SouleMama

yellow!

The fairies of thrifting threw a little sunshine my way yesterday.

Yellow!

from where we often are

For all the cluttered, busy, colorful bits through the rest of our house, I try hard to keep our bedroom as sparse as I possibly can. It's the only room in our house in which there are not one - but sometimes four (gasp!) blank walls. It feels different than the rest of our space, I think,  and I really love that about it. It feels peaceful, even - dare I say - calm (relatively speaking, of course, with often a bed full of little people).

Recently though, after spending a whole lot of time in there awake - many times a day, every day for the past six months, to be precise - that same blank wall that I usually love has been calling out to me for something. All that nursing baby time - staring at the same wall with nothing on it - just wasn't doing it for me anymore. 

So on just one wall - the one wall I always seem to be staring at (trying not to fall asleep myself), now holds a cluster of some of my favorite things to look at. Full of mismatched frames, contrasting styles, varied textures, and many colors - it's a hodge-podge, to be sure. But each and every thing I see there feels good to me. I'm loving it.

Mostly though, there's a whole lot of staring at this - these toes, those chubby fingers, that baby hair fuzz, those little ears. My fourth sweet babe, and I tell you, the amazing-ness, the sweetness and the beauty of these quiet little moments we have together hasn't gotten a wee bit less lovely than it was eight years ago with my first, or six months ago when Harper was first born. Except that, maybe, I have a little bit more understanding about just how fast time is moving. And so I hold him a little bit closer. And I gaze just a little bit longer...

a shout out

I've gained two special new blog readers in this past year - Calvin and Ezra.

"The blog" has certainly made it's way into our language and our lives these past few years. But it's just recently become slightly tangible for them when they suddenly wanted to start reading it themselves. They read the day's post with mild interest sometimes, but mostly, they're all about the archives (pronounced "ar-chives"). I'm kind of touched - each time they have any computer time, the second website they visit is mine. (It's after mlb.com, so they can check to see if any stats have changed overnight. Yes, I know it's off-season and the stats won't change. They just want to check in case. Oh! And did you know that we have exactly four days until opening day of the major league baseball season? That's what I've been told, approximately five times already this morning. I expect the countdown to switch to hours any time now.)

They've been reading the blog in a most unorganized fashion, but I just watch. Quietly entertained, humored, and pleased, I must admit.

First they read all of their birthday months. Naturally. And then a few days ago, Ezra explained to me the completely mind-blowing, totally exciting discovery he'd had. They had scrolled down past the months (on this page) and discovered...Categories! He had a crazy-awesome theory about how such a thing could even be possible - how the computer must decide what goes into what category and such. Somehow it involved tap dancing. Dang, I wish I could remember his theory. It was a good one. Well anyway, as poorly as my "categories" are arranged around here, it's entertained them endlessly. They see themselves, they find craft projects that they still love and use, they remember things we've done, they see more of themselves, and....they get more fodder for teasing their Mama (in a loving, gentle, silly way, of course).

The latest has been a litany of flack I've been listening to from these two about how much I move the furniture around. If you've been around here for a while, you might know that I have a bit of a furniture rearranging problem. I do it a lot. It already has an element of family lore around here...but for some reason, to the kids, seeing it all together in one long visual web page has Cracked. Them. Up.

"Mom, look! The dry sink is here, and then it's here, and then it's over there, and look! Now it's right back where it started!"

or

"What should we do today, Mom? Move furniture?!"

Cackle, cackle, cackle. (They send each other into hysterics.)

Yeah, yeah...

So in honor of those archives today, and as a shout out to my two silly new blog readers, I share with you my most recent furniture/rearranging moves, completed yesterday when Harper and I found ourselves at home alone for a bit. It was just a little rearranging - not one of my "let's put the living room in the dining room and the dining room in the kitchen! Today!" rearranging moments.

A new little reading corner, in this funky little space at the top of our stairs that has been oh-so-many different kinds of corners over the years (as the boys will tell you).

And some new prints and fresh art wire above the drawing table.

The fairy tale paper cut prints are by Elsa Mora (you might find some of them in her shop). Aren't they lovely?

Alright, friends. I'll be back on Monday! SoulePapa tomorrow, and then two (two!!) giveaways this weekend, so be sure to stop back.

