progress and pincushions

I have had this crazy, possibly tacky, and dearly loved pincushion ever since I started quilting with my granny as a kid. Now that I am working on multiple projects at a time though, I find myself holding extra pins between my lips, poking them in the arms of chairs, finding them built up like sediment at the bottom of the antique ashtray turned holder of odds 'n ends at my bedside, mixed in with my bobby pins in the bathroom, or perhaps hidden away in some dusty corner where the cat hoards her varied and massive stash of shiny thing-a-ma-bobs (And yes, from this information and the photo of artfully arranged pins above, you are correct to assume that I have a slightly serious case of ocd and am only a little bit scatter-brained...what, can't you see that combination being part of a winning personality?!).

well, back to the point though (pun kind of intended i regret)...since realizing this pin problem, i've been doing a bit of pawing around on etsy and i've found some fine pincushions that might just be able to hold their own next to my current one. You can click on the image to go straight to the listing or check out the links to each shop's home page for all kinds of good stuff!

color and more color, that's what i like :)
found this little lovely at Zemphira's etsy shop

this comes to us from The Daily Pincushion which has a huge selection
—plus i just can't get enough of this color lately, so pretty in an unexpected way i think!

and last but certainly not least, here is a stylish number from picciolo

quite a modern design appeal but down-to-earth and charming as well, don't you think?!

p.s. I've recently been working with some really fun Alexander Henry "pantry" fabric which is what is shown up top there with my own pincushion. i'm close now to being able to post a few of the pieces I've made with it so start getting excited.

GVK shop update

Our sale section is growing! I've dropped prices on a whole slew of good stuff for ya and am going to see to it that the deals keep coming!

I've also dropped shipping prices around the whole shop (for keeps!). Only $1 international shipping and NO domestic shipping costs for all and any custom lined envelopes! Plus, I'm working on offering better combined shipping prices for all items...it takes a while to individually edit the whole shop so this is a work in progress, please stand by :)

ooo la la

Who knew business cards could ever look so dang good?! Since I started selling in September, I've been using some cobbled together cards printed out on study notecards here on our home printer. Not bad actually, but these I am in love with!

My uberly talented designer fiancee whipped these up and we just got them back from the printers today (www.VistaPrint.com if you're in the market for some), complete with the lovely bookshelf logo he created for my shop and blog banner as well as some classic retro colors. mmm, tastes classy!

non sequiturs and such

excuse the dim lighting here, I just got these lovely embroidered linen tea towels in the mail tonight from my Nana and I had to share them with you right away! I adore them so much, she made them especially for my upcoming birthday! Her embroidery work has always been so flawless, even the backs look perfect. Someday, someday i hope i will be half as talented as both of my grandmothers are, they're just amazing.

in other news i just got so thirsty that i filled up an entire Mason jar with ice water and drank it right down. Just another piece of exceptionally important information i wanted to pass on ;)

sometimes life is like icky green jello with nasty stuff in it

alas, my last week can be compared to icky green jello with nasty fruit crap in it. some weeks are just like that though and i'm ready to toss it and start over, sans jello and nasty crap!

gotta love the photographs and illustrations from vintage American cookbooks like this though right?! so appetizing, i gotta get me a gelatin mold NOW! Of course there are some great old recipes out there from grandma's table, but also some rather regrettable mid-century concoctions. Thanks to James Lileks, you can check out a plethora of such regrettable food at his online gallery.

At the very least, browse through the "MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" gallery. Hopefully you will laugh as much as you will cringe....because we all have some days that are as misguided as these recipes and being able to laugh through them can be the strongest of cures!

