woah! thanks to miss siri treehouse for handing over dear birthday’s carousel horse romper to the good people of block magazine! so rad. nice photo by raymond yeong.

oh! and speaking of siri treehouse, she’s hosting a headdress making party in the branches this evening from 7-10. i for one, am totally going! i could use a headdress. maybe i will be something for halloween after all.

treehouse brooklyn is located at 430 graham avenue, between withers and frost in williamsburg. and it’s darn close to el loco burrito (not the one on bedford, silly. the *other* one), you know. just sayin’.

i’m kind of in more of a pierogies sort of mood tho…

“in the unlikely story that is america, there has never been anything false about hope”

i’m not going to be as polite as some of my favorite bloggers have been lately. i’m not going to simply state that i hope you will vote, without expressing my true hopes and intentions. because i do care who you vote for next tuesday. i hope that you will vote for barack obama.

there has been some really awful news regarding the behavior of mcpalin supporters at their rallies and i’ve been thinking a lot lately about fear and hate. it’s messy business. i refuse to be fearful about the outcome of this election or about anything that may happen after tuesday. if we’re bound by fear, we’re open to hate. i know i sound like a loony new age nutjob, but i really believe that is true. tomorrow begins another new day to live with a hopeful, open heart. another day to love the enemy. another day for the care bear stare, right bree?

i’m not throwing stones at you, mcpalin supporters. i just think you’re misguided and frightened. you don’t have to be. it’s ok. barack obama is a great man with great ideas and plans and he is going to bring us back together. take a deep breath, close your eyes and listen. just listen.

another slipper.
size medium (8-9)
in the shoppppppe.

sorry for the excessive posting today…feeling a little cabin feverish!

these were yesterday’s work, today’s are pink and brown and purple.
yesterday’s are in the shop now.

it’s so dreary here and our apartment is freeeeeezing. it’s nice to have a project i can work on by hand. i spent the morning sitting in bed, top-stitching. but! that’s all done and it’s time to put the bootlets together at the machine. the sewing machine is right by the windows (as is my computer, my little paws are frozen already) and there are literally holes in the panes. i’m not really sure you can call them “windows”. honestly, i’m not convinced that this clear stuff is even glass.
ha!
um. (it is not)
i just tapped on it to check and i knocked the pane a little further out of its frame. i opened the window to reach around and try to knock it back in and my little string of whelk egg casing blew out onto the back patio of the sushi restaurant! hm. it would be really crazy of me to go downstairs to try to retrieve it, right? i’m pretty sure they already think i’m nuts. oh well! the sea will produce more. i will see the sea again.

now how to fix this window thing…

while we aren’t printing up any more of these, there were a few leftovers from last year’s christmas card hanging about, so those are now available in the etsy shop, for interested parties.

i am a huge fan of homes and dwellings of all kinds. i love to be at home, but i also love to explore the homes of others. it seems almost impossible to really get a sense of who a person is without having seen their home. though obviously, one’s life cannot be judged on the relative merits of their home alone. it just helps flesh out the story of their being, visually sifting through their personal affects and the way they’re all arranged.

anyway, you probably already know about the selby, as it’s made the blogorounds, at least one lap. i really enjoyed the most recent photo essay on the home of ingrid sophie schram (the first!). her space is very cluttered in a good, lived-in home sort of way. it seems protective and she appears very comfortable in it. i think that maybe the best homes can do that for a person. i like the idea of being so at home at home that when you leave, it’s still sort of with you. to the point where really, you’re at home anywhere.

it’s much more complicated than that, the idea of being at home anywhere. i’m working on it, though. i think it has a lot to do with being very open and accepting. i’m working on that too. but somehow it seems as though working out the comforts of your surroundings also helps to sort of organize your thoughts and feelings too. or at least, it gives you a solid substrate off which to build.

this morning while we ate our bowls of oatmeal and chocolate cookies and drank our coffee at the red table in the kitchen, a little grey brown mouse darted out from under the stove, straight at our feet. i like mice, in theory. in practice, sometimes they make me scream shamefully. but a mouse is someone who enjoys a toasty home and i can appreciate that. but he’ll have to find a new one (or go back downstairs) because my home isn’t comfortably settled enough yet to allow such unpredictable visitors.

first pair! they are pretty awesome, if slightly wonky. i’m bringing them to treehouse in just a little bit, but i plan on making much more elaborate versions starting this evening. hooray! new things are so exciting. i’m supposed to be working on finishing up these kathryn dresses to bring to a shop in manhattan, but my heart’s not in it at the moment. it’s much easier for me to make the same thing over again if it’s for a specific person. but if it’s going to a shop on consignment, there’s less motivation. is that bad of me to say? well, it’s just how it feels. true! i mean, it’s awesome (so awesome!) when new places are interested in dear birthday. i’m ever grateful for new interest! consignment is just rough business, that is all. no secret there. ask any maker.

ok!

hole dug. hole partially filled.

next up?

i managed to make my very first treasury on etsy! how nerve-wracking and wonderful it is to refresh the page in anticipation as the number of treasuries nears 333! i am such a dork. my heart was actually racing. ha! well go take a look and let me know how i did–i think it’s pretty ok! i definitely want to own everything i chose. ah. some day.

hi hi! happy friday!
as a public service, i think i need to say that if you are in brooklyn and have been curious about the compound dress and/or the eternal sea vest, they are now available for viewing and/or purchasing at sodafine in williamsburg. also available is the new valerian card!
and. AND. the lovely one of a kind dress that genevieve wore at williamsburg fashion weekend, which can be sort of seen in the above photo.

ALSO
AND
ADDITIONALLY

more valerian cards have been delivered to treehouse (also in williamsburg), along with tidal detritus undies and a pretty fall skirt. tomorrow i’ll be delivering them two fall wrap dresses, one of which was also shown at the fashion weekend thingy.

excitement!
i really like handing things over once they’re completed because the empty rack in my room/studio is the best motivator to get to work. oh man. and i have some wicked rad ideas about slippers. i know. how rad can a slipper be?? well if they ever get made, you will find out. and if they don’t, you may never know.

ok. time to lay off the coffee. officially.

have you seen cal patch’s patching-with-crochet tutorial on craft stylish? i read it yesterday and it BLEW MY MIND! cal is a genius of making and mending.

so! i’m sitting here contemplating the myriad weirdnesses that had me completely flummoxed at my plain old retail job (*not* sodafine, which is such radness) yesterday when i looked over at my beloved wooly hat, purchased for me in ireland by gramie and grampie a way while back and LO! a hole to patch! i mean, the hole’s been there, just waiting to be mended, but honestly, i’m not a knitter. i don’t know how to mend such things. and sewing a patch of fabric onto a nicely knitted woolen hat just seemed wrong, you know? anyway, i was here with my embroidery threads at the ready and decided to give the crochet patch a go.

now mind you, i didn’t have the proper size hook, but i think that the woad-dyed lambswool thread worked just fine anyway. and in case you can’t tell from the photo, that’s a little blue heart in the middle. the whole exercise was so relaxing and fun that i almost (but almost) forgot about the horrid conversation i was subjected to between two AWFUL women about the worries of whether or not a little girl’s horse’s halloween costume (complete with a wig and CLIP ON EARRINGS!) would arrive from costa rica in time for the party at the barn. i only wish i could tell you that i’m joking.

oof. the memory pains me! time to patch up something else.

a new valerian card is in the shop!
this is the design we were thinking of printing on shirts, but decided it would look best as a card. i’m not really a huge fan of the printed tshirt, unless it’s an all-over print, you know?

anyway! these are hot off the gocco! and i’m gonna be late for a store meeting! see you!