Cheers!

at home

dress up corner

making a little room for baby

There's a new Home Tour and interview up today on Cafe Mom's Home & Garden Buzz (where I ramble on again about avoiding cleaning my shower...hmnn...). My mind and heart are especially focused on 'home' these days, so it was wonderful to give all of that a bit of thought.  Thanks to Sheri for some great interview questions, and the invitation! 

And in this home of a blog...I'm working on a bit of housekeeping too. I've just added a search feature over on the left - my "categories" are slightly messy, so I'm hoping the search feature will be helpful in finding what you're looking for. Also... I've decided to close up my Big Cartel shop for a month or so, beginning November 1st. So if you're looking to purchase a signed copy of The Creative Family, now's the time to do it! (May I humbly suggest a holiday gift? or...a New Mama gift to have on hand?) Of course, regular copies are always available at Amazon, Powell's Barnes & Noble, or your local independent bookstore. And, the 2009 calendars will continue to be available through the end of the year through Lulu.com.

Enjoy your day!!

winter woolens

We did our autumn washing-of-the-winter-woolens yesterday. Bringing all the hats and mittens up from storage and giving them all a gentle wash (I love Eucalan - lavender especially. Yum.), and a proper drying in the sun. I had lots of help, as always, hanging all those knits.

And then...with all the hats and mittens drying and ready for wearing this winter, I did something I've been intending to do for years. With some linen tape and fabric, I quickly sewed up these 'tags' for everyone's basket, in the hopes that it might just prevent the massive pileup of hats and mittens in our entryway come wintertime. One little thing that just might make getting out the door a tiny bit easier with four little ones all in search of their hat and a pair of matching mittens at the very same moment. Just a little bit easier - we'll see.

the Rocking Chair chronicles v.2

This is what happens when I get up from the rocking chair. It gets snatched up by sleeping cats and sleeping babies in search of the perfect spot.

Mostly though, there's me - sitting and knitting. And sometimes - often - the combination of the two, leads to the above. A sleeping Mama.

Do you have a favorite sitting spot of your own? Wanna join in on capturing it with your camera? Join me and my rockin' sister Stefani over on Flickr in the Sit a Spell group! Everyone needs to put her feet up once in a while and sit a spell - how lovely that we can remind each other...

Sunday Morning

There's something about the ease of a Sunday that makes everyday chores all the better to me. With today's leisurely work comes the promise of a cleaner house with which to start the week, and a dessert (or two!) for dinner.

I'm hoping your Sunday is a nice one, too...

the Rocking Chair chronicles *

(* with a wink and a nod to Eren for a new series suggestion!)

Alright, well maybe sitting here all day is a bit unrealistic. But seriously, hours were spent yesterday right there - knitting, eating, reading, talking, delegating, watching the baby move, and negotiating the sibling squabbles. With camera at my side (um, I sent someone to get it), some things I saw:

Ezra joined me for some Presidential chatter. He's quite enamored with the new book Our White House (an amazing resource, by the way), and worked on his sketch of all of the presidents, stopping at Jimmy Carter when he ran out of room on the page. Hmn...

Calvin stopped by to tell me his dream lineup for Friday night's Red Sox Playoff game. He also drew his "Top Three Dream Plays" that he's hoping will happen. Grand slams, bases loaded with Ortiz up at bat, crazy ninth inning catches by Veritek to save the game - you know, all that stuff. Baseball, I'm only so excited about, but manifesting your dreams? - I like it.

I watched Adelaide read the entirety of Seven Silly Eaters to Banjo, with a 'swaddling blanket' so as to assure his "sitting" for the length of the book. He obliged. Only for her.

And I did some knitting. A lot of knitting.

There was also a marathon crazy eights session, a cartwheel-off-the-couch contest, a glue stick love fest, and a tea party.

Good times, I tell you. Good, boring, ordinary times. Right from where I sat.

I'll be right here

This weekend, after the all the apple-making, and the wood-stacking, I had a quick dash to the flea markets. And I finally found the 'antique, sturdy, comfy, pretty and affordable rocking chair' I've been keeping my eye out for all summer - and longer, even. I got it in the door and barely brushed off the dust before sitting down in it in front of the fire and picking up my needles. Oh goodness - words cannot express that feeling. And it's essentially where I've been ever since that moment - sitting and rocking. And dreaming and scheming up all the ways in which I could ignore everything I have to do outside of my home, and adjust all my responsibilities so that I never have to leave this spot again....

