good long while

house updates

I've been pretty bad about posting house updates. We've been plugging away and here is some of our progress. I would have liked to spend a little more time on the photos, but with the baby napping I had to be quick about it.

+ Shelves in the entry way. It took a while to figure out how to configure them. Originally we were going to do three shelves running the length of the wall. Once it was set up like that we realized it was dangerous to turn the corner from the hallway. After a few different variations (and opposing opinions) this is what we arrived on. We have an egg press bird + produce calendar, that I love, in the frame. The books have just been thrown on the shelves at this point. I may fuss around with that someday.

+ My brother gave me a cool andrew bird poster with a cicada/violin a while ago. I finally framed it. This photo is bad but the poster is silkscreened and the background is metallic gold and the wings are a transparent white. It's a fantastic image.

+ Finally, here are some kitchen photos. We still have a few small things to do but it's pretty much done. Originally we planned to paint the cabinents, which was going to be a big job at the end of a long project. In the end, with new hardware and the new configuration, we decided the wood looked good enough.

{More about the kitchen here here and here}

a few note sets

Hi! I made a few vintage wallpaper note sets and put them in the good long while shop.

colorful

I was just going through my photos and I spotted these colorful group shots of the snakes.

one thing leads to another

I just started knitting my first pair of socks. I'll post some pics once I get a little further along. Anyway, next thing you know I'm trolling the internet for a new pair of clogs. You know, to go with my soon-to-be-made new socks.

I have two pairs of clogs but neither pair is just right. We'll see what happens. I need to finish up those socks first.

{clogs from here}

hobo chic

Okay. There's probably a better name for this post but this one made me laugh.

I'm in the process of ruthlessly cleaning out my closet. I'm trying to look at everything for what it is (which is often ill-fitting) and not what I want it to be. Already I'm feeling better about my slimmed down options. And I think it's helpful to realize what it is that I keep buying and not wearing. Live and learn, as they say.

Which leads me to the point of this post. From this purge came two recent projects.

The first project was simply patching a favorite pair of jeans. I was ready to buy new jeans but no one seems to make a plain old pair of jeans anymore. I love this pair because they aren't low rise or flared or made of some strange stretchy material. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the patch but I kinda like it. And I have my old non-fashiony jeans back.

The second project started with a shirt that I never wear but can't seem to put into the donate pile. I realized it's the color I like and the fit that I dislike. So I looked up a little project that I remembered from martha and ten minutes later I had a new, baby-friendly necklace in a lovely shade of golden yellow.

a little knitting

I'm still wanting to knit a vest or pants or a sweater for the babe but haven't made much progress since this post. I did, however, finish a much less ambitious project - a pair of legwarmers. 

No pattern, quick, easy - just my style these days. And since it seems that no one makes tall baby socks they are actually quite useful for these cold winter days.

something different

Hello. I have a small bit of news to start off the new year. I just opened a new etsy shop!

I still hope to re-open my hand-printed textiles shop again, but in the meantime I thought it would be fun to have a space for some other projects. First up, a small batch of linen snakes!

You can save 20% in the new shop using the code glwblog

Thanks for continuing to check in on this blog and happy New Year!

vintage wallpaper stationery

I used the wallpaper found on this trip to my favorite thrift shop to make a stationery set for a friend. The set includes 4 folded notes with lined envelopes, 4 flat notes with lined envelopes and 4 gift tags.

fancy birthday snake

A little friend of ours turned one recently. It's not quite my style to send a five foot long toy as a gift so I decided to try my hand at making a smaller and fancier snake - because doesn't every child deserve a fancy little linen snake?

We are keeping the snake on the right (he was my practice snake and has a few flaws, like an off center tongue). The fellow on the left will be traveling through the mail today and will meet his new owner soon.

preview

Here is a little preview of a couple projects I've been working on. I'll post more info about them soon!