The gallery can now also be found in book form, tada!

death by chocolate (but i lived to tell the story)

coffee and a slice of flourless chocolate cake at Kramer's in Dupont Circle

It got so warm in DC this weekend, it felt like a perfect spring day with joggers in shorts and birds in the trees again. I have missed having a real winter but goodness, i hope it stays this way! since it was so nice we stopped at Kramer's, our favorite cafe/local bookstore, for some browsing but ended up eating this flourless chocolate cake, otherwise known as 'Death by Chocolate.' soooo divine, soooo not part of my plan to lose weight...oops! At least we did a lot of walking around the city that day though. We ended up finding a great used bookstore up on 18th and walked home in the fading light of evening with our arms filled up with all that bookery-goodness! I even found a christmas present for someone!! yup, i am that person.

Besides the jaunting about, I made stew from scratch on Sunday evening which of course meant we had to pop in The Lord of the Rings; they just go together i tell you! I was also able to get a lot done this weekend work-wise. I'm very pleased with that as it means I'll have new items to post to the shop throughout the week: some new, some favorites, and some great vintage finds! So keep your eyes peeled! Or just open, that is also acceptable.

A GVK Special Offer for You!

Hurry to get free domestic shipping on
GVK's valentine custom lined envelopes!

Each one is sold individually for only $2 and they are perfect for holding
your dearest love letters this V-Day, whether your valentine lives near or far!

new fabrics and new projects

here are some of the new fabrics i've gotten for the hot/cold packs as well as some other new items i'm designing for the store in the new year. I love finding new materials that fit the image i have for the shop and am excited to be closing in on the look i'm after. i hope you like them too!


and here is a sneak peek at a couple of the hot/cold rice therapy packs, i think they are so cute!! the patterns are paired with natural linen and muslin on the backsides and there are the muslin linings to each that really give them the extra durability they need. gotta love simple smart solutions like this that are pretty, good smelling, and (possibly most important) all about nap-time and making you feel better!

adventures in aromatherapy

I just started a new project and am having a lot of fun with it. I am making some hot/cold rice therapy bags for sore muscles, stress relief, headaches, you name it! Homemade cold packs and heating pads made with some really fun new fabrics and made extra special with hints of lavender, chamomile, and other essential oils to help you relax and feel better. Since I have a sore back and a nasty streak of insomnia, I thought it would be the perfect comfort item for me and the shop!

I'm making the pouches with the same idea as my draft snakes...there is an inner muslin bag that holds the perfumed rice and an outer decorative cover. They have no metal or plastic adornments so they can go straight into the microwave for 1–3 minutes without any worries! I also plan on making some with buttons so that the decorative cover is removable (and washable!). What's even better is that each pack can be heated or frozen, depending on your needs!

I'm making three specific sizes: long ones to wrap around your neck and shoulders with rice and soothing chamomile, square packs with rice and a floral blend for general body and muscle aches, and then a third especially sized for laying over the eyes and forehead with gentle flax seed and lavender.

I have the first few done already and will post them to the shop as soon as I can get them photographed. I also plan on offering up some as part of a special blog giveaway (details coming soon)!

my new vintage inspired outfit

so very excited, i got a new dress today! it doesn't happen very often that i get new clothes lately but it seemed to have my name written all over it at the store. plus, i just began volunteering each week at the library/archives at Dumbarton Oaks and it's very nice to have a new work appropriate outfit that fits right and is not a sweater with holes in the elbows or pants that somehow became a bit too short since last winter...

it's one of those dresses that, on the rack, i would not expect to like. i can't quite pin down what color it is and i'm always afraid a dress will make me look like i'm expecting. how nice to find something that is ladylike and comfortable with a bit of vintage charm that seems to say, "hi i work with dusty books and old photographs all day and when i grow up i'm going to be a female indiana jones!" ooo i love it! i'll just need to add some warm leggings so i do not freeze while walking to work.


for now, i've paired it with an old cable-knit black sweater i have with large buttons and my favorite pair of black dress shoes...these also look a bit vintage but are actually only a few years old. i imagine they are the kind of shoes i would wear if i were walking over a bridge in paris (luckily blisters don't exist in my dreams).