Feed my family? Why surely Calvin can dash to the pantry for a jar of applesauce, and Ezra can count five spoons from the kitchen - that counts as dinner, right?...

Write? Blog? I can't see why the laptop can't be delivered right here...to my lap...

Stoke the fire? Thankfully, that's one the three of them are happy to fight over...

Homeschool my children? Well, at least I'll be easy to find. Bring me a book and let's read, come snuggle on my lap and talk, come sit at my feet and draw...

Cast my ballot? Absentee!...

Holiday Shopping? Etsy, baby. Handmade, delivered right to my door...

See my friends? Gladly they've already proven that they'll come to me and sit right next to me. They even bring food. Ah...

Birth a baby? Okay, well I suppose I'll have to get out of the chair for that one. But not far - we'll just put the birthing tub right next to it anyway. And when it's over I'll sit right back in this chair with babe in arms and nurse and sit and sleep and rock all the way 'til spring...

Yes, I'll be right here. (Oh, friends. If this is to be my lucky fate, I fear the blogging content around these parts is about to take a steep turn towards very, very boring.)

a little bit better

So yeah, the couch remains. Despite many frequent and lovely emails from you all linking me to my 'dream sofa' on your local Craig's List (but giving me hope that they're out there!), I have yet to find one here. No worries...this one, still going strong, is growing on me again.

Last week, I had an 'aha!' moment about that couch. Settling in to read a story, I repeatedly 'fluffed' the cushions as I habitually do, trying to make room for, well, me. "It's the cushions!" I jumped up and announced to the kids who stared back at me blankly. But it's true! The big overstuffed, always falling over, getting in the way, and highly irritating cushions that sat along the back - they were the problem with the couch (well, one, anyway). With great happiness at the sudden realization, I ditched them. And swapped them out in favor of a few big pillows I had around the house. (And then I sat back down and read the book, much to their relief.)

I needed just two more - so, with the pillows from the recent Toast Home catalog fresh in my mind, I made this little set. From two old and thrifted wool blankets I had already cut into for another project. None of the buttons match, and I'm kind of liking that. They're all old. And brown. And the whole thing feels comfortably simple and easy. As does the couch...just a little bit more now.

all the stuff

Thanks for all the sweet words yesterday! Many of you wondered where all 'the stuff' went. Ha! Yes, that room did indeed have a lot of 'stuff' in it, didn't it? Now, it's all scattered a bit more - carried into other spots in the house for storage and hopefully, easy access (much of it now lives in one half of our sunporch, pictured below). There's a quiet, pretty little corner for writing by a bedroom window. And in the dining room, where so much other activity happens in the house, sits this corner (above) for sewing.

And the rest? Oh, there was some serious purging that happened from that little room. I had to quiet the Yankee, resourceful, 'waste not, want not' in me with a voice of attempted simplicity. That was the biggest challenge of all, but each and every bag that I filled up and carried outside of my house, I breathed a little bit lighter. Success. (Coincidentally, True Up just posted a great 10 Steps to a Decluttered Stash.)

Itchy to see how this whole new set up will work, last night I had to make something. I found a few things really helpful - keeping a large empty basket in the storage area for carrying project supplies to the machine (you know, the whole 20 yard journey that it is). The cutting mat can be easily slipped onto the dining room table, and on and on with little things like that, intended to make sewing not such an obstacle to have happen in the new space.

A half an hour later, in between making dinner and with lots of help from my helper, we had a new skirt. She happily twirled her way around the house and then right on outside...where I could still spot her as I cleaned up. Ah... While certainly I will look forward to and plan on once again soon having my own space, for now, I think this is going to be just right...

you could call it Nesting

A few weeks ago, we settled into the reality that this baby of ours will be arriving far sooner than we could ever sanely find, close on, and move into the house we envisioned finding and being in before its arrival. I won't say that I embraced this change in The Plan gracefully (I do love myself a good plan)...but accept it, I did. Because, really? Life, so far, seems to always send things our way when the time is right, and not a moment sooner. There's no need to stop trusting that now. (And this, I repeat until I believe it.)

