carve

We've been back in Oregon for over a week now, and that week was such a gift. My mom came back with us, giving me a whole lot of time to clean, find buried paperwork, move rooms around (Shoghi, Max, and I are all back to sharing one room), and work on new items for my next farmer's market appearance on 8/15.

Back in the spring, I discovered a new creative hobby - hand carving stamps for printing. I did three of them, beets, a pomegranate, and a pear.

one of my three original carvings - pear

After that initial burst of inspiration, my tools sat idle, despite the fact that I toted them around, even taking them with me to Massachusetts.

While Mom was here, though, I had some time alone (in a cafe while a flat tire was being repaired), and found my hands immediately knew just what to do. I made three new designs, just like that, and I am so pleased with them!

I got right to work printing, then redesigned my card backs and created new textile prints.

i found a zigzag stitch font to use on my card backs - love it!
i'm going to use this branding now "hand crafted" for everything i make - this is the umbrella brand under which 70s home and bamboo village press will fall.

i printed the apple and strawberry on fabric, then turned them into iron-ons for these infant/toddler shirts. i'll be carrying the patches, too, so folks can make their own.


strawberry!

i just finished this zucchini - i haven't printed it except this test print.

A boundless thanks to my mom (and my dad, who spent the week missing her). Now that I have some new images to work with, my booth is going to be all the better! The next 10 days are going to be filled with time at the sewing machine, working on produce bags, since I am all out!

on the cutting board

Took a few moments today while the boys were napping to unpack, iron and cut some new fabrics for produce and bulk food shopping bags. I nearly sold out at my last appearance at our neighborhood farmer's market, so I'd better get busy! I'm loving the green and black ticking fabric I got just before flying to MA - it's such a classic household look, plus it's woven fabric rather than printed, which I feel is a bonus. I'm really enjoying woven cottons these days, for their warp-and-weft feeling, their kitchen handiness, and simple beauty.

market day

Today was my second time at the Farmer's Market here in our neighborhood (I know, right? Neighborhood farmer's market? AWESOME.). It was another gorgeous day, and while it was a really long day, it was fun, and much more successful than my first time. I actually sold most of my cotton produce and bulk food bags! I also had Laurie's cards, which people are just gaga over, and it's always more fun to talk up my sister than myself.

I will say, though, for many reasons, it was a very grueling day. Shoghi's got something going on... teeth, or allergies, or maybe bronchitis... he just isn't giving me a clear read on it except that he's going on 4 days of being overtired. He's had 3 nights of terrible and long night wakings, doing his typical loud wailing crying, pushing me, and back arching for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night. Today he also displayed this behavior for the first time during the day. It's really hard to know how to respond to this very physical communication that I don't understand. I hope the cycle has already broken, and that tonight he will sleep well. I really need more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I need to not be wrestling my 30-pound toddler in the middle of the night.

But now that this farmer's market is done, I can finally (please, children) do some major and desperately needed cleaning around here, and get the house ready for our departure next weekend. I'm bringing my work with me, in more ways than one. I hope to work on more produce bags for our next four market dates, as well as re-write my resume, finish my grad school application, and generally (hopefully) gain some clarity about what the hell I'm doing with my life in the three weeks we're with my parents. Tall (and probably unrealistic) order. I am so, so ready to have this break.

tiptoeing back

I'm out of the swing of posting again, and my camera... oh, my camera. It's still not working. I'm relying totally on swiping photos from Laurie.

my garden prayer flags, hanging up at the farmer's market

Well, Farmer's Market weekend went well, but sheesh, everything is in a shambles as a result of the time I put into getting ready! I stumbled downstairs yesterday and looked around, and literally every square foot of this place is a disaster. I started in one spot while the boys napped, and didn't get much farther than that. At least it's a beginning.

This morning, today looked to be shaping up into a nightmare, but I have to say, it was a really nice day for me and the boys. After 3 agonizing hours of sibling rivalry, I loaded us up and we went to Old Wives' Tales for breakfast. It was almost totally empty. The boys played joyfully together in their awesome play room, and stood on the wooden sailboats to look out the window at the construction equipment with deep interest. We played together, ate a gorgeous meal, and headed home for naps.

In the late afternoon, Korin and I took all the kids to OMSI, where I let the boys run around the discovery room. They had a blast, and I got to practice letting out my tether on them as they ran from one activity area to another while I tried to keep both of them in my lines of sight. They had a blast, we got to pick up Laurie after work, and we all came home and had an easy dinner and bedtime.

More on the market experience soon - I don't want to forget about it before my next booth date - 6/27.