Into the Winter Woods

 It's a new year and I've got a new embroidery pattern for you! This one is called "Into the Winter Woods" and I hope you enjoy stitching it as much as I enjoyed creating it. Click here to purchase in my etsy shop where you will find more photos and details.

It seems a fitting time to release this one, what with the frigid temps and heavy snowfall across the country right now. We just shoveled ourselves out from a blizzard a few days ago after coming home from visiting my family in the midwest for the holidays and are now bracing ourselves to see if our mercury is going to drop that drastically as well. Sometimes winter can be downright rough, but it also brings with it lots of great sports, vistas, and opportunities for indulging in cozy cabin getaways and festive comfort food....definitely some of my favorite things that I could not easily get away with in warmer months.



One of the things I'm trying to focus on in my patterns now is the ability for any novice stitcher to do them up very simply with basic outline stitches or for more intermediate to advanced stitchers to have a modern pattern they can really sink their teeth into. It can be hard to do that with a lot of the modern patterns out there, as adorable as they may be of course!, and so I had a lot of fun especially devising these show shoes for you as well as the little poof on the hat. It can be done with a simple french knot but if you are up to it and want to recreate the look I have here, you can try your hand at this "turkey stitch." Check back soon as I will be supplying a live link to my own tutorial for this stitch complete with lots of detailed photos for you.

In the meantime, happy stitching and happy 2014!

Looking Ahead

Yesterday was my birthday. It's crazy stuff, I tell ya.

It seems I hold many of the same ideas and values dear that I did in my 20's, but now I know how to put them into action, am more confident in my abilities, and am actually taken seriously by others. I know, how exciting and odd at the same time (muahahaha)! Since I have been in grad school these past two years (has it really been that long already? How can it be that I am now closer to graduating than I am to registering for my first semester?!), my sewing and embroidery, alongside my little etsy shop, have developed in ways I never expected. I have also stepped into new roles and opportunities in the other half of my professional life in the museum world. I still love having this split identity, even though it can be stressful juggling the two worlds at times. They are equally important parts of me and I feel lucky to be able to pursue lines of interest in both. Just this semester, in addition to classes and the million+1 projects I have going, I've begun some part-time work on campus, embarked on my internship and thesis, and may have the opportunity to start teaching sewing and embroidery classes in the Boston area soon!

As you can imagine, that doesn't leave a lot of time for custom orders (and yes, this is the point I have been building to). It has been an agonizing decision to come to, and one that I have pondered over for some time now, but I know now that this is the right time to stop taking on any more custom shoe orders for the foreseeable future. To be clear, I will still be blogging here and updating my etsy shop with ready-to-ship items, but will not be accepting orders for custom embroidered shoes.

It's been a pleasure and an honor to work with all the clients who have entrusted me with their requests over the years, but I no longer have the time to keep up the level of service I feel my clients deserve. It's difficult to justify the long-term viability of the work when communicating the details of each order, an unpaid task, takes far more time than the embroidery work itself. In addition, there are now many who have copied my designs for resale at lower price points and I don't feel it is a worthy competition. If there ever comes a day when I am able to do more custom shoes, I will be sure to let you know (I will update this post if that is the case). In the meantime,  I'm looking forward to putting my embroidery to the test in new endeavors, including teaching, pattern drafting, and if I get my way, hopefully more opportunities for publication. By doing so, I can continue to balance both worlds, just in new and different ways. On that note, I do have a new embroidery pattern I hope to release sometime in the coming month, so keep your eyes peeled!

A Little Cheer to Light the Way

 some cold weather goodness

I wanted to let everyone know that you can get free domestic shipping in my etsy shop today and tomorrow by entering the code "FREESHIP11" upon checkout! It applies to everything except for shoe and custom orders so have at it and order your friends and family and handmade goodness for the upcoming holidays. Or, ahem for yourself, cuz that's ok too!

