Revving the engine

First off, this

is the one of the most beautiful and amazing pieces of technology I've seen in a long time. I'm a fan of CBC 1 and 2 (and occasionally 3, when I get the chance to listen to something that isn't Disney) and this radio would fit into my life quite nicely. I love the design of it, especially the use of the CBC logo as cover for the speaker. I hope - hope - that Science&Sons, the company that came up with this concept, is able to produce it for fans soon. Christmas is only 11 months away. (found via The Canadian Design Resource)

I've been struggling for the last few days, trying to get into a 'work' mode that doesn't result in me throwing my hands up in frustration. It doesn't help that I seem to be finding every excuse in the book to not do any work. But, with a little determination and a bit of cajoling, I think we're caught up on our housework and there aren't any major appointments or meetings scheduled for the next 6 days (then Keith leaves for the Select for 6 days), so there is no reason I can't get something done.

Question is, what? I tried to make a few actual shopping bags, based on the ones you can buy in store - the very boxy, kind of bland... boring, really. Also more challenging that I need. I'm a competent sewer, not an amazing one, so when it came to piecing it together and actually sewing the seams so it would hold together, I lost control of the project and - long story, short - I have a few bags without handles and gaping corner seams in my possession.

Lesson learned: work from a real pattern. And don't try anything that's beyond my skill level. Sure, I'd love to design the next Birkin bag, but the reality is I'll be lucky to design the next dollar store reject. Well, not really, but I can't go into this thinking I can do much beyond some slightly-more-complex-than-simple projects.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to sit down and attempt to get 3 or 4 bags done. I'm hoping to stay away from anything that seems mundane, but I'd like to stick with simple. But practical. Kind of like these bags, but with more of a personalized twist. What that twist is, I'm still trying to figure out, but I'm hoping it will come to me soon. I'm probably going to be doing other bags, too, like little make-up bags and lunch sacks, but it's hard to keep from getting ahead of myself with plans when I haven't even started making anything that could be remotely sell-able.  Fingers crossed, it will all come together. Soon.

I'm still trying to dabble a bit in actual graphic design, too, but I'm finding that it's taking more of a backseat to everything than I like. We're still trying to work out a working schedule for me so that Keith can take care of Maddy more on his days off, leaving me more time to work on my stuff, but being a procrastinator and eternal pessimist, I have no problem finding things to do instead of work. The pessimism comes into play when I start panicking too much and pretty much convince myself that there is no way that anyone is going to ever want to buy anything I make. But then I come back to the argument 'How do I know that without actually trying?'. I'm much closer to taking the actual, real plunge and put myself and the products I make out there, but it's hard to keep the 'you and your work sucks' wolves at bay.