How I Met Mumbles

Posted in Thoughts & Stories by

Some of you reading this know the story because you were there, or because maybe you read about it on our wedding website or I’ve told a version of the story over dinner or drinks upon being asked or you patiently listened unwilling when I gushed about every detail there ever was after Mumbles proposed.  But for those of you that haven’t heard it, I thought I’d share the story of how I met Mumbles.  If memory serves, yesterday would have been the anniversary of our first date eight years ago. 

It was a spring semester at California State University, Fullerton, when sitting in Geology class in an ordinary, cold classroom in McCarthy Hall that I first laid eyes on Mumbles.  I thought he was oh-so-dreamy and whenever he’d saunter into class, I’d perk up just a little hoping to catch his eye.  A first year member of sorority, I soon noticed that Mumbles was a member of the fraternity that happened to be paired with our sorority for that year’s Greek Week event in April, noting his dashing good looks were a bit diminished with his enthusiastically competitive Mohawk. (okay, yes, I kinda liked it.)

It was days after said event that I noticed him on campus speaking with one of my sorority sisters and decided to do some Nancy Drew-esque investigating, which in this day and age involved some serious sleuthing: sending said sorority sister an inquisitive text message asking for information about the cute fraternity guy I had been drooling over in class. From a somewhat terse reply I learned only that dreamy guy’s name was Johnny and that said sorority sister seemed displeased to have been asked about him. Not understanding why she seemed upset, another sorority sister offered an explanation: they’re dating. “Of course the boy I think is cute is already dating one of my sorority sisters,” I reasoned. And I left it at that.

But it wouldn’t be left for long. Later that week, I bumped into Mumbles on campus while he was campaigning for student office.

“Hi, I’m [Mumbles], we’re in the same geology class,” he said.

A little bit in shock at the name he gave so nonchalantly but secretly happy that cute fraternity guy was chatting me up, I wondered what kind of jerk gives a girl the wrong name. Wrong phone numbers, sure, I’ve heard of that…but the wrong name? Wow, college guys really step it up a notch! (I did eventually learn the truth about the name mix-up: sorority sister had been talking with Mumbles when I spotted them but the pair were very quickly joined by Mumbles’s roommate, Johnny, after which Mumbles then walked away. Thus, she had been standing with the real Johnny when the crucial text message had arrived. Gah!)

Mumbles explained to me that while he’d been visiting our professor, Dr. Knott, during his office hours to go over material, he was wondering if I might consider studying with him for an upcoming test. Blushing, I agreed (not confessing quite yet that I actually found geology to be interesting and, in fact, used to collect rocks as a child – in case you’re wondering: no, that’s not ideal pre-first date material). It wasn’t more than a few days later that Mumbles was knocking on my parents’ front door answering questions from Stick Girl’s Dad about his intentions and devouring baked goodies made by Stick Girl’s Mom.

With all the time Mumbles and I spent studying together, we probably should have received A’s, but chapter reviews and vocabulary memorization gave way quickly to long conversations about life, faith, family, and love. Feeling butterflies in my stomach but also very comfortable around him (is there such a thing as calm butterflies?), I surprised myself when I asked Mumbles to take me to my sorority’s spring formal just a few short weeks away. I was shocked yet again when his reply was an indecisive, “Can I get back to you about it?”

Huh. College guys.

Later agreeing to take me to the formal, I wondered if it we were simply study buddies or if perhaps (fingers crossed) the butterflies he possessed happened to be the rarest, most calm species of stomach-dwelling butterflies the dating world had ever known. Getting ready with mutual friends just before the big dance, I thought I had my answer when – one lip gloss application from being ready to go – Mumbles was nowhere to be found. Asking around, a few people mentioned seeing him leave. (!)  And just as I was about to write him off and tell those butterflies to move on, Mumbles gallantly reappeared with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

And that’s the story of the beginning – how a girl who used to collect rocks as a kid now finds herself with a rock on her finger, having tied the knot with her best friend, Mumbles, the handsome fraternity guy from Dr. Knott’s geology class.

Instagram photos: Flora

Posted in Inspiration by

Instagram makes me feel like I’m a legitimate photographer.  I’m not.  But! I am lucky to work in a beautiful, inspiring place centered around personal and creative renewal with deep connections to nature, and most days I get out of my office and snap some photos while I walk around.  I also annoy Baxter on most of our morning walks when I make him stop so I can snap a few photos. 

April showers bring May flowers, right?  Well, here are some favorites that I’ve snapped:

Follow me on Instagram: @stickgirljam.  Are you on Instagram?  Leave a comment below with your username!

 

DIY: Sweater Waves Wall Art

Posted in Inspiration by

I’ve had this sweater that I’ve worn far beyond its glory days (perhaps it didn’t used to be so thin?), and well, it’s tissue paper thin now, which means it’s uber soft and faded in certain areas (read: not presentable enough to even take a before photo) but somehow still the perfect shade of light turquoise/teal that I just love no matter what. I didn’t have the heart to give it to Goodwill despite the fact that I knew I couldn’t wear it anymore without facing public ridicule and serious eyebrow raising so I kept it in my scrap fabric pile for a few months with the idea that I’d likely turn it into some little poms or something.  While inspired during a craft session for Dr. Merrett’s bridal shower (more on that soon!) I decided to whip out the good ol’ Elmer’s glue and get creative. I didn’t really have a plan in mind but I’m quite pleased with the result, which to me really highlights the shades of color that I love and pairs it with softly rippled ruffles that remind me of ocean waves. If I had been starting with white fabric, I think this would be absolutely stunning as an ombre piece or even with multiple fabrics and textures depending on the look you’re going for.  Please forgive my photos as I started crafting in the early afternoon and by the time I got around to this one, it was totally dark and I was already sprawled out on my living room floor.