We rolled into our driveway safe and sound late last night after a drive down to DC for Thanksgiving to visit with my brother's family since he is currently working there. It was a really good visit with them, especially since we don't get to see a lot of each other and a great opportunity for my husband and I to get to spend some time in the city we consider our mutual hometown since we grew up in different parts of the country, but met there. I only wish my holiday break was going to be a little longer so I could decorate and enjoy some cozy time at home. Instead, I am plugging away at another paper for grad school and plying myself with lots of tea to fight (what I hope is the last remnants of) a bad cold that I am very much over.

Life lately, in photos—from left to right, top to bottom:
1. Scrambling to make a thanksgiving pumpkin pie Tuesday night before our long drive. It stayed intact to my great relief!
2. We visited a couple of our favorite book stores and took a couple long walks around the district which was lovely, but of course made me quite nostalgic.
3. Massachusetts' first snowfall came into town the day after the election thanks to a mighty ole nor'easter.
4. The Charles River is right outside my window at work. I am a very luck girl.
5. Lamp light in Boston at night during the storm. It was blowing like crazy, but so gorgeous!
6. That Day I Dressed to the Nines, also known as Laundry Day.
7. A sneak peek at some miniature Selbu mittens I embroidered as part of a Christmas project using Alicia Paulson's pattern. I am thoroughly enjoying working on these as it is a perfectly cozy thing to be working on this time of year!
8. The sound of popping cranberries and the smell of port and cinnamon and orange—the holidays are definitely upon us!
9. This set would not be complete without my electric fireplace space heater. Words cannot express how much I adore this thing. To complete my fake but cheap heat, I crank a cd of ambient fireplace crackling. Complete Awesomeness.

After the Storm...

The little mini pumpkin my husband carved just chillaxin' in the kitchen

Happy (belated) Halloween to you all!

It's been quite the week 'round these parts—there are trees of all sizes down here and there, the T closed for roughly a day, and our work and classes were cancelled throughout the beginning of the week—all due to Hurricane Sandy. All things considered though, we came through just fine, but are still without an internet signal at home so I am posting this quick update on my lunch break to let you know that my etsy shop will be closed until our wifi is restored...which I seriously hope is soon because I am starting to go through withdrawals. All current orders will be shipped out tomorrow and I hope to have the shop and blog up and running again soon. Of course we are just one of many many many households waiting to be hooked back up though so we shall see. Things are starting to fall back into place here in northeastern Massachusetts where things were less severe but still rather intense. I hope everyone who was affected by the storm is safe and on their way back to normalcy. As for me, I am going to spend the weekend gobbling roasted pumpkin seeds and finishing my midterm paper....can you guess which one of those things I am most excited about?

A Little Christmas Spice

Now available in my etsy shop!

I am almost free for the semester and have been able to spend some blissful time working in my studio as of late. I have my list of christmas gifts that I need to work on and have organized all my supplies for those but I couldn't help but put in some time on something that is for us! As a result, I am almost done now with my "Whoville" quilt top. Well, that is what I decided to call the quilt because the colors and style of the fabrics remind me of the animated version of Dr. Suess's The Grinch. For some reason, when it comes to Christmas, I am ALL ABOUT the older, vintage, slightly gaudy retro decorations. You will find none of those "frilly angels sighing dark red velvet with gold trim" type decorations at my house, no sir.

As I was going, I decided to use some of the leftover fabric for some pillows in the shop that are inspired by our quilt. I resized them (insert brief but mind-numbing confusion over how to enlarge a LeMoyne Star from an 8 inch block to a 12 inch block without a pattern...) and used some bright white cotton as a counterpoint to the cheery colors of Michael Miller's Christmas Spice collection fabrics. I love that the LeMoyne Star in the red and lime is appropriate both as a Christmas star and as a poinsettia and I think I'll be making a couple to complement our quilt too so that I can change out our usual pillow covers for holiday ones soon!


