In Circles

The studio has been a flurry of activity with little time to post images of completed projects, but along the way I have snapped some shots for sharing later. These pillows were for Z's new couch in her cozy library. I am falling in love with more natural fibers including linen...perfect for applique and embroidery. The only hiccup in this project was the mysteriously disappearing circle template. I had to run out and pick up a new one because in my studio it has somehow become an indispensable tool. So, circle template #3 is tucked in safely next to my template collection and numbers 1 & 2 are playing a sneaky game of hide and seek somewhere in the house...

Craft Books & Studio Purge




















I have been purging my studio for the last few days. It is definitely a process of making it worse before it gets better... I literally have a mountain of stuff in one corner that I am trying to sift through and decide whether to keep, give away or throw out. We have been doing this process throughout our home in a quest for simpler living...a life of things we LOVE. I think as a visual person, I tend to keep things for sentimental reasons simply because they are visually familiar. I may have little or no real attachment to them, but I keep them for the comfort of familiarity. I have definitely grown as we have gone through the process and am actually finding it quite cathartic now. However, my studio is just a whole new prospect. I have an entire wall of shelving containing clear plastic bins. I'm not surprising a visual organizer. I like to be able to see what I have. I also like creating in the moment and being able to design based on the colors and textures around me. So, it is hard to know what items will bring such inspiration... what do I purge? On the other hand, if I have more than I can store effectively then I lose my creativity to chaos. So, I am trying to find that balance and I'm excited to get back to creating in my studio.

In the few quite moments that I have, I love to read craft books. I love getting inspiration and techniques from other crafters and designers. I am so lucky to have an amazing library system from which to borrow. I have the databases for all of the libraries in our network at my fingertips and am able to request books to be delivered to my local library...brilliant! So, here is a current stack I have been pouring over...

Wool & Water

When you have a moment, pop on over to visit artist Amy Earles in her Etsy shop Wool and Water or check out her portfolio at Pushed Under. I recently bought one of her jointed paper doll sets ... Delicate Heart. There is a certain "old sole" quality to her characters...oh and that delightful little dress and ballet laced shoes! This little gal now hangs from a vintage red button on one of my walls...

Deck the Halls

I'm still here! We recently finished up a successful holiday season of craft shows and then jumped right into our own holiday merriment...decorating our digs, baking cookies, spending time with friends, tearing open presents that have been arriving on our doorstep daily... I have so many things to share and can't wait to fill you in on all of the happenings at SimplyJune.

I decked our halls this week with some new "Merry Christmas" banners that I made and gave some to friends to spread the cheer. Can I tell you how much I love ultra fine glitter? I'm seriously going to have glittered the whole house by the end of the season.

We also priming for a VERY white Christmas here in New England... two snow storms last week and a predicted dusting turned into a day of fluffy white snow falling from above. Our first major storm of the season arrived last Thursday and workers took to the roads early for a safer commute home. Jason was on the road for 5 1/2 hours driving his regular 45 minute commute. We were very happy to welcome him to a toasty warm home.

So, visit again...we're back with lots of little goodies to share.

We Like to Draw on Our Walls...




















Drawing on the walls seems to be a natural childhood instinct... So, I painted a chalk board on our kitchen wall this weekend. Nikolai, Jason and I have been having fun drawing fire trucks, police cars and more. It is such a simple project and I was inspired by Lisa's kitchen backsplash and a new friend "Z's" kitchen cupboard. I also thought it looked great with my black and white photography and vintage typewriter. I added a red chair rail for a cleaner look and another bit of color. So, stop by for a visit and color on our walls!

Red Paint

We are in the midst of renovating our 1st floor bathroom, which up until this point has consisted of just a toilet. I'm not sure why the previous owner did this, but we are finally getting around to adding a sink. The room is tiny and is tiled in a sky blue 3x3 with white accent tiles up to about 3.5'. I would never pick this color and have tried off and on to find a shade of brown paint for the walls to update it at bit, but always with no luck. So, the walls have remained white and have showcased a variety of miscellaneous framed prints over the past few years. I have just now taken everything down and want to add a few splashes of red including some hand towels with a fun retro cherry print. I couldn't decide what to do for the wall art and then spied my "Tiny Picasso" who is always begging to color the walls. We took a little outing to the art store and picked up a painting canvas and some red acrylic paint. Nikolai spent part of the morning channeling his inner artist while singing his mantra "train" over and over. Hey, whatever works to inspire...

Swallows in Flight



















I'm not sure from where my recent swallow obsession stems, but a small flight of swallows is now swooping through my kitchen. I used the same vintage illustration as for my embroidered dish towel to make these. I printed out the illustration in different sizes and flipped the image horizontally for a few. I then ironed a piece of heat and bond to a piece of black dupioni silk, peeled off the backing and ironed my swallow illustration to the back side. Then, I cut out the silhouettes and applied them to my wall using Mod Podge. (Liquid starch would be good for a less permanent solution.) I adore birds individually and envy their freedom of flight. Flocks of birds on the other hand send shivers up my spine. However this silk version seems to have a calming effect...

t.y.p.e.w.r.i.t.e.r...

