beauty that moves

ruminating

Pondering so much these days. These drawings I've been spending time on lately have me so intrigued. Quiet evenings spent with a few pens and some paper; a playlist or podcast playing in the background that is actually enjoyed and not competing with a loud sewing machine; sitting with my family and not across the room (or tied to a machine in one room as they hang out in another). I'm loving it so very much, and I wonder what it all means. What it will become. Will I always keep it all tucked into my own drawing pad or will I eventually put some of them out into the world for others to hopefully delight in? I have no idea right now, but I do wonder.

This home of ours that we are leaving soon. We love our home for so many reasons. It was built during a time when I think some of the very best building practices were the norm. This house is made of wood. Lots and lots of wood. I love that very much. Before we lived here we lived in a log home and I remember feeling so grounded as I worked in my kitchen, surrounded by trees. The walls to the side of me, the ceiling above me, trees everywhere. Someday I'll have to dig out a photo or two of that place (pre-digital) and share them here. It was wonderful, as is this home. This home just happens to be in the entirely wrong location for our family, so we'll move on.

I am often asked "why" we are packing up and making such a major life change.  "How" did we get the nerve to do it? "What" are our motivations behind such a big decision? I think that would be a good topic to dive into at some point in the very near future. I think our story could be motivating and inspiring to others who dream of a similar life change. And I say that not because we have some grand secret or large sum of cash that is the answer to all of the challenges or obstacles a decision like this usually encounters. I think if I have anything to share, it has to do more with our willingness to give up a little in order to achieve the big picture... the power of putting "it" out there... staying open to working very creatively in terms of employment and housing (and consequently being eternally grateful to others involved who are willing to do the same)... our story is one of ingenuity more than one of privilege (for lack of a better word). So yes, a story I think worth sharing in detail soon.

But for now, back to this current house of ours. I think I'd like to do a regular series where I capture and share corners of our cottage. It is a current category on my blog already, but not one that I intentionally seek out posts for. Knowing that our home will no longer be ours in the near future, it seems fitting to share some of the beauty of this house on a more regular basis. Of course I also see it as a way to permanently keep a record of sorts for our bungalow, the first home we ever owned. Watch out friends, I feel a period of deep nostalgia coming on...

And there's more. I'm thinking a lot about writing lately. In particular, doing so on a bigger scale. What it would look like, how it would manifest, feeling completely supported and amazed by others (who write for a living!) as they encourage and believe in me. It's quite a motivator to explore this uncharted territory. 

Goodness, I'm all over the place, blissfully ruminating the day away. A day that also celebrates 14 years of marriage to my beloved. Wow. We were a very young bride and groom. I am so happy to be right here, right now, reflecting on the past and dreaming of the future.

from the garden

This morning I gathered the first bouquet of the season from our garden. The salvia is always the first to flower, and it looks like the sage and chive blossoms will be next. Soon there will be feverfew, cornflower, bee balm, lavender, phlox and so much more. Our perennial garden is six years old this summer and all grown up. I have a feeling it plans to show off a bit. Things are looking pretty beautiful and bountiful out there...

I like to fill out and extend our little bouquets with lots of fresh herbs. Today was lemon balm and peppermint, so fragrant. All was tucked inside a sweet little vase Emily gave to me on Mother's Day. The whole thing just makes me smile.

Sunday is such a good day.

work with what you have

There hasn't really been a whole lot of sewing going on the last couple of months. I'm just starting to get into the making and preparing for the Farrmers' Market (it's getting nerve-wrackingly close!). The lack of sewing mostly has to do with much of my fabric still being in boxes from when some major room swapping went on... I can't even remember what I have!

But with the addition of the little library nook in our new Everything Room (borrowing the perfect and exact term from Ducky House, she talks about her everything room here), a few soft and cozy additions were in order.

No, this is not what I made! Read on...

We all have our couch stories right? Several years ago we bought living room furniture. The couch was okay, I've never really loved it, I'm more of a futon girl (not the cheapy dorm room kind, but a really nice solid frame with an 8 inch thick cotton mattress... the seat is deep enough for two happy cuddlers to rest on together). Anyway, we bought this couch, it's fine, but not very exciting. It did however come with two unbelievable awful pillows that had everything ugly going for them... heavy, scratchy, upholstery fabric, gerber daises that were not nearly as cute as the real thing... and the not so welcome addition of colors like mauve, peach and powder blue. They never made it onto the couch which is kind of a shame because they were very comfortable once you got past the texture of the fabric and the mauve. And the powder blue. For six years they have lived in storage, until I decided to give them a makeover last weekend.

I headed down to the basement and searched for my box of vintage tablecloths and found the perfect one. Next I chose a vintage sheet to back it with, I don't think there could be another that would coordinate more perfectly! I didn't photograph the back but they close with a simple "envelope" style so they are nicely covered yet are easily removable for laundering which is great because my dog has declared them her new favorite dog bed.

