Craft Lake City Workshop Recap: The Land of Salt bath bombs

Artisans Erica Richardson and Amanda Mears from The Land Of Salt taught workshop participants how to create their best-selling bath bombs. When you’re done making your own, drop it in the bathtub under hot running water and watch it bubble and fizz. It’s pretty much the coolest bubble bath ever…and they make excellent gifts. The workshop was sponsored by and hosted at West Elm City Creek. 

I was there to photograph the adventure and have since designed a recap slideshow (complete with the recipe!!).

DIY Workshop Mini Bath Bombs from CraftLakeCity

Click through the slideshow above and learn how to make your own bath bombs. This is a perfect gift for your fabulous friends who love to spoil themselves (*raises hand*). Here's a sneak peek of the DIY goodness in the slideshow...

View all of my DIY workshop recaps. 

View this post on the Craft Lake City website.

Follow my adventures in real time on Instagram @fourthirtyam.

Love and glitter bombs,

me

Incubating Dreams

While I love The Cult of Done Manifesto for what it can do to help me manage counterproductive perfectionism, the truth is that some projects take longer than a week to knock out (see Manifesto point no.5). The realistic flip side is that some goals require a long game. Of course we need to make progress on interim goals, and consider those Done a'la manifesto, but when we're talking about massive, life-changing, feel-silly-even-saying-it-outloud dreams, I think we need a different way to approach it.

A recent post by life coach Kate Swoboda provides a helpful framework for thinking about the incubation of dreams. She contends that "The way we go after the dream is just as important as the fulfillment of the dream itself." She challenges us: "How is your dream incubating? As you’re working, what’s your dream marinating in? What’s the energy that it’s gestating and developing in?" She goes on with examples of productive and unproductive incubation energy, if you will.

I don’t know why I’d bother. No one will show up, anyway.
becomes...
This is hard, but it’ll be worth it.

I’m putting all of this work in, so it had better work out for me!
becomes...
I live a good life now, and I know I’ll live a good life, later–no matter what the outcome.

I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid.
becomes...
I’m afraid, but I’m willing to trust. I’m afraid, but I’m willing to trust. I’m afraid, but I’m willing to trust.

It's so simple, right? She's not presenting earth-shattering revelations, she presenting gentle reminders of what we know in our soul and forget in the daily grind. How many times have I sat down to write a blog post and said, "I don't know why I bother. No one will read this anyway." Instead of clicking over to netflix and spending time feeling deflated, the mantra should be, "This is hard, but it'll be worth it."

It's a call to action for myself as much as it is for anyone reading this. We need to be conscious of the white noise, the subconscious energy, and the space in which we're incubating our dreams. And doesn't it all end up boiling down to abundance? My 2013 power word has been a doozy, let me tell you. I've come to realize, without fail, most everything in life breaks down to fear/scarcity or love/abundance. The incubation of our dreams, if I may put words in Kate's mouth, must happen in an abundant space. As she said, "The conditions under which our dreams are created do affect the outcomes. Stop, breathe, get present to what you’re creating at all points along the way." {tweet it}

Love and love and more love,
me

The Cult of Done: A Manifesto

created by illustrator James Provost (click for links to purchase the print).

A few years back, Kio Stark and Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot and leader in the 3D printing industry, created The Cult of Done Manifesto. If you're not familiar with it, I want to share it with you. If this is old news to you, you're welcome for the reminder. This is good stuff.

As I'm working my way back to a creative mindset and creative set of habits throughout this year, I find myself getting stuck at familiar road blocks. And by "familiar road blocks" I mean to say paralyzing perfectionism. If it can't be a perfect end result right out of the gate, then it's not good enough and I need to stay at the drawing board, as it were. Lame, I know. Not very not present-minded, either. Eckhart would be so disappointed in me. While this pattern is engrained in my DNA, and it's not easy to shut that off, The Cult of Done Manifesto is an excellent slap in the face. Thirteen slaps, actually. Ready? Here we go:

The Cult of Done Manifesto

1. There are three states of being: Not knowing, action, and completion. {tweet it}
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done. {tweet it}
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done. {tweet it}
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done. {tweet it}
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right. 
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes. {tweet it}
11. Destruction is a variant of done. {tweet it}
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more. {tweet it}

Whether it's long-range creative pursuits or motivation to empty the dishwasher, this manifesto is so packed with wisdom. 

Love, number eight, and cheers to done, 

me

Craft Lake City Artist Profile: The Workspace of Danielle DeLucia, Crow SLC

Signature diamond silhouettes, hand-stitched external seams, and a distinct sense that such simple beauty can only be created by an artisan in love with her craft — this is the Crow SLC experience. The brand’s aesthetic is “beautiful but not overstated, rugged and industrious, elegant and refined,” explains creator Danielle DeLucia. These qualities led Danielle to the namesake of her brand. As she writes on her website, the iconic black birds are “understated and industrious. [Crows] are elegant survivors thriving under any circumstances. They are both rugged and poised.”

Danielle, an east coast native, passed up an opportunity to study at Parson's School of Design in New York City and instead studied literature. This did not, however, stop her from pursuing design on her own terms. When she inspected the stitching on a designer leather satchel, she was not only dissatisfied, but also motivated to re-imagine it and improve the design. She began this creative adventure in September 2012, with YouTube videos teaching her the basic skills of the trade. Inexpensive leather and a test market of friends and family helped her refine her skills for nearly a year after that. The Craft Lake City DIY festival in August 2013 was the first public debut of her craftsmanship and the Crow SLC brand.

