The Vibe Five: White Space, Color Palettes and Nature

In her Masterclass on interior design, Kelly Wearstler talks about the “vibe tray” that she curates in the preliminary stages of designing a space. She pulls together samples and objects that begin to tell a story about the space. I’m incorporating this practice into my own creative journey—consider this my visual “vibe tray.”

1. Jill shared this on our team Slack, and I immediately downloaded the image. What I love about it: the typography, the white space, the streaks of pastel that remind me of Zebra mildliners.

2. That one time we stayed at the Proper Hotel Santa Monica and my outfits matched the actual wardrobe. I’m inspired by the color palette of salmon, terracotta, and goldenrod with pops of glossy white and creamy lace and want to renovate our master bedroom closet using the same paint color.

3. Another mom drew this flower in chalk at our neighborhood park, and I couldn’t help but snap a pic because the colors felt so vibrant and fun. I loved the colors so much that I purchased this set of notebooks in a similar color palette specifically for my morning pages. Day one of morning pages complete, and I already have a new idea for the MOPS talk I’m giving. I thought about picking up a cheap (under $1) notebook from Target, but in the end, I’m glad I went with these ones—a little bit of pretty goes a long way to inspiring creativity.

4. These Whitney English day planner tabs capture pretty much all of my favorite colors: lagoon blue, seaside turquoise, citron, rose pink. I’m taking cues from the Nov-Dec-Jan tabs for the foundation of our master bedroom redesign, and the May-Jun tabs are giving me all the Valentine’s/galentine’s decor vibes.

5. I’m trying to pay closer attention to the natural beauty around me: the smell of the forest, salty ocean air, and shades of green—balsam, jade, moss, emerald.

What’s setting the tone for your creative projects?

Finding the Magic in the Mess.

It was April of 2020 when the peripheral pressures of the pandemic with its stay-at-home orders, distance learning, and perpetual fear-stoking news cycle finally did me in. Simultaneously—weeks of rain that kept us indoors.

After exhausting three other activities in the span of ten minutes, I asked my boys, “do you want to paint?”

Pre-pandemic Ruthie would have set easels up outside, with smocks, and individual paint cups.

Pandemic Ruthie taped together flattened cardboard boxes from Amazon subscribe & save deliveries until they covered the living room floor. Pandemic Ruthie filled muffin trays full of paint and didn’t bat an eye when stray color ended up on the white walls.

I didn’t even realize how tightly wound I had become. How freeing it felt to swirl globs of paint around on cardboard. How satisfying it was to make a mess.

The art was for them, but it was also for me. 

How many times have I thought that getting unstuck was about being more tidy, more pulled together, more curated when actually it was making a mess that reminded me to enjoy the process and hold the outcome loosely.

The boundaries of cardboard became our safe space to lean into the chaos, and in the mess we found the magic: Playfulness. Joy. Wonder. Freedom.

By grace, we’re not stuck.

Make a mess to release your creativity. Lay down perfect. Pick up playful.

Make a mess to find beauty in an unexpected place. Lay down expectations. Pick up wonder.

Make a mess as part of moving forward. Lay down control. Pick up freedom.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in this series "Make A Mess".

Notes on How to get started with crochet

It’s been two decades since I crocheted my way through my afghan in a day project at winter camp in middle school, but then I saw a post about I saw a post about Amanda Seyfriend that linked to a candy corn crochet bunting banner and suddenly I was in a rabbit hole of crafting projects on Pinterest. 

I came across the cutest crochet Frankie Stein doll that would be perfect for my Halloween baby’s 2nd birthday. I found a mudcloth pumpkin with a free pattern, a crochet knot pillow that could double as coffee table decor, and a pattern for a fluffy faux fur throw similar to one that my husband wanted from Pottery Barn.

I remember crochet as being fairly easy to learn, but I didn’t how exactly to start. Which project would be easiest for a beginner? Which yarn? What size needle? What do the notations on the  pattern actually mean?

If you’re a beginner, or if you forgot everything that you once knew how to do, this is for you.

Start with this book. I came across Debrosse while I was scrolling through inspiration on Pinterest. Her book, Modern Crochet, gives you access to all of her how to stitch videos along with a great collection of starter patterns (and an overview of how to read patterns) and the exact yarn, etc. you need with links.

I based my first projects on what was available in terms of yarn and hooks and what would be easy. I wanted to start right away with something easy, so I started with a throw. A throw or a blanket is a great way to start because you are basically doing the same stitch over and over again, and with this project, I didn’t have to count stitches after the first round. It takes some effort on the front end to learn the basics, but it’s a great confidence builder, and you will have a big tangible finished product in the end.

If you want to start with the Bainet Throw (pictured above) like I did, you’ll find the pattern in the book above. You will need this P hook (amazon link here, Michael’s link here) and this yarn (I bought 9 skeins, but ended up using only 7 using curbside pickup from Michaels, but you can also buy it at Joann’s). 

This is the video I used to learn to connect the new yarn. I watched the videos that came with the book on how to do a slip stitch, chain stitch, single crochet stitch (back loop only), and slip stitch as I stitched the first couple rows before muscle memory took over.

Stitch markers (inserted into the first stitch on the right side) are a must for keeping track of stitches and rows, even though there is no turning in this project and you will start with a new yarn for each row, going right to left. I recommend buying this set of hooks, as you need a smaller size for the tassels on this project and will need different sizes of hooks eventually anyway. I also bought this tapestry needle set, which I didn’t use until I made my mudcloth pumpkin.

A Few Tips for Starting:

• The first chain that you stitch should be on the looser side (Debrosse talks about this in her book), so that you don’t end up with a shriveled up blanket side.

• Get a feel for your tension (how tight or loose you stitch) by stitching a chain and then a few single crochet (sc) stitches into that chain. You can easily unravel this and start over–one of the best parts of crochet!

