molly irwin

we're off

 

This is what it looked like last week after some rain brought down all of the leaves.  I thought I should share one last autumnal photo before returning next week to December.

We're off to see the families: 2 towns, 2 houses (2 nights each) 800 miles, 4 days, 2 turkeys, lots of DVD movies, friends, cameras, stories, some wine ... fires in fireplaces ... and I'm hoping for snow.  Can we get some snow please?

If you come back the first week of December I think I might have a little giveaway to kick off the Christmas season.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  

[ putting together my December daily journal/album]

Today finds me readying my book to join Ali and so many others who have decided to take a few minutes out of each day in December to notice, document, photograph and write.  I'm very excited about this project, as last year a broken camera on Thanksgiving day set me back, and I never did get started.

I'm looking forward capturing those story-telling moments; the simple, little rituals that we share as a family during the Advent season, leading up to our Christmas celebration.  I think this will be invaluable for my kids to look back on one day.

Though there is year-end paper work looking back at me, I'm very much feeling the spirit of the season upon us.

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Other things inspiring me today:

• Lisa's ease into A Year of Mornings

• Karyn's "crafty list of things to do" need to make a list of my own for '09.

• The LIFE photo archive,(via Allie)

• New life for cheap "bodice-ripping romance novels" at Anthropologie, (via domesticali)

• Enjoy the weekend!

giving :: tie one on

While I don't intend to reference every post from the One Good Loaf site to my home blog, this recent discovery certianly merits the mention.

Author of The Apron Book, EllynAnne Geisel, is hosting an event aptly called: National Tie-One-On day.  She suggests that on the day before Thanksgiving, we each wrap a loaf of bread, or other baked goods in an apron and deliver it to someone in need.

This is such a simple, yet compelling (and do-able) suggestion, that can yeild immeasureable results both for the receiver and the giver alike. 

Learn more about the concept and an exciting giveaway through the links provided here, or in my more detailed post at one good loaf.

the holiday crafting begins

 

Before the rain came last week I set out collecting. As the kids played in the park, I gathered these nice curvy, uniform reeds (or actually they seem more like super long leaf stems) that had fallen to the ground.  The goal: try my hand at Molly's stick stars.

Snipped to the same length with clothes pins securing the ends, I got into a groove tying them, layer upon layer.  I'm so very thankful for the tutorial because, honestly -- I cannot over-emphasize the importance of clothes pins in this project.  Those little ends just want to pop out every chance they get.

Now that I've got the process down, the short left-over ends just might have to be fashioned into a smaller version for the tree.

Here's a big thank you to Molly for sharing this project! If you are not familiar with her lovely blog, a Foothill Home Companion, you should really head over there and check out her warm stories and projects ... and I'm not just saying that because she is a Molly ;)

Holiday project number one: stick stars. They make me smile. Now I just need to decide where to hang them?

 

dreamy inspiration friday

 

[photo recycled from my spring '08 morning series]

Friday already?

Time flies when you put your head down into the work week.

Thought I would share some fun finds from around the web:

• A new (to me) inspiration slideshow by Maine Cottage designer, Greg Frangoulis

• Amy Butler's new fall "look book" and her halls decked for Christmas in the December issue of Home Companion. (Which, by the way is the final issue of this magazine until supposedly they obtain another publisher. This news via twitter. I knew that would be good for something.)

• Artisit Ann Woods' Ships (viewed as a slideshow with accompaniment of Come Away to Sea, by David Wilcox)

• Bookbinder's Design website and featured products ... oh the possibilities!

• Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm, (via Molly of mommcoddle)

What is inspiring you this weekend?

things I heard today # 27

H: Joanie, Vicki thinks that's boring.

J: Well, she's never going to learn to tell time if I don't teach her.

H: She only needs to learn to stay out of danger and other things that cats need to know.

J: I only taught her up to 3 o'clock.

re: the cat

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... and in another time and place ...

M: I tan't seep a'tus I was finkin' about do-nuts and it made me feew white I was a dhost.

re: nap

type, text, paper

   

A collection from flickr contacts, photo credits as follows:

1. seven by Swallofield 2. magazine shot by red shoes 3. folded catalog by domestic ali 4. designing bags  by tielsk 5. treats by mail lovely days 6. sneak peek new studio by o!rachew! 7. amelia lyon photography by the madate press 8. in thier hands by dogfaceboy 9. studio by geninne.

Something sensational happens, a sort of fingerprint left (either literal or interpretive) when type, text and imagery come together on paper. When it's done well, with love, the results are memorable. This is a part of a small collection of examples that speak to me these days.  I'm just letting the impressions sink in becoming part of a larger overall body of influence from which to draw upon. 

'one good loaf' project gets a home

 

So as not to completely monopolize this space with baking breads, I've created a new site for the 'One Good Loaf' project. It's fascinating to me how much the concept of bringing bread baking back into one's own hands resonates with people. A quick web search on the subject can be overwhelming, but a few of those resources are being gathered on the OGL page for reference. 

Our first group giveaway is posted today; all members of the flickr OGL pool are welcome to participate.  

If you would like to join our bread baking group and take part in the challenge, it is as simple as signing up for a free flickr account and sending a request via the group to join.  Please let me know if there are any questions.

Happy weekend!

a place for story collecting

 

Conversion of a book to a binder is something that I've wanted to try since I saw Monique's example last fall, and I was reminded of her clever idea once again by her most recent version.

This came together quickly after happening across one that looked to be just the right size in a box of my neighbor's curbside discards. I set to work with the exacto cutting away the block of pages and lining the inside with patterned paper by Basic Grey. Gaffer tape from 7 Gypsies neatly covers the Biography of Mao Tse Tung, title on the spine.

   

Inside a piece of gaffer tape, cut in half vertically, is adhered to each side of the cardboard backing on the binder strip, which is fixed (with strong adhesive) to the cardboard spine. 

 

I'm using my new binder to contain work from Jessica Sprague's upcoming "Stories in Hand" class and the ongoing collection I anticipate will result.  I highly recommend visiting Jessica's site to learn more.

This is the passage she wrote that really got to me:

"I decided to create a system for capturing the stories I would like to tell, so that when I sit down to storytell (whether that's scrapbooking, taking photos, blogging, or any other of the various ways I can record the stories of my life), I can have some stories in hand. 

This class is really not about writing, or about scrapbooking, but about the gathering process. About the remembering process. About collecting the experiences, big and small, that have shaped us and made us who we are. The stories worth telling."

The online class is FREE (work at your own pace) and begins this coming Sunday, November 9th. 

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update: just read that registration closes for 'stories in hand' Saturday at midnight.

today

 

... is the day. 

I've been a little busy tending to things at the new site, 'one good loaf', but will be back tomorrow with some other things.