little birds handmade

made in the shade

So excited about my new Simple Sewing book by Lotta Jansdotter. I buy very few craft books because I am very cheap frugal and there are not many that speak to my own aesthetic other than the Japanese ones (of which I can not read the instructions), but I just had to order this one, sight unseen, and I'm very glad I did. Beautiful styling and photography, lots of inspiration for my own designs, and many projects that I'd like to give a go. I tried the sun hat first (you can see the book image here at the photographer's web site) because I was up for something new. Mine is linen with a golden apple lining fabric from Superbuzzy. I made a mistake somewhere along the way (seam allowances, maybe?) and everything wasn't fitting together correctly, but, with a little seam ripping and altering, alls well that ends well.

Now that I'm dressed for it, I'm going off on a little blog spring break. I'll be back in April with finished hedgehogs and maybe some other critters. Take care.

hedging my bets

When I make a new animal, it usually takes 3-4 tries before I get it right (or good enough). This is try #2 on the hedgehog, and I'm hoping the third time's a charm.

I read a really inspirational article this morning in the house and home section of the New York Times about a family that was trying to live a year without making an impact on the environment. You can also read about it on their blog No Impact Man.

little something

This is a little something that will be part of a bigger something. I'm going to have some animals to show you soon, I swear!

There's a little mention of my work and the show at Doe in the SFist today. You can also view the beautiful Devendra Banhart video by one of my absolute favorites soft toy/fiber artists, Lauri Faggioni.

like sunshine

Still really loving yellow. Seeing it everywhere (my table this morning). Maybe the yellow-love is what is keeping me from painting  this room white as planned (and prepped for) weeks ago?

Spring's pillows. I found the Moda paint by numbers birds in the remnants at the fabric store for next to nothing. I paired it with my absolute favorite mustard yellow wool, linen on the back. Now to find the perfect everyday shoes for spring in that mustard yellow and I'll be all set.

I'm really busy and am trying to spend time away from the computer (except for looking for yellow shoes), but I'll try to set the goal of posting new work every day the rest of the week. Go find your sunshine.

ps: I realized how much I enjoy going to read the comments over at 3191 all at once at the end of the day with the post in front of me and have decided to not have my little birds comments sent to me by email either.  Questions will be answered in the comments. Thanks!

ah, spring

I was going to offer up a spring manifesto, but I'd rather just go back outside. Have a great weekend!

studio->->->craft room

I've been really, really busy in my studio...but not making things for the shop...or the show...I've been cleaning and rearranging...and we're not calling it "mom's office" anymore. It's just the craft room. Things were getting a little crowded and cluttered in our household what with Miles evacuated from his room (still haven't found a roofer) and the dining room (our only place to eat) in the middle of a renovation. I opened up my space (I had a work table blocking one of the doors) and created a kid's drawing area on one side.

The wall board is homasote (Jack picked it up for free with some other office equipment) covered in linen (also from a free pile). I added a pocket (a la Sally) for each child to keep their works in progress (they are lined and have been reinforced with interfacing).

I gave up a lot of my space, but this just works so much better for our family (Mia and I are in here together as I type). It forced me to pare down and organize my supplies as well. Now I'm really ready to get busy!

lovely, dark and deep

I'm so very excited to show off this postcard my sister designed for our collaborative show coming up in May. I'm totally thrilled and a little overwhelmed. I couldn't have a better artist to work with than my sister; she's uber-talented and my best friend to boot. I do, however, really need to get busy!

Speaking of collaborations I want to share one started by a great group of my friends. It's the new Sew Green blog where they will be exploring the issues of sustainability and consumption that are often on my own mind these days. Do check it out.

a few other links:
via Keri Smith: an article about hidden advertising in blogs (It's not up to me, but I'd love to keep this great blog medium about personal expression).
Tag Sale Tales has a new look and some great new posts (you'll find something from me there soon).
Pam at housemartin will be opening a shop here in Portland next year. Check out her blog for beautiful floral arrangements and design inspiration.

Happy Monday!

:: :: :: :: ::

Installation at Reed College here in Portland.

mini-flock

These little chicks will be in the shop at 10 am pst this morning. I wasn't able to finish as much as I'd hoped nor was I able to get an email out to my list, so there will be another update next week (I'll let people know when via my email list).

chirp!

interestingness :: magazines

This image from last year is my #1 popular photo on flickr as ranked by interestingness. I don't have any understanding of how interestingness works, but it doesn't seem like the most interesting photo I've ever taken! My TV is hidden under that cozy. That white wool felt is a little worse for wear after three years of use, so I'm gearing up to make a new one. I was thrilled to see a TV cozy in the new issue of Blueprint. The magazine says there will be instructions on their site, but I'm not finding them yet. If you're not ready to get rid of your TV...how about just hiding it a bit?

Another happy tidbit from my latest batch of magazines was seeing a mention of running an older Mercedes Benz on biodiesel in March's issue of Domino. We have a Benz from 1977 that we run on biodiesel and have plans to buy another. Any diesel car engine can run on biodiesel (some older cars may need new fuel lines). You can check here to see if there's a station in your area (for the US). Bonus: when you drive away it smells like french fries (biodiesel is made from cooking oil).

Thanks for all the support in regards to taking a technology break. I'm not unplugging just yet, but if others are interested, I'll let you know when I'm taking my break and we could start a snail-mail support group.

Happy Monday!