shimandsons

handmade hellos

This fall a nifty little handmade card book is being published by Chronicle Books. The editors are the wonderful Hello!Lucky ladies [Sabrina + Eunice] and the book is chalk full of fun projects from various paper artists + stationery designers around the world. I was so excited when they asked me to contribute a project for the book. It has been almost a year in the making and after seeing a draft of the book I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy. So if you ever wanted to know how I make my fabric + cards or fused fabric cards, now you'll have the step-by-step directions!

You can find more information on the book here and I'll definitely let you all know once it is ready for pre-order. If you happen to be attending the National Stationery Show this year, Chronicle Books is hosting a wonderful Handmade Hellos Meet 'N' Greet giveaway that you don't want to miss. Some of my shim + sons' stationery is being included in the grand prize [as well as copies of the book!].

P.S. Fellow Portlanders, Friends of the Children is having their annual fundraiser tonight! [I donated some goodies for their silent auction.]

out + about

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. My weekend consisted of attending Big J's school carnival [the boys had their first ice cream sundae with sprinkles + gummy bears!], getting a haircut [long overdue for one] and preparing for and attending the Design Within Reach Modern Craft event. I had such a wonderful time at Modern Craft. It was so nice to see familiar faces, meet new friends, and mingle with so many cool local designers. I have to admit that I'm a home-body at heart, so I have to make a big effort to get out, but once I do I usually have a really good time. Spending several hours inside a DWR studio filled with beautiful furniture and home accessories is not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening.

Oh, and they also had platters of tasty treats for us to munch on. Yum! A big thank you to Heather Gregory and her team for creating such a nice vibe for the evening. And another big thank you to Elly for making me a beautiful dress just for the occasion [I love it so much!!].

And speaking of getting out, this week is packed with social events. Tonight I'll be swinging by the DWR Portland studio tonight for the D*S Biz Lady Meetup, tomorrow night I'm hanging out with a new friend, going on a field trip to the museum with Big J's class, hosting a big dinner party on Friday night and attending two birthday parties over the weekend. Oh, and sometime this week I'll be updating the shoppe with lots of new goodies. Hope you all have a good one!

P.S. I'm feeling MUCH better. Thank you all for your well wishes!

P.P.S. I just realized my info AT shimandsons DOT com email account was down from February 1-21, so if you sent me an email at this address, please re-send. Thanks. 

crafting + coughing

So I finally admitted defeat in the whole "I've-been-sick-for-ten-days-and-I'm-not-feeling-any-better" situation and went to the doctor. Just a nasty bug, but I have some medication now and hopefully I'll be on the mend soon enough [yes, I'm ignoring everyone who says my voice sounds worse than it did a week ago]. And although there are only four more days until the DWR Modern Craft event, I'm not stressed...yet.

I've been working on some new designs like this small tealight holder. It is made out of glass and I sewed a little linen leaf insert for it.

But I was thinking they could also be used to organize your paper clip collection. Oh, you don't have a paper clip collection? I couldn't possibly be the only person out there who snags every cute paper clip she finds at the Japanese stationery store, right?

And I've been working on a stack of new fabric + cards. I'm not sure if I'll ever get tired of making these.

P.S. I'm trying to make extra goodies while I prepare for Modern Craft. I'll plan to update the shoppe early next week. Stay tuned.

getting ready to work

Is it really February? January was one of those transitional months where I was trying to get back into the groove of things after the holidays, but all the little illnesses and time spent with extended family limited my work + crafting time. A bit of downtime is good for the soul but I am glad I managed to squeeze in a little shoppe update last week to help get me back on track. Thank you all the kind words about the new shoppe and to all the people who placed orders [your orders have been shipped]. I received quite a few questions about why I chose my new shoppe location, and for me it really comes down to having more options in how my shoppe is set up. Aethestically it is more appealing to me than my old shoppe, but there are pros and cons to both online shop options and I encourage those who inquired to look at these links. I initially signed up for a gold account [which is free] and sat on it for a few weeks, fiddling around with the design and looking at how products are uploaded. I then decided it was worth a try and I knew if I didn't like it I could always go back to the old shoppe. But I like the new shoppe and plan to stay put.

Anyways, now that it is February it is really time to get back into work mode. This month is full of project deadlines as well as volunteer work squeezed in here and there. Oh, and there is a trip to Mt. Hood, Valentine's Day parties to plan, valentine's day cards to make and a business trip for Appah. Really, I know if I think about it too much it will overwhelm me so I'll just try to take it day by day and focus as much as possible. I did manage to squeeze in a trip to the fabric store to stock up on some linen and some simple prints.

Oh, and I wanted to share that I'll be at our local Design Within Reach's Modern Craft event on February 24, 2008 [4-7pm]. I feel honored to have been asked by Heather Gregory, the proprietor, to participate in this modern craft fair. I've only participated and helped organized one craft show before, but this time around I'll be able to focus on making my goods and setting up my table. I have a long list of things I would like to make, so I better get to work! I'll share more details about the event later this week.

CHOW time

In junior high school I was part of a mentorship program where the students selected two occupations of interest. Our teachers then set up internships for us within the community. My two dream jobs back then were an architect and fashion designer. [I am neither now, but I live vicariously through my dear friend Martha.] Since junior high my list of "dream" jobs has grown quite long. Although right now I have to say designing and making handmade goods is a pretty sweet gig. One job on my "would-love-to-try-it-out-for-a-day" list is being a photo stylist. And recently I had a chance to do just this!

A few months ago an editor at CHOW contacted me about designing a Thanksgiving centerpiece for one of their upcoming stories. Since I love decorating and entertaining I thought this was something right up my alley. I had so much fun putting together a tablescape which was influenced by my love of neutrals, texture and organic shapes. You can read the full story here [more detailed photographs below]. I really love Cate Kellison's [Rose & Radish] modern woodland tablescape and Victoria Smith's [SF Girl By Bay] vintage + eclectic centerpiece. [Design-inspired stories is a new area CHOW is delving into, so if you like this story and would like to see more in the future, please be sure to leave a comment/feedback on the CHOW site.]

:: gingko nuts in glass cup :: handmade cup cover :: Japanese fabric + handmade linen buttons ::

:: acorns in glass cup :: linen cup cover ::

:: namecards