Sophie & Eleanor

A new blog & a new career!

2010-07-11T10:51:00.005-04:00

This online journal has moved to: blog.clementinestore.com for Clementine, a small shop nestled in Middlebury VT that I opened in the fall of 2010. It's filled with handmade, vintage and fetching new finds for you, your loved ones and babies.

Please bookmark, visit, comment & join me over there.
xo Emily

breaking up is indecisive at best

2010-07-07T13:50:00.000-04:00

sophie & eleanor postings have taken a few day hyatus while I contemplate leaving blogger.

Since Monday I've been tumbling in aesthetic cartwheels (/wasting a lot of time) trying to find a tumblr template that suits. I'm not going to say it's a decision tantamount to marriage. But it's testing my ability to commit. It's also a gazillion degrees in Vermont and I'm spending all of my free time trying to find new rivers to swim in, which is gloriously not conducive to being anywhere close to a computer. In conclusion, stay tuned, S&E may be moving.

As for the marriage, I found a husband who makes nutella ice cream in secret at 6am on a Saturday morning and biscotti after work. He's a hell of a lot easier to commit to than html.

piles of vintage, sacks of love

2010-07-02T17:38:00.001-04:00

The other day I walked out of an antique store with a little pile of finds, already daydreaming about what I was going to make. I opted to carry them to my car without a bag and when I looked down, I realized how great the little pile looked together. Ready for their project, but pretty great just stacked on a table.

also, a new obsession with grain sacks is in full swing:

these cow stamped sacks are my absolute favorite:

mountains from molehills

2010-07-02T16:00:00.003-04:00

I have piles of vintage linen, lace and scrap cotton which I keep in the back of my mind, and brainstorm projects. A few weeks ago, I got an idea and left it to incubate. Finally, on a free evening I began. Here's a bit. More to follow:

dear strawberry

2010-07-02T14:21:00.001-04:00

I swear, I do still make things. But these days I've grown increasingly devoted to images that make my heart flip flop (in the least indecisive way). This is probably due to my camera - my husband's brainchild of a perfect gift this Christmas gift. I never had any interest in taking photos, I just wanted to make things. But something about this camera, makes the image collection almost as fun.

So I'll start to post things made again soon, but in the mean time:
strawberries distract.

It seems I've begun a series of letters to food that I love. A series it is.

when we were young

2010-06-30T10:52:00.001-04:00

For me, it's impossible to think of Vermont in the summertime without thinking of my friend Sophie and the zillions of hours we spent barefoot in fields, scavenging in the forests: generally completely unattended. We gathered twigs and branches, rocks and ferns, leaves and moss, imagining and constructing tiny houses and villages in tree trunks and shady hills. I don't know how much actual time we spend doing this, but my kid memory is full of these tiny architectural designs.

Like building sand castles there's something that I still love about pulling tiny bits of the world together to make a little home even if only for imaginary things.

Last weekend, Drew built a raised bed, and there was a large gap at the bottom which I was going to fill with a little stone wall. I went into the woods with a big orange bucket ready to rustle up rocks, but within moments I was filling it with long branches and moss instead. This is how it goes. Moss, branches, ferns and me for the rest of the afternoon, 31 going on 7. Completely in heaven.

dear maple ice cream

2010-06-27T17:49:00.005-04:00

You get it, we had a great time in Italy, we took a lot of photos and are thinking of culling the blurry ones and inviting you over to watch them on our basement wall.

But I digress, because it's summertime in Vermont. As a few of you know, there's no drug better than a Vermont summer. Mossy walks and crisp streams. Hot days and perfect outdoor evenings. It's lush and enveloping and a kind of heaven. Foliage and ski side nights are great, but nothing is better than summer here. Especially if you discover the one food item I would choose in the game of "if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?" Easy: Maple Ice Cream.

Specifically, Strafford Farms Smooth Maple Ice Cream. Where the cows eat alfalfa and are happy and make ridiculously delicious ice cream.

To hold the ice cream I got these adorable little bowls (that are much bluer than the photo lets on) at Anthropologie last weekend for .95c each.

All I want in my kitchen are white bowls. And white plates and white mugs and mismatched vintage silver. And maple ice cream. Someday. When someone builds me this house to tuck into the woods. And I have tea parties again.

Bake

2010-06-26T17:35:00.001-04:00

We've been trying to tuck the best parts of Italy into our every day lives. This means olive soap, daily espresso, and a few evening aperitifs. It has also inspired cookbook buying and recipe trying.

Today Drew sent me to the grocery store with an ingredient list for almond biscotti. Last weekend he made bread sticks. Hand made with rosemary & olive oil. Wonderful.

Plus he does the laundry and looks great in a pink linen shirt. In other words; a really good man.

Italy: questions you didn't even know you had

2010-06-23T17:24:00.001-04:00

I'm going to answer the two questions you'll inevitably have about our trip to Italy:

1. Did we buy a Priest-of-the-Month calendar?
2. Did we see an Italian dog in a stroller?

I'm happy to report that the answer to both of those questions is: yes.

Proof of #1

Proof of #2

I don't think the two are related by anything other than sheer entertainment. But you're already a little jealous about #1, aren't you.

favorite things (five): a good pen is hard to find

2010-06-23T11:46:00.001-04:00

You may have heard the same thing about men, but I guarantee, finding your soul mate of a pen brings a host of rewards in its own right.

Mine, these days, is Le Pen. It has a micro-fine plastic point that gives a great clear ink saturated line. We wrote our thank-you cards with these, I use them for most journaling, and the colors are fantastic. My go-to color these days is slate gray, though periwinkle is a close second.

You might notice the chewed end, which is not the result of love, but of accidentally throwing him in with the kids' marker bag. Luckily, Le Pen doesn't care where he ends up and mingles amicably with Crayola. I, however, will end up at the stationary store buying another.

Do you have a favorite go-to pen? A pen you can't write without? Do tell.

Journaling Italy

2010-06-22T11:39:00.005-04:00

The idea of keeping a diary never appealed to me. As much as I wanted to document, recording deeply personal and inevitably embarrassing letters to my diary ended in failure every time. I was in my late teens when I discovered Sabrina Ward Harrison's journals-turned-books and her style immediately captivated me. Lush artwork mixed with poignant words and lists. I devoured her books and bought blank journals often, stuffing them full of scraps and ideas to remember until I had extended hours to paste, paint, write and arrange it all together.

Italy called for a new journal - a sweet red moleskine with a pocket in back and an elastic scrap to keep it all in. Plus a red sticker reproduction of an old luggage tag.

Someday soon, I'll sort through everything stuffed within.

Do you have a trusted journal or favorite pen? Do tell...

Florence: I make friends with strangers and then make paper.

2010-06-17T23:21:00.003-04:00

I was raised in a family that makes small talk with strangers. Enjoys it even. This terrified me as a child, embarrassed me as a teenager, and delights me as a grown-up.
As it should be.

I should start by saying that it's probably a stretch to consider talking to a shop owner as "talking to strangers." But it began in my broken Italian and lead to maybe the best restaurant recommendation of our trip and to me getting a special -I only had 100 of these printed- membership card to the store and an invitation to a papermaking demonstration and lesson the next day. And my husband was there, so I wasn't even flirting.

So I went to the store the next day:

for a Florentine marbleized paper-making demo

and I got to try too

Il Papiro is a sweet store and well worth a visit for gifts and to spark your desire to write real letters again. Their paper is beautiful, though it was really the stationary and personal cards that stole my attention.

We're finally unpacking and I have a some wax and a scrolling letter E calling an envelope's name.

Florence: Street Art

2010-06-16T10:35:00.001-04:00

Yesterday the boys made up a detailed game on the driveway involving sidewalk chalk, the mailbox, and targets. A good reminder that games, and canvases, are everywhere.

I don't really understand (and by understand, I mean like) the ubiquitous city caricature artists or street artists who, row-upon-row, seem to be selling very very similar works of art, as if they got them from the same factory. I mean, in theory, I believe in art regardless of the type. I'm grateful that beauty is subjective. In practice, I often dream of an aesthetic police force.

But this, I like:

Supplies needed: chalk, masking tape, a sidewalk.

This, like good street music, is where your change wants to be thrown. Trust me.

Florence: Bicycles

2010-06-15T17:36:00.000-04:00

The Giro d'Italia was next on our itinerary following Florence. Though personally, this is more my speed.

Florence: knockers

2010-06-14T10:55:00.004-04:00

My love for cataloging and synchronicity tends to go into overdrive when I'm in a new place. I think it's a subtle way of not going into sensory overload, but also, it's meditative and can tie a trip, a day or an experience together. I like that. I like threads and themes and 'like with like'.

In Florence there are endless things to photograph. Incredible churches, statues, views. We took pictures of these things too. But the best part for me was turning onto the first street.
I saw a door. And so it went:

Was it hard not to knock on these doors? Incredibly. And also, doors remind me of stories, brief moments, possibility. Here's one.

When I was 21 maybe, or 22, I was fixated on liminal spaces, thresholds and what's behind every door. I loved that period of time: my mind overflowing with every paralyzing possibility. It was age appropriate and appropriately exhausting. Smack in the middle of those years, I had an ex-boyfriend say to me: seeing you again is like a thousand doors opening and then there's light and then there's you.

Before you get all worked up, let me clarify: I'm fairly certain he was drunk and speaking literally (ie: I walked into a dark room). It wasn't mean to woo me and I don't even think it was a compliment. At the time he was not, to put it mildly, my biggest fan. Regardless, the line stuck with me.

I took my third trip to Italy during those years and after living in Florence for a semester in high school, I distinctly remember it feeling flat and underwhelming. That dull memory is what made this trip thrilling. I've probably passed by these exact doors tens of times (many were on my daily walk to school circa 1995) though I have no memory of them.

