Wordless Wednesday

Yellow and Blue: New Stock, Sneak Peak

 

Paintings by Solomon and me, together: "Long Tail" and "Bowl of Lemons (With Legs)"

 I have a real thing for this color combination right now -- I can't seem to get enough.  Marigold and Aqua.  Mustard and Indigo.  Navy and Saffron.  All.  Lucky for me, I just received a shipment of brand new stock!  Love love loving this new background to work with.  The clothing is fair trade/organic, and just beautiful.  I'm so excited to be widening my range.  Soon, I think I'll be able to offer bigger kids' sizes in addition to baby-wear.  Here's a preview:

Just getting a few more pieces ready, and then they'll go up in my shop.  More (and more colors) to come!

My Creative Space

If the previous post is any indication, I've developed a major sweet-tooth lately.  I like to think of pumpkin cake topped with sour cream or lemon curd (eaten straight off the finger, naturally) as "energy dense."  And energy is something I'm craving at the moment, seeing as I've recently gone off coffee.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an ongoing (and probably very boring) love/hate relationship with my morning/late morning/afternoon cup.  I'm still breastfeeding, so I've gone the distance to figure out just how much is ok (3 cups give or take -- only 1% of the caffeine gets into breastmilk) and I pretty much max it out daily.  I love the lift, the taste, and the ritual; I hate the crash and the irritability.

I always have an underlying uneasiness that this last remaining vice really is just that -- a vice.  I hate being dependent and I always feel better and as though I'm nurturing myself more when I take a break.  I knew the time had come when I wondered to myself (truly) whether the coffee companies were conspiring against me and secretly decaffeinating my coffee in an effort to make me drink more.  Then, I happened to read this post from Small Notebook on Sunday night and it tipped the scales.  So from Monday on, I've been coffee-free.  Meh.  But it's getting better. 

Anyway, I've been struggling to stay up past 8:30 much less get out to the studio for late evenings of work this week.  Fortunately, I've been blessed with some well-timed naps and have been able to sort out a few new design ideas during the days....

From above: "Leaves of Grass" organic baby blanket, "8 Blue Robins" organic baby blanket, "Birds on Wire" organic sleep gown, and again, "Leaves of Grass."  Most are available in my shop.

Check out many more creatives and their spaces here on Kootoyoo.  Always a pleasure.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy

Ahh, finally.  After a series of mistakes last week, all is going well in the studio world.

I have a new "Welcome Swallow" sleep gown in my shop, and a few new designs in the works that I'm excited about. 

So, yay!  In other news, I'm considering the merits/disadvantages of setting up an Etsy shop in addition to my Felt one.  Thoughts?  I'd really appreciate your wisdom and opinions.

Felt Aid

Today I began to see a few new listings on Felt crop up under the shop name "Felt Aid."  Curious, I investigated further and found that Lucy, Sarah and Ana from Felt....Like Something Different had created a blog and had begun fund-raising to help out the people of Christchurch, where a major earthquake hit just a week ago.

This, from an email that was sent out to the Felt community:

In the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake here in Christchurch, NZ on Saturday September 4th, no doubt many people's minds turned to how they could help out - this response was no different among those of the Felt community.... Ideas generated conversation, that was soon made into a cohesive plan, that eventuated in the creation of FeltAid and its accompanying blog "Felt like helping out".

In short, FeltAid is the culmination of an entire crafty minded community's creativity and of their desires to help out the best way they know how - by getting their craft on and donating the proceeds to a very worthy cause! And of course what could make a community of craftisans happier than being able to help out by doing what comes most naturally. 

Hurrah! And amen.  This is a bandwagon I am thrilled to jump on.  Helping out always feels good, but being craft- and community-related, this effort feels especially satisfying.  I was happy to submit a donation of an Organic Seed Pod Sleep Gown.

You can find the link for the listing here.  Heaps of great stuff has been donated by other Felters, so take your time and have a good look around.  If you would make your own donation, visit the donations site here.  All proceeds will go to the New Zealand Red Cross.

A wonderful thing to be a part of -- go Felt Aid!  Wouldn't it be awesome if Felt Aid continued as a fund-raising effort for different global issues after the crisis in Christchurch has been resolved?  Perhaps the recipients could rotate each month.  So much good to be done!

Come Inside

Yesterday I took advantage of a quiet afternoon and an extra long nap-time to clean out the studio.  Since I really thrive in a well-organized space, it didn't take long before I felt needed a big clean out.  I was able to make things work a bit better for me -- putting away supplies I rarely use, making space for things I like to keep in arms-reach, and putting a few use-all-the-time tools up on the wall where I can always get to them.  While everything was looking extra tidy, I thought I'd take a few photos to share with you.

It was exciting to send a package with a few organic kimono all-in-ones off to a very new baby this morning.  I always love to imagine the beautiful little ones that will wear the clothing I make -- a small but special connection.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.