in and out

sometimes, you have sort of vague goals written on scraps of paper. quiet little whispers that you don't want to think about too directly in case they don't happen. a preemptive strike against disappointment. and then one day you realize, they've been fulfilled... but in a way you never saw coming.

lately, i've been weaving. near obsessively. the raw opportunity held in a freshly warped loom and the subtle, soothing in and out of the weft threads. music playing and my hands carefully moving. (i have long been fascinated with the many ways mankind has found to make a yarn into a fabric.)

a few pieces will be available for the first time in the shop this afternoon! (i'm nervous.)

i've enjoyed sharing the process, tools and materials over on instagram (ohalbatross, if you'd like to follow along.) i'll share a few mid-process shots below, explorations of simple palettes and subtle shifts. i daresay you'll be able to guess my favorite colors. (and naturally, i had to pop into the machine shop to finish off the ends of the brass and copper bars properly.)

this last one is the one that started it all. there was a rather obviously placed cable outlet on the wall of our bedroom, and i was not at all sure i wanted a tv there. i thought a weaving would be just the thing to cover it... and then the whole adventure began. 

xo. r

shelved

there were just three things i really, really needed from this house when we designed and built it. light, space and a wall of bookshelves. and all three boxes are finally checked. really, really checked.

above are the bookshelves in their near-final state. there's still a little clean-up to be done. and a few more bits and pieces to add here and there (yes, of course there are still a few more boxes to be unpacked. i think it will be that way forever.) but i can't help but walk over and stare at them every hour or so... just because i'm so excited they are finally there! books, yay! (i will never be a kindle person.)

a few people asked for a how-to via instagram. i'm not terribly qualified as a building-things-instructor, but i've got a few before and afters that might help explain things a bit. to start with, i am not a fan of formal entry ways, nor am i a fan of entryways that dump you right into the living space. so we landed in between... our front door is just opposite the bookshelves, making a sort of library gallery / main entry. (of course everyone comes in through the garage, but that's just real life.)

we knew where the bookshelves were going since the design phase, so we had the opportunity to hide some of the bookshelf structure inside the walls. patrick spent a day blocking and adding flanges in between studs to help support the weight of the bookshelf structure (which conveniently eliminated most of the vertical supports that would normally be needed to support a bookshelf this size).

we left in the 3" stubs (which the drywall crew was thrilled to work around), and we've basically been looking at a blank wall with a grid of holes for the last three months. i freaked out a bit about two months back because all the books were packed away, so this happened... (you can see a few of the holes in the wall just above the books.)

here are the bookshelves halfway done. bookshelves on one side, hole grid on the other. there was a lot of impatient pacing on my part at this point because i couldn't put any books on until the whole thing was finished. sigh.

the actual materials for the bookshelf are pretty darned simple. ikea butcher block counters for the shelves (cut in half lengthwise - we got two shelves out of each counter) and black pipe with standard fittings for the structure. lowe's and home depot will cut and thread black pipe for free, but expect a lot of cajoling on your part and a bit of grumbling on their part.

and then finally, finished bookshelves!

for the curious organization&arrangement folks... fiction is alphabetical and non-fiction is arranged by topic. (with the exception of my twenty some copies of alice in wonderland which are grouped on their own.) my next project will be cleaning up an old orchard ladder for easy access to the top shelves! but i might have to take a reading break first. happiness is a full bookshelf.

xo. r

on dropping the to-do list

sometimes to-do lists are very important to structure the day and see at a glance what must be done. and sometimes, to-do lists are just words on paper, easily dropped for a spur of the moment walk at the end of the day.

it's really just a sort of leftover wasteland from an earlier gravel pit kind of operation. but it's been untouched for years and yesterday, it was the perfect wild & barren place to explore. scrubby brush and tumbling hills with marshy lows and a collection of bird life reveling in a haven of discarded land. the space between was filled with silence. (one man's trash is another's treasure.)

the dogs ran free and climbed small sandy mountains, and then patiently waited while their feet were brushed clean again afterwards. naturally, i forgot my own pant cuffs and dumped out a small load of sand in my closet later that evening. almost perfect. sigh.