• Give yourself lots of grace–the beginning of each project is the hardest, and you will end better than you started. This means that the first rows of your project may look too loose or too tight until you get a hang of the right tension, but no one else will notice.

• For me, it helped to just start. I picked a project and learned what I needed for that project, using the book and YouTube videos for reference. I didn’t learn how to make a magic ring until I started the pumpkin (linked below), and I didn’t learn how to switch colors or stitch continuous rounds until I started Frankie Stein (also linked below).

my mudcloth pumpkin, a.k.a. boy children-friendly holiday decor

Other patterns I purchased and my next projects:

Paix Fur Throw by Debrosse This looks simple, but I’ve started it and it’s actually not because you can’t see any of your stitches, so you are basically stitching blind. 

Mudcloth Pumpkin This is a free pattern that you can buy on etsy if you want the ad-free version. It took me several tries to get the hang of the magic circle that is the basis for this pattern, but now that I know how, I can make...

Frankie Stein For Micah’s halloween bday! This is my first doll project, and I’m having so much fun with it.

Mare Knot Pillow by Debrosse Decorative wood, concrete or metal knots are all the rage right now in interior decor, so why *knot throw a velvet yarn once in the mix. See what I did there? ;)

The Croix Coaster (from the Modern Crochet book). I imagine this would also be a good project to start with, but the yarn wasn’t in stock at the time. I just now purchased supplies for this: this yarn (I think you’ll only need 1 skein of it for this project) and these rings. Basically all patterns Debrosse are beautiful with the clearest explanations and accompanying video links.

All those patterns will tell you what supplies you need. I buy the exact yarn they recommend because I don’t trust my skill in finding appropriate substitutes. 

I love all things creative – writing, graphic design, interior decor, cookie decorating, calligraphy. But what I love about crochet is: one–it’s super easy to learn, two––it’s tangible and three–with the help of stitch markers, it’s easy to start, stop, tuck into a basket, and pick up again when there’s time. I can work on a project while watching a show with my husband or a movie with my kids or listening to an audible book (most recently: The Matriarch, a biography of Barbara Bush and Becoming–highly recommend both). Where so many other parts of my life require mental gymnastics, the most demanding part of crochet is keeping track of stitches and rounds.

For a girl who’s felt a little bit creatively stuck in this chaotic season, it feels good to hold something tangible and be able to say I finished this.

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase using the links above, I’ll receive a teeny, tiny commission that will probably go towards supporting my new old lady yarn habit.

Waking Up.

“We are not asleep, beautiful in our isolation.” - April M. Payne

I’ve found myself numbed in recent weeks, sleepwalking through my to-do list and long workdays and the chores that go on and on. But there’s life in pausing to notice, in collecting a handful of words when you can – a quiet rebellion against staying asleep to a higher calling. We are made in the image of the Creator, and creation is our birthright.

These are some words I’ve written and some words I’ve loved.

Summer Reading List: Contemplation, Contentment & Creativity.

Summer is here again, and I am over the moon excited for it.

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for us, crazy in (mostly) the best ways. There has been stress, and there has been drama, but more than ever, I am grateful for the celebrations happening one right after the other this summer – my mom’s milestone birthday, our 10 year (!!!) wedding anniversary, answered house prayers, and sisters’ baby showers. I could ride the wave of champagne all the way to the end of the year, but there’s more to the story (isn’t there always more to the story?).

I believe that books, like people, come into your life at just the right time. The books in my life right now are focused on themes these that I need the most – contemplation, contentment and creativity.

Mindful Silence: The Heart of Christian Contemplation by Phileena Heuertz. This has been on my nightstand for months, but I just started actually reading it this past weekend at our cabin stay. She writes: “In solitude, we develop the capacity to be present. In silence, we cultivate the ability to listen. And in stillness we acquire the skill of restraint or self-control.” In just the first few pages, I’ve found so much wisdom for this journey of letting go of the “compulsions to be identified with what we have, what we do, and what others say about us” and learning how to fully experience God’s love. Hannah Brencher wrote recently, “Consume grace regularly, as if it were a vitamin” – wow, yes, one hundred percent. I fully believe in embracing practices that enable that transformation by grace and that also teach me how to cope with the unending pain and suffering in this world. Reading this book makes me even more excited to attend a grounding retreat with one of my best friends this fall.

The Contentment Journal by Rachel Cruze. I know that this is a journal and not a book book, but I love it. I listened to a podcast recently with Rachel Cruze, who also identifies as an Enneagram 3, and what she said made so much sense to me. This journal focuses on gratitude, humility, and contentment – all of which I need to intentionally cultivate daily. God is working on my heart in these areas, and the process of journaling through these values is a helpful one for me.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I’m sure I’ll be working through this book all summer, but two takeaways that I’m starting to implement in my life: morning pages (using Elise Joy’s #100dayproject tracker) and the artist date. I tend to live life on the full end of the spectrum, but I hit my capacity recently with all kinds of work and tasks, leaving me feeling creatively depleted. I believe strongly in creative work, so I plan to use this summer to recalibrate, reassess, and rebuild my routine. I came across a quote by Yung Pueblo on instagram that said, “As she shed the tense energy of the past, her power and creativity returned to her. With a revitalized excitement, she focused on building a new life where joy and freedom were abundant.” Yes to power, yes to creativity, yes to joy, and yes to freedom. I’ve heard so many good things about this book, and look forward to diving into it this season.

Reading and working through these books simultaneously, the more I see how these themes intersect. Contemplative practice teaches contentment in all circumstances. With contentment comes the peace and freedom to create well and tell the truth. Engaging with creativity enables the fostering of meaningful connections.

What books are you reading this summer that are helping you grow?