Yet here they are waiting, not willing me to knock or walk through them. Just being. Absolutely beautiful and brilliant. I get to scoop them up with the camera and dream, all age-appropriately, of how I can incorporate them into our next home.

dear reader. dear blogger

2010-06-12T15:16:00.000-04:00

I don't know what Blogger is up to these days. I logged on today and one simple click to update the title photo spun me into an Alice-in-Wonderland twist of frustrating template updating. It's as if Blogger saw new blog sources appear and felt like it had to get botox to keep up. I'm already yearning for the old simple look, but it won't let me go back.

So here we are all swooping lines, background images, colors and fonts that I had little control over. Not to mention an error message at every turn. Alas, I've done my best, and am signing off in a bit of frustration. The posted photos, title photo and words are mine and I suppose it's not a terrible new look, it just doesn't feel like mine.

Are any of you using other blog creators? I'm starting to hear Tumblr calling my name.

Florence: Market to Market

2010-06-12T14:48:00.002-04:00

For a girl who likes collections and color, Florentine markets are the place to be:

bags, belts, scarves, hats.
rows and rows.
broken italian.
selections and negotiations.

I still don't know why I didn't get one of these delightful straw hats, though space in my suitcase was at a premium and flat things held sway. And sometimes, in the face of endless possibilities, I grab a gelato and call it a day.

Florence: Love Lock

2010-06-10T17:45:00.003-04:00

I have a soft spot for displays of affection that border on public nuisance. Like the Montpelier Valentines Day Bandit and John Cusack with that boom-box, so it's only natural that I was pretty into these chains of locks hanging on a Florence street near the Ponte Vecchio.

Despite having no idea what it was, there seemed to be a romantic undertone which today's search confirms.

This little 'ok' was my favorite. In a sea of weighty symbols of love, I like the nonchalance.

It may be worth noting that we went to Italy with: plane tix, reservations for 10 nights at 6 hotels and a rental car reservation. We had no other plans and no itineary. No museums, tours, or must-sees. These love locks were between a famous bridge and a famous museum, both of which I think are incredible - I love paintings, statues and frescoes up close and in person, but I just can't shake the feeling that something is lost when you're stuffed in a hot room after a long line with a gazillion other people. So we forwent the plans and focused on the sweet (and savory) stuff in between.

We brought a camera. We forgot our padlock.

Florence: the sweetest things

2010-06-10T08:41:00.004-04:00

The 48 hours following our return trip to Vermont included: overnight flight delays, sleeping, overflowing suitcases, napping, celebrating Drew's birthday, napping, eating, snuggling with the kiddos, napping, stocking our kitchen (enter: cured meats, cheeses, nutella, bread and olives), napping, mowing the lawn, a visit from the tooth fairy (reporting in for a double-header of a tooth loss), napping, making espressos, waking from napping and groggily realizing we had to go back to work. Basically in that order.

Yesterday, Drew told me he took a break from work to just look at the photos, and I couldn't blame him. Except I did because he has them all on his computer. I had none. So I began the process of transferring them. This is decidedly less fun than taking photos so I'm starting you off with the best antidote I can think of: a series of some of the sweetest things from Florence.

All you have to do is step outside and cafe doors open to the street with cases of incredible desserts. Row upon row.

Many (arguably not all) streets in Florence smell amazing, in part because there are waffles being made. On the street. If it were up to me, this would happen far more often.

These popsicles were my favorite. I didn't have one, only because I already had a gelato in one hand and a camera in the other.

And then there's the gelato. Heaping piles of something you may know as icecream in a gazillion flavors, with cones galore exploding from case tops. Oh gelato.

Somehow we don't have a photo of the actual cases, which are literally these swirling lovely piles of flavors garnished with giant chunks of whatever flavor they are (melons, coffeebeans, coconut chunks, etc). Probably because there's no time to photograph when you're in the agonizing process of choosing a flavor. In any event, here's the first, and so certainly not the last, gelato of the trip:

a broad goes abroad: oh, hello Italy!

2010-06-09T14:47:00.002-04:00

We left for Italy on May 26th. Our itinerary: Rome to Florence to Ponte di Legno to Verona to impromptu stops in both Sirmione and (one of the five) Cinque Terre before heading south to Tuscany, Sorrento & the Amalfi coast and back up to Rome. It was a darn near perfect trip.

We took nearly 2000 photos and in the days and weeks ahead I'll chronicle a few of our new and reinvigorated loves including but not limited to: espresso, olive trees, vineyards and everything derived from them, gelato doorways and door knockers, mozzarella and tomatoes, coastal towns, boats, pizza, prosciutto & melone, little cars and sweeping vistas.

We'll begin with the first view: my feet on my carry-on (that's right, we carried on - we did not, however, carry-off) at the Burlington airport. The vistas get much better and a bit more panoramic.
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A million photos from Italy await

2010-05-30T09:14:00.000-04:00

But blogger just wont let me post any. See you back here on
June 7th!

barn boards & the perfect patina

2010-05-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

My favorite barn in all of Vermont sits a half-mile down the road from my parents' home.

Drew and I spent the weekend in Boston. It was a beautiful weekend, warm and active. I ate my favorite tart ice cream, had wine with a friend and picked up thai take out (in that order). Walking home from the restaurant, I carried mango & sticky rice soaked in condensed milk, stopped at every rosebush and agreed with a stranger who was talking to a date on a street corner (her to him: "you know who's a great crime writer, Michael Connelly" Me, walking by petting her dog: "you're absolutely right!").

I love the city; the anonymity and energy, having so many things at my fingertips. But at the end of the day, or the next morning - no matter how lovely - I'm ready to go back to Vermont.

To the air and the hills and these barns; wood painted red then white then worn to the perfect patina. There's really nothing like it.

Clear Skies

2010-05-20T17:02:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago Casey the girl dog and I took a walk out to the Middlebury Organic gardens, one of our favorite spots. The panoramic views are incredible. And while I'd planned to take photos of the tilled gardens and trees, Casey is an enthusiastic walker and after being roped up and twisted around, I basically pointed my camera skyward and shot. For me, Middlebury can leave a bit do be desired interpersonally, but it revives itself with some of the most painting-worthy landscapes and skies I've ever seen.

Speaking of beautiful skies, picture these for us, if you will, next week when Drew and I head to our belated but eagerly anticipated Italian honeymoon. Though we can't wait to be there, neither is a huge fan of the getting there. (What? You have extra sedatives in your medicine cabinate? Of course you're welcome for dinner, but you can leave the meds at home, we've both already had the "I'd actually like to not know I'm on a plane at all" conversation with certified doctors.) And away we go!

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rhubarb, dogwood and flamingos, revisited.

2010-05-19T00:12:00.004-04:00

Last year we visited friends in Brooklyn and I got this breakfast. It was so good (hello rhubarb!) that I took a picture. Also, I l.o.v.e.d the lion's head bowls:

I thought the closest I'd get to recreating this dish was buying frozen rhubarb, putting it in the freezer and willing it to make itself into something. (So far, it has only willed me to move it around as I grab for frozen mango). But then, I found the exact same bowls. They don't stack well but they do make me incredibly happy, and make for a great still life, so you may see them around. Like here & here.

This is all to say, the rhubarb is still in our freezer, but we have a 2 hour layover at JFK next week and it's starting to seem really reasonable to schedule a visit to that Brooklyn restaurant during that window.

In truth, the whole rhubarb/lion's head bowls loving thing probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had breakfast in this courtyard. With this wall:

Brick, patina & dogwood blossoms. I had to run back to the car to get the camera. Part of me thinks that wall really launched my desire to capture small moments and fetching images into a collection of lovely things. Look at this wall. Perfection:

Speaking of perfect, I ate this breakfast one year ago with my lovin' husband, who at that point was just a good lovin' man.

I didn't mean to subtly imply that he's like a harlequin romance novel man. I did mean to imply that he should consider how much I deserve a flamingo.

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there's no romance like a harlequin romance

2010-05-17T20:19:00.001-04:00

We're doing a major house clean out, so I'm trying very hard not to acquire things. But then this happened:

Grocery store, late in the evening. Table of 'free' books. Wait, does that sound too classy? That's because it was actually a grocery cart full of free books. I walked safely by, but look what caught my eye.
Impossible to resist, just like their love....

You must read the back. (Yes, I'm putting them in soft focus, because that's how they were meant to be viewed. )

That's right, she's going to care for two kids and a pet flamingo. I already can't believe I didn't get a pet flamingo with my wedding.

And just in case I didn't already have the strange sensation that someone used the basic framework of my life for a harlequin romance book, hold on, because there's a romantic trip to Italy coming up. I kid not.

I'm already drafting a strongly worded letter to my alma matter suggesting a course in the feminist theories of the harlequin romance.

Tomorrow we'll return to the regularly scheduled blogging about pretty things, but how could I not share these gems, which I am absolutely going to be reading on the plane while someone else reads Outside magazine and pretends not to know me.

ps. I really wanted to call this post: ain't no romance like a harlequin romance, but writing ain't pains me almost as much as using emoticons.

Farm to Table

2010-05-16T10:53:00.000-04:00

May: the month of farmers markets emerging.

Yesterday Middlebury's opened. I wandered over after a yoga class and these eggs were the first thing I saw.

Colours like cape cod pebbles, creamy blues and peaches.

At home they had egg cups waiting. Perfect. Peas in a pod, if you will.

I probably could have sat at the table and photographed them all day.

But it was nearing noon and I was hungry. So beautiful shells became a sweet little sandwich.