xo. r

a dream come true

pretty darned excited to be etsy's featured shop this week. it's a huge honor, and when i let myself stop and drink it all in for a moment, it's something i'm immensely proud of. this wee little shoplet of mine, i'm proud enough to take it out for ice cream. (fortunately there's a pint of haagen-dazs squirreled away in the freezer and i don't have to wrap the shop and i up in scarves and mittens to have a celebratory treat.)

you can read the interview here and take a few new peeks around the studio, too! it's almost like having you all over for an open house!

xo. r

(and, umm… if you're in the mood to shop, there was the biggest shop update in the history of shop updates this morning. there are some fabulous pieces just waiting to be scooped up!)

a look back

february was a whirlwind month. a catchup month. a month of relentless winter.

slowly, slowly our space is coming together. rooms are more, home. a daily routine is starting to fall into place. (there is, i confess, still a mattress and a bike in the laundry room along with unpacked boxes. like i said, slowly.)

there are lots of pretty new things coming to the shop. and in between the bits of old, bears and bunnies and alpacas, too. little previews trickle thought my instagram feed, it's a great way to call dibs on a piece before it hits the shop. (find me here.)

i am looking forward to march. while i don't dare to hope for a warm one, i am looking forward to the promise of spring. seasonal shift.

xo. r

catch up

1. the biggest vintage purchase of my life. we finally hung the doors and it's everything i wanted it to be.

2. afternoon coffee in my beloved chemex.

3. bump is an intense watcher of wild turkeys. she truly disapproves of them.

4. most days involve winter boots and wool jackets for midday boiler stoking.

1. back to sewing (the dear ones have just been restocked in the shop!)

2. setting up a new studio space. it's amazing to have so much light.

3. my christmas present to myself. (that's allowed, right?)

4. solemn bears and shy foxes. because they are a must.

1. a custom sandpiper on the worktable.

2. the lovely light in the master bath.

3. firewood is the main event around here. sunlight, too.

4. the dogs finally relaxed enough to get silly. one little boy is claiming everything for his own.

now we're all just settling into a routine. trying to work out how we fit best into this new space. i am delighted to have a well-lit studio and shipping space that aren't separated by two flights of stairs. we have lots of projects left to go but we can enjoy them at our leisure now that we're in. i am also quite enjoying digging out things i have stored for years. it's like christmas morning every time i unpack a new box.

happy to be home. happy to be back on the grid. happy just to be.

xo. r

lost and found again

i am so sorry i have been away so long. i have missed you, truly.
there was a move, a holiday, a lot of unpacking and resettling.
and then there was the little matter of getting internet trucked through the trees and to our house.
the first few parts were wonderful, really. the last bit, a nightmare.
but now i am back in this lovely modern age with lots to tell you.
tomorrow… a little instagram catchup!

xo. r

moving, day 1

the awkward process of moving has begun. due to a few scheduling issues, we won't actually start living there until next weekend, but there's so much to do before then. i'm in charge of packing up the old house and bringing the awkward unboxable things to the new house. so naturally, the plants, my oh-so-treasured vintage kilim cushion, and my collection of oversized baskets were the first to move. for the first time in their tender lives, the plants will have all the room and light they need. and the plants that took up every single south and west facing window in our old house… all fit neatly into one little corner of our new house. (so, clearly, plant shopping is high on the to-do list for 2014.)

i've learned how and when to take photos in our cozy, but somewhat dark, little nest. but photos in the new house are a bit of a trip with all that light! seriously, i will never get tired of all that natural light. believe it or not, this was a sort of grayish day.

back to boxing and bagging…

xo. r

this awkward life

i always forget that sometimes the very worst part of certain projects is the requisite headshot. because i am very nearly the most awkward person on earth this is endlessly painful for me. (here is my theme, well it's not a song... so theme sentence? watch.)

i'm ever thankful for camera functions like self-timers and remote triggers, because hell might freeze over before i asked my husband to help out. (that, and i'm neither a waterfall, nor a tree, which completely rules me out as a subject he might be interested in pointing a camera at.) to understand the extent of my awkwardness, i managed to be embarrassed and awkward to the point of blushing in a room all by myself. (also, for more awkward fun, my 7-year-old self had to write a script to deal with making a phone call to find out if the library was open. i hope the automated answering service appreciated all the effort i went to.)

