use organic jojoba oil on all the toys that I sell for a variety of reasons but other oils could work well for you.  The main reason I stick with jojoba is that the shrub grows natively here and I'm a geek when it comes to sourcing locally.  Jojoba oil has a long shelf life so a batch will last a very long time without going rancid.  Plus, there is no allergy risk unlike using walnut oil.  Olive oil and coconut oil are other options if jojoba oil isn't local or affordable where you are.  And walnut oil is perfectly great too if you know your own family has no nut allergies.  I do not include mineral oil (although it is perfectly safe to use) simply because it is a petroleum product and not appropriate for toys labeled as eco-friendly. 

About Storage:  Store it in an airtight container, away from direct sunlight.  Jojoba oil based polish will last for two years while olive oil will last one year.  If you don't think you will use your polish very fast and are worried it will go rancid, store it in the refrigerator, this doubles the shelf life. 

Enjoy your natural beeswax wood polish!   

----------------

*Essential oils: be careful when selecting essential oils.  Many are not suitable for use on wood, nor are they suitable for toys that may go in the mouths of wee ones. 

  

I'd rather be mediocre

Changes are afoot.  Aren't they always?  Pretty much. 

I admire people who can laser focus on a passion, hobby or career and become an expert in one narrow niche over the years, but that isn't for me.  I'd rather explore everything and remain mediocre.

Change is what I do.    

One thing won't change.  Me.  I will always be like this.  I have made peace with my constant state of change and it is exactly what I'm meant to be doing.  You see, what I've discovered is that I don't have to pick.  I don't have to make a proclamation that "now I'm doing such and such until the end of time" because that will never be true.  And I don't need to narrow my focus unless I want to.  I don't have to decide or figure out what I want to do with my life because  I'm already doing it.  Already living it.  At any given time exactly what that involves will be different but that is just the way I like it. 

Sure, I get those voices inside my head that say, "You should focus!  Either build websites or be a stay at home mom or be a toymaker or be a ceramic artist...just DECIDE already!  Everyone knows you can't be successful at anything unless you focus and define yourself as something."   But I can't do it.  When I try to I get all itchy inside.  I realize I'd rather be average at a whole bunch of things than be the best at just one thing. 

So I'm done putting pressure on myself to narrow my focus when it doesn't feel right.  And I'm embracing the part of me that will always change direction as it makes the sailing smoother.     

--------

What do you think?  Are you a jack of all trades or a specialist when it comes to your interests, hobbies or career?    

    

 

me, I want a hula hoop

Everybody has some regular exercise thing they do.  All the cool kids do yoga.  Or pilates.  Or they bike places.  Or go to the gym. 

Me?  I got nothing.  I've never even taken a yoga class.  I do own a few yoga DVDs, but I've never watched them so I don't think that counts.  

Years ago I was a bellydancer...use to teach weekly and perform regularly.  I had a closet full of beautiful costumes and my abs were made of steel.  But I haven't danced professionally in years.  Recently, after seeing bellydancers at a festival, my 3.75 year old son was in awe.  He thought they were magical.  I tried to convince him that I too was once a "real bellydancer" and confused, he asked, "So you were a bellydancer?  And now you're just a mama?" 

Sigh.  Yeah, pretty much sums it up. 

Thing is, I know it isn't very healthy to not have regular exercise.  So I have to find something I can do.  At home.  More or less daily.  That isn't boring.  

Hula hooping?  I've seen it get popular here over the last few years and it is hard not to get inspired by seeing someone who is really good at it.  And by good at it I mean like this video.  Plus, the hoops are purdy.

So I'm gonna hula hoop for a month and see what happens.           

Do you do anything for regular exercise?  Do tell!