I Am Grateful

Four months of radio silence is enough for me--it was snowing when I signed off and here we are on the cusp of summer! My on-line life has been relegated primarily to Instagram where I've been sharing bits of process from the studio.

I've had a lovely break though I dare say it is no longer a sabbatical per se but a new direction entirely. Two concrete decisions have been made. First, the doors of Sushipot have closed for good. Second, I miss blogging so here I am!

My first task back in February was to purge my studio of clutter and give the walls a fresh coat of white paint. The physical chore was a cathartic process and it literally gave me a clean slate to forge ahead into new art-making territory.

Lots of ideas and work are coming out of this time of experimentation. Patterns have been formed, textiles cut, ideas perused, stitches stitched, books read, sketches drawn, wax melted, objects gathered, paper torn and the list goes on and on.

I look forward to looking back at these weeks and sharing my new work with you. In the meantime I thank you for the encouragement you've showered on me via comments, messages and emails. The support during my hiatus has been overwhelming and I am grateful.

Hello Friends

Hello friends! I feel I must explain the crickets chirping in this space and over in the shops. It's been a seemingly endless absence and frankly one I would have much preferred to do without. Long story short....we all came down with the flu early last week and are just now slooooowly making our way back into the beautiful routine of daily life. I miss it so much.

Also....if you've emailed or convo'ed me within the last 10 days please know that I am slogging through my inbox and will be in touch with you soon-ish! Thank you for understanding.

Resolution: Time

With the onset of the new year comes the chatter of resolutions being made and much advice on how to keep them. I go back and forth each year on whether to set to paper (or blog) a resolution or goal for the year. In truth, I'm making resolutions all the time, setting little goals for myself and marking off the milestones I make in life and business. As I've mentioned before I'm a dutiful list maker to an obsessive degree.



So this year, in lieu of a list of resolutions, I've decided to take to heart a word/theme/sound I've been mulling over lately and that is TIME. You know....tick-tock.....tick-tock.....tick-tock....in all its forms! As I come up for air after such a busy season in my shops I want to rein it in, slow it down and embrace it. I want to name those things that fritter it away and spend it wisely. Kind of like the day back when Lizzie was only two and we decided to throw away our television permanently! I want that feeling of freedom again--the gift of time--time to live, time to love, time to read, time to create, time to savor all those little things that sprinkle our days.



In order to be more mindful of my time and how I spend it I'm starting by identifying those little "time thieves" in my day and deciding on which ones can stay and which must go and what I should cut back on. No...I'm not planning to do anything rash like throw out my iPhone, but I will cut back on how many minutes of attention it receives!



One big decision that I've wavered on is whether or not I need/should post here on my blog every week-day as I've tried my best to do for the last couple of years. Even though it may only take a few minutes of each day to create a post, there is much brain-time spent mulling over what to post and time spent keeping up with the extra photographing that is involved. Looking back to my pre-blog days I can see I had a bit more studio time and that is what I crave. So...my first little experiment with TIME in 2012 is to scale back here in this virtual space. I'm thinkin' 2-3 posts a week as opposed to 5 or 6. I know all of you artist/maker readers will understand and I thank you for reading what I think is my longest rant (errrr.....post) ever and feel free to call me out if you see me frittering my time away here or Twitter or Instagram or even (oh the tragedy!) on Etsy.

All mixed media collage images by Suzanna Scott, 2007 & 2009

December Daze

Gosh, I've sure been sporadic in this bloggy space--it's kinda the name of the game right now. We had a record breaking day of sales on Sunday and have been scrambling to get it all out the door and on its way 'round the world. Seriously fun to ship to the United Kingdom, Israel, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and over a dozen US states in a 24 hour period! Thank you to all of you wonderful Sushipot patrons! Before all this ensued we did attend our local Christmas parade and enjoyed many a Christmas story. Now back to the studio...!

Ice Cream Break

Ice Cream Cones by Lizzie (guess which one is for her!)

Hello all! I'm thinkin' I need an ice cream cone break and a bit of a blog break too. Summer is wrapping up soooo quickly 'round here. I'll be sure to stop in some point next week especially if I have new work to share. Take care of yourself and go indulge in an ice cream cone!

I Love Turning Pages

One of many benefits in starting this blog nine months ago has been the connection to designers and artists around the globe who share an analogous fondness for the little things in life. For instance, I love Turning Pages, a blog by the talented Ellen van de Sande, a graphic designer of North Holland, Netherlands. Ellen's blog is full of wonderful design finds and from time to time she shares images from her amazing collection of vintage games. When you visit Ellen's blog be sure not to miss the side bar filled with her doodles--they are a definite treat!

I Like Myndology

I've recently discovered that Myndology's 3" x 4" disc-bound memo pad is the handiest little blogging tool. Previously, I was using a small composition notebook to jot down blog ideas and topics but got frustrated when I couldn't re-order the pages.

Yes, I did consider using a small 3 ring binder but I can be impatient when writing/sketching and end up just tearing pages out of the rings without snapping them open. This may seem a bit obsessive but it's very handy to be able to scribble thoughts down in any progression and then rearrange them quickly once I decide on the details of when/what/where the post will be used.

These notebooks will come in handy for shopping lists, to do lists, goals, ideas, etc. Hmmm...maybe I need to add some tabs to to this one?? I'll confess...I know what I really want is this so I can concoct my own with scraps of ephemera (hint, hint anyone?).