Delicious.

favorite things (four): velvet ribbon

2010-05-13T14:01:00.001-04:00

Luscious and sweet. My velvet ribbon coils fill old mason jars.

Just looking at them is a quick trip to happiness. After all "velvety" is nothing if not the perfect adjective.

Have you ever heard it used to describe anything other than delight?

I'm not sure there's much more to say. I just love velvet ribbon. Especially in small pieces. A full garment is almost too much, but give me a swatch any day.

My mason jar spillith over with love, velvety love.

Italia

2010-05-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

I've been distracted. In part because our trip to Italy is al.most.here. Last week we made pizzas. They looked super good going onto the grill. We still haven't mastered the part where they come off.

Back to Italy. Please send along your best suggestions for little stops and towns. We're doing a nice circle tour: Flying in to Rome, up to Florence, up more to the mountain towns (someone needs a Giro D'Italia fix), down through Verona, along the coast to Tuscany down to Sorrento and back to Rome). I lived in Florence in '95 and am not sure I have a single picture. That will change.

Also, I'm leaving half of my suitcase empty. There's nothing like space to fill.

favorite things (three): mom

2010-05-09T21:49:00.001-04:00

I don't have a collection of moms, but I have my collections because of my mom. No question. Pitchers and vases, pears and fabric. My mom knows how to put it all together (sometimes with thumb tacks and safety pins but it always looks fantastic).

I wouldn't be here without her, but frankly, neither would this blog. My mom, more than anyone, taught me about color and contrast, lines and shadows. She's the best present wrapper, house decorator and granola pancake maker I know. She believed in make-believe with me, let me stay up late to watch kittens be born and made tiny dolls for me and my friend Sophie when we were awesome nefarious kids (Sophie was more bad, for the record). She gave me bangs, taught me to love calico (cats & fabric), didn't let me get out of the car until the Beatles song was over, is my best critic and advocate, and dressed me in that awesome poncho (see photo above). I totally love her. And while today is just a day, it's a good day to note how much of me is from her. And how much I love her. In my bones and in my soul and in all of my best moments. Love love love. All you need is.
xo, momma, xo.

favorite things (two): tiny sterling salt & pepper shakers

2010-05-08T11:14:00.002-04:00

I went through a serious Salt n' Pepa phase in high school. This is apropos of absolutely nothing and will undoubtedly result in some marital ridicule, but I have to bring it up because I can't say salt and pepper (even when referring to vintage shakers for actual salt and actual pepper) without thinking of the girl hip hop group.

But I (de)digress.
Number two: miniture sterling salt & pepper shakers

I found these tiny sterling silver salt and pepper shakers at the tail end of my egg cup collecting phase and had absolutely no functional reason to buy them.

So I left store, sans shakers.
But, like all of my favorite things, I couldn't stop thinking about them.

I returned quickly and purchased set # one.

They are delightful to hold, light and airy but with the inescapable weight of real silver. They clink together like chimes and feel almost buttery.

The first set led to a quick conviction that someday I will have a lovely dinner party and on the eve of that day, I'd surely regret not having individual shakers for each guests' place setting. After all, who needs only one set of tiny salt and pepper shakers?

Suddenly other little sets popped up like tiny buds in the corners of several antique stores. One, two, four, six. The more the merrier (especially when they all fit in the palm of my hand).

And that, dear readers, is how a collection is born.

brown paper packages tied up with string. favorite things one: egg cups

2010-05-05T19:30:00.002-04:00

My sewing machine took a bit of a respite during the beginning of 2010. Thanks to a wayward patch falling from O's cubscout uniform, I finally pulled it out again last week.

My plan for this week was to update with the new mini-sewing project I'm working on - full of bits and pieces of lace, vintage cotton & silk.

But the morning and afternoon light lately have been soul swelling and I've pulled out all of my favorite things to photograph.

And so begins a series I've been meaning to start anyway:
my favorite things (, a few of).

Number One: Egg Cups

I began collecting these a few summers ago. There is something about the sweetness of their shape that always catches my eye. Especially those with that tiny gold rim.

Though the simple plain ones are just lovely.

This set came as a pair though they have a crooked symmetry.

My mom says I used to love what she called an "eggie chopped up in a cuppie."

If nothing else, I still devour the cup.

hunt, gather & sew

2010-05-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

I have bits and pieces of silk and lace that I can't bear to throw away.

Little finds and gifts that end up in tiny piles wondering when they'll be used.

I think this is the week....

arrest me.

2010-05-02T23:36:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday, it snowed; huge sopping hunks of snow. Today it was 80+ degrees, or, as I used to tell my mom, it was "sweating hot."

Somewhere between then and now, everything popped. The flowers burst open. We have cascades. Full, pregnant branches, heavy with perfection.

I can't think about anything else.

On Friday night, it is possible that I slipped into shoes and leashed the dog in a flurry; that I whispered to my sleeping husband: "I found an tree that just blossomed on the side of the road. Come and find me if I'm not back soon."

Let's be clear: I wouldn't ever go into anyone's yard and take branches from their trees. I wouldn't trespass (knowingly). But I know every empty lot with a lilac bush, every roadside apple tree.
In the spring, I drive with scissors in my car.

I come home with arms full. Maybe giddy. I pull vases out. I pour water. I prune. The kitchen sink becomes a procession.

This is what I love: that we can have a home that's too small, a rug that's too dirty, walls that are uninspired. But with five labored snips, a little water and our wedding vases, I can walk into our home and my heart skips. Every time I come through the door.

my new favorite: national poem in your pocket day

2010-04-29T15:06:00.000-04:00

It's 'national poem in your pocket day' which is maybe the best holiday I've ever heard of.

I'm not wearing any pockets, but I'm printing out my favorite anyway. I have dinner plans with two fantastic women tonight and will tuck it into my wallet, if I'm still pocket-less when I leave.

I was never a huge poetry person, especially nature poetry, but Mary Oliver slipped into my life easily: poignant and unabashed, I just love her.

Here is my poem for today. It seems fitting given the recent snow emerging - over and under spring's great push; and because we visited my parents home last weekend and I swear Mary O is talking about the forest behind their house; and really just because this is an all time favorite.

Skunk Cabbage
And now as the iron rinds over
the ponds start dissolving,
you come, dreaming of ferns and flowers
and new leaves unfolding,
upon the brash
turnip-hearted skunk cabbage
slinging its bunches leaves up
through the chilling mud.
You kneel beside it. The smell
is lurid and flows out in the most
unabashed way, attracting
into itself a continual spattering
of protein. Appalling its rough
green caves, and the thought
of the thick root nested below, stubborn
and powerful as instinct!
But these are the woods you love,
where the secret name
of every death is life again - a miracle
wrought surely not of mere turning
but of dense and scalding reenactment. Not
tenderness, not longing, but daring and brawn
pull down the frozen waterfall, the past.
Ferns, leaves, flowers, the last subtle
refinements, elegant and easeful, wait
to rise and flourish.
What blazes the trail is not necessarily pretty.

Mary Oliver

http://www.poemhunter.com/

Please post yours...

an ancestry: papering walls (two)

2010-04-27T11:22:00.001-04:00

Inside the "collection". See yesterday's post for a bit of background.

Some of the wallpaper color pairings offered....

all colors and wall paper designed by Drake Studio, my grandparents' business of many years ago.

an ancestry: papering walls (one)

2010-04-26T19:55:00.002-04:00

A quick visit to my parents' home this weekend resulted in a great barn search. My mom and I were looking for a wallpaper series my grandparents created just before my she was born. Her parents were artists, and stories about their life and my moms early years are full of scavenging and construction. For long periods of time my grandfather, Paul, was a portrait artist and a picture framer. My grandmother, Ellie, was a prolific painter and art teacher. In between they took on projects. (That's probably an understatement).

In the barn's attic we found two of the wall paper samples. Here is the first:

They had a long narrow studio at the time and my grandfather built 60 foot tables to print the wallpaper on.

This series was a collection of cups, monogrammed with the customer's initials.

To follow: great color pairings from the pages of the sample book in hues I wish I could recreate.

liking lichen

2010-04-22T11:29:00.002-04:00

In early April before the flowers open on the forest floor, lichen is the real delicacy.

I'm not sure the simile is perfect, but on one of my late afternoon traipses through the woods, I decided lichen is to mushrooms what lace is to fabric.

I like all of the above, but I find lace and lichen particularly fetching. Tiny creations of intricate design.

and the color is always that perfect cool gray to blue to green.

more, tulips, more

2010-04-20T23:19:00.001-04:00

I have a series of forest posts en route, but the tulips interrupt.

I'm going to keep going

because I saw these in the grocery store

and almost didn't give them a second look

brought them home; snipped, pulled-leaves, watered, vased.

and they showed me.

for anyone in the mood for a still life, they're available.

paper trees

2010-04-20T08:45:00.001-04:00

find a fallen birch. peel off a loop of bark. write someone a note.

these are all from trees behind our house. all I had to do was slow down.

fields into fabrics

2010-04-19T18:19:00.002-04:00

This morning I had a nice long call with Sophie, my best friend from newly-born-day three. My memories of being young are flooded with memories of me and Sophie - the back yards and mossy forests of Vermont. We were wild and curious and lucky enough to be surrounded with art. Projects filled our days, our thoughts and our living rooms.

I know, talking about Vermont childhoods with those born elsewhere can usher in waves of eye-rolling. We didn't have perfect early lives by any stretch, but we had rich playgrounds; a thick underbrush of finely crafted stories, homemade characters and sweet chilly streams.
It was hard not to be nurtured.

I recently finished a swaddling blanket for a friend who is due any minute now(!) and it reminded me of how much I love the fabrics of Heather Ross.