But the problem was that this little space of ours wasn't flowing right for us as a family anymore, and the thought of entering the fall and winter months like this? Oh my. And, so...I made Plan B. A multi-phased, totally-Virgo inspired, IKEA trip-requiring, seriously nesting-induced Plan B for the house. Want a visual?

How about...my studio. One week ago today.

And the same space...this morning.

My 'restructuring' plan involved a big change in every room in this house of ours. Any sadness about letting go of this studio was quickly balanced by excitement of what was to come. New bedrooms for all, a bit of a break from work, my creating 'things' in our family space once again, and excitement about the next studio I'll have...soon (just...after baby).

With all the moving of furniture finally complete, and everyone settling nicely into their new rooms, I feel inspired by all the 'new' spaces we've made here for everyone, and a little bit more in love with my home right now. We feel a little more ready for all the family-focused cozying, loving, playing, learning, creating, birthing, and baby-loving that we'll be doing here in the coming season.

Making room, getting ready, settling in, and looking forward....it feels good.

Home

BloesemKids has a great new feature, 'Open House,' of which I am honored to be a guest today. There, you'll find some photographs and an interview about home and work that I did with Irene. It was lovely to spend some time thinking about these things, and to share a space with the other interviewed women and their beautiful homes. Thank you, Irene!

I wanted to take a few new photographs for that interview, and found myself uninspired at best. How many times have you seen my wood floors? A lot. Our house is small, our furniture is old and worn, and sometimes - just sometimes - I get a little tired of the looking at the same thing - and trying to find inspiration for photographs of it amidst the mess and the dust and the worn-out everything. Most of the time, I'm happy with all of this, of course. I love all the 'old' in our home, for so very many reasons. But sometimes, well...you know how it is.

So I asked the kids. What's your favorite spot in the house? And each of them - in turn - led me without a moment's hesitation to their 'favorite spots'. They weren't the spots I expected, and I guarantee that if I asked them the same question again today, it would be three different spots. But still - they had their spots, and oh, they do love them dearly. I took a photograph of each spot, printed them, and with a note on the back of each, popped them in their journals (otherwise known as a big box full of random things - some day I'll organize that) for them for later.

And with new eyes - as they give me so many times - I looked around and saw things just a little bit differently. It isn't just about the things or the space, of course, it's about what we do with those things and that space. And what we do in our home, is lots and lots of living. Like anything full of 'life,' it's always changing and moving to fit the kind of living we do in it at any given time. And while there may be little 'new' that comes into it, and it may not ooze of a magazine photo shoot, there is all that vibrant life that embraces me each time I walk in the door. And hopefully the same thing happens for my children - a deep and true knowledge that they are 'home'. I couldn't ask for anything more.

decking the studio

I'm sorry, I should have warned you before posting a scary sight like that. Isn't my studio looking fabulous these days? Ha. To be fair - it doesn't generally stay like this for more than a day. It's too small of a space for me to keep it in this state for too long - I start knocking over jars of buttons and tripping over iron cords - and well, that's no good. Rather counterproductive in fact.

So it got a little tidying yesterday, and then a little sprucing up for the holidays. I'm spending many wee hours of the night in here these days, so I figured it might as well look like the holidays in here.  (The socks - I have a feeling you'll ask -  are a pair my great grandmother knit for one of her sons in the war, but he came home before he could use them. Though, I'm not entirely sure how accurate that story is - my grandmother had a wonderful imagination. Regardless, I've always pulled them out at holiday time - you can't see the pretty red striped trim from this angle, but they're very lovely.)

I've been greatly inspired by all the lovely wreaths out there. Just a few - Alicia's, Manda's, Betz's, Aprill's and  Jen's (which I saw in person last night at Shop-a-do - they are lovely, indeed). So this is my little version - strips of fabric, rickrack, buttons, felt and ribbon wrapped and pinned around a foam wreath base. The bird ornament in the middle is from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I'm loving that book this season - I've been making lots of these birds to attach to gifts (oops - secret's out).

And now - back to the holiday crafting!

keeping warm

While we've also had some warm days, we've definitely felt the first real chills in the air this week. Slowly, I'm noticing the signs of the season happening inside too: the firing up of the wood stove; friends gathered round the fire for cozy visiting; rice pudding; wool slippers; soup nearly every night; hot cocoa; down comforters and flannel sheets; and lots of fireside knitting.

