Welcome to Auggie Froggy

What I've been working on

The weather in DC today was beautiful. One of those rare spring days with warm weather but no humidity or mosquitoes. I spent the day preparing to quarantine with my husband and son so that we can help to flatten the curve. I've been feeling so anxious about all of this, I'm worried about our families, our friends, our community. I'm worried about small businesses, about people who can't work from home, about people who are watching their dreams disappear. I hardly got any of my beloved creative work done this week because I was busy making decisions, planning, trying not to panic. How can I focus on little shoes and colorful wands at a time like this? As I was walking to Auggie's school, taking the extra long way to enjoy the sunshine, I remembered this book, "Frederick" by Leo Lionni. It was a staple of my childhood. The mice are all busily preparing for the cold and dark winter while Frederick looks like he's not doing anything to prepare. Then, when the cold and dark winter arrives it turns out that Frederick has been gathering memories of sunny days, of bright and warm things. He cheers his fellow mice and reminds them of better days.I decided that I need to keep making bright things, and I hope you do too. It turns out that being creative is good for the soul and when you share your creations they might remind someone else of brighter days ahead. Keep creating, keep sharing, try to find the joy in your days. This is hard and scary, but I am hopeful.

| Kathleen

The weather in DC today was beautiful. One of those rare spring days with warm weather but no humidity or mosquitoes. I spent the day preparing to quarantine with my husband and son so that we can help to flatten the curve. I've been feeling so anxious about all of this, I'm worried about our families, our friends, our community. I'm worried about small businesses, about people who can't work from home, about people who are watching their dreams disappear. I hardly got any of my beloved creative work done this week because I was busy making decisions, planning, trying not to panic. How can I focus on little shoes and colorful wands at a time like this? As I was walking to Auggie's school, taking the extra long way to enjoy the sunshine, I remembered this book, "Frederick" by Leo Lionni. It was a staple of my childhood. The mice are all busily preparing for the cold and dark winter while Frederick looks like he's not doing anything to prepare. Then, when the cold and dark winter arrives it turns out that Frederick has been gathering memories of sunny days, of bright and warm things. He cheers his fellow mice and reminds them of better days.I decided that I need to keep making bright things, and I hope you do too. It turns out that being creative is good for the soul and when you share your creations they might remind someone else of brighter days ahead. Keep creating, keep sharing, try to find the joy in your days. This is hard and scary, but I am hopeful.

The prompt for #marchmeetthemaker today is "You" which is a very broad topic! Let's see…I grew up in Berlin when Germany was still two countries. We lived in West Berlin. My Dad is American, and when he was done with his dissertation we moved to the US. My Mom is German, so I spent every summer after that in a small village in northern Germany with my grandparents. I am so grateful for that time. I moved to the DC area for college and stayed because it's a small city in some ways and an international city at the same time and I love it here. I met my husband (standing next to me in the photo which Auggie took) in 1997, which boggles my mind. We've both changed careers a few times, gone back to school, and traveled quite a bit. We always talked about "when we have kids" and finally realized that it was high time. In 2013 we turned out lives upside down in the best possible way when Auggie was born. I speak German with Auggie, Dennis speaks English with him, and he tells us amazing stuff about atoms and tigers and Velociraptors in both languages.For a quick history of how Auggie Froggy got started take a look at the post where Auggie is wearing a crown in the Lincoln Memorial.

| Kathleen

The prompt for #marchmeetthemaker today is "You" which is a very broad topic! Let's see...I grew up in Berlin when Germany was still two countries. We lived in West Berlin. My Dad is American, and when he was done with his dissertation we moved to the US. My Mom is German, so I spent every summer after that in a small village in northern Germany with my grandparents. I am so grateful for that time. I moved to the DC area for college and stayed because it's a small city in some ways and an international city at the same time and I love it here. I met my husband (standing next to me in the photo which Auggie took) in 1997, which boggles my mind. We've both changed careers a few times, gone back to school, and traveled quite a bit. We always talked about "when we have kids" and finally realized that it was high time. In 2013 we turned out lives upside down in the best possible way when Auggie was born. I speak German with Auggie, Dennis speaks English with him, and he tells us amazing stuff about atoms and tigers and Velociraptors in both languages.For a quick history of how Auggie Froggy got started take a look at the post where Auggie is wearing a crown in the Lincoln Memorial.

