Clearing the palette and taking a break..

The next three months are going to be epic! I have started a 200 hour teacher training program with California Power Yoga. Which happens to incidentally be part of the studio where I work, Three Dog Yoga. Pretty much every weekend will be filled up with rigorous practices, practice teaching and stuff that I don't even know about. So refreshing to put the brain back to work learning something new! Aaaaand maybe I will get to take on a class or two when its all said and done!

As a result Luce Goods is powering the heck down. There's just only so many hours in the day and I want my kids to remember who I am! So I've been playing around with different things. Jewelry, always a big draw. I've got metal smithing in my sights for sure! Embroidery, easy to pick up and work on and put back away. And smaller projects like pouches and pencil cases. Things I can do in an hour.

I'm excited to take a break. To be honest production hasn't been particularly kind to my body, and sewing was starting to become a chore instead of fun. Not that work needs to be fun all the time! Challenge is always good. But work shouldn't be dreaded....

Porteur rack bag.

Many many moons ago, my friend Andrew asked me to make a bag for his pass and stow porteur rack . This was instantly interesting to me as I also have a porteur rack on my townie, from VO, and I'd been wanting to Gussie it up with a bag. A gazillion years later...voila! I'm very pleased with it! Andrew has had it for a week now and we are working out some of the bugs. Mainly modifying the bag to make it less floppy when its empty. I kind of got carried away with the front flap and made it pretty big which in turn makes it droop over the front when nothing is in the bag. There's also some need for strap tucking mechanisms...porteur 2.0 here I come!

colors and texture..

My parents are taking a trip to Vietnam right now to trek in the mountains and visit the Hmong who live there. Aside from flipping a motorcycle on their first day and breaking a rib( my dad) all is going well and they are sending me the most incredible pictures!

Naturally what I love most about these pictures is the richness, color and texture of all their textiles. Fabrics with embroidery, vivid colors paired with black and copious quantities of silver jewelry. Sigh...these ladies know what's up.

I instantly begged for them to bring me back some of the heavier duty fabric. How amazing would a messenger bag or pannier bag would be in these fabrics...amazing.

NAHBS 2013 hats

Back at it for Curtis Inglis of Inglis/Retrotec. Was really hoping to make it to Denver this year but I haven't found that elusive sack of twenties yet. Sigh...maybe next year..

Go big or go big.

Decided on a whim this weekend to head to the coast on the bicycle. Not a big deal right ?
Right. Except that its been a while since I've hit a decent climb and spent more then two hours in the saddle. Life gets in the way you know?

So we settled on two hard climbs, Coleman valley road and Bay hill, and four hours of ride time.

Thanks goodness for Wildflower Bakery for being the carrot at the end of the stick...

Things I do on my bike ride...

After loading up on some serious protein and carbs I like to head out two to three times a week for my weekday loop out in gorgeous Graton, ca. Nothing crazy, just a nice two hour loop with a couple of rollers. Anyway, I often reach the end of my ride and realize that I have been so knee deep in the shit in my head that I never remembered to look up and that it's a small wonder that I made it home alive.. Here are some of the things that happen along the way:

1. Snot rockets - no ride is on until the nasal passages are clear.
2. Most often parenting comes around. With two teenage girls there's no shortage of issues.
3. Remember to check out the scenery for a minute.
4. Bag designs - trying to make the pieces fit in my head. I tend to work patterns out a lot on the bike.
5. My butt usually starts hurting about now or my sciatica flares up. Either way my focus go there for a while.
6. Accounting - one would think I would get on the bike to get away from the money issues but I actually solve a lot of banking problems whilst pedaling.
7. Sing - content, volume, and fervor vary depending on how steep the climb is and how fast and terrifying the descent is.
8. Dodging people and dogs on the trail home - people please! If there are riders and the such hitting the trail with you please leash that pup up. I don't care how friendly he/she is hitting or being chased by a dog on a bike sucks. Do it for their safety.
9. Planning my next meal - no explanation necessary,
10. Start drinking water - that's the other thing I always forget to do...

Testing...

I've been playing a lot with embroidery recently. Something about the repetition is soothing. And fabric and thread are so forgiving to my drawing skills...