Keeping home. keeping warm.

yellow, in my studio

I hope you're having a lovely Sunday!

fresh corners

 
As we leave a season in which so much of our time is spent out - with our selves and our things scattered and in the open - we enter a new one in which we are quite literally closer together, our space tighter and our things nearer. We've been feeling the pull inside for a bit, and last week, there was a bit of rearranging to reflect that. The kind of living - play and work - that we do changes so very much from year to year and season to season at this point in our family life, and so, therefore, does our space.   

I carved out a little space for the playthings that are just now coming off the summer porch, where it's far too chilly now to play. The baskets will be pulled aside off the hearth once the wood stove really gets going for the season. Soon, I imagine.

So much watching and daydreaming happens right in front of those windows. Waiting for the birds, watching the leaves fall, and being surprised by visitors. With two little guys on the edge of reading by themselves (and one little girl who THINKS she can read All.By.Herself.) there's a lot more cozy, on the floor, snuggled up, solo reading happening here than we've ever had before.

And with the new nook came a new blanket. My sewing-for-pleasure time is limited at the moment, so this simple tied quilt was perfect. One little evening project for what will hopefully be a winter of cozy reading.

fall :: coming inside

from them to me :: pockets-full of inspiration and beauty in the form of nature bits - eagerly brought home from an afternoon walk in the woods.

from me to them :: bowls of comfort and sustenance in the form of homemade applesauce - warm and ready for arriving home from an afternoon walk in the woods.

Autumn...outside and in.

interruptions

Now you all know how it is that I get so very much done. I have a lot of help. He's good, isn't he? He's an amazing Papa, fabulous creative thinker and sounding board, perfect morning bed-peeler, and so very much more. Thanks for hosting him for the week - I think he liked it (enough that he's promised me he'll return in a month for my final deadline push). In the meantime, while I continue to work away on this manuscript, how about some back to normal crafts and a lot of photos around here for the month? Good, good.

The Creative Family was written almost entirely out and about - coffee shops, libraries, and anywhere else I could bum free wifi. But this second book - being primarily a craft book - has me running from cutting table, to sewing machine to computer constantly. And so home is where I'm writing, a couple of days a week. It is a lovely place to work, I will say. Home is good, but home is not without it's interruptions. Bless the man outside the door who creatively engages, plays, feeds and acts as goalie. But sometimes - one slips by him. Three, actually:

Calvin's interruptions usually involve sitting down quietly with me for a minute (they each have an ongoing project in my room for just such visits). And then...in the quietness of the studio and with the handwork of his embroidery, we have some really amazing chats about, well, life. Six year olds know a lot about life. Oh, yes they do. But then...sometimes he's also the bearer of the 'staff-splitting' questions (as we call them), such as, "Can I ride my bike without my helmet if I'm just going on the grass? I think Papa said I could." Uh-huh. Right.

Ezra - in the perfectly middle child way - first peeks through the keyhole of the door, then sneaks in (not so sneakily), standing in this little corner with a grin on his face until I acknowledge that he's there. At that point I'm usually met with a wonderful Ezra story, or a puzzle, or a question to ponder with much debate. Such as, "Mama. Would you rather be a pirate, or have a really really really big foot" Hmn...I'll think on that one.

Adelaide's specialty is a strong and fast push of the door open, a thundering of her usually naked body across the room to me, followed by a sweet, coy and hopeful (I swear those eyelashes are batting at me), "Milkey, Mama? Milkey? Now?" O-kay. If that doesn't work for her, she usually settles for a swipe on her way out the door of the size 50 knitting needles (really), chanting the pirate 'arghhh!' all the way.

Sometimes, I will admit, these little interruptions are frustrating, and working at home can be really, really hard on all of us. And I am eternally grateful for those moments when everyone is whisked away to the skate park, the woods, or to visit the grandparents and I can work in solitude. But sometimes? Working at home and all of it's many interruptions - is amazing. Amazing and full of good little unexpected moments that inspire me, make me laugh, and give me energy to keep going.

It's true. I've got a lot of help.

from my studio...

Thanks for your nice words about yesterday's shop things! I'm so pleased to see my quilts and smocks headed to their new homes. Friday afternoon, I'll be taking down whatever is left in the shop at that point, so that I may focus on other things. I appreciate all of your support!