P.S. Did you notice the fancy schmancy new favicon above and facebook/pinterest/etsy/flickr buttons on my sidebar? Check those shiny suckers out! My husband, who is in a web design program as he transitions from graphic design, made them from scratch for me and I am o-so-proud of him for figuring out how to do it for me. I should also perhaps mention how patient and calm he was as I tried to describe the exact watercolor look I wanted for the buttons. He is just a good man, what can I say?!

Weekend Projects

My new blueberry colorway

There's been gorgeous autumn light streaming in through my studio window this morning and it was enough motivation to get started on a slew of pillow making for the shop. So far, I've got my Liberty of London patchwork pillows back in stock and now the design is available in a raspberry and new blueberry colorway. I've got enough for a few of each so if you love this tana lawn as much as I do, act fast.

Ok, ok, enough shameless self-promotion. What does this weekend find you working on? Anyone out there starting in on holiday projects? I could use some motivation in that department but for the time being I'm going to force myself to finish a midterm assignment and then whip up some indian for dinner tonight before we settle in for popcorn and a movie at home (popcorn on the stove of course which has my mouth watering already...). I find it's always good to have a reward to look forward to after devoting precious weekend time to productivity!

Pillow Bonanza

dresden plate + liberty of london tana lawn = o la la!

Those who follow me on facebook or flickr got a little sneak peak at the makings of this pillow before the festival, but here is the final product in all it's glory! I am quite happy and relieved to be able to have a tangible version of my vision (isn't that always the most satisfying thing?!) and am itching to keep one of them for myself...still considering that. Either which way, the first is live and in the shop now though, just waiting for someone to snag it up and give it a proper home.

Why so relieved though? Well, turns out that dresden plate is a DOOZY! As I found out the night before my last day of prep before the show, there are a few snazzy methods (including english paper piecing, needle-turn applique, and raw edge machine applique with fusible webbing just to name a few) that make the whole process a lot easier but found myself with none of the tools necessary and I must confess this is the first sewing project that has made me swear and cry this much. C'est la vie, it happens sometimes right? I finally decided to trim my rounded petals to be triangles and as 2 o'clock in the morning rolled around,  I called it a night so I could get up early and take another stab at appliqueing the inner circle in the morning. It's not perfect, but I will remember that I am capable of conquering any scary new sewing project every time I see that slightly crooked top stitch. In my mind, that is exactly what makes handmade so very special and unique: an automated machine just can't allow for such a story and the items made with them don't carry that kind of history.

"The popular name for this quilt, Dresden Plate, reflects the romance of the Victorian Era with it's love of elaborate decoration on household items and décor. Dresden, Germany was a center of 19th century romanticism movement in art, one that included the fine decoration of porcelain. The plates were embellished with elaborate design using flowers, fruits and foliage. The beautiful plates would surely have been admired by women of the early 20th century." —www.patternsfromhistory.com

As I worked on this, I fell harder for the Liberty tana lawn. The prints are the perfect blend of old and new, of nostalgic and fresh. They feel like a very British version of the brightly colored scraps of feedsack that women of the 1920's and 30's in America would have been using when they popularized this quilt block. I ended up using another chunk of it to do a couple patchwork pillows, one of which sold at the show and the other pictured below. All of these are now up in the shop as well:

Clockwise, left to right: Yo-yo Rosette Pillow on White Linen,
AMH Square Dance Pillow (with pastry line on the back!), Yo-yo Rosette Pillow on White Linen,
Liberty of London Patchwork Pillow, AMH Little Folks Patchwork Pillow

So many shiny new things, I can barely handle all the excitement! Now that I am back to focusing on my etsy shop, I can work at a slightly more leisurely pace and I do have a few new things up my sleeve that I'm planning to release this June/July. The feel of summer is beginning to take hold and is influencing my thoughts about new embroidery patterns and sachets, but no sneak peeks just yet. I'm off to get some of these thoughts on paper and will share here as soon as they are presentable...

