[WORKSHOP] PACKAGING 101 // JULY 9, 2011

{Photograph by Sally J Shim}

Hi Friends! Joke and I have been keeping busy preparing for our PACKAGING 101 workshop in a few weeks. It has been such an amazing experience collaborating with another creative who happens to be a dear friend. We are so excited to meet all our participants and create pretty packages together. We are happy to announce that Lifestyle Crafts and Whisker Graphics are sponsors for the workshop so we will be able to play around with the nifty Epic Combo Kit to create custom packaging goods and use the prettiest twine and bags around.

Since we are having so much fun working together we decided to offer another PACKAGING 101 workshop. Our second PACKAGING 101 workshop will be on July 9, 2011 from 2-5pm at Modern Domestic in Portland. Class size is limited to 10. You can sign up right here. [P.S. There are some amazing eats close to Modern Domestic. I plan to grab some food at Pok Pok Noi after class!]

[PORTLAND] MODERN DOMESTIC

{Photographs by Sally J Shim}

Modern Domestic is a sewing studio and retail store in NE Portland. I finally went to visit for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with the modern and clean aesthetic. Not to mention the store is filled with beautiful Berninas [my dream sewing machine] and pretty sewing goods. There are two spacious classrooms where you can take sewing and silkscreen classes. It also happens to be the location of our 2nd PACKAGING 101 workshop. Learn more about the workshop right here.

[CELEBRATE] GERONIMO!

{Photographs courtesy of Geronimo}

I never knew how beautiful balloons could be until I saw these 36" round lovelies by Geronimo {via Tokketok}. Jihan Zencirli started making her oversized balloon creations in her hometown of Seattle and is now sharing her love of balloons in Los Angeles. Each balloon has "fine ribbon, vintage millenery and hand cut paper fancy" added to it, creating one-of-a-kind floating pieces. I'm super excited because there will be a Geronimo window display at SUMMER SCHOOL PORTLAND. I cannot wait to see these beauties in person! [Check out this cute video about Geronimo!]

[CASA SHIM] SNAPSHOT 005

{Photograph by Sally J Shim}

I picked up this little terrarium a few weeks ago. They have a beautiful selection of terrariums at Tilde and J helped me pick this one out. I love how pretty sedums look in glass containers and especially how low maintenance they are.

[WEAR] ERIN CONSIDINE

{Erin Considine}

I'm in love with these woven necklaces by Erin Considine. Erin hand dyes the organic cotton with onion skin, cochineal, turmeric and other natural materials. She also uses repurposed and recycled copper and brass in her creations. The muted colors and textures are perfection.

{via @Wikstenmade}

[ORGANIZE] A HANGING TO DO LIST

{Photographs by Sally J Shim}

Spring is the busiest time of year at Casa Shim. It kicks off with our anniversary, my birthday followed by J's birthday three days later. And then there is a quiet lull for a bit and then it is j's birthday and a dozen end of the school year activities--class party coordinating, volunteering at school events, chaperoning field trips and helping teachers with various projects. This is all in addition to my actual "work" which definitely has been cutting into my sleep time these days. {insert yawn} Oh and then there's the PACKAGING101 workshop that Joke and I are preparing for as well as some other fun projects in the works. I'm not complaining though because I feel extremely blessed to be doing what I love to do. But one must have a system to stay organized and to keep it all under control. I'm a visual person so I need to be able to SEE what I need to DO in order for it to get DONE. I used to use my pinstrip to organize my tasks in order of importance but I haven't found the right spot for it in my studio so sadly it is sitting in the corner collecting dust at the moment. I do have a large linen pinboard hanging above my computer which I used to pin pieces of paper with project descriptions on it. Over the weekend I finally spent time creating a system to help me stay on top of my projects. First off I designed and printed little "index" cards with a space for 1) task name, 2) description and 3) due date.

Then I filled out cards with all the tasks on my to do list.

Once a task is completed I stamp it with a "Delivered {Date}". Can I tell you how satisfying it is to see that stamp on a card? Very. 

I put on a mini binder clip on the top of each card and then placed 30 little pins in a 6x5 grid on the pinboard. All the cards are lined up in order of importance [due dates] so I can always have a gauge of what I should be working on next. The great thing is if a new task comes into the mix I can switch up the order of the cards. So far this is working great for me. [I keep thinking a wood + nail version would be super cute, too.] I still make my daily to do list but I only put the tasks that require immediate attention on the list. Do you have a system for organizing your tasks? Please do tell!