I found Heather's fabrics a few years back and fell in love. They're whimsical and baby soft and were born from her early days at West Hill, Vermont. I never regret having a great stash around.

I didn't think about fabric design until recently. Now, in the woods behind our house, it's easy to get lost remembering what branches, moss and lichen looked like to seven year old me and wanting immediately to capture it. Once last month I brought my camera and began to chronicle.

Happy Monday afternoon, I've decided this week, the beginning of April's lamb-like days, will serve as a week-long forest study. Starting with birchbark maybe, or lichen.

Sleigh for sale. Side of road.

2010-04-17T16:24:00.001-04:00

On my way to Montpelier last week I saw a house with a sleigh for sale on the front lawn. A sleigh. Like Santa Clause (but old-fashion, think: turn of the century Santa).

Things like this happen in Vermont. Things like this happen to me. I see something and find myself 45 minutes down the road still thinking about it. Sometimes before I know it, I've turned around and all of a sudden, I own it. Settle down, husband. I'm not going to buy this sleigh. We don't have room for it. But it was great looking and I've always wanted a sleigh bed.

It did motivate me to start bringing my camera in the car and document the tremendous pop of green we've had lately.

Plus the blue sky, plus blossoming.

I see why people design fabric, or wall paper. Over the river and through the woods never looked so good.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have designs on you

2010-04-14T23:58:00.005-04:00

Great song.
Charming way to describe a crush.
Also, how I'm feeling about this little number:

Chandler & Price Pilot press

Since Saturday's class, I just keep thinking about pressing type.
Crushing, if you will.

love, and other indelible marks

2010-04-13T23:59:00.001-04:00

final letter press project.

I asked Drew what I should make for my larger letterpress project. He said: a poster about our wedding. I'm pretty sure it was a joke. Then I thought: my only wedding regret was not having letterpress invitations done (read: not learning how to letterpress earlier so I could do my own). Next best thing? Letterpress a poster commemorating the wedding. I was hoping it would turn out more: wedding as a concert. But it was outrageous fun, nonetheless.

I made 10, which is great, because I'm sure there are 9 other people out there clamoring for one.

fountains of font

2010-04-12T22:40:00.002-04:00

More from letterpressing. Chase, font, slugs, furniture, ems & ens

Large Chandler & Price press

Furniture for filling in the space

Drawers of font.

A little piece of my bigger project:

Do I love it?

yes, letterpress, yes

2010-04-11T16:44:00.002-04:00

Saturday. Letterpress class at May Day Studio.
Absolutely positively delightful.

And so, the imaginary "Oh! Hello" onesie line, gets its own accompanying line of letterpress cards.

More to follow.

catalogs from quarantine

2010-04-10T00:23:00.004-04:00

Last week we were headed south for Easter. Near midnight and all of the boys were sleeping. I was driving and something was right: the music or the hour or the flurry of Merritt Parkway trees. I spent a few solid hours flipping through memories like a catalog: images, words, clips, sparks. Things pasted over, things torn, paper, stitched, indelible, memories of moments jotted on napkins.

Easter passed, Monday brought a sore throat, by Tuesday I was deliriously sick. The meds kicked in slowly, I was worn out, then just bored on quarantine. Now, I'm cogent, emerging from covers. Remembering.

There's something about being down that makes the sweet fluttering of inspiration all the more palpable and motivating. I've posted a smattering of projects here, but I've wanted to dig in a bit: dedicate more, catalog and capture, corset up the whale bones and give this blog a little structure.

Now seems as good a time as any. Plus a few conversations with a few wonderful people, helped a few gears turn a bit faster.

So I'm committing - details to follow - but at the least to more frequency. Daily perhaps, or something close. Starting with the tips of my own icebergs of inspiration, and then, well, we'll see.

I'll be here. You are always welcome.

the weather, and other unpredictable things

2010-04-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

The weather has actually been beautiful. I, on the other hand, have been laid up with something awful. In solidarity, Casey the girl dog threw up a bunch. Momma said there'd be days like this, so despite some exciting new ideas for the world of this blog, we both decided to call it a week.

We'll be back. All waggy-tailed and better than ever soon. Stay tuned...

and per se and per se and per se and per se and

2010-03-31T13:19:00.002-04:00

I grew up with ampersands. Ampersands hung, ampersands perched, ampersands mounted on walls, shelves and mantles.

Our house had them, both sets of grandparents' homes had them and even my dad's advertising agency featured one prominently in its logo.

So maybe it's just because they were weened in to me, but I just love them. The aesthetic is perfect, beautiful in any font. And how can you begrudge a symbol whose only job is to join thoughts, people & words.

My only real wedding regret is that my searches for old ampersands were somewhat fruitless.

But if you ever come upon one, I've got bookshelves and walls waiting.

I could go on

on.

(all images found on the inter-web)

Onesie Potato

2010-03-27T17:34:00.007-04:00

In case you were wondering: yes, wearing an empire-ish waist dress to your wedding is a sure way to get half a dozen messages a week later, asking if you're knocked up.

Nobody's making a baby here (raise your hand if you think I could stand watching Drew drink wine in Italy alone). However, I like baby things more than what Drew ~~generically categorizes~~ lovingly refers to as "pretty things" and I've had the phrase "Oh! Hello" in my head since the valentines. "Oh! hello world" seemed appropriate for a newborn onsie. So, I decided to make some baby-gift stock on this chilly day. Also, my growing population of new-mom friends can correct me, but I think the handmade baby shower gift is really appreciated, if you can/like to.

It's also possible I had a potato that was going bad and wanted to make something (see: sprouts upon the potato, below).

Here's another plug for potato printing. It's easy and pretty satisfying. Except when you spend 20 minutes carving the potato, only to stamp, print and discover (again!) that you forgot to carve in reverse.

I'm showing you this carving to reinforce the point: Carve backwards. Every time. *

*This post, written by a woman who once sent her boyfriend, now husband, the insanely thoughtful romantic gift of a letterpress letter d for his initials dp, only to receive a letter in return stamped "bq".

Touché, everpresent lesson of reversed letters, touché.

Once upon a DIY wedding

2010-03-23T13:25:00.006-04:00

A month back my favorite wedding dress designer spoke with my favorite wedding blogger and I got a lovely note (on my birthday of all days!) from Emily of Once Wed asking to feature our wedding on oncewed.com. Having poured hours and days and weeks into the collecting and planning and creating of our sweet little wedding, this was a pretty warm thrill in the middle of chilly February.

Here is our celebration, parts one & two. I can't thank Emily enough, not just for contacting me, but for creating such a well spring of inspired wedding celebrations. I was under-whelmed with the majority of wedding related magazines & websites. Then I stumbled on websites like oncewed (more of my favorites on the right side bar) and a new world of unique wedding aesthetics opened. And from them, tons of links to talented women designing their own unique celebrations. Blogging can be a little vacuum, and it's been fun to hear from friends and fellow readers (of the hidden, but increasingly main stream alternative wedding blogs). I can and can't wait to explore your blogs from the links you're sending.

Anyone who has tried to craft & design their own wedding knows that there's nothing quite like it. Especially if you're inclined to make things yourself. (Sidenote: This guest blogger on 100layercake created a fantastic spreadsheet for how to determine if a DIY project is worth it, I wish I'd had it). This blog gathers my inspiration and projects. Capturing some of the wedding projects was a natural addition.

Cheers to all for the collective dopamine and inspiration that new, found & created images bring!

(photo, my favorite from our photographer).

Revisited

2010-03-20T10:38:00.003-04:00

...or, "how I'm finally realizing the benefits of spending months pouring through antique stores in search of the perfect blue and clear bottles."

I rewarded my spring cleaning efforts with a bouquet of spray roses - the perfect fillers to a handful of the glass bottles I collected for the wedding.

I bough two or three antique glass bottles at a time throughout the fall, falling in love with the subtle differences in glass color, shape and the antique advertising of different potions and remedies in raised letters and decorations along the glass.

Not only do these make the sweetest mini-vases, it's an excuse to spring-clean the generic vases we have lying around.

Wouldn't it be great if wedding rental businesses had vintage sections? (pssst, hi Grace!)

chop wood, carry water, love Vermont.

2010-03-16T11:23:00.005-04:00

Even if you weren't born here, but especially if you were, Vermont starts a relationship with you, like a sibling. It gets in your bones and becomes an intractable part of your stories. Yes, it is cold and sometimes chronically uneventful, but behind hundreds of turns are farms, trees, lakes and heart-stopping color.

All this on a regular drive home. On a Tuesday. Minimal trespassing, required.

These pictures were taken a month ago, in February with a blanket of snow. Now it's mud season and if she is supposed to have fun, our dog's paws are chronically dirty. The trees are waiting. The ground makes giant sucking or slipping sounds when you walk. I try to clean. Maybe that's an overstatement: I dream of a clean and inspiring space. Instead, I read an magazine article about cleaning. In it is an old zen proverb:

"Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water."

At its most beautiful, Vermont is exquisite. But most days if we're supposed to have any fun, I have to convince myself to take a break, cake my shoes in mud and go out into the sunshine; grab the dog and towel off her paws (an experience she detests); set aside illusions of the perfect house and take our home room by room.

It's still Vermont, I'm still in love.

ringing

2010-02-25T14:07:00.001-05:00

'Something old' doesn't really capture it. We found some of the most beautiful pieces of lace from my great grandmother's wedding dress. It is intricate with leafy tendrils and floral flourishes. I wanted to use it somehow in my wedding, but was hesitant to take a step to detach or re-purpose pieces of it without having a clear design in mind. I unraveled and washed it carefully and there it sat. Many ideas, no clear plan.

