JCasa *handmade

a few good things

her sense of style

her sense of humor

their bond

daddy's influence on proper supergirl flying moves

other good (and great) things ::
all the neighborly love these past few weeks, my space being featured on modish, and my work featured on sewmamasew twice in the past week, and a few new + very exciting opportunities (and that's all i'll say about that).

also loving this scarf, all things tortillagirl, la fuji mama's nutella cookies, stefanie japel making t-shirt yarn, lucy and her gorgeous new design, gretelie's oh so pretty wool wristwarmers, wisecraft's brilliant removable quilt design wall, and halloween candy.  oh yes, let's share a piece with mama, please.

what's making you happy on this gorgeous first day of november?  xoxo

tidy

i couldn't help myself, everything looked so pretty.

reframing and arranging favorite prints, photos, textiles and ceramics. and placing much needed tools at my fingertips.

a new configuration of inspiration boards in the form of ikea cutting boards + a shimandsons pinstrip.  inspired by rachel to use something non-traditional.

removing completed projects from my bulletin board, in turn creating space for what is yet to come.  me thinks cleaning out a creative space is a good thing.

:

i have a few things to wrap up this month - that quilt up there tops the list - so i'll be popping in and out with photos of our days along the way. and of course, a good recipe or two. and maybe a craft project here and there. and some very cool news. wait a minute, how is that stepping back from blogging for a short while?
enjoy your days!  xoxo

hello, Fall.

oh, Autumn.  you are my favorite and my best.  singing songs about the colors turning at every corner, telling tales and endless giggles under piles of quilts, falling in love with puzzles again and again, the baking for baking's sake, and the wool.

i hope you are finding special ways to welcome the turn of the season into your world.  xoxo

home.

after a most wonderful week away, it is nice to be back in our space.

this is the third year our little foursome has made a summer trip to the sea and each time it is more magical.  and easier.  i am sure some of you can appreciate "easier" as one delicious slice of progress.  we've learned to pack less, simplify our plans with each new day and just soak it all in.  imagine being simultaneously filled with inspiration + completely relaxed.  good stuff.

i hope our girls will cherish these memories just as i fondly remember each of my childhood summers spent in the adirondacks. as a mother, i now appreciate the simplicity of those summer vacations on a different level - away from our everyday lives and how those experiences are shared as a family.  very good stuff, indeed.

and now that we are back in our home, gently easing back into things and bracing ourselves for a new even busier routine, looking forward to all that lies ahead... i am making a concerted effort to hold onto what a memorable getaway can bring to my everyday life.  xoxo

::

many many thanks to near hundred (wow!) of you who contacted me about being pattern testers!  i will be formatting the pattern over the next week or so and then contacting each of you with more information.  xoxo

good morning.

as the littles trickled in next to me this morning, one of the first requests was for fresh strawberries.  and blueberry pancakes.
oh, all right.

i had thought the local strawberries were all gone, but that resourceful corn fairy gifted us a pint from the Amish farm market earlier in the week.  into a small saucepan went a handful each of blueberries + strawberries plus a splash of water and it all simmered over low heat while the batter was mixed with more blueberries and the remaining strawberries were nibbled.  fast forward about 10 minutes and wishes are granted.

a good morning - and day - to you.  xoxo

the shuffle

one thing i love about knitting is that you can do it pretty much anywhere.  but sewing + making requires a bit more of a designated space to house all of the ideas and inspiration and works in progress along the way.  working in a small space means things can - if you let them (cough cough) - get quite cluttered rather quickly.  shuffling back and forth between knitting and sewing is a big part of who i am, and all those many projects need a place to land en route to completion.  so you can imagine that my little work space has been known to suffer from system overload.

enter mother nature :: thanks to a very rainy day this weekend, i was able to do a major cleanout and regain my footing, by emptying out the room entirely and only inviting back that which is needed.  the result is more breathing room than i thought i had, a big bag for donation and rather impressive pile of fabrics to be shared (yes, that means giveaway - more on that soon enough).  one would imagine i could have sewn a bit this weekend...

alas, there was no time for sewing with the wonderful busyness of life happening.  but with some fluffy malabrigo (for my purple-loving girly) and a lovely pattern in hand, there was knitting - in the car.  i do hope swiss miss wasn't offended when she was asked to share her sunny window spot with my swift + ball winder.  it was just for a short while, after all.  xoxo

why mondays are good

exhibit A :: the flavor of fried dough still lingers, along with memories of the carnival being told and retold.  "more games!  more rides! MORE MORE MORE!"  um, hello, sugar rush - we've never seen the likes of you before.  (easy money that the leftover cotton candy was in this morning's trash.)

exhibit B :: getting on the scale, and subsequently back on my feet, and feeling really good... afterwards. (if there are questions, please refer to exhibit A.)

exhibit C :: another visit from the corn fairy, who this week also surprised us with the most beautiful blueberries.  thanks, dad!

this week is looking promising - with a few deadlines on my plate, i am feeling both enthusiastic and challenged as i try to make everything as awesome as is possible.  what is keeping you busy this week?  xoxo

early to rise

for some reason, i was up and out of bed at half past 6 this morning.  back when i was teaching, i was up + running at 5:30am each and every day.  but nowadays, i'm more of a night owl.  i enjoy settling in when the house settles down at the end of a long day.  and so, of course my morning rise + shine has been bumped back a bit in recent years.  but today, my internal alarm clock had me up at sunrise.  no, not to exercise (ahem).  to knit.  i had a late night knitting session and actually dreamed about it.  that's not that odd, is it?  as i tiptoed down the stairs, being extra careful not to wake the kiddos, the lovely morning light in my little studio made me swoon.  and a few minutes later, so did the sound of the coffeemaker gurgling as my needles were back in hand once again.
wishing you + yours a lovely weekend.  xoxo

square one

back in the time known as b.k. (before kiddos), i spent a fair amount of time at my co-op pottery studio.  it was a quiet zone with the utmost respect of space and freedom, and wonderful relationships were built.  it was a creative time in a very inspiring space - i felt safe taking risks and stepping away from a lifetime of being convinced "i cannot draw for shit so i am not an artist".  it all changed then and there.  the clay, that studio, my teacher + friends :: it changed me.

that urge to create, that need to use my hands + make things didn't stop when i had the littles, but it definitely went into hibernation for a while.  over time, though, the maker in me resurfaced with many baby knits and eventually during one naptime, i happened upon the sewing machine my mom gave me about 20 years ago.  i remember her telling me that it would be "a good thing to have", but never knew what it would come to mean for me. 

it was on that first sewing machine that i made the hub a set of curtains with Barry + Glodean xerox transfers back when we were dating.  and it is that hub who encouraged me to find that pottery studio.  and it is that pottery studio that made me realize i have a creative voice.  and it is that creative voice that resurfaced in my stitches since becoming a mother. 

knitting and sewing has been the kiss that awakened the artist in me and allows me to find balance in motherhood.  carving out time to create refuels me in so many ways.  i am blessed to have a quiet space to work in, and find inspiring niveaus of square one with every mess and subsequent cleanout + reorganization.  wishing you a lovely weekend - happy making!  xoxo

summer fallout

you may want to shield your eyes for this.  you see, things in my little studio aren't always so pristine.  take a deep breath and brace yourself ::

what can i say, this is what happens when one is seldom indoors.  or at home, for that matter.  ahhh, summer, there is so much to love about you.  and mama is especially loving a few days of summer rain to get this little haven of crafting back into working order.  photos of my most recent game of studio tetris tomorrow.  xoxo