I found this vintage typewriter a while ago...you may remember my ramblings on the subject last summer...the tap, tap, tap....ziiiiiiiiipppping that was my current vintage obsession. Well, this typewriter has made its way into various corners of my home, appeared (very photogenically might I add) alongside the Nataliya bag in my online shop and was even the subject of some of my recent photography. This poor guy needed a place to settle down and enjoy his dapper self. So, here he is as of this weekend displayed in our kitchen alongside my photography. I also hung the great typewriter dress print by the talented Emily over at The Black Apple.

Chandelier...Silhouette

Some wonderful being left me a note...they found that gorgeous silhouette chandelier that was shown on Thom Filicia's new show "Dress My Nest" on the Style Network. It can be found at Urban Outfitters for just $36 + $10 for the cord kit. Now for the big decision...ivory or black. I'm thinking of hanging it in my studio and the ivory is just calling to me for that space.

Velvet Settees, Tufted Ottomans, Silhouette End Tables...These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

When my "lease" runs out for my little corner of Anthropology, I plan on moving into the Brocade Home catalog... Their catalog is so serene and their style captures my love of silhouettes. The wallpaper behind the settee is channeling the new fabric I just ordered from Reprodepot. I want to curl up on that tufted ottoman and read the stack of books on my end table in one sitting...

I recently watched an episode of Dress My Nest... Thom Filicia's new show on the Style Network. The basic format of the show is that he teams together with a fashion stylist to design a living space for someone based on their one perfect outfit that really speaks of their style. The episode I watched featured a soon-to-be 30 year old whose house just screamed Hello Kitty and a major pink overdose. Thom found a way to interpret her vintage, cute, eclectic outfit in a unique, stylish, more mature yet still eclectic way. I personally drooled over the wooden silhouette style chandelier which I am wearing out my fingers trying to Google....I very well might need that chandelier...

I want to LIVE in an Anthropologie store.

I've opened my mailbox twice within the last week to find an Anthropologie catalog and please tell me that I'm not the only one who wants to live in those pages or better yet the store! I only allow myself to visit my local Anthropologie a couple of times a year...major reason being a cash flow problem...the other being that they don't actually like when you show up with a Starbucks and curl up on one of their couches to read a book. I love every inch of their stores from the home decor to the clothing to all the kitchy details in between. I literally take notes in the store I am so filled with inspiration. I think I need to take a week off soon to sew just for myself and my home. I'm currently dying to paint my kitchen door red and refashioning my Roman shades with fabric from a vintage tablecloth...might have to talk Jason into this idea.

Valentine Goodies

Nikolai and I came home from playgroup the other day to find a bag of Valentine's goodies on our front porch from my dear friend Monica. I had to frame the card right away...my Lucas's likeness riding in a limo. The dress form photo holder just makes me giddy with happiness. I have been looking for a photo/card holder forever and finally gave into making my own simple version (shown on the right with part of my vintage Cavalier postcard collection). I can't wait to use the dress form to display one of my Petticoat Note Cards at our next show.

Preparations for our next show (Alliance for Children Multicultural Fair) continue to be under way. I have some beautiful fabrics coming in and the sewing machine is buzzing away...

We also had a lovely weekend with my best friend Carey... "Auntie Carey" to my Nikolai. We talked and ate... and ate and talked... and slept a little bit. Monica had remarked earlier in the week that she was so excited for me that my Oprah/Gail was coming to visit. However, Carey and I both decided we wanted to be Oprah....what to do but be each other's Oprah/Oprah?... Still trying to figure out how to move the states around to get Boston closer to DC...any ideas?

Newsletter

Well, the very first SimplyJune newsletter was just sent out via e-mail. If you did not receive a newsletter, take a minute to fill our Mailing List form on SimplyJune's website and we will get one right to you. Also, tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, etc. so they can join in on the updates, project ideas, freebies, etc.

I thought I would include a shot of the technical corner of my studio. One of my favorite parts of reading blogs, especially crafty ones is seeing photographs of people's homes, studios, etc. I love how everyone uses space and implements design so differently. I love those keyhole snapshots into people's environments. As you can see in the photo, I use a widescreen Dell laptop - a wonderful surprise birthday present in June from my dear Jason! When I am up in my studio, I hook up my mouse and keyboard to it as well as my flatscreen Dell monitor. What, might you ask, do I do with this second monitor? Jason set it up so that I have dual monitors and can move my mouse from one screen to the next, seamlessly. I usually keep my e-mail open on one screen, while working on the other. The technical aspects of how he did this are way beyond me, but let me just say - it is sooooo cool! I can't tell you how out of sorts I am when I bring my laptop elsewhere and keep looking off to my right to read me e-mail and its not there.

Anyway, another favorite part of this corner of my world is my Parsons style chair that I picked up at IKEA a while back. It is meant to be a dining room chair, but it looks great in my studio and is super comfortable. Also, note the nifty "K" mug. I have been loving the below version at Anthropologie (but then I love just about everything at that store). It is actually very reasonably priced at $6, but I stopped in at the Christmas Tree Shop this morning and found this one for $1.69 - wooo hoooo! Feeling pretty smug right now...

P.S. Those mini-marshmallows are so gone...yum...