In the end I went simple, using the smallest piece for my ring pillow, and made a corresponding pillow for Drew's ring. This happened the day before the wedding, with my mom's help. An old, (or rather new sweater that accidentally ended up in the dryer) was used for the base.

A simple bit of thin lace ribbon to hold the ring finished mine. Velvet ribbon & a button for Drew's. There were also small straps on the underside so the boys could hold them easily with them falling.

thirty one.

2010-02-23T15:24:00.008-05:00

It is finally snowing again and I am practicing the fine art of doing only things I love on my birthday. I spent the day mostly alone thinking about all of the years ahead. Coupled with sweet touches, thoughtful notes, a little yoga, a latte and a new mary oliver book everything looks luscious and love filled and ready for new shifts and changes. Scrolling through a few images from the last year, I realize how much has to do with light. And love. And a little space to figure it all out.

Here's to more of that. And to all of the people who fill the space between and make my world full.

(1. my christmas gift from O, a hand sewn grey pillow, adorable; 2. sun and snow a few days after our wedding - oh Vermont!; 3. Milkpod exploding - photographed on a ski; 4. Heart in the snow; 5. My great-grandma's wedding lace; 6. Peony opening; 7. Wedding linens; 8. green washed wall & dogwood in Brooklyn; 9. Blurry drive home from Lake Champlain)

Edible.

2010-02-15T14:28:00.014-05:00

I meant to post something for Valentine's Day but got lost (metaphorically) on a long xc ski with Casey, the happiest dog on the planet, while the boys were off downhill skiing.

I could describe all of the things I don't like about valentines day. But it turns out, I kind of like the underlying sentiment. I love love and dopamine and all of those chemicals. And I'm totally charmed by things like this. My imagined Valentine's Day post was a list of things that make me feel fluttery and love-filled. So I was gathering all of the things I love and I found this photo of olives from our mini-moon to Stowe. I got distracted. This kind of thing happens to me, a lot. Especially if the task at hand is looking at pretty things. So here we are: you, me and this adorable mini-cast iron pot of olives and I don't really want to list things.

Last night Drew actually came home with olives and flowers. I made purple rice which the boys refused to eat until they tried it, ate half of it and remembered they didn't like it. Everyone ate most of their dinner and we iced cookies and laughed about things and fell asleep watching the Olympics. So I forgot to post about what I really wanted to post about (dopamine, norepinephrine and oxytocin). Maybe I'll do that today.

In the mean time here's a tiny cast iron pot with olives. It's pretty great.

And really: Everything I would have conveyed is summed up in this and (for me) a little of this (plus all of the images in the links to the right) and whatever music makes you glad you were born.

Oh! hello, Love.

2010-02-08T08:17:00.006-05:00

I made my own wedding invitations and used that as an excuse to talk about not making valentine's day cards this year. But old habits die hard. I've been making valentine's day cards (en mass) for 8 years now, which is about as religious as I've ever been about anything and frankly, I love it. So, why stop now.

I set off to make them on Sunday, late, but you know what they say about things being better late. Then the craft store in Middlebury was closed. On Sunday. Sunday. God's day, and also my official day for "making things." I try not to take it personally.

Luckily, the co-op was open, and there was this potato for sale.

I make do.

Can you read this?
That's a problem.
Can you guess why?
That's right.
Potatoes must be carved in reverse,
charming as "!ho olleh evol" might look.

Like that. Luckily, it was a 2.14lb potato. Plenty of love to spare.

I Heart Quilts (Quilts Heart CarSharing)

2010-02-03T21:54:00.008-05:00

I think about quilts. I have an internal file of new ones to make. I make little sketches and buy fabric. Sometimes I spend a few weeks making lots of little quilts. I listen to VPR and new music from Drew. Sewing and cutting and getting lost in stitching.

They're not all great and they're not all hand quilted, but a day spent like that always makes me darn happy. Then suddenly a year passes and I haven't done any quilt sewing. I walk by my little stacks of fabric. They move increasingly into their corners. I think "I used to make quilts."

Last year, about this time, I had an idea to make a quilt with lots of hearts all fluttering around, barely sewn down. I didn't wonder how I'd wash it. I just wanted to make it. Little sketches tucked in my pocket (or, crumpled in the bottom of my bag) I bought fabric, cut and started piecing it together.

But then I hung it on my studio wall, and sort of liked it there. Enough to leave it up, indefinitely.

Recently some friends were looking for art donations for Carshare, a great new local organization. They have a fundraiser upcoming. It has a heart filled theme. I remembered that partially pinned quilt on my wall and thought I should anti-procrastinate and finish it up. Instead I started over (mainly because said studio is an hour away. oh Middlebury, why are you so far from Burlington?). I thought I should give it to someone, like the carshare people. Especially because we drive so much (though we try to car share, we can't always). So this quilt is like my personal carbon offset for all of the miles Drew and I drive (wherein I have thoughts about quilting and valentine's day card making. I wager most of Drew's are spent thinking about Mad River Glen). Someday soon, we'll drive less.

Here are a few images from the piecing process and machine sewn rows of top stitching. It's almost done. If you are local, you can swing on over and make a bid!

Good night quilt. Thanks for being made.

If only I had 85 vintage napkins

2010-01-20T18:00:00.004-05:00

Oh right, I do. And until Sunday they all sat 1/2 un-ironed in a laundry basket raising a preverbial eyebrow at me. And then on Sunday I took a fabric printing class at Nido (fabulous new fabric and fiber arts store in Burlington).

So much fun.

I did a few drawings of the moss after a hike up Mt. Abe last fall and I used this for my design. Contact paper and an exacto knife is all you need.

A little fabric paint.

and voila.

So, now I have my eye on that pile of napkins for a new life as valentines.

Just you wait...

millions & mountains of thanks

2010-01-18T18:48:00.016-05:00

This fall I split time between my sewing machine, typewriter and antique stores. I put a lot of hours into our wedding, but the sweet bow tied on the evening was how well everything came together and how amazing our vendors were. I wanted to stay local and handmade and was surprised at how easy it was to find incredible resources close by. The candle light and open space at the gallery, beautiful touches, incredible food and drink and our amazing photographers all made for a blissfully warm night in the middle of a snow storm. I wanted to share our vendor info and encourage anyone to use them for any event:

Photography: Shem Roose. All images in this post are credited to him and we couldn't be more thrilled. Might I add that there's little wedding photography section on his site. I kind of loved that. He just has some great wedding shots mixed in with other striking photos. Perfect for people like us, who wanted someone with a great eye to capture warm and unique moments.

Space: Firehouse Gallery, Burlington City Arts. The Firehouse Gallery was the perfect location with the fireplace we piled with candles, to the strands of lights throughout. It was an enchantingly warm treehouse. And the downstairs gallery provided a nice change of scenery for our cocktail hour. Plus, Lisa, Mallory & Kim were wonderful to work with.

Caterer: Catering By Dale. Just absolutely superb food and an incredibly organized staff. Chicken wrapped in prosciutto, risotto balls and a warm wintery salad. Our friends are still raving about the food.

Flowers: Stray Cat Flowers. I called Diana two weeks before our wedding and she didn't blink an eye at how little time I gave her. I sent her a few images, we met and she created the most fluttery perfect bouquet of ranunculus, peony, hydrangea, greens, berries and a few ostrich feathers I ordered frome etsy.com.

Bar: Fluid Bar Service. Ryan & staff kept our glasses full, dabbed red wine out of my dress and even hopped in to our photo booth.

Rentals: Vermont Tent (& the especially lovely Grace!). I will admit, the I-can-make-it-I-don't-want-to-buy-it side of me was not thrilled about the thought of spending lots of money on tables and plates, but Grace's event planning know-how was worth every penny. She also let me cart my boxes of vintage jars, candles and horse shoes in for a mock set up two weeks before. (And in the end, I probably should have made less and rented more. Never underestimate the thrill of not having to lug your own things around).

Cake & Cupcakes: Designed and handmade by my lovely friend Sarah who knows her way around the kitchen and unique flavor pairings (cinnamon, coconut, Bailey's & white chocolate icings on vanilla, mocha and spicy chocolate cakes)

Soapy Favors: Baudelaire soaps. The richest imported soaps with heavenly flavors and feel. A little company started by my very own dad and his friends a while back. (arriving with their soap will make you the best house guest ever).

My Dress: Saja Wedding. I didn't make my dress, but received many inquiries on where it was from. Saja, is a gorgeous, affordable designer in SoHo, NYC. I had already purchased a dress, but when I tried on Yoo Lee's silky ethereal dresses on a last minute trip to NYC with some girl friends, I knew I'd found my dress.

From me to my vendors, family & friends who tied, stuffed, cut, arranged, loaded and created ~ a million thank yous!

Clean & Thank you

2010-01-12T15:21:00.002-05:00

For wedding favors, I used the delightful & delicious soaps from Baudelaire Soaps, a company that my dad started with several friends when I was a little girl. Not only are the soaps heavenly and natural, the mini honey comb soaps from their Apiana line melded right into the snowflake and white decor.

They looked good enough to eat in the lion's head bowl I found a few weeks before:

Winter Flowers

2010-01-10T13:35:00.004-05:00

Stray Cat Flowers grow their summer bouquets at the Intervale in Burlington and sell sweet quirky bouquets at the farmer's markets. They also generously donated flowers to our Cinderfella event. I didn't realize they could do winter flowers as well. I sent Diana a few images of what I liked and we met at their great new design space on Intervale road.

She dropped the flowers off as we were whirling around the Firehouse Gallery setting up on Saturday afternoon. I was in love. Ranunculus, peonies & spray roses in pale pinks, blushes and whites with the grey green lambs ear and a few ostrich feathers. Elegant and whimsical, I just can't say enough about how fluttery perfect they were.