Off to College Embroidery Pattern

Delivered hot n' fresh to you on this holiday weekend: my new "Off to College" embroidery pattern, now available in the shop!

As usual, the designs are my own original artwork and this one's got a handful of quintessential collegiate items such as a vintage street bicycle (based on a combination of my own bike and a Papillionaire), pen, #2 pencil, textbooks, ruled paper, composition notebook (an ode to my obsession with Harriet the Spy as a kid), school pennant, and a typewriter complete with all the keys and a bit of paper that's been rolled in and is just waiting for you (can you hear the tap tap tapping of those slick little keys?).

detail of my pattern sample

I'm a sucker for the nerdy details of each item with all it's bells and whistles but I also like for them to maintain the charm of the hand drawn original with it's slight imperfections. My goal then is to strike a balance in my patterns between technical accuracy and clarity so that each item is at once interesting but feasible for the novice to advanced stitcher. Depending on how practiced you are, you can stitch up each design in more and more complex ways to include as much or as little embellishment as you like.

How would you stitch this pattern up? Have you seen the quilts given at graduation open houses where all the guests write memories and well wishes on blank squares within a finished quilt using a permanent fabric pen? I'd love to see the designs in this pattern stitched up and incorporated into such a quilt to give as a going away gift for a grad's dorm room!

the balancing act

two books i've started to read to school myself on running my own *successful* business

sometimes i get a bit sad that i seem to do more admin work for my little business than i do creative work. i have been sketching new ideas for the shop, longingly wishing i could enter into a few blog pillow contests, running my hands over uncut pieces of fabric that are just calling my name, and drooling over some of my craft books dreaming of what i want to create next. but it's just not happening. instead i sit down to the computer in the morning to answer business emails, create ads, edit photos, create listings, make phone calls, and on and on until i look up and realize the next door neighbor can now see me huddled over my laptop because it's dark out and i forgot to draw the shades. i guess it's all part of turning something you love into something you can draw an income from.

i've had a lot of days like this lately and feel i'm at the point where i really need to force myself to stick to more of a schedule. while i'm almost always being productive, i do wonder if i could be more efficient or just better at balancing the different types of tasks at hand.

being my own task-master is one of the hardest parts of working on my own ("put the cat down, write that email you've been dreading, don't sleep in, and for pete's sake do NOT turn on the tv katrina lynn!"). in an effort to motivate and school myself though, i've begun to read a couple books written for freelancers, artisans, and the DIY generation: the anti 9 to 5 guide by michelle goodman and the boss of you by lauren bacon and emira mears (i've also seen a lot of press for creative, inc. and the handmade marketplace but no personal reviews....has anyone read them/would recommend them?). so far, they are both getting me to think more critically about a lot of aspects of my business including how i work and what i need to do to grow and be successful. plus they show how other women have managed to do all this successfully and so they are powerful motivators!

until i get to the point where i've soaked up all the knowledge i can about running my own small business (with balance AND efficiency) i remind myself that, at the end of the day when the neighbor is peeking into my studio, this balancing act is one i much prefer to the cubicle job of my past that i came home crying from and where i was tempted to knock my head against my computer screen on a daily basis (ok, so i actually did do that once...me + office job = soul sucking experience). and sacrificing for this, though difficult, is also going to be worth it!

nose to the grindstone

color theory bunting in my new shop based on some that i made for our wedding reception this past summer

my apologies for being absent from the blog this week, i decided i needed to step away for a few days to really focus on some special things for my shop and the blog! we've recovered from the 4th (or is it 5th?) major blizzard in these parts, i've been able to work through a fun tutorial featuring some anna maria horner fabric that i'm going to share here on monday, AND i've got the new shop opened up (!!) with several items posted, including my color theory draft stoppers and some new color theory bunting which turned out wonderfully. i am feeling so good about the aesthetic and cohesiveness of the new shop which is what i've been thinking about and working towards for so long so it's great to be able to finally share some of that progress here too. i do have several new items up my sleeve which are still in the planning stages though so i hope you will bear with me as i continue to roll them out!