and then i laughed at myself and managed a bit of fun and even a semi-usable photo. but in my opinion, the head shots turned out best without the head. i thought you'd enjoy my elbows and then we'll get back to strictly dog photos.

xo. r

progress and process

such a photo heavy post, but it was a glorious afternoon at the house and i got carried away. so much progress has been made on the exterior. mostly, just the overhangs and covered porch left to go... both to be covered with that lovely barnwood siding. the sidewalks around the garage and the driveway will probably wait until next year. (falling leaves are near impossible to deal with.) i find myself particularly impressed with the grass. hand seeded. every single piece of it.

the garage has become a workshop. but it gets tons of light during the day and is really a pleasure to be in. we wanted our utilitarian spaces to be as much a pleasure to work in as the living spaces are to relax in. 

inside... it's a bright white space of chaos. most rooms seem to have acquired a ladder or some tools or  a project waiting to be done. and the kitchen is 360 degrees of almost-done. and the things that are finished are covered with plastic or cardboard to protect the surfaces while we continue to work. it's an exercise in imagination, but all that looking-forward-to never gets old for me. 

upstairs the wood floors are finally all laid with the exception of a few tricksy pieces here and there. being able to set up a work room upstairs saved a lot of time. (but again, more chaos.) next, we will buff and finish the floors with a voc-free white oil. 

patrick has pretty much been a one man miracle worker on this house. not only has he taken on the general contracting but he's done about 50% of the building... all while working full time. i really don't know how he's holding it all together and i can't really find the right words to say what an incredible job he's doing. but the end is in sight (or at least a certificate of occupancy) and i know he's looking forward to the first morning of waking up there as much as i am. 

thanks for following along with our project! it's absolutely a dream for us to be able to do this and i love being able to share the trials and triumphs with you. big thanks, for sure.

xo. r

dog days

long, slow summer afternoons have been few and far between this year. but after a weekend trip to see family & attend a gorgeous outdoor wedding, we took a day to just putter 'round summer style. there's nothing more entertaining than turning the hose on our two water-loving ladies. otis turned tail (i use that word loosely, our frenchies have very little in the way of tails) and hid behind a cooler in the garage. i coaxed him out again to get hosed off, sudsed up and rubbed fluffy again. three clean doggies... weekend win.

full disclosure

in the interests of full disclosure, i will take you on a tour of a home building site when you point your camera away from the pretty things. there's the gigantic blue dumpster. (admittedly a rather pretty shade of blue.) the turkeys who roost (and poop) on the porch and peek through the windows and wave hello (a rather kind translation) when you get too close. the various brush hogs and tractor bits and machiney type things that are waiting for their trip to the scrap yard. the camper and trailer that have been miraculously bartered to some of the tradesmen in exchange for work on the house and will be hauled off one day soon. and the port-a-potty that was rather cruelly located next to the temporary address sign. every time i drive up, it looks just like we live in a rent-a-loo. ack.

i've been posting fewer house pictures lately. because while things are chugging along in their way, mostly every picture just looks like a long to do list to me. currently we are trying to get the last of the trades finished up and out of the house. (mostly a few errors that needed to be fixed, which involves a little sweet-talking and a little teeth-grinding on my part when the march of progress starts going backwards for a bit!) in the mean time, we've got the yard 95% raked, seeded and covered in straw, and patrick's working on installing the final plumbing fixtures.

but here's a little hurrah... the master bath sink, nearly complete. of course we'll need a mirror, i'm thinking a simple stretch of glass from wall to wall to echo the long horizontal lines. (i'm still debating a little ledge underneath the mirror. thoughts?) and underneath the sink, a simple shelf made from a thick rustic plank of wood. (worried about storage for toiletries and such? me too! but there will be a dresser or cabinet on the wall behind the sink. i love, love, love real furniture in a bathroom.)

we're getting closer, keep your fingers crossed for us!

xo. r