The items you’ll need are: foam poster board, Elmer’s glue, scissors, and strips of fabric long enough to cover the size of your poster board. Plus, if you need to cut down your poster board (I cut mine in half so my fabric would wrap all the way across): a yard stick, pencil, and exacto knife.

To cut the foam posterboard to your desired size, use your yardstick and trace a faint pencil line to mark where you’ll need to cut with your exacto knife. Be sure to lay out your fabric to make sure you’ll be able to get it all the way across.  Use your exacto knife to press into the foam along the line. Once you’ve made the line through one side of the foam, you can easily prop your posterboard up and use your exacto knife to cut down the other side.

Using scissors I cut the arms, back and front of my sweater into long, thin strips, pretty much cutting vertically the whole way around. I found it easier to cut up the seam of the arms and on the sides to give myself rectangles of fabric to work with.  (also, if there are buttons like my sweater/cardigan had, be sure to snip those off and save for later crafting use!) If you’re using fabric, it’ll be a bit easier – just cut long thin lines of varied widths.  They needn’t be perfectly straight by any means, in fact a little curve will add to the wavy, ruffle effect later on!

Start at the bottom of the poster board and work your way up.  Pick a piece of fabric and on the back, add a thin line of glue to the top, then lay it glue-side down onto the poster board (in the photo below, the glue appears at the bottom, but that’s just because it was easier for me to flip it up to place – do what works for you).  If it bunches a bit there’s no need to straighten it out, as this will create some dimension for ruffles when layered.  Wrap the strip to the back side and secure with more glue if needed. It doesn’t have to be pretty on the back – no one will see it.

Keep doing this for every strip, making your way up the board.  Don’t worry too much about glue showing, as your next layer should cover it up.  Also, don’t be afraid to vary how much room you put between strips. Here is a closeup of mine from an angle looking down so you can see all the imperfections:

And here’s what it ended up looking like (bad lighting, I know):

I’m not exactly sure what to do with it. Any grand suggestions?  I am thinking of keeping an eye out at thrift stores/Goodwill/garage sales for an ornate, large frame that I can spray paint white then mount this inside the empty frame.  Or, someone suggested I use it as a pinboard. Would even be a lovely backdrop piece on a styled table. I haven’t decided but I do adore it and I’m happy my sad little sweater has a new life. 

Also, I had a few strips left over and some that weren’t long enough to cover the width of the board, so I loosely twisted and spiraled them to create a few messy fabric flowers using some dots of hot glue to keep the shape.  I used them on the tables at Dr. Merrett’s bridal shower. Here’s a sneak peek of how those turned out, along with a yarn-wrapped letter for her soon-to-be last name:

Change the World

Posted in Inspiration by

Came across this beautiful and inspiring poster the other day and saved it as a reminder to download and print it to hang in my office at home. I’ve decided to cover our not-so-beautiful big, white, plain sliding closet doors with lovely, colorful posters and prints to add energy and inspiration in my creative space.  I’m thinking of hanging them with something clever like old-fashioned hangers or a clothesline…we’ll see.

Download it.
Save it.
Print it.
Hang it.
Change the world.

thoughtfully designed by Francesca and created in a large pdf for you to download and print.

Introducing: Stick Girl JAM on Etsy!

Posted in Inspiration by

Remember when I asked you to Write this Down and answer hard questions like what brings you joy and happiness?  This has been on my mind a lot in the past year.  I had some goals like starting a blog – check.  Getting a dog – check.  Exercising regularly – check.  Crafting more – check.  Opening an Etsy shop – whoa, whoa, whoa.  That’s a little scary.  And it was. Until I just sat down one day and did it.  So now I’m happy to say it’s checked off the list and I can proudly introduce Stick Girl JAM on Etsy!  I have some sweet stuff (see what I did there?  That’s cute, right?!) and would be so thrilled if you head on over to Etsy, check out my shop and let me know what you think. I imagine that I’ll keep moving from one craft to the next and updating the shop as I go – I always tend to overdue it, get obsessed with something, make more than necessary and then have nothing to do with them so Etsy has been a perfect place to put this energy. 

I’ve been plugging along, filling orders and have found that I just adore working with Etsy shoppers – so nice, so fun, so inpsiring!  My first order shipped to a lovely lady in Singapore, no less!  (Hey, when they talk about diving in head first, it’s always in the deep end, right?)  I thought to myself, we’ll give this a go, try it out, ease my way into it…and then my first order is international?!  Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t put limitations on yourself due to fear.  What’s the worst that could happen?  In my case: you end up at the post office three times in one day.  Hey, I can tell you, not as bad as you’d think! Ha!

Go big.
Jump in.
Dive deep.
Give it your all. 
Do it.

What do you have going on in your life that you need to get to, try more, pursue harder, or celebrate?  Please share!