The large size is perfect for sitting or leaning against the bookshelves to read.

I've been hanging out in this little corner (shown here poorly photographed on a dark, rainy day) a lot the last few days as I prepare for the Gathering of Nourishment here at my home this weekend. I do believe this is my new favorite corner in our house. Not bad considering it was made possible by a couple of scratchy, mauve, peach and powder blue pillows... work with what you have, right?

almost there

 

We were hoping to go to Vermont this weekend but I have a meeting tomorrow that I cannot miss. So, we'll head up next weekend... which is fine because instead I've been spending the day fixing up a few corners of that room of mine, we are so close to being done now!

I've been dreaming of a corner like this for quite a while.

Now, I think I'll go pour a glass of wine and settle into my favorite chair right there... enjoy the rest of your weekend.

let's talk about paint colors

 

One of the most commonly asked questions I receive from readers has to do with the paint colors in my home. I thought I'd put together what little information I have into a post for you.  Unfortunately, there is only one 'name' of a color that I can give, but I do hope to point you in several useful directions! 

I love food and I love plants and flowers, I pretty much adore any color that can be found in the natural world. Many years ago I realized (as I stood with eyes glazed over staring at the sea of paint chips at our local paint store) that nature offers the most perfect color wheel... and man has developed a super-techno method of identically matching any object into a liquid-y substance that can then be applied permanently to walls! It's a method that has worked for me time and time again. Nature offers the color, man mimics it pretty nicely.

 

When we moved into our home five years ago, we had just come from spending four years in a log cabin where there isn't a whole lot of opportunity to play with color on the walls (though let's be serious, living in a log cabin has some major perks of it's own), This first room in our home, the living room, is huge. It runs the entire length of the front of the house, (the foyer is part of it), I think it's about 25 feet x 12 (or so) feet. A pretty big space that could hold a good punch of color just fine. You can't see all of the windows in this picture, but in this room alone there are a total of seven windows, plus the front door, all surrounded by original woodwork, and I am one of those girls that you will never see take a paint brush to a natural wood surface. Never. So the color I chose needed to compliment this woodwork...

A friend of mine who is an artist (and a whiz with color), was over one day and we determined (as we stared at a checkerboard of rejected paint colors on the dirty white walls) to find our color solution that day, somewhere in my home...

 

She walked over to the bookshelf, pulled down a copy of A Traveller in Rome, pointed to the binding of the book and said, "Here, this is your color." And so it was. But wait, it's not food you say? Not a color pulled directly from nature? Next time you are at the market, take a look at the most vibrant, healthy looking butternut squash you see, look at the skin, that is also the color of these walls. I realized that just as I handed this book across the counter to the color matching guru (okay, I know it's all computerized) at my paint store.

That little powdery pile next to the book is cornmeal. I'm surprised to say I don't have a room here in this color, it was a color I had mixed for an apartment years ago. Yellow is difficult to settle on, most of them are too green and depending on the lighting in your home, yellow can be very finicky. If you are longing to discover the perfect, warm, soft yellow, get yourself a little scoop of good quality cornmeal and head down to the paint store.

I think I'd like to see this color in my home again very soon.

 

More than any other color in my home, people seem to be the most curious about that of my bedroom and yoga room (same color). Here is what I did, one day while out shopping, I saw the most beautiful fresh artichoke in the produce section and immediately knew that was my green. I scooped that little leafy vegetable up with pride, and you can guess where I went to next... "2 gallons please!"

Artichoke green is truly a thing of beauty.

 

This room is painted in a fairly predictable green, but still it is so gentle and pretty. It is the color of celery. Not the pasty, half-alive color of celery that hangs around the grocery store for too long. This is Farmer's Market celery... this is Garden Fresh Celery.

Okay, this is the color that I can give you a name for! It is Covington Blue by Bejamin Moore, and is just the prettiest blue I have ever seen. Blues are tough. I like blue, but it can easily feel too cool. This blue is somehow warm and cozy - I think it needs to find it's way into a larger room in my house. Our tiny powder room doesn't offer a high enough dose of this very soothing color. 

And who wouldn't love a black raspberry ice cream bathroom? With a Covington Blue floor... and a butternut squash hallway... and beyond that second door, an artichoke green bedroom...?

We do live with an awful lot of color, I couldn't help it after log cabin living for so many years! Looking at these pictures all together makes me think I may have missed my calling in life, perhaps I should have been a Carnival set designer... is it too late?

progress

Things are slowly but surely coming together here as far as the major room swap-a-roo is concerned. As you can see my sewing area has been seriously condensed, and to be perfectly honest, it's about time! Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

We are not ready to fully describe our space and give a final tour just yet... still a bit to be done. But we are slowly testing out our new digs. Late this afternoon I was busy in the kitchen roasting a chicken and making a pot of applesauce (I've been told there hasn't been enough meat around here lately). Emily and her friend were hanging out in this wide open, sun filled space... radio turned up, balloon volleyball playing, and poster making, Save The Trees! How Would You Like It If Someone Cut You Down!? Good point. It's going to be a great space.