one of those is my line of embroidery patterns and i have just finished up the first one titled, "farmer's market." i've had the file ready but wanted to stitch it up to have an example to show and i have to say that it is something i am really very proud of. tomorrow i am going to list it in the shop and will also share a bit more about it here—can't wait to show you!

o what a conundrum!

all i really want to do is curl up with a movie, a quilt, my knitting, and knit knit knit my brains out! as soon as winter weather rolls into town i just have an urge to hear the clack of needles and feel the yarn running through my fingers. i did start this simple dishcloth last night which i think i will pair with a solid blue and a solid ivory one for my other shop, purls and lace. the poor little shop gets so much more attention from me once the mercury drops!

i do have a bigger dilemma than just not having enough time to knit though and i wanted to get as many of your opinions on it as possible. you see, when i first started on etsy the shop name that i preferred (i.e. The Story of Kat) was already taken. I was SO bummed but also very eager to get started so i went ahead and just registered with a the german translation of that name (i.e. Geschichten von Kat). Well it's a mouthful and i feel like it's a roadblock for me now so a while back i randomly checked on the name and whoever had it must have closed up shop because it was available! da da DA!

now i face the question of whether to switch over or not...? i know i'd be much happier with the english version because it's so much easier for people to pronounce, spell, and find again on etsy. it would be a fresh start around the new year BUT i would lose all my shop hearts, favorites, convos, and all the work that i've put into making GVK recognizable and profitable. I've just passed 200 sales in September and i do not relish going back to 1 or 2 sales a month as i build an identity all over again.

i actually did just panic and register the name so now it's mine (eeks!). the question just remains...how do i make the switch? when? am i going to lose everything i've worked so hard for if i completely switch over? what to do what to do??! any constructive and honest feedback from you lovely folks would be so very much appreciated!

p.s. i found this great resource for analyzing the content of your blog and think i am going to try it. thought it would be a great morsel to share with you all!

who knew?!

so apparently my first item EVER made it to the front page! um...back in august. i have no idea how it missed my radar screen but see that there grey coffee cozy with the red buttons up in the second row? that's me! it's an item from my other shop purls and lace.

one of barbara cooney's illustrations from ox-cart man, by donald hall

while sewing and embroidery is my mainstay, i do love to knit especially in the colder months. it makes me think of the story ox-cart man which is one of my favorite children's books and it's a convenient way for me to get back to the materials of my roots since i grew up doing a lot of weaving, spinning, and dyeing.


for now, i've got a few new coffee cozies going up which are made with organic cotton yarn, pure wools, and each sprinkled with new and vintage buttons of all sorts. i hope to be expanding purls and lace this winter with several pairs of knitted mittens and socks as i really want the shop to focus on accessories that you can bundle up in. being able to get cozy and warm is, after all, what makes fall and winter so delicious to me!

cleaning house

excerpt from vogue sewing, 1970.

stop the presses: i am actually cleaning my workroom!

and i don't just mean moving a pile from one desk to another! not that i would EVER do that...ahem. i'm about halfway done now and it feels so good. well, the cleaning part isn't exactly fun but it does feel great to see the results. i'm so lucky to actually have my own workspace and am hopeful that soon we'll be able to get that guest futon so i can set out my handmade nation pillow in a proper place of honor!

this odd streak of motivation for housekeeping has had other amazing results...last night i set up some marinated chicken for tonight's dinner and started some fenugreek sprouts so that we'll have fresh greens for our falafel pitas later this week. i've always done brocoli or bean sprouts before and was pleasantly surprised by the deep aroma of curry that emanated from the fenugreek seeds as i prepped the jam jar on the windowsill...cannot wait to try them!

off i go though to feed the cats their lunch, refill my chai, and return to the cleaning frenzy in my workroom. tomorrow: pictures of our most beautiful wedding cake. an amazingly talented friend made it and i'm convinced that ace of cakes would hire her in the blink of an eye!