{letterpress beauty from Yes Press}

{tote by Good on Paper, from Edith & Edna}

Above are some random scenes from my studio this morning. The studio in which I now need to hole myself up in. I'm nearing my manuscript deadline - yes, I'll be done writing the second book before the first is published. (So goes the book world, I'm told.) After a summer of dedicated work on it, and a generally confident feeling of being 'right on track' up until this point, I've now hit the inevitable six-weeks-till-deadline freakout. (I remember this from last time. And I'm told it's normal. Hmnn...) Yesterday, I read Stephanie (a role model for me in so many ways) talk of her own very close manuscript deadline as thus: "I am alternately cackling that I am so close to the end, and sobbing that I still have so far to go". Yes, oh, yes. Though I could use a little more cackling. Let's hope for more cackling.

So, diving in, I now go and focus much of my attention and energy, allowing myself tunnel vision for a short period of time (Family, Book. family, book. Everything else must wait). Mostly I'll be plopped in this spot above, laptop on the lap (yellow shoes nearby. Equidistant to the Green & Blacks. Necessities, you know), finishing things up and writing a book that I am most excited about. When not in that spot, I'll be trying my best to keep our family life as close to normal as possible, and soaking up as much as fall has to offer us -all while cleaning out our freezer of stocked-up, frozen meals; ignoring the laundry piling up around me; and giving daily thanks to my Mama and Saint Stephen (a.k.a. SoulePapa). Oh, and trying to keep my wits about me. Oh my. Lofty goals.

I won't be gone from here the whole time, but I will, for a short time, now turn over the blog to my very favorite guest blogger (and if we're lucky, guest 'bloggers'). Yay!!!!

Be well!!

autumn light & rhythm

Oh, that autumn evening light. Am I the only one who finds herself following it around her home? It's bittersweet, this fall light and the changes it brings, but there's comfort to be found in it, too. And so I follow it, and photograph it, and bask in it when I can.

With the changes in light, I feel the change in our rhythm too - the rhythm of home, work, play, and just 'being'. I'm in need of a little blog break as we transition seasons and all that comes with that. For the next couple of days, I'll be sharing photographs and few words. And next week, I'm happy to be turning over the reigns to my favorite guest blogger.

Be well, friends!

packing up, heading out

I spent a bit of time in my studio tidying up and playing with my camera yesterday. Even though my work time has been only occasional this month, I still spend at least a few minutes here at the end of the day - writing a blog post, straightening, staring at fabric (no, really), or checking in on the works-in-progress piles that aren't making much progress. No worries - the season will change soon, and I'll be cozied up in there getting lots done. For now, though, there are beaches to visit, and woods to play in.

Which is just what we're going to do for the next week. We'll be in the woods, by the campfire, and in the boat as much as we can. The kids have been counting down the days till this vacation for so long, and I'm right there with them (they packed their bags last Monday). Last night, I gathered my embroidery suitcase (still as jumbled as ever, it's just moved to a bigger case!), and pile of books - and have every intention of abandoning them if that's the way things go. Though, I do think a little embroidery at the end of the dock sounds quite nice. Or a book in the hammock. Oh, I can't wait.

I'll be back in this space on the 20th. Be well, friends!

more birds, and by the seashore

So the bird embroidery does have a 'purpose' after all. It seemed only natural to share it with Adelaide - my little bird girl. So this is the start of her Corner of Birds, a space we are making for her to have of her very own - in addition to her forever-space in our family bed. She is very excited about her new 'bed' - even though for the past two months her 'bed' has consisted only of a frame while I decide on a mattress (I'm waiting for a magical, affordable organic mattress to somehow appear - it hasn't yet), and finish a quilt. Soon. 

I found this mourning dove drawing of Ezra's in the serious pile of bird drawings around here - it's one of my favorites. I know there are other ways to transfer drawings to embroidery, but my favorite is to tape the drawing to a window, tape the linen over it, and trace it lightly with a pencil. Easy. Calvin started a bird embroidery piece of his own that he'll add to the wall soon.