My only disappointment is that I only held them for about 2 minutes, so they followed us around from the Burlington hotel to Stowe to home. And I had my new camera* to keep them alive a little bit longer.

*Remember how I hadn't been holding my breath for a new camera? I didn't, but one showed up under the tree anyway. I was completely surprised and love love love it!

Bridal Fingers

2010-01-10T11:29:00.002-05:00

I found this great old Smith Corona at the Quechee antique store a while back. It worked. And it weighed about 10 lbs to my Royal's 50. Perfect to bring to the wedding. The ribbon was a little light, but my dad found me a new one at a typewriter store. So I went about replacing it.

Eventually I looked down, and realized that this might not be the best activity to attempt so close to the white-wearing.

In the end, I wore gloves but still couldn't get it quite right, so the Royal was lugged up stairs, into cars, into elevators and through doors. It worked out just fine.

Type. Print. Stamp. Love

2010-01-09T00:03:00.018-05:00

We got married. Outside it was busy snowing 33 inches. Huge, perfect flakes of snow. Inside we had candle light and cupcakes; dancing and an abundance of warmth.

My typewriter joined us. So did my stamps. So did many of our favorite people in the world. I'm still filled with so much bliss, it bounces around. Luckily Valentine's Day is coming and I'm pretty good at sending mail.

Here is one of my favorite shots from our photographer. He brought his wife and they were the best.* All photo credits in this post & our thanks to them! www.shemroose.com

* not the best like "hey these people take good pictures," the best like: when my 5 year old step-son was in a funk and followed us outside into the snow, she put him on her shoulders and let him hold the flash until he was beaming, then ran him inside when it got too cold. That's the best.
________________________________________________
A few more from www.shemroose.com:
fireplace mantle where we got hitched & the kids starting off the photo booth.

on church st after the ceremony:

typewritten notes:

Inviting!

2009-12-17T21:53:00.006-05:00

I think the invitations went out long enough ago that this won't be a spoiler...

When we started planning, the only certainty was that I wanted to make my own invites. I knew the typewriter would be involved, but beyond that I just saw endless craft possibilities, with little project certainty. Then, this summer a wonderful local stationary store, Scribbles, in Burlington went sadly out of business. Sale on paper. Dangerous words. Their remaining inventory determined the color scheme. I wanted to use some metallic, but didn't want it to go kitsch. I tried to walk the line. The envelopes were delightful and I just bought a box of various papers up, hoping something would come to me.

Drew claims it took 6 weeks. That's an exaggeration, but not much of one. My mom was a life saver. Joining the assembly line at the surface formerly known as our kitchen table. Here's the final product:

Can't get enough of that typewriter. Or those king & queen stamps...

Isn't that the best envelope lip? I was afraid that the post office would read it as the addressee line and after mailing I'd get 50 envelopes back, but all seems to have worked.

Would I do it all over again? I'd say no, but I'm already anxious to get started on your Valentine's Day cards. Old habits die hard.

Holiday Open Studio and Art Sale

2009-12-16T17:03:00.004-05:00

For those in the Burlington area, my studio space is having a little impromptu art open studio & art sale this Saturday. I'll have quilts and other sewn sundries and will be knee deep in some final wedding projects. Grab coffee at Speeder & Earls and then swing on by!

***

Holiday Open Studio and Art Sale

SATURDAY, DEC. 19, from 11am - 4pm
at Eight Space Art Studios

4 HOWARD ST., 1st floor (near the corner of Pine)

Artists Jen Berger, Bonnie Anderson, Rachel Trooper and Emily Blistein will be opening their doors to all, selling paintings, cards, prints, jewelry, fabric art and more. Enjoy refreshments as you browse!
***

Here's to a vague memory of all of the free time I had last year to make quilts!

Happiness is a (hot glue) gun.

2009-12-14T00:55:00.007-05:00

I don't know why I haven't used my hot glue gun yet. I just found this recipe for fabric pompoms. Supplies needed include: fabric, scissors, a hot glue gun and paper lanterns (I used styrofoam balls). How can you not love that supply list. After the fabric was cut, I whipped these up in 30 minutes. I added a few circles of vintage sheet music too. Simple, fluttery and another recipe that works for fabric & paper. My favorite.

Beware the hot glue gun though. You know the saying: When you have a hammer everything looks like a nail? So goes the hot glue gun. When you have one, everything looks like it should be bound.

All I know is...

2009-12-14T00:42:00.007-05:00

Tonight I made pompoms. Or: tonight I continued making pom poms. These days many things are in various states of continuing to be made. I have hunks of yarn sprawling from bags from next to the couch. Little pompoms are stuffed into one bag, yarn in another. And that's just the living room.

At one point, I dumped the pompoms out on the couch. Drew was here. He smiled. I asked if he liked them. He smiled. What? I said. All I know, he told me, is that this is just stage one. I prodded. He went on:

Stage two involves artfully arranging them somewhere. Fabric comes out. Things get tweaked. The camera comes out. More tweaking. Lighting is adjusted. Little details are typed up. He went on.

For the record, Drew is a terrible impersonator. Terrible. He has one universal voice for all women. It's high pitched, tone deaf and pretty darn bad. But his recitation of how I make things was spot on. It went on with detail. It was painfully accurate and absolutely hilarious.

I threw pompoms, a plaintive attempt to make it stop (and frankly to see what they look like thrown). But despite my pride, I thought for posterity, and maybe a smidge of truth-in-advertising, here's how it looks - in all of it's rumpled banality- for real. Stage one:

This is how we spend our Saturday nights.

On Sunday, he'll spend the day at the mountain and I'll spend the day with my sewing machine (and, a hot glue gun.)

We've got three weeks to go. Vows unwritten.

All I know is, whatever forever we get is slated to include a hell of a lot of laughing.

Pompoms optional.

Finders Keepers

2009-12-06T18:22:00.011-05:00

I had a banner day at the Quechee antique store. I was picking up a few odds and ends. Actually, I was picking up a wedding band, which is neither an odd nor an end, and is sweet as can be (in addition to being a platinum steal!).

On my way to the jewelry case I found some of my new favorite things: Glass bottles and tins and pony shoes, oh my! And a 1950s cocktail dress that fits like a glove.

Everything looked so great together. As they were wrapping and ringing me up, I couldn't wait to get home to unwrap and photograph. Once again, our painfully creamsicle colored dining room transforms into a divinely muted color when photographed in the afternoon light. Frankly, I think it's magic that these photos aren't a blurry mess. I like magic.

Smith Corona Typewriter (perfectly usable for $30!)

Added to the collection of bottles... (the little blue one says 3-in-one potion!...why oh why do we package everything in plastic.)

Plus some old tobacco tins. Pictured here with all of the pony shoes because they just seem to go together like peas & carrots.

If only I had been able to find a "Quechee is GORGE-ous" Tshirt, the day would have been complete.

Buy your Linen, Rent your forks

2009-12-06T13:54:00.008-05:00

In the early days of wedding planning I swore I could get it done for $5000. I was quickly disabused of this notion. But it made me mildly nauseous as I realized how much money could be spent for a few hours of our lives (even if it will, blah-da-de-blah, last forever in our memories). So I made a few early decisions which I'm fairly certain, kept me to only doubling, not infinitely multiplying, my original figure. Here are the wedding planning rules I lived by: 1) I'll make what I can 2) I'll buy local and antique whenever possible 3) Instead of renting, I'll buy things we'll want to keep.

Aside from loving Drew to infinity in the eyes of the State, item #3 brings me to my favorite part: I'm doing my own linens. The theory being: 1) Renting linens is insanely expensive and generally uninspiring 2) If it's fabric, I can reuse or re-purpose it, 3) Vintage cotton and linen are outstandingly lovely and create exactly the aesthetic I want. More proof?

That said, I had planned on buying my forks too. Oh, and all of the china. Can you imagine dozens of sets of mismatched silver plated silverware and a variety of vintage china on the linens above?
I can.
But I had to stop somewhere.

Going Somewhere, Sweethearts.

2009-11-25T14:59:00.008-05:00

The best part of any mass mailing is the mailing. Holding plump little packages in your arms and imagining all of the doorsteps they'll cross. When I was living in DC, I took a stack of valentines for post. A woman asked me if I was getting married. I said nope, they're just valentines. She said "well, you've sure got a lot of sweethearts." It was one of the nicest things a stranger has ever said. I think about that every time I drop 50 some-odd envelopes into the mail. There's something so rich and sweet about real mail.

Generally, with the valentines the envelope is an exhausted afterthought. For these invitations, the envelope set the scheme. The innards took some serious time to wrangle and might have been way more labor intensive than I assumed, but the satisfaction of seeing them all together was worth it.* By chance, the teal scrolling on the stamp matches the envelope and the little orange heart matches the reply card. Little twists of design luck. Delicious.

Not all of the invites have reached their doors, so I won't post the entire design, but here are the envelopes, each tip-tap-typed by hand (a few with the help of a 5 year old! The typewriter, in all of its glory continues to be an object of fascination).

All of the insides also lined up richly with their golden bobbles.

*NB: The mailing of these envelopes in any capacity would have been impossible without my Mom, who drove up here special to join the assembly line to get them out. She's the best.

Going Somewhere?

2009-11-22T11:04:00.001-05:00

File this under: things I wish I bought but didn't because I don't really have anywhere to put them, but now picture all of the things I could do with them. Also file under: Things that probably look better all together.