P.S. take 20% off in my etsy shop! it's all got to go—details on the clearing out of the shop to come...

Grand Opening: Purls and Lace

You might have noticed the new shop on my blog's sidebar...Purls and Lace—my new etsy shop!

This is my second shop and will be focused around recreating knit (and some crochet) accessories from vintage patterns. Snoods, spats, stockings, and lacy shawls for the lass who loves to dress with vintage flair! I'm also going to be making some cozies for hot water bottles, tea pots, and coffee cups. You can find some bulky knit cozies for your to go coffee cups in the shop now which I've embellished with lots of vintage buttons from my stash!

Just for you lovely blog followers, please take 10% off in my Purls and Lace shop for the next week when you enter the uber top secret code in the "note's to seller" section during check-out. And what is the uber top secret code you ask? the code is, drumroll please:

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

not kidding kiddos, just copy and paste! may as well have some fun with it if you're going to run your own shop, huh?!

seeing red (in a good way!)

I just finished this apron today and am so happy with the way the red hand-stitching came out! It also matches the pair of potholders i posted in the shop just a bit ago. If you hadn't noticed yet, I'm a bit in love with polka dots :) I love that they have some vintage charm about them but also a very graphic and modern appeal as well.

I've been trying to update the shop more often so make sure to check it out if you haven't recently. I've got some new draft snakes and vintage items up with other new things in the works—i hope to post more soon on some rice hot/cold therapy bags with essential oils mixed in and about some coasters that i'm working on now!

on the horizon

i spent part of my day finishing up three packages of lined envelopes. These new ones are all so bright with very nice paper, very girly and stylish i think. i have such fun coordinating all the pieces, the patterns, the images and colors and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment upon being able to introduce them to my shop and to you!


They've each been posted to my shop now so you can see more photos of them in detail there.


Other than that I also found a part-time job that I want to apply to....finally something I am qualified for exists!! It is a cataloguing position with a fine arts auction house and I'm hoping it could be my lucky break. Everyone knows that being a working adult can be a bit overwhelming at times, but since I have not been able to work, I crave the feeling of being needed, of having an intellectually stimulating purpose to my life in some way. Plus, i've had to start buying awful coffee to help us stay on our budget and GOOD GRIEF, it would be so nice to have some ridiculously expensive whole coffee beans in the pantry! :) Apart from coffee though, I have also loved building my Etsy shop as the weeks and months of unemployment have passed. It's the one thing which I have control of and it has given me back some of that sense of purpose which I thought lost.

Thank you for stopping by the blog, it's always great to see more faces "follow" along and to find out about how other Etsians are getting along with their craft and their growing businesses. If you'd like to follow along as well, just scroll down and to your right to see the new FOLLOW feature on the blog—Welcome and make yourself at home!

favorite finds from great etsy shops!

now that all the christmas gifts have been given and got, i can finally share with you some of the Etsy items we gave and received this year! You could say that Etsy saved our Christmas this year. In part because I don't have a lot of money right now, but i love trying to find unique and personally meaningful things for each person! I also felt good about buying on Etsy because I knew that with every dollar spent, it was going straight to a handmade artisan such as myself, someone trying to get by on their own wits and creativity during not so bright economic times.



one of my personal favorites is this scarf from greenolive. i definitely crossed into coveting territory when it came to this scarf i'm afraid to say and brought it up ever so casually in conversation preceeding christmas way too much, haha. it was so fun to open the present as well: the seller had included a complimentary handmade felted flower pin that matches the scarf perfectly. A fun surprise and the perfect accessory for my winter threads.



