feeling inspired

Been doing a lot of this lately.

And really excited to give you more than just little instagram shots very very soon. I'm loving this feeling, knitting project after project, coming up with different features and variations, finding the perfect little details, but mostly just having this feeling that I am on to something. I think I have a good idea. I think it's coming out well (and I'm working on sewing better. I'm a little rusty.) And I really want to share it with you!

books

My goodreads newsletter hit it out of the park yet again. I mean, they didn't have to try very hard. They just recommended a bunch of books by authors I have read previously. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Here's three new books out this month that I might be willing to put down my knitting to read. 

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. The man is an amazing writer, and he has a knack for character development that makes you care about every single character in a story regardless of how many characters there are. They are real and honest and believable. I'm excited to see his modern take on the classic love story. 

 The Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. I find it mildly amusing that they are still advertising "Author of Fight Club" on all of his books regardless of how many successful books he has published. They may as well put a picture of Brad Pitt on the cover. But oh well. Also, truth be told, I haven't read a Palahniuk book in YEARS because I kind of got tired of the hype and also there were a couple of books that didn't quite do it for me. But this one sounds interesting. Here's to hoping.

And a new coffee table book for good measure.Artfully styled photos of pets' chew toys along with a collection of short stories about the same. I find it hysterical that someone came up with this idea, and I really need this in my life.

Thanks, goodreads!

where did the time go?

Ok, first of all, how the heck is it October already? Unbelievable. 

Instead of inching closer and closer to the end of the year, this year when I made myself so many promises I have yet to keep, it is coming by leaps and bounds and I find myself staring into its face and thinking "well, what are you going to do about it?" 

What I'm talking about, in case you were not aware, is that I set a goal of having my Etsy shop up and running this year. Finally. And with more in it than a few vintage items. I made this goal, mind you, at the beginning of the year. And now it's October. My one huge roadblock right now is photographing my knits. I have tried taking photos in the house but the lighting is terrible so the colors are off and the detail is not great to say the least. I need to get outside and take photos, but the weather has been dreary, rainy, and unpleasant. And in the rare event that a sunny day coincides with my day off, it always happens to be a weekday and I'm home by myself, and if you have ever tried to take a picture of a scarf on yourself (or worse, hand muffs) you will know why this doesn't really work out. I need a model, or a bust form, or a photographer, or all of the above. 

On a positive note, I tested out my first hand muff design yesterday and got lots of compliments on it, so I am really excited to launch them! Soon, I keep telling myself. Soon.

In the meantime, to help with the denial that it is indeed October, a pretty desktop wallpaper for you from poppytalk: (follow the link for the full size image)

 

Oh, and if you haven't checked out my limited offerings on Etsy yet, check it out here!

photodump!

Halloween decorations. Mini-pumpkins, big ones yet to come. Movie night with the hubs. Home-made cream cheese stuffed french toast. Food is always better (at least visually speaking) on checkered paper. My first cuckoo clock (yes, I said first with intent to buy more). My beautiful Rifle Paper Co recipe box! (Thanks so much siblings for the wonderful wedding gift!) Kitty having a lazy day off with me. The inexplicable Beatlerama.

It's that time again

I'm fairly certain I talked about this last year, but it's that time again. Frankie magazine has come out with their 2012 diary (planner), and it is incredibly lovely. I have never been one to use a planner (in fact, I had a professor in college challenge me in the beginning of the year, saying something to the effect of "we'll see how well you do in this class without using a planner" and I got an A) but it's fun to dream about all the things I could plan for and accomplish if I did, in fact, use a planner. A pretty pretty planner.

It can be found here, if you are interested.

So, this weekend did not turn out quite as planned, but we had very important things to attend to. I did get some fall decorations out, we have officially made the switch to fall/winter home fragrances, and we did some cleaning. So there's that.

How was your weekend?

Happy Friday!

I'm so excited to have the weekend off, and to have a growing to-do list with the mister!

1. farmer's market

2. Crafty Bastards (yay! yay!)

3. photo shoot with the growing pile of knits

4. decorate (and scent) the house for fall

5. hang some pictures on the walls for goodness sake

And some things I've been thinking about adding to the list:

6. thrift shopping

7. baking

8. nap 

9. use our bowling deal? (since I just discovered today that the 2 movie tickets for $9 deal that I bought from LivingSocial has expired, determined to use these things to SAVE money and not WASTE money)

You and Me House

Every time I look out into the back yard and all of those trees, I can't help but think that it's just begging to have a tree house built in it. There's lots of unusable space back there right now, with years of leaves, branches, and other waste covering the ground. It will take some serious work just to clear out a path to get back there, but the desire consumes me. To be able to sit out there and read on a nice fall day, to have little picnic lunches, and, well, to dream of the day when little ones will play up there. I loved playing in my treehouse when I was a kid and kind of feel like it's a necessary part of childhood.

And for your listening pleasure:

and I will take you back

I have heard this band described as something like a punch in the face with a fistful of candy, and you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. Mates of State, I will always take you back.

I have been listening to this album pretty much non-stop for a couple of weeks now. I mean, sure it was only released last week, but... I bought it on limited edition white vinyl when it did come out! And I cannot wait until we meet again, in concert... on my birthday no less.

Oh and I am getting so so close to my 500th post. By the looks of things it might land right around my birthday and all the stars will align to bring you a very exciting giveaway event! Stay tuned for details. ;)

Love

 

The colors. The bold simplicity. The Letterpress. LOVE.

Moxie House via Paper Crave

Space Oddity

I've been working on another post for a couple of days but it's missing one key piece, so you'll just have to wait. But in the meantime, since I realized I haven't been very active on here recently (sorry!) here's something pretty cool.

David Bowie's Space Oddity as children's picture book. (Really cook 1960s style illustration picture book)

Check it out here. Stumbled upon here.

Also, in an effort to make this blog better, I'm going to finally treat this the way a real blog should be treated. I'm going to plan posts, make lists of ideas for future posts, DIY projects (I already have one up my sleeve that I need to finish up!), and the like. I hope it's the kick I need to get this thing moving again. 

Also, I don't know if you've been paying attention but there was a mechanism to comment on my blog with facebook for a couple of days. It really wasn't what I wanted for several different reasons so I removed it. It has nothing to do with the comments that were left there, and I encourage you to comment through the blog comment system. And before you say it's too difficult to log in... you don't have to! Just type in your name, or comment anonymously if that's what you'd like. This is a public forum, a conversation, and it needs your participation to make it better. I appreciate you, my readers, and will continue to search for better ways to bring my blog to you and to bring you into my blog. ;)

Just please don't leave blog comments on my facebook wall. Whew.