Bike Parts & Little Orange Hearts

2009-11-19T19:50:00.005-05:00

My camera's broken. Drew's camera runs out of batteries. And frankly, they take dull photos even when they're working. I want to get a nice camera, but no breath is being held on it. Since I don't believe in telling without showing, I don't have much to show. I do want to share all of the fabulous blogs I've found. Amazing people out there, super aesthetics (if only I could be a super hero). [See new blog links to the right].

I don't usually think about design. I just make and hope the design falls into place. Then I had the super idea to make my own invitations. Seemed simple enough. I make my own valentines by the dozens every year. It's not the same. I spent time scrolling through magazines and blogs. Good ideas ended up in pieces and in knots. I bit off more than I could chew. I kept measuring once and cutting twice. I got frustrated. I had a loving man often wondering when we'd get our kitchen table back.

Luckily, something clicked a few days ago and I'm on a roll. The rsvp envelopes matched the tiny orange hearts on the stamps. I was off. Hopefully.

In the mean time, I dug deep for some good old photos of my own that make me want to make something. This is from a trip to Brooklyn in 2008. I love double bikes, though I never want to be the person in the back.

If I had to do it over again, I'd draw a little pen and ink of this bike and use it for invites. Maybe for Valentine's day.

Making Silk Flowers Out of a Swine's Flu

2009-11-10T21:01:00.005-05:00

Everyone in the house except for me and the girl dog has the flu.

That's two boys and one man down.

We sent everyone to bed early and made flowers.

Ingredients:

White flowers with linen, silk, white parchment & pearl beads.

Green leaves of silk and pages from an antique book about wildflowers.

an early bedtime, a juice medley and some of that oscillococcinum.

All together now!

Pick-You-Up

2009-10-29T12:32:00.005-04:00

I saved our coffee grinds this morning and tried to remember a bath scrub I'd made a few years ago. I couldn't, so I made it up again. It's a perfect morning pick-me-up, if you like that sort of thing. Plus it takes 3 minutes and you can ignore my amounts and ingredients and make your own*. The key is: something scrubby, something oily, something minty. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Here's today's Coffee Morning Scrub
1. Find a small container with a lid
2. Mix:
   -Yesterdays coffee grinds +
   -1 big spoonful of brown sugar +
   -1 tblspn of oil (I prefer Alba's Kukui nut oil, a mix of a few oils, but almond, coconut, etc will do) +
   -Few drops Dr Bronners liquid Peppermint soap (or a minty essential oil)
3. Use as a morning body scrub (shower may also require a rinse)
4. Since this is a textile focused blog, here's the link: Put scrub a nice glass container, tie with ribbon, make your own sewn pouch, tie with another ribon, share with friends.

* Mitch Hedberg has a joke that he tells that goes nowhere so he says "I'm going to take all the words out [of that joke] and add new words. That joke will be fixed." If you don't know Mitch Hedberg, you should youtube him, and watch it after your morning body scrub.

Summer, revisited

2009-10-20T13:50:00.001-04:00

I forgot to post these wonderful linen finds from a summer Church sale in Middlebury. The masthead photo on this blog is a shot I took of the thread spools after purchase on what must have been one of the only sunny summer days. The linens are vintage floral dying to be refashioned into something new and I can't fully express my love for wooden thread spools.

All for $31.

Tulle

2009-10-20T00:09:00.002-04:00

Tulle.
What can I say. I'm pretty into it.
Even though it just lives in my closet and isn't making itself into anything yet.

Also in the realm of loving things: Etsy
Bought this necklace last week. It's
light as a feather and maybe
the prettiest thing you've
seen all day.

And look at that
it looks good with tulle.
'Course it does.

Union Street

2009-10-16T20:13:00.004-04:00

I love the antique store on Flynn Ave.
Found this sign last week.
Now I love it more.

White Pumpkins & Paper Whites

2009-10-16T19:12:00.001-04:00

It got cold. Fast. This week I bought a coat in the middle of the day because the wind blew through my sweater and scarf. Later that night a friend gave me some little paperwhite bulbs, which I love, but trigger images of eager snowflakes. There's nothing I like better than winter, than pillow perfect snow and warm houses, but winter wonderlands belie stick season, snow shoveling, window scraping and now crossing fingers that friends wont be snowed in or out of the wedding.

In fairness, it's not even Halloween. I have yet to take my new little power drill to the perfect Martha pumpkins. It is chilly and not California.

Cape Stones

2009-10-16T18:27:00.003-04:00

We spent a lovely week on the cape. Here are my favorite finds after they found their way home; milky white pebble stones and heart shaped rocks. That big hunk of a heart was one that Drew came home with after a run on the trails behind our house.

I started out impressively avoiding the obsessive collection habits I can have when I'm around pretty things (a story about moss collection to follow), but a few days in I caved.

On the beach, I heard parents informing their children that they couldn't "take all of those rocks home." I suppose I might be one of those parents some day. But until then...look at all of these great rocks I found at the beach!

Broken Camera & The Love Foods

2009-10-16T17:46:00.001-04:00

My camera has a mild anxiety attack every time I turn it on. Always a lover of storybooks, I don't really believe in just writing at you, thus a delinquency of posts. But the fall is outstanding in Vermont and I've been collecting bits and pieces of things and coming to terms with how close our wedding is, so with a borrowed camera, we'll see if I can make up for some lost weeks.

Here's one of my favorite old finds from the Brooklyn Flea market from a visit with Sophie & Liz a few years ago: It states "Add more zest, zip, vigor and passion to your life with vitamin and mineral packed aphrodisiacs cooked in your own kitchen. This handbook is a complete dictionary of love foods and herbs you should keep in your cupboard."

Save it!

2009-09-17T22:52:00.007-04:00

tip. tap. tip. type. tip. tap. tap. tip. spending a bit of time at the typewriter these days. amazing small children. trying not to jam the keys. tip. tap. type. tip tap. in awe of typography.

loving the thwap, thwap, thwap, ding!

irregular letters, crooked lines!

forget email. i'm going to start sending you telegraphs.

Something Old

2009-09-01T17:11:00.002-04:00

While cleaning out my grandmother's home, we found many little notes and descriptors that my grandmother had made and tucked into drawers and vases. In one of my last trips, my mom and I found a small box with a note that the contents were my great-grandmother's wedding lace. It is divine. It's old and there are tatters, but it is really the most amazing discovery I could have asked for as my own planning began.

I took it home to see about cleaning.

Sophie

2009-08-30T00:36:00.004-04:00

My grandma, Sophie, passed away in early June. She was wonderful. As I got older, and smart enough to ask her about her life, I got to delight in these little moments of memory with her - jobs and travels and thoughts and experiences. In the last year, I tried to visit a bit more often. On the surface, she was quick to tell me that she liked it better when I wore skirts and my hair down. But when we sat on her porch under the Providence trees, I tried to remind myself to keep asking her questions about her life. Each question opened a new door and I was always glad I asked.

She reinforced the belief that homes should be built around books. She spoke up when it wasn't asked for or easy. We pealed apples with this silly little contraption that tumbled springy thin peals onto the counter. I make delicious grilled cheese for the boys in the betty crocker pocket sandwich maker she gave me when I was in college. I'm thankful for the adult years I had with her to appreciate what an incredible path she paved for me.
I love her indefinitely and totally miss her.

(hand drawn) hitches, (typed) knots, (quilted) balls & (letterpressed) chains

2009-08-29T11:55:00.007-04:00

Sometime this spring --after summer clothes had been pulled from hidden closets, before all of the rain, after my speeding ticket-- Drew sat me down for an inauspicious conversation. I've tried to remember what he said, but all I remember is that it was a warm slow Sunday afternoon and the curtains looked really nice in the wind. I overheard him later telling my dad he just wanted to "make sure [she] wasn't going anywhere." It was sweeter than that, but I don't think anyone ever really wants to hear other people's sentimental moments. Suffice it to say, we decided we might just get hitched and thus began a vague few months of trying to decide what kind of celebration this kind of thing might call for.

Concurrently, a world of craft projects has been unlocked (handmade invitations, wedding favors, warm quilts for babies to lie on during the ceremony?). I love the man, but my craft heart fluttered just as loud.

So the Valentine's might have to take their first hiatus in 8 years & my sewing machine has had to share space with my typewriter. Stay tuned...

Peonies: Real & Sewn

2009-07-03T17:52:00.014-04:00

I bought peonies a few weeks ago. I love bulbous fluttery flowers and peonies never let me down. I snapped a few photos to catch them as the petals started threatening to fall:
They managed to photograph with a lot of fluttery drama, which is saying something considering the lame cantaloupe color of our kitchen (of which I am really not a fan) and the fact that in person they were well on their way to decay. Never underestimate the beauty you can get with $9 at the grocery store.

Since taking them, I've wanted to recreate some textile peonies in some way and started a little project. First up, some 3-d petals wired together to make flowers (or, more accurately: A flower)
Project two: sewn peony pillows. They took some planning, but managed to stay pretty organic and roughly formed:

Each petal is topstiched to the linen. Here's a shot of the underside that belies the process a little:

The 4 best words a gal can hear.

2009-06-19T14:40:00.004-04:00

Drew is great at making space and making spaces clean. He has made a lot of clean spaces for me to sew, but finally I just had to say "An art space isn't an art space if you have to clean it up." He suggested I get a studio. That sounded extravagant. But the next morning I was still thinking about it. I did a quick craigslist search and: voila - a few square feet in a shared space in Burlington. I called Drew to see what he thought: "Whatever makes you happy." Best words ever.

Moved in on June 1. Here are a few pics with my quilts hanging:
Look at all that space where anything can be left anywhere.

Linen & Vintage Calico

2009-05-31T19:06:00.011-04:00

How can you object to either?
I bought some sand colored linen a while ago and couldn't think of the right project until I stumbled upon these vintage calico scraps at my favorite shop in Bristol (that also makes homemade beeswax candles. If I came into money, one of the first things I'd buy would be lots of beeswax candles, the smell is intoxicating.) But I digress.