These are a pair of elegant and so very gorgeous calla lilly earrings which i gave to my mom...and briefly considered keeping for myself! I purchased them from Khristinne's Unique Handmade Jewelry on Etsy and hope you check out her shop because she has so many intricate and beautiful pieces to offer. Each one seems to have a story to tell, a personality to spout which is a quality I appreciate most about individually handmade items.



one more item which i didn't even know i was looking for until i ran across it in a search of men's items on Etsy was this really cool cotton polo shirt by Vital Industries. For the most part, those selling and buying on Etsy tend to be women and it is rare that i come across really neat items made with the male in mind. Vital has a great selection for both genders and they were so fun to buy from..always refreshing to find nice people out there! I love love love their screenprinted designs and have them on my own (completely rhetorical because i am so very much BROKE!) i want list.

i hope you take a moment to check these guys out or mark them as a favorite shop because they all have very finely made items, friendly service, and speedy packages which are a delight to open (after doing alot of shipping and handling of fine art, i have a kind of big hang up about properly packaged packages!).


on a closing note, do you like the new magnets in my shop? I was really pleased with how they came out and will have more to add in time. otherwise keep your eyes peeled later on in the week when i should have some new linen dish towels ready as well as a sneak peek for a new item coming to geschichtenvonkat.

a sigh of relief and contentment

so last night was the holiday party/trunk show/everything but the kitchen sink soiree and we had so much fun! I loved the experience of meeting so many new and interesting folks from around DC, setting up my wares to share, and eating way too many mini brownies. I'd say the event was definitely a great success and a good experience for me to have as my first attempt at in-person selling as it was very relaxed, no pressure, and lively atmosphere.

so glad i can take a break from sewing my fingers to the bone though, i must admit. still, i will use my christmas break to work on the quilt for my niece. it's so lovely in a creamy white and calico rose with ivory satin binding. the back will have embroidery work with a lullaby and nature/farm themed vignettes to complement the roses and that our family comes from a long line of sturdy german farmers :) i'll have to post some images once i get enough work done on it to share and here's hoping the lack of a definitive deadline should keep my finger tips from cracking and peeling any more!



before fully giving in to the holiday break though, i need to head to the post office and ship out the last of the christmas orders. i would so much love to stay in bed with piles of blankets and tea, my cat, and a good book, but duty calls and i'll soon be off to the post office in georgetown.



this too shall pass, as my mother would say. i'll spend the rest of this week photographing all the new pieces which i made for the show, baking up a serious christmas cookie storm, and wrapping all those gifts i bought on etsy. i am so excited to see people's faces when they open them!! apart from the midnight candlelit service, those faces are pretty much my favorite part of christmas.

Mister postman look and see, do you got a letter in your bag for me?

Deliver the letter, the sooner the better!

i'll be adding a handful of new items to the shop throughout the week so keep your eyes peeled! today i've posted two new letter sets, one (pictured above) which is vintage themed and another which is christmas themed. each listing has detail pictures of each envelope showing the custom liners. these make great stocking stuffers or a small but special gift for creative friends—especially those you wish you'd hear from more often ;)

beginnings, endings, and all that lay between

here zoë and i sit in front of the space heater, another day of coffee, sewing, designing some new purses, job applications, and whatever else drops into my lap.

i'm starting this blog to share my musings, adventures, and creations with friends, family, and YOU. at the very least i'm aiming for one post a week, probably more because i never seem to run out of things to carry on about. so check back in here and then check out my little shop on etsy. I hope you enjoy the many vintage and handmade items for you and for your home; each unique and designed to be useful with a good helping of indie style, storybook charm, and old-fashioned themes. i sew everything by hand, design and create all my own linoblock prints, and generally make a rather large mess in my work area of pretty little notions and art supplies galore!

It's a new venture which is keeping me plenty busy while i search for "real" work and helping me to support myself while on this economic roller coaster ride. afterall, who says you can't do something with an art degree?!