Hi friends! I have taken a couple months off from the blog for two reasons. I actually wasn't even sure until recently that I was coming back. The most important reason I wasn't around was that my 78 year old mom injured herself before Thanksgiving. I spent most of December and January caring for her -- taking her to doctors, specialists and her physical therapy appointments. She is doing so much better now but it will be a slow recovery that will most likely take the rest of this year. Secondly, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue a beauty blog. This blog has evolved from a fashion blog back in 2005 to beauty blog these past eight years, and although I love both topics greatly, these days, it's not a huge priority for me. So what does make me happy? Writing and making things.
I wanted switch gears to go back to the basics. When I started this blog Coquette, I had just started a new job with O'Reilly Publishing as an editor for a whole new magazine, CRAFT magazine (CRAFT has since shuttered but all my previous posts are up on MAKE Magazine). I spent so much time blogging about crafts, Coquette was my break to blog about fashion and beauty. Now I miss crafts too much. After moving in November, I spent time packing up my craft supplies, sewing machines and dreaming of new things I could make. I have fallen hard for the planning world and want to talk about planners, planner supplies and Japanese stationery. I still love beauty (natural and K beauty so much!) so I'll definitely post some interesting finds I have when I do.
My career started on the Internet right out fo the gate when I graduated from Cal in 1995. People say no on reads blogs anymore and that it's all on Instagram. I beg to differ. I still read posts online although not regularly from any particular blogger. I still follow many of the crafty women I have met from CRAFT magazine and in many ways, because of them I'm inspired to take this leap back into the making world.
Coquette Maman, my kids blog will remain the same covering mostly children's books, some apps and STEM related topics. I hope to create new crafts/project content this year for it. I'm also working on self-publishing my own STEM novel book series for young girls and continue on my new path as a children's book author so in between these two blogs, I'm working my writing and designing my book!
This year my goal is to finish all of my WIPs. I have 3 knitting projects and 1 sewing project to finish which I will share more on. Pictured above is my Miette sweater by Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots. Don't ask me how many years I had this sweater half done. (4 years?) The key is that picking this up again in December has been exhilarating. I have only half a sleeve to finish which I hope to this weekend. My 10 year old daughter Chloe loved it and we decided that she was going to wear it making me all the more happy to finish it. Unfortunately, the Miette pattern has been retired since the end of 2018, but the good news is that Andi has a new pattern, Crumb that is an updated version of Miette that looks so much better. I love the rounded neckline so much more!
I'll be updating the look and feel of this blog soon. Thanks for your patience on that. As a busy mom who is also taking care of her own mom, it's super hard for me to do everything like I used to be able to. I've been writing this post in my head since early January. It's now mid-February so, well, you know, life is nuts.
Thanks for continuing to follow my journey. For all the old friends and new followers, let's have fun making things in 2019! (And hooray for Japanese stationery for making me happy over the Christmas holidays. I spent way too much money on jetpens.com but well, that's ok!)