I'm combining two prompts from #marchmeetthemaker in this photo: "Close up" and "reducing waste." One thing I do to reduce waste is reuse boxes for shipping and deliveries, but that doesn't make for a great photo I am proud to use eco glitter which is made from eucalyptus fiber which breaks down in water (which is where so many micro- and nano-plastic particles including plastic glitter end up, from there they go into animals which eat them). It's definitely much more expensive, but a little goes a long way and it's beautiful and easy to work with. I use @culturehustle and @ecosparkles_bioglitter.

| Kathleen

I'm combining two prompts from #marchmeetthemaker in this photo: "Close up" and "reducing waste." One thing I do to reduce waste is reuse boxes for shipping and deliveries, but that doesn't make for a great photo I am proud to use eco glitter which is made from eucalyptus fiber which breaks down in water (which is where so many micro- and nano-plastic particles including plastic glitter end up, from there they go into animals which eat them). It's definitely much more expensive, but a little goes a long way and it's beautiful and easy to work with. I use @culturehustle and @ecosparkles_bioglitter.

The #marchmeetthemaker theme for yesterday was time. Isn't it funny that I'm sitting here a day later posting that one? Yesterday I was really busy while Auggie was in school. It was raining and I needed to be out and about Then the sun came out and it was beautiful at pick up time so we went to Rock Creek Park with friends from school for the afternoon. It felt nice to be surrounded by trees, see signs of spring, and let the kids run and climb! Building this business takes time, but I can also move some things around and make room for fun. I can work for a few hours on the weekend to make time so I can go to the park in the afternoon. I spend time at night thinking about designs, looking at fabrics, and whatever else needs to be done. I sew when Auggie is in school, and I try really hard not to make him come to the dreaded post office with me, but sometimes that's unavoidable. I like the flexibility of making my own schedule, though to some degree that means I work more than I would if I had set hours. Ultimately it's worth the time and effort involved because I can spend time with Auggie, but I also have an outlet for my creativity. Auggie Froggy is very much related to my family while still being my own creation.

| Kathleen

The #marchmeetthemaker theme for yesterday was time. Isn't it funny that I'm sitting here a day later posting that one? Yesterday I was really busy while Auggie was in school. It was raining and I needed to be out and about Then the sun came out and it was beautiful at pick up time so we went to Rock Creek Park with friends from school for the afternoon. It felt nice to be surrounded by trees, see signs of spring, and let the kids run and climb! Building this business takes time, but I can also move some things around and make room for fun. I can work for a few hours on the weekend to make time so I can go to the park in the afternoon. I spend time at night thinking about designs, looking at fabrics, and whatever else needs to be done. I sew when Auggie is in school, and I try really hard not to make him come to the dreaded post office with me, but sometimes that's unavoidable. I like the flexibility of making my own schedule, though to some degree that means I work more than I would if I had set hours. Ultimately it's worth the time and effort involved because I can spend time with Auggie, but I also have an outlet for my creativity. Auggie Froggy is very much related to my family while still being my own creation.

This is why I’m committed to only buying fabrics which show Black kids and kids of color anytime there are white kids shown. So often I’m searching for a fabric which shows astronauts or ballerinas or mermaids or whatever else and every single face is white. Those are not the fabrics I buy. I want my kid to see himself as a potential astronaut, and I need white kids to see that potential as well. Actually, astronaut is a bad example, I’d be much too anxious for that, but you get the point. #representationmatters

| Kathleen

This is why I’m committed to only buying fabrics which show Black kids and kids of color anytime there are white kids shown. So often I’m searching for a fabric which shows astronauts or ballerinas or mermaids or whatever else and every single face is white. Those are not the fabrics I buy. I want my kid to see himself as a potential astronaut, and I need white kids to see that potential as well. Actually, astronaut is a bad example, I’d be much too anxious for that, but you get the point. #representationmatters