i spent the day working on a batch of t shirts for renegade…i’m trying to make a bunch of little-ish things (under $80) since i know most fair shoppers tend to gravitate toward the smaller items. i have to admit, i’m pretty much the same way. unless the booth takes credit cards (which i do!) i’m a penny-pincher. still, i can’t fully suppress the urge to make fancier stuff. just have to find the right balance. also, i mean, what sort of little things can i really make? i think it’s fairly safe to say that nobody needs another plain little zip pouch. the ladies who are making those these days tend to be making them fancier anyway, which would defeat the purpose for me of having something smallish/cheapish for sale. i will have a TON of undies and some valerian cards. well anyway, i’m thinking…out…loud…

also, guess what i did this weekend?? i bought more plants! a spider plant (i’ve been wanting one for a while) and some more fittonia (pink!) to replace the pilea in the bathroom. the pilea was getting sort of leggy for it’s hanging planter. i realized after the fact that replacing pilea with fittonia is a little dumb, since it’s just another leggy little grower and that i should have taken home something dangly, more fitting of a hanging planter (the spider plant is too big for the planter in question) but! alas! it just means i will have an excuse to adopt another green friend when it comes time to re-pot the pink fittonia. heh.

ok, back to sewing. you know, i just got an idea and i think i’m going to try it out: a little 80s-style romper out of the liberty print knits! usually those things are usually a little *too* sexy for my taste, but something tells me that a crazy print combo might make it more acceptable somehow…

oh heck yeah!

ok, that’s the super polite version of what i just exclaimed as i checked my bank statement. all i hoped to find was a tiny little direct deposit from one of my part time jobs, but lo! behold! that evil tax refund has arrived! i know, i know. bad idea. such a bad idea. but hey, it will help pay my rent, so i’m not turning up my nose. i woke up this morning to the sound of rain, the apartment had cooled (it gets so hot in here as soon as the temperature hits 65) and i just felt so inexplicably happy about the day to come. and now! rent money! hooray!

in other news! tonight from 7-9 sodafine in williamsburg will be hosting the first in a series of openings for artist-designed window installations at the shop! the inaugural window was put together by jason estrin and you can see a sneak peek here. the lovely erin shopowner is hosting an in-store get together with wine and fun timez. please stop by if you’re in the neighborhood for gallery night–i know cinders is having a group drawing show opening. hooray for art!

sure it’s blustery out there, but i for one am welcoming it. damp down that itchy pollen, i say!

the etsy homepage has a collection of strangely familiar (in a proustian madeline sort of way) items that sent me back in time momentarily to my little dorky 15 year old self, obsessed with jean-pierre jeunet and idly rendering my high school into some future/past (and yes, steam-powered) patina green industrial facility instead of paying attention in class. oh. my. gosh. why didn’t little valerie know about steampunk??

i absolutely love that there is a crazy and very specific community for just about any bizarro aesthetic out there. even if i had known about steampunks, i can’t say i would have ever been able to commit myself so fully as to openly claim allegiance; i feel mega strong affiliations to too many conflicting groups (i’m a pisces, what do you expect?) to choose one that’s so specific, but what i wouldn’t have given to hang out with some of those dorks. and i do say that with all intended kindness.

steampunk! oh lord. that just made my day.

EDIT: apparently i missed the nyt article, which ian pointed me to. those dudes look so rad! the kids in the smaller photo, not so much.

taking a tiny little break from sewing (i’m down to three dedicated days a week…not enough!) to share some new apartment additions. next month will mark our one year anniversary here and our little nest is only just beginning to resemble an organized and comfy home-type space. oh! but don’t get me wrong! it’s been comfy and homey for us, surrounded by a cluttery mess of books and stacks and piles of the trappings of making and all. but it’s not really been conducive to hanging out or entertaining guests. for one, there’s really nowhere to sit. we have two kitchen chairs, a tiny ikea loveseat and one folding chair each at our respective “desks” which aren’t terribly comfortable and which are sort of cruel to seat guests in.

while the seating situation probably won’t be remedied soon, we are well on our way to finding permanent homes for the floor-dwelling book stacks and errant cds and records. ian designed and made the little bookshelf above, which sits/fits perfectly behind the tiny sofa. check out the tiny, slanted foots! i’m super impressed and have bombarded him with a ridiculous onslaught of furniture and cabinetry requests, which i will not actually hold him too, but which would be awesome! though, more paintings would be even awesomer. awesomer??

oh! and the plant life is multiplying! i bought a banana plant on sunday when ian’s parents came up (they brought the pretty red vintage table in the corner there) and his mum helped identify some mystery plants on our coffee table and gave me some tips on how to keep ferns from dying. she said all plant caretakers have an achilles heel and i think ferns must be mine. it seems so cruel and unfair that the plants i find the prettiest should be hardest for me to keep! i’m sure it’s not some sort of bad vibes thing though; me and ferns just need to have a heart to heart.