Aren't those flowers so pretty? Every year on the first day of Spring, flowers arrive for Emily from my sister in Florida. The best part is we always seem to forget they are coming... so we are somehow truly surprised each year! Thanks Dawna!

On the technical front... my computer chord bit the dust (I'm borrowing a computer right now). A new one has been ordered so I will patiently wait it's arrival, until then my computer access is rather limited. Things will catch up soon (there's that baked tofu I promised!)...

To keep you company in a really mellow sort of way while you wait, here's one little song.
Take care.

spring is in the air

 

What a whirlwind it is around here this weekend, it must be Spring!! There are about 82 things I want to do around the house and only two days with which to get it all done. I think I'll need to let a few things go from the list. But the seasons are changing which means I am inspired by the shift of the sun and the desire for fresh and new. I want to swap out rooms and shake things up around the homestead a little. I'm ready to work.

This room. My goodness this room has been a lot of things. A yoga studio, a homeschool room, a sewing studio. It was built as an addition to the original house in the 1940's, old enough though to still have great character. I always say our pantry was the first reason we bought this house, this room would be the second. It's huge, has nine windows, and opens up to the deck. Lovely space indeed.

But as a sewing studio? What a mess! Sure, I have it in me to tidy it all up once in a  while, then I take a few breaths, sew a few stitches, look up... and somehow it looks like this again! I'm done. Time to cut back... waaaay back... on the fabric stash, the notions collection, the scrap baskets and works in progress bins. Not only am I room swapping, but there is some serious spring cleaning going on too.

Why is it that when you take a room apart weird debris surfaces? You know, like that Physical Graffiti cassette tape from 7th grade? Or the random extra wedding favor from your special day nearly 14 years ago? Someday I will have no stuff. No stuff. Someday.

For now I'll keep packing... and moving my stuff from one place to another (hopefully another place being outside of my home for much of it!), and I will transform this room once again. Any ideas what it will be? Well, I'll give you a hint; it's new function will not be one that it has seen before... were one or two of you thinking yoga studio? No, it's been that already. There will be a yoga studio in the house though as part of this grand room swap. It will be a cozy space, big enough for my little family to practice. So much to share when everything is done! 

I hope you are bursting with spring energy as well. Many of you requested my baked tofu recipe (thank you for such kind comments on my last post), I will gladly write that up for you this week.

I'm taking a little vacation from both of my shops for a bit. Mayberries Vintage will reopen by April 1st (with fresh goodies!) and my handmade shop, Beauty That Moves, will reopen by April 15th or so with a collection of beautiful prayer flag sets and perhaps some other things as well. Ahhh, Spring.

Enjoy tackling the projects in your life this weekend !

shhh, don't tell winter...

... but I just spent the morning washing my front porch. And the hose wasn't frozen. And I took my coat off. And now I'm wanting iced tea with lemon... it's too soon to feel this way, I know. But for today, it feels really, really nice.

where crafty things happen

 

I promised to show you my sewing area ages ago... then I kept messing it up over and over (especially through the holidays!) so was not to keen on taking pictures. We had some friends over this weekend who we haven't seen in far too long, they've never even been to this house! Well, I figured I should tidy things up a bit - this is as good as my workspace gets I suppose. I'm not really happy with these shots, something about them doesn't 'feel' like this room feels. I'm not sure why. Maybe all the fresh snow outside is making the light feel blue-ish. It didn't feel that way standing in it, but my camera thought so.

Anyway, this really is a great room to work in, it overlooks the deck and the backyard so I can work and watch Emily and her friends playing at the same time. It can be a delicate thing working from home, demanding tremendous discipline and balance, which I have just admitted to myself recently.

It's not the most glamorous of spaces, but it really works for how I work, which is important and can make all the difference . My favorite part of this set up is the way things are arranged to create sort of a room within a room. It feels cozy and personal. The overall room that I'm in is huge so this is a way that helps define the crafty zone.

Of course, the windows are great too. I feel like no matter where in the house I've had my little set-up, I try very hard to place my sewing machine in front of a window, it makes me happy and motivated - especially when it's raining. Having defined spaces is helpful too; sewing, writing, cutting, fabric storage, notion/supply storage, etc. Oh! One hugely important detail for me is to be able to access my cutting area  from more than one side - I can't say enough about the ease of this arrangement. The two baskets on the top shelf are both overflowing with scraps - I think I need a scrap intervention, soon.

Okay, so I've shown you the jungle (that photo by the way, is how this whole room truly feels, which I love), I've shown you my sewing space, soon I will show you another section of this same room where Mayberries Vintage resides. I like checking out other peoples spaces, perhaps just one tiny detail inspires me or gives me a new idea I hope you feel the same way.

 Thanks for stopping by, things are probably about to get really messy now...

my kind of weekend