on my desk

some watercolor doodles among a growing mess of pens, pencils and animals.  if only i could get these creatures to organize themselves.

lights & whites

new color & fragrance-free handsoap pairs.  available here.

random bits

a magazine and some tiny flowers came in the mail just in time to be a reward (for completing a big project).

the weather picked a good day to be rainy.

a nice stereograph also arrived in our mailbox.  i can almost get the images to overlap and become 3-d...  david is so good, he can get it to "lock-in" in seconds.

this guy

and an interview i did for theartlist.com.

look at her go...

 

 

sketchbook

i don't know how many sketchbooks i have going right now, but here are a couple pages from the orange one.

new wrist zips + stocklist

i recently completed my first wholesale wrist zip order.  shipped to a neat shop in australia:  eclectico.  (they already carry handsoap).  it was fun choosing a colorful assortment.

also, a few new colors in  the shop.  i think the vintage triangle fabric is pretty fantastic.

like, wow...

(just posted this on our collaborative site, but i love the colors, so i'll to put it here, too).

a quick postcard we made and sent to a birthday buddy.  happy day, A!

 

holiday market

i had a great time yesterday at our local holiday market (despite having slept only 3 hours the night before).  so many people came!  so many friendly faces!  unfortunately, i didn't take lots of photos like i'd planned to.  oh, well.  here a couple from where i was sitting.

elevenses

(not that i'd want this guy to fix my tea).

and then there's this guy

playing with colored pens in my sketchbook, instead of the usual black.  kinda fun.

mix-n-match

new!  black wrist zips available singly or mix and match the zipper colors.  i'll wear one with peach and one with green. 

oh, and i used up the scraps these tees (womens and kids) to make a couple pairs of  wrist zips.  these may be my favorites yet.  maybe i should keep a pair...

this is an old article, but a nice pick-me-up.  i love what sadie says about wrist zips:  "a little on the dork side of accessories – but more so in that really cool Miranda July kinda dork way".  not bad.

the photographer

doing business

watching

paisley pleat

finished sewing this top last week.  started with the same pattern as my last one...  this time with a pleat and a round neck.  this bright (thrifted) fabric seemed perfect for fall, but there was only enough for short sleeves.  that's okay, it's nice layered, too.

   

    

mail art

david and i recently started offering mail art subscriptions in the shop.  we sent the first one last week and are excited to have more lined up.  these are so fun to work on.  passing ideas and images back and forth, talking about placement and pattern.  (david does most of the gluing). you can see more of our collaborative work here.

we've both been sending mail art for years, even before we met.  during grad school (and for a couple years after) i altered old postcards and sent them to friends and acquaintances.  complete with random messages on the backs.  all numbered, i sent over 100.  here are a couple:

you could almost say that david and i met through mail art.  our mutual friend encouraged me to write to david (he lived states away).  so i did.  in return he sent me these two halves, a week or two apart. i thought it was pretty awesome that he split the message in two, so i had to wait till the second half arrived to piece it together.  needless to say, i was intrigued.

where these two halves live in my sewing area.

the woman in white

by wilkie collins.  i really enjoyed this book.  finished it a couple days ago and have missed reading it since.  apparently, even after 609 pages i wasn't ready for it to be over.  my favorite (parts of) sentences:

"...and was then led into a large and lofty room where my supper was awaiting me, in a forlorn manner, at one extremity of a lonesome mahogany wilderness of dining-table"

"my emotions expressed themselves in pathetic apostrophes, which i was just self-possessed enough to couple..."

here are some sketches of a few of the characters.  they didn't look so cartoon-y in my head.

two portraits

(each 3x3 inches)

inspiration

marcel dzama, one of my favorites.

(via everything).  watch the enchanting/horrifying department of eagles video.

also inspiring, the sketchbook series.  after looking at these artist's sketches for a few minutes, all i could want to do was go draw in my own book.  so i did.