At work

Saturday we went to Paper Source to pick up the Gocco machine and met
Henry for lunch in the studio.

We had a great time browsing around the store and catching up with all
of our friends. I miss working with everyone, so it was great to see
them. I like to tell Lucy this was where she worked in utero. It was
where I organized thirty shades of glitter when I felt like a complete
zombie. At least I was being productive.

Now that Elise and I both have a Gocco machine, I told them we should
have a craft night. I could host at my studio. Jana suggested that we
have Carina organize it since she is good at that. Sounds great to me.
So please let me know if you are interested via email or the comments
below. I have been thinking about Chicago Craft Social a lot last
week, but this sounds more organic than entrepreneurial, which is
great by me.

Aside from my Gocco and a couple of more accessories, I bought some
more butterflies for Lucy’s mobile. I’m not sure that she needs them,
but I’ve wanted to balance out the color in the space. One half of the
room is blue and green and the other side is just pink and orange. I’m
hoping the butterflies can unite the two while giving Lucy a few more
friends to talk to. I know that I’m just being neurotic. But
considering I spent about $4 on the mobile versus the going rate of
$50, I don’t feel so bad.

When we went to the studio for lunch, Henry began cleaning up for me.
Since it is my studio, he can only brow beat me so much over the
chaos. But he knows that nothing gets me going faster than him trying
to put things away. Of course, this was not the first time he has
attempted to clean while I was feeding Lucy and completely immobile.
The best I can do is work on my posture while feeding her and I’m
doing a really poor job at that! So once she finished, he took her out
for a stroll and I cleaned for almost four hours. (She returned for a
nap and another feeding.) But she managed to outlast me! That is great
news.

I pulled a few oldies but goodies and started a collection for a "yard
sale." This led to another argument with you-know-who because we don’t
have a yard. So I’m open for suggestions regarding my arts and crafts
yard sale items – Etsy, craigslist, Arts on Foot. I still have a lot
of stuff to unearth, but I’m excited about Saturday’s progress.

When I met with my Craigslist contact in May, she gave me this
Inglesina Fast Table Chair. I had it on my registry and she said she
would give it to me. She liked the concept, but it didn’t work on
several tables, including wobbly ones with just a center leg. Plus it
was filthy.

I was eager to take the chair home and wash it, especially since it
was free. It took some time figuring out how to remove the fabric from
the frame, but it was well worth the effort. It looks a lot better.
And it works great on my desk from IKEA, which is completely stable.
It is connected to the bookshelf like an upside L, so I don’t have to
worry about it toppling over with her. The bag tucks into a pocket
beneath the chair, which it is sewn into so that the entire product is
completely self-contained. It takes a little time to unscrew the grips
to hold the chair in place, so you can’t just pop it on and off a
table in a hurry. But you also want something that is certain not to
fall either.

The width of the chair is still twice her size, so I’ve tucked the
Boppy in for support. When she sits in the chair, she is completely
focused on sitting up, leaving her totally quiet. She can handle it
for a while. Then I place her in the pack ‘n play. I’m curious to see
how this will progress with us working face-to-face.

So far Lucy is content just looking around the studio and I’ve
actually managed to get some work done. I am quite pleased. Now I just
need to finish some projects instead of starting something new each
time I visit the studio, which I managed to do again today.