Tasha

A while back my dear friend and inspirer Natalie loaned me her cherished book Drawn from New England by Bethany Tudor.  I felt very privilaged for Natalie to share this prize with me.  Her copy is in nearly mint condition, being printed in 1977.  What a beautiful book.

Tasha Tudor was a talented artist, farmer and mother during the 20th century.  She had a deep passion for the simple things, and created sweet and nearly magical traditions for her family.  Her lifestyle was nothing short of extraodinary, doing most everything in the fashion of the 1850's.  Growing the family's food source, keeping hens and cows as well as other farmyard animals.  A very productive woman, it seems all actions were taken with a lovingly atuned eye for beauty.

A few of my favorite Tudor family activities are making elaborate clothing catalogs for her children's dolls (4-times a year) and sending lit birthday cakes down the river for the children to chase along the riverside.

Thanks for sharing Natalie!

Coming Soon to the Shop

Greetings. I know I haven't made many updates to the shop lately! However, I am working on custom single framed letters. Everyone should enjoy some artful monogramming! Also working on a new cursive font that can be used in banners and singles. Hooray!

Favorite Things: Textiles

Some of my favorite textiles from my closet.  Several of these are so amazing, I really have no idea how they were made.  My ultimate favorite is a strange coat once owned by one of Prince's wardrobe ladies.  The linen colored cotton with inset blue metallic stripes and floating cord embellishment may be the most beautiful thing I own.

My newest addition is a lovely textural handprinted wool scarf from Gaijin Made.  The colors and textures make me happy.  I love how the warp is a black tighter twisted yarn and the weft yarns are more fluffy.

Frills

Thinking of my grandma today. Whilst cleaning out her attic last year, she gave me this little frilly dress. A bit small for me, but art none the less. Love you Grandma.

Historical Admirations

The other night I spent some time with one of my old history of fashion school books. It's so amazing to admire the skill level necessary to construct such beautiful  textiles and garments. Here are some of my favorite images from Fashion: 18th and 19th Century.

Sleepy Fawn

Check out this amazingly refreshing super sweet blog/shop from Sleepy Fawn.  I love blogs that create a world you want to live in, and this is most definiatly one of them.  Also, she's a fellow Minneapolis artist/maker of things.  Above are so images from her blog and shop.  Bravo!

Zucchini 1

I've welcomed in the first zucchini of the year from my zucchini plant.  It's so amazing that he started from a seed I planted!  Sunday morning I cut him free before I went for a 20 mile bikeride in this record breaking humidity and heat.  Not sure if this plant will yield more, but luckily I started another seedling about 2 months ago.  It's still a teenager but is already blooming.

Little Letters

Here's a shot of today's work bench, along with a list of the tasks I hope to complete today.

Delicious Knits

A young designer of Belgium, Christian Wijnants' knits, as well as woven items, are pristine and unique.  Those shapes, those colors, oh my.

Woods - To Clean

Bike Bag Mini RoundUp

                               

CycleChic

                                 

         DNTX

New/Old Bicicleta

After some thought, I have decided to move on from my old-old Fuji to a new-old Fuji.  I needed something a bit lighter to get around the city and found my new friend at a used-bike store in my 'hood. Even got some old Hughes cage petals put on.  Shocks, pegs, lucky.

NYC love

Just a few photos from our recent stay in NYC/New Jersey boardwalk.  I bit overdue I know. Missed the Alexander McQueen at the Met, but went shopping at Creatures of Comfort.

Favorite Things

This one goes out to my rug, found at Unique Thrift Store in New Hope.  It's been a year since you met Smigel and I always knew you'd be the best of friends.

The Concretes

Indie Weekend 2011

We had a great fourth of July weekend up here! The fun included 20 mile bike rides to the parent's house, mom's flower garden, lots of birthday cakes and a strange smokey sunset (from all the fireworks).

Happy Birthday Dotted Swiss!

A shout out to the coolest girl around! Happy day of births Natalie! Dotted Swiss

Afghan

During our stay in New York, our friend, who now works for Etsy.com, brought us by for a tour of their amazing offices. His fellow Etsy coworker showed me photos of an awsome afghan she was working on from waste yarn. In prep for the next knitting season, I've decided to do the same to work through those leftovers. CopyCat.