oh! press!

a genevieve blouse from the spring collection is featured in Time Out New York!

i’m so proud of that little plaid top!

from the email (if you don’t get it, sign up on the website):

hallo! now that spring is sufficiently underway we can confidently look ahead to summer and all that it shall bring: limeade, sandals, outdoor eating and dresses! and lest you find yourself unprepared for such merriment, well, i’ve got some of those for you! dresses at least…

but first! we’re changing things up a bit around here, so i’d like to let you know of a few things before i send you along.

number one! www.dearbirthday.com will now serve only as an online “look book” showcasing most of each season’s styles. this way you can see what they look like on an actual person (who happens to be one of my best friends, kathryn!) and enjoy the site without a lot of cluttery paypal button nonsense. all orders will now be accepted through our etsy shop:

www.dearbirthday.etsy.com

or by contacting me for an appointment (nyc residents only): info@dearbirthday.com

we will also be slowly increasing our presence in bricks and mortar shops, though for now we can be found mainly at sodafine in williamsburg.

second, we are so excited to introduce the very small beginnings of what we hope will become a most excellent collaborative project between me and my dear beau, ian. we’re calling it valerian and it’s cards! well, for now it’s card. but soon it will be cards and even textile prints designed by us two! these will be available in the dear birthday etsy shop shortly.

third! finally! we hope to see you at the renegade craft fair in brooklyn, june 14 + 15! if there’s anything you’d like to see in person, just drop me a note and i’ll be sure to bring it along!

thanks guys! and oh! the etsy shop will be updated much later tonight/tomorrow morning with look book items. just wanted to show off the new site in the mean time.

much love to you,

valerie

ps (you may have to refresh your browser when viewing the new site…just a tip!)

hi hi! yesterday was Undies Day and i spent the ENTIRE DAY cutting, screening and sewing undies. many were produced, but i did not hit the 50 mark, which is perfectly fine because that was an insane (and only half-taken-seriously) goal and i will definitely have way more than 50 done by the time renegade rolls around. hooray! i do hope renegade shoppers are in the mood for underwear when they stroll by my little tent, because i’m going to have a lot of it. lots of other stuff too. but heaps and piles of undies. hooray!

oh right. so! the point: there are three new undies prints in the etsy shop this morning.
though i suspect that Pace (the carousel horses) will be the most popular, my favorite is Wiltshire, a classic Liberty print that i would not mind having on everything. i can’t explain exactly why i like it so much…it just speaks to me, i guess. sometimes i worry that i have some seriously flawed old lady taste. maybe that just means that when i’m a granny, i’ll be so awesomely in my element? only time will tell. ha!

my friend kathryn modeled for the dear birthday summer photo shoot today. here is a tiny preview!

expect a site/look book update as well as an etsy update later this week.

my bike, 1999
ian in virginia, 2001 (i think)
karie in amsterdam, 2000

this week has been nutso. at least in my head, which is a total jumble. tomorrow morning i’m photographing look book images for the next site update. hopefully i will be able to get the second dress finished by then, but it may have to wait. still adjusting to my new non-dear birthday work schedule. eeeeeeeeeee!!!

sale!

hello! could it be sale time already? it could. it is!
i’ve marked down the liberty baby cord skirts in the etsy shop, 50% and have dropped off a few other spring items at sodafine, including circle skirt sun dresses, which are also on sale, as is the spruce moose jacket!

it’s time to make room for summer items, which will appear in the etsy shop early next month. i’ve sent the kat dress over to sodafine as well (not on sale, it’s new!) so if you’re interested, head over and check it out! it’s so cute, i definitely need to make one of those for myself.

i’m hoping to do a little photo shoot this weekend in order to create a little “look book” online to show off the summer collection. i’ll be changing up the online structure a bit this time: dearbirthday.com will serve as a look book/info site and all sales will be handled through etsy or in brick and mortar boutiques. i’ve been feeling lately that the online presence is sort of disorganized, so hopefully this will serve to streamline it a bit. additionally, the look book will be a handy reference for fit, since i’m not able to photograph every item on a model. this way at least every *style* can be viewed on an actual person, it will just be colors/patterns/sizes that will vary. that makes sense, right? right! well, it’s a start.

how was your weekend? it was so amazingly beautiful here in new york. the kind of weather one dreams about all winter long. today’s pretty nice too. i sat in the park and shared a sandwich with erin, talkin’ shop and dodging errant baseballs. it was great! but a little on the chilly side.

ok, back to work!
let me know if you have opinions re: the proposed new structure. i really love to hear thoughts about such things. do you guys dig etsy? is that better/easier than the independent site? do you prefer to see things in person so that you can try them on?