I've been wanting to make mini-quilts for dolls, so I cut a few of the calicos into tiny quilting squares. But got distracted with these little test projects:

Little book with patchwork stripe.
Coffee stained pages inside (because I'm my mother's daughter and we take dying paper seriously).

Small bag with mismatched straps.

Upclose of the calico patch on the bag handle.


Meanwhile, the boys built bike jumps in the back yard...
Which reminds me, yesterday Batman helped me cut the squares...holy textiles!

Great Bellies, Shady Math

2009-04-19T18:06:00.010-04:00

So, I am thirty + It is springtime. This seems to = a lot of babies in bellies.

I'm pretty clear on how this happens, though of late, I have been given several colorful crash courses in sex ed from my favorite 5 & 7 year old boys. These days the preconditions of pregnancy involve 1) being a teacher and 2) having a husband. So I'm not in the running. Nor is our loyal dog, Casey, who had some sort of procedure involving tubes and , it was noted, does not have a husband (though several dog friends have been suggested).

What this new phenomenon really equals is a lot of baby sewing projects. I'm stuck on the Elephants. Here we are on the way into Burlington on our way to Kathy's babyshower. Sewing was, of course, finished in the car.

Elephant got off at Exit 14.

Super Heroic Interruptions

2009-04-04T17:06:00.012-04:00

In the middle of sewing the little houses I was interrupted by an urgent request:
Bunny needed a mask and cape.
I was promptly instructed on fabric selection and placement.
I was also told not to sew my finger, "again."

I was asked why I wanted to work on my projects when Bunnies needed super hero costumes.

Valid question.
I was offered four, no, wait, two imaginary dollars for my trouble.
And with that, Lucas and Bunny flew off:
Only to be replaced by Bunny #2, with Owen in tow, needing the same outfit.
We're a well oiled operation here and cape #2 was designed and crafted quickly:
Yes, those are racing stripes, calico racing stripes...

And they were off.
I was told, to put out a fire in Florida.
Here's to hoping Bunnies don't join the Olympics.
I don't sew spandex.

Little Houses

2009-04-03T21:43:00.012-04:00

My mom got me a great sewing book ("Liberating Quiltmaking") for my birthday. The cover is pretty cheesy, but inside there are some great ideas for altering the rules of traditional quilts - old designs with a free-form approach - much more appealing to me. I got the idea for little house villages from it.

Yesterday I bought some spring fabric and started making some little houses. After lining the pieces up, as I started sewing, I couldn't get that song out of my head...

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes made of ticky tacky

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes all the same.

There's a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same.
***

They take a while, but I'll post the finished quilt when it's finished!

Good Elephant, Sunshine

2009-04-02T12:05:00.003-04:00

Happy Sunny Day! The Green Elephant and I are doing some work in the sweet little cafe in Richmond, VT before heading off to meet Jen for lunch. Then I will go to work and the Elephant will begin his trip to CT to meet his new baby friend.

Kid Animals

2009-03-31T22:11:00.006-04:00

I finally got the knack of how to design stuffed animals: outline plus belly and head. So Owen and I sat down to make some. He chose the animal he wanted to make, we looked up pictures on the internet, he drew the outline:(as the Elephant looks on)

I created a belly and head piece to make the full pattern and sewed and stuffed under his guidance. (Giraffe stands next to his former self)

I love the kooky personality these kid-designed animals have.
At the end of the day we had made a giraffe, monkey, bunny & octopus. I am often reminded that we haven't yet done the toucan or koala. Someday soon...

Elephant

2009-03-03T11:16:00.007-05:00

Here's that first elephant. I will find the pattern and post it. The blue batik fabric came from a table runner that I found at an antique store. Plus pearly blue button eyes and peach silk ears. I love his silky inner ears.

Ask and you shall receive

2009-03-01T16:40:00.010-05:00

I like those airline maps with hub cities that explode like fireworks with curved lines to destination cities. Having shown you the production hub of valentine-land (aka our kitchen table), I was destined to love seeing your snapshots of where they ended up. There's nothing better than love that boomerangs and multiplies. Keep sending them...I'll keep posting them and remain inspired to set up the departure production hub again next year. x.o.x.o.x.o

From Sophie & Guapo the Cat ~ Brooklyn, NY

From Jennifer ~ S. Burlington, Vermont:

From Kent & Luis ~ Providence, RI:

From Jen ~ Burlington VT:

From Colleen ~ Oakland, CA:

From Allison ~ Burlington, VT, Hicks Foundation office! (ps we LOVE your Cervix. Keep it healthy! www.freepap.org)

Hi There...

2009-02-28T21:14:00.010-05:00

I've been going through a little stuffed animal phase. It started with a great elephant this summer which set me searching for stuffed animal patterns. This is much harder than you'd think. The majority are utterly cheesy. Don't google them, you end up in the bowels of craft hell (that's right, think: doilys, gingam aprons and inevitably a weightloss ad blinking to your left and a winking emoticon in a pop up window). Don't get me wrong, I still do it. I get the itch to make something cute and without realizing it, I've googled my way to an eye rolling display of angels with yarn hair. So I hit the eject button that is marthastewart (dot com). Say what you will about her, the woman has the best frustrated-over-educated-artsy-not-crafty hipsters making patterns.

Here's the most recent one I re-appropriated. My lovely friend, Jen, asked me to make a baby-shower gift for her sister-in-law, so that set me on a path of making a few prototypes. I'll take you through the process because, really, the best part is when the little animal starts coming to life...

Martha -god love her- always makes you enlarge the patterns. I don't have a handy photocopier to x200, so I rely on the maternal genes to do my best free hand of Martha's tiny pattern. (Our cereal boxes never could have hoped for such a happy after life). This one is supposed to be a lamb, but always comes out looking at least a little bit like a confused dog.

Then the sewing. I am terrible with following directions and actually find that, for sewing, written ones are often more confusing than helpful. So directions-to-self involve 1. Laying pattern pieces out. 2. Saying "I can totally figure this out." That gets me about 2/3rds of the way until I have to figure out how to do the underbelly or the head, which is always an hour long gigantic pain in the ass. Drew caught me looking off into the distance at dinner tonight trying to figure out what I'd done wrong with the neck/top of head/ear assembly. (I believe there was a hearty look of satisfaction when I figured it out. I was already ripping seams in my imagination...).

Here she is under the knife:

It's always great to turn your sewings inside out. But it's fabulous when your sewing project has...legs, a cute little darted mouth, and ears!

A little stuffing, and voila...she's alive.... and totally ready to be stuffed in a small child's mouth!

And after all of that. Seeing the finished product just makes me want to google more.

Salvage with Selvedge

2009-02-24T22:38:00.005-05:00

I like Birthdays. I always have.

But this year was a little rocky. It wasn't because I was turning 30. I was pretty excited to turn 30. And I had a great party a few days before and have been blessed with fabulous family, friends, cards, and cupcakes. But on the day itself, I was really sick and stir crazy and perhaps wanted birthday miracles when I should have taken a birthday tylenol pm and called it a day.

So how to you salvage a blah birthday? I'm not entirely sure, but I tried to salvage with selvedge. I took a short ski and thought about making the perfect quilt for me. I gathered my favorite scraps of fabric together and started sewing.

It did not make everything better, but it was a start.

Happy Love

2009-02-14T08:31:00.006-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Hopefully your card arrived!

A few versions were made in the process.

California went out with pockets.

Close to home they turned into sewn cards.

All stitched through with thread & fabric hearts.

Will post them all soon. For now, here's the pocket.

love. love. love to you & yours,

Emily

First round of Valentines: pockets

pocket insides:

Paper scrolls were found inside:

Yes, Open!

2009-02-12T19:32:00.004-05:00

You know about my Valentine's card tradition. Here's the Valentine's confession: I don't think the cards will get to you on Valentine's day. I just timed it wrong. But regardless, when they come, Open Open!

I also did three versions...after Saturday, I'll post them all...

Your Valentines

2009-02-04T15:52:00.006-05:00

Proof I'm hard at work on your Valentines (no one should be surprised that they have an element of sewn craft this year...).

Any guesses on what % will be fabric?

How many "cards" there will be this year?

or...if they will get to you on time?

Here are a few of the construction pieces:

Make sure I have your address....

Boys

2009-01-31T19:35:00.007-05:00

I love pink.

It's true. I love pink the way other people love chocolate or the beach or sport teams. It's ok. I took years of feminist theory. I have analyzed gender roles. I don't think women should stay home or wear aprons. I don't think guys should have to love football or fix stuff. I hate the term "throw like a girl." I wish we gave every kid dump trucks and dolls and let them play in the dirt equally. I used to play in the dirt. I used to eat worms and play baseball. But when it comes down to it, I love pink. I love sewing, and I love skirts. So my projects are not usually very gender neutral.

That said, my best customers and inspirations as of late have been Drew's kids. They are boys boys. They are: jump off, push off, throw things off, punch into, dump out, climb up, build, crash, yell, kind of boys. Yet they both love my sewing. They love the things that I make and each time they see me at my sewing machine someone asks "when are you going to make that bag/mask/coat/quilt for my bunny?" So I made them quilts for Christmas. You probably didn't know there was flannel construction fabric or silver skull & crossbones cotton. But there is. And it will make you two cozy blankets and happy kids. Here they are at xmas.

Lucas (4) with Construction Blanket

Owen (6 at xmas, now 7) with Pirate Blanket

And me, demonstrating, what I intended to do with the blankets: somehow fasten velcro or ties to make the blankets double as capes...next time....