And continuing the embroidery ride that's happening here this week, I finished this piece this weekend as well. This one - inspired once again by the book (ISBN 4834724212) and the shore - now hangs on our sun porch wall amidst all the beach treasures that make their way home with us.

corners of my home: a table

It probably isn't a huge surprise that the family dinner table holds a lot of importance to me. We had been eating on the table above since Steve and I met - it's one that my grandfather, whom I never met, gave to my grandmother as a wedding gift in 1945. It's a beautiful pine under there somewhere, but it's been painted every color under the sun, starting with this awful thick black that made it impossible to ever strip (I tried. many times). It's been in every apartment and home we've shared, and we've shared a meal here every evening - with friends, family and curious toddlers climbing up on top of it. But it's small, and it's been getting smaller quickly this year. We squeezed around it while I continued the search for something we loved, something priced just right, and something that was 'old and beautiful'.

And then, as these things happen, this table came into our lives and right on into our dining room at the perfect time. A table from a very dear and gracious friend - a table with it's own family history and past. I'm honored to continue it's life as a place of gathering. The first evening we ate on it, we were so happy at the 'just right' feel of it - old, big and beautiful, and the kids were amazed that there was room for us and all the food on the table. Ha! Imagine that.

I knew just the fabric I wanted to use to cover the chairs - it's from the Joel Dewberry collection (which I got from Reprodepot, where it appears to be out now, but it is available at Sew Mama Sew). I do realize that I'm putting white fabric on the chairs, but I'm too stubborn and love the fabric too much to change my mind now, so I purchased a few extra yards for the future changings I'm sure they might need. I love that orange in my green dining room, and the birds seem just right for us.

The yellow table made it's way upstairs to my studio, where it continues to be used and loved everyday as my cutting table. And our new table is serving us well - family dinners, games, art and craft, reading, writing, and lots of talking - so very much of what we do happens at this table. Thinking about all of those moments of life lived at this table  - and the ones yet to come - makes me very happy.

More Corners of My Home on Flickr - (with nearly 20,000 photos of inspiration now. Wow.)

summer pillows and couch rambling

{Completely a tongue-in-cheek post ahead. I do not, of course, really and seriously fret over a couch - only a little. Just sayin'.}
I'm not digging on our couch lately. The couch we spent *forever* finding and agonizing over (and in the end, ended up with THE most basic of couches). I could tell you a million reasons why I strongly dislike it, but I'll spare you and save it for Steve (because he loves it when I talk about the couch. Ha!). I regularly stalk the aisle of my favorite antique furniture shops in hopes of a new (old) one. But only 6 years after buying ours, it seems both wasteful and expensive to replace it just because I don't love it anymore. For better or worse, I'm committed to my couch. And so...I do what I can to like it. Spread a little love on it, you know? Favorite quilts draped, and last week - new pillows in hopes of a little lift.

I hesitantly cut into this amazing piece of Marrimekko that Katja sent me this spring. I've been treasuring it for just the right project, and this seemed worthy enough for the scissors - and I used every square inch of it that I had. I put the opening on the back, fully anticipating washing these (white!) pillows often. I opted for ties instead of buttons this time, after my last set left button impressions on everyone's face who laid their head on the 'wrong' side. Oops.

I was talking with a friend the other day about the lifespan of couches (because as 'not thrilling' as that conversation might seem, everyone has a couch story) - she thinks I'll soon enter a few years of 'tolerance,' followed by a slight fondness for it before it finally is time to get a new one. I think the pillows might have pushed me over into the tolerance phase - I like it much better now. Does that mean I'm closer to a new couch?

summer dinner love

What I love about summer dinners:

inside - the light sticking around long enough to join us for an evening meal

outside - Well, everything. Even when we're not actually eating outside, I'm dreaming about eating outside. And dreaming about jumping into any of these photographs with a summer dinner in hand:

where my heart is
porch
untitled
under Alicia's pergola
picnic

corners of my home: a little light, please

I seem to be cursed by always being one light too short (no need to analyze that metaphor too deeply). Really...every time I bring a new lamp home, another one in the house kicks it. I think I'm cursed. Steve thinks it's some karmic forced conservation. I will admit to being a bit of a hog about leaving lights on. I'm trying, really I am, but I think I'm still rebelling from my childhood when my Dad docked 10cents off our allowance each time we left a light on in a room that we had left (see how well that worked?).

