Secret Holiday

Holiday Camp

I only have about five minutes before I have to walk to work at the candy shop, but I wanted to use that time to direct you to my good friend Rhea Mack's new blog: Holiday Camp. We went to college together and I have always admired her lovely quiet drawings. 

I am so excited to see her blogging and posting work! Check it out! I miss her a lot and I am very much looking forward to keeping up with all she's been doing through pictures on her blog (between visits, of course). Also, she has one of the cutest little babies ever. Go now! 

Settling in and getting back to work

This is what our bedroom looks like today. Since we're still unpacking and settling in, I expect it will change shape a few more times, but I'm happy with this set up right now. We're both extremely excited about having a room dedicated solely to sleeping again. I know, it sounds so silly. But we like the idea of keeping this room really simple and clutter-free. I mean, really, nothing belongs in here except for bedding and clothes. No more piles of things in every nook and cranny! 

You can also see my first completed banner :) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I'm glad I can see a couple things I'd like to change with the next one, now that this is hanging on the wall. I think even though all the letters are the same dimensions, "IT'S" looks a teeny tiny bit bigger than "OK", and if anything I'd like it to be just the opposite. It's nice to get to see these things before getting too far along. I have a bunch of letters cut out already, but it's not too late to change things up a bit. 

This last picture is a sneak peek at the very first "banner" I started making a couple months ago. I'm hand stitching the letters on and it's taking forever! But I am finally on the last letter! I'll just go ahead and tell you now, in case you couldn't figure it out from how gigantic this banner is... this one is going to be a quilt! I may actually decide to keep it for myself, or, er, give it to Justin... hee hee. The sentiment makes me feel good and I like the idea of seeing Justin curled up under these words. 

Thanks for the kind and encouraging comments a few of you left on my last post about banner making. It's nice to know I'm not alone in feeling discouraged sometimes, and it's even better to be told to keep going and making just the same. Thanks friends! 

No Knead Bread

I can't wait to try out this seemingly simple recipe! It's been years since I've baked homemade bread, and this looks really great! Found over on Honey and Jam.

Richard & Virginia

 Custom anniversary gift / Love Birds No.95 & 96 / Completed August 2010 

Not a great photo... I still need to seek out the best photo-taking corner in our new place :)

I'm feeling slightly defeated...

I've been jumping around the internet tonight, procrastinating a little about going to sleep, for no good reason really... when I stumbled upon this image on Forestbound (via My Love For You):

Yes... an inspirational banner (by William Edmonds). Almost exactly the secret project I have been slowly, very slowly, working on. This is beautiful, and frustrating at the same time. 

Does this ever happen to you? Doesn't it just make you wish you had so much more time to hurry up and complete all those projects you've been starting and thinking about for hours and hours and planning and working on but never completing quick enough because there are so many incredibly talented people out there, and everyone is influenced by each other and, well, it's just so hard to keep up? 

I am still excited about my own little project, really, I am and I am going to keep going with it, but I have to admit I am feeling a bit defeated tonight. Mostly because I like William Edmonds banners so much. Honestly, part of me would like not to admit to you or myself that I ever saw these, but now I have... Ah well... Let's see what I can do anyway.

Slowly moving in...

Kitty is already at home :)

Last night Justin and I picked up a "new" couch - the most perfect inexpensive couch ever to be found on Craigslist, and ended up falling asleep with a movie on (You've Got Mail - a favorite bedtime movie in our home), each of us curled up on our own sofa. I guess that's what happens when you live for a year without a couch, and suddenly you have two! I think we've grown a bit tired of our old bed, after spending most of the past year on it!

Herriott Grace

Have you heard of Herriott Grace? I stumbled upon this incredible father-daughter team just a couple weeks ago and I've already spent hours pouring over all the images. I'm daydreaming of owning one of these beautiful pieces. I'll just have to time it right - they sell out fast!

Friday the 13th is my lucky day

I stopped in an antique shop on my way back from the post office today - - on the off chance I would find even just a tiny scrap of this specific kind of lace I need for a pair of birds. 

I've been a little bit out of sorts this past week from packing to move this Monday, working extra at the candy shop (due to two coworkers on vacation), and too many custom orders to complete and ship in one week with only two hands. I've been frustrated about there not being enough hours in a day and slightly annoyed at my own unorganized planning. I absolutely needed to find the right lace. Today. I took on two bird orders promising an antique lace chest, only to complete one (shown above right) and find that was the absolute very last piece I had in my stash.

When I dug to the bottom of this specific old trunk in the antique shop that I imagined (and hoped) the lace would be in, if it would be there at all, I came upon two small squares, hand stitched together, with no price tag. I brought it up to the counter, fighting hard to hide my excitement and suddenly, not only did I find the most perfect antique lace in all the land, but the shop owner told me to just take it! For free! That's unheard of! 

Needless to say, I walked back home smiling and feeling incredibly lucky. I now possess the power to conquer this order! And many more :)