The instinct to improve upon existing design is nothing new to Danielle. At age 10, she and her sister applied a rudimentary knowledge of color theory to a custom nail polish concoction. Blending, stirring, and getting just the right color of red-orange kept them so focused they didn't realize the bottom of the bowl dissolved and the polish thoroughly soaked their white carpet. With more successful results, Danielle also took a DIY approach to decorating the downtown apartment she shares with her partner Nick. A lack of green velvet throw pillows in area shops simply meant Danielle created her own. She cites this practical approach as a guiding inspiration for her work . "I make things that I want to use," she says matter of factly. One way Danielle generates inspiration for new patterns is long hikes with Nick and their dog Ophelia. She returns home with original ideas that are not so much inspired by nature, but because of nature. "Not sitting at a computer and looking at other's work all day allows me to come up with my own ideas. The internet is crippling because the instinct is to compare yourself to other artists," she admits. Comparisons aside, Danielle does follow the same advice she gives to fellow creatives: "Just go for it! Odds are, there's not going to be a better time. If you have a talent, share it," she exclaims! "People are really interested in unique, well-crafted, locally-made things right now. Make it and work hard to get it out there. People will respond."

Danielle's love of the Craft Lake City community aligns with her experience of consumer trends. She reflects that "people are becoming more conscious of their purchases, spending their money with local companies that work in ethical, sustainable ways, and buying products that are made by artisans rather than machines." She enjoyed the summer festival because of the interaction not only between artists and customers, but among the artists themselves. She enjoyed having conversations with fellow creators and discovering everyone's unique processes. That experience led to trades and barters for each other's work and also talk of future collaborative projects. It's her dream to one day create the Crow Mercantile Collective, essentially individual artist studios within a larger communal space, complete with retail operations open to the public.

Another dream is to open a cafe. Danielle loves to cook and bake from scratch. She and Nick have spent a few Saturdays perfecting fresh bagels, a point of pride for these New Yorkers. Their favorite recipe for an indulgent weekend brunch is French toast fried in bacon fat, topped with a sunny side egg and Vermont maple syrup, and more bacon on the side. Yet another dream is to take the Crow SLC show on the road. Spending a year or more traveling by camper down the west coast, Danielle would set up her studio in the back, Nick would write his doctoral dissertation, and Ophelia would enjoy the ride. No matter what the future brings for Crow SLC, one thing is clear: Danielle's commitment to high-quality handmade products. Many skilled leather workers who visited her booth at the festival couldn't believe the quality she achieves without a sewing machine and by exclusively hand stitching. While many festival goers assumed that surely Nick had to be the artist behind the mallet and thread, one should never underestimate the drive of a woman who taught herself a trade in under a year, only to impressed lifelong craftsmen. Craft Lake City's festival was the just beginning for Crow SLC.

Visit Danielle's etsy shop and follow along on tumblr.

Visit this post on the Craft Lake City website. 

Follow my photographic adventures in real time on Instagram @fourthirtyam. 

Check out the other workspace tours with local Craft Lake City artists. 

Love, 

me

Traveling by cargo ship #traveltuesday

I have a confession to make. Over the past couple months, I've been breathlessly seduced by the notion of traveling on a cargo ship.

Yes, I'm serious. I'll even sign the Piracy Declaration to prove it.

Rebecca Hall, a writer, recently traveled from Greece to Hong Kong and shared her story with NPR's Weekend Edition. Thirty seconds into the piece my heart was racing and I hung on every word. This needs to happen.

Once she completed her journey, she spoke again with Rachel Martin and told her about life on board.

Both audio clips are under five minutes, so listen and fall in love. Trust me.

I immediately set about googling this phenomenon. How did I not know this is A Thing? Matador wrote a how-to for cargo ship travel in 2008. 2008! So many years spent not traveling on cargo ships. So many. The Matador article is excellent, very practical. They tackle the most obvious questions: Where can you go, what will it cost, what is life like on board, how does one begin planning for this? Some of the links are 404, being that the article is half a decade old at this point, but I did my own digging.

A la Carte Freighter Travel is a reputable Canadian travel agency that deals with these unique itineraries. I'm particularly drawn to two itineraries: Tahiti to The Marquesas Islands, and the Norwegian Costal. I mean, seriously. How fascinating would it be to make your way down the Norwegian coast delivering supplies to remote fishing villages? And how about this for a description of the Tahitian ship's mission: "It connects local communities, calling at the principal villages, as well as several remote areas, on every inhabited island." Gah! The adventure of it all. The RMS Saint Helena also sounds amazing, but with 128 civilian passengers, it's a more crowded experience than I'd prefer.

Seaplus is also a site highly recommended around the interwebs. It doesn't seem to have been updated since 2011, but the information is detailed and seems solid, including photos of the ships and passenger cabins. Another travel agency site that's recommended often is The Cruise People, based in the UK. Their site employs excessive clip art (which is to say, any clip art), but the info is extensive. They do have a Twitter account, so all hope is not lost.

So...you may still be asking yourself (hi, mom): Why? The Matador article pretty much nailed it: "You can travel almost anywhere by cargo ship. Just think: anywhere global commodities are shipped are places that you can disembark and spend time soaking up the local culture before re-boarding." Brett, author of Tripping Overland (a blog about circumnavigating the globe without stepping foot on an airplane), posted about his trans-Atlantic voyage and articulates many of the anti-establishment slash adventure sentiments that he and I share. The photo above is his, btw. Also, the ocean is the very definition of freedom. If you've ever been on a ship (commercial cruise liner in my case) in the middle of the giant Pacific under an endless sky, you know that the world is huge and anything is possible. Finally, why not? Even when I travel to well-worn destinations, my goal is always to experience local life off the beaten path. Sure, I've knocked out tourista must-sees all over the world, but that's just to snap the photo and get it out of the way. The romance is in getting lost (not lost in pirated waters on a cargo ship, mind you, but you know what I mean).

This is happening.

Love and little fishing villages,
me