Anyway...I brought this lamp home from a church rummage sale, knowing full well that it meant another one in the house would surely break (it did..two hours later - I'm telling you - CURSED). The lampshade that came with it wasn't working for me, so I covered in it this sheer vintage fabric (orange and green, how I love thee). I used Stitch Witchery to adhere the fabric to the lampshade (which means that yes, I ironed the inside of the lampshade - not so bad, really). I kind of forgot that the inside of the lamp actually shows a lot (it was midnight, who can remember such details?), and so it's a little more sloppy than I would have liked (I should have actually sewed the hems rather than just cutting and folding). But do I have any intention of doing it over? Um, no. That would be tempting the lighting gods a bit too much. I'll leave it just how it is, and delicately turn the knob to turn it on....and off, too. I promise.

More Corners of My Home still going strong over on Flickr.

slowly sewing

Since the studio has been ready for working in, there's been a nice little groove of sewing, more slowly than before. Something I didn't predict, but that I'm quite happy about. It feels much more thoughtful and mindful. Because I can *see* everything, I already seem to spend a lot more time in the planning/thinking stage of making things. Like this:

Yeah. I'm wearing a hole in the floor in that spot, I'm sure. Just standing. Looking at it all. Planning. And thinking. No longer just grabbing whatever happens to be on the top of the pile becuase digging around for something better would be too overwhelming a task. I can actually spread things out, match them up, put them back when they're not right, and on and on. Ah...I do hope this lasts (my new mantra: I will pick up my mess after a project. I will pick up my mess after a project.)

Oh, and see that cute shiney head on the left? He's the other contributing factor to the productivity slow-down. With this newly mixed up space, there's comfortable room for two (he's on my laptop getting his daily You Tube fix). Nighttime sewing is much more fun with someone at the other end of the table making me laugh, and yes, slowing me down. So yeah, maybe there's a little less sewing, but there's a lot more fun. I'll take it.

come on in

So here it is. My little room. I actually feel a little shy about sharing it - isn't that funny? I've stalled on photographing it - making up excuses of little details that needed to be finished first (I never did install the vintage milk glass doorknob I scoured town for - see that hole in the door on the left?). When the truth is, I think, I just wanted to sink into it, and settle in and call it my own for a while. Before I shared it and before the work in it began. This weekend I did just that - broke it in, so to speak. There was some sewing, some writing, and even some entertaining (thank you Betsy, and then Jen, for letting me lock you in my room for a bit - you were both so gracious while I gushed on and on).

I could tell you about the color choices, or of my new obsession with chrome shelving, or the history of a gazillion things in here, and on and on (check the growing Flickr photoset for some details), but more overwhelming to me than those details are how the room feels to me. I mean, it's nothing grand - it's nothing that will be in a magazine spread - it's not like that. It's quite small and rather simple - but oh, it's so perfectly 'me' and I love it so. It's full of things I love, of things that are important to me both now and in my past, and has plenty of space for plans and dreams for what is yet to come.

 
Every night last week, when the house was dark and quiet, I went in and sat on the middle of the floor and looked up and around in a bit of wonderment. I didn't do any sewing or writing. Just sitting. Still and quiet. And forgive me for heading down the road of sap once more (I know, I do that), but being in here feels pretty amazing to me. Amazing in the way that I'm overcome with awe and gratitude about why I even have this room in the first place. Tremendous gratitude for the four people sleeping outside that door who give up a lot of space, and much patience to make my crazy dreams come true, and make the ride much more fun along the way; for the absolute honor and privilege of being a writer (is it really true?); and for the joy of making things. Dream, Write, Make - that's just what I plan to do in here.

More photos of my studio here.

a matter of perspective

I was blessed with a rather silent day yesterday, as the babes had a date with Grammie. I mostly finished my studio, and I spent a good deal of time cleaning up the domino effect of a mess I've created throughout the house. Scattered amongst my messes were the regular, day to day messes of my littles. Walking through the empty house, I stumbled upon drawings strewn about in the same flurry of creative energy in which they were made; a handmade 'sparkler' from one who I know is anxious for the Fourth of July; a meal for three in progress that seems to have been interrupted in a hurry; and the evidence of a face painting party in the bathroom.

Little relics and piles of creative play and fun. Suddenly, in the silence that is the house without them, these little messes became more than just 'a mess', but something quite beautiful. And if I think about it just right, they become not just work for me to pick up, but little gifts and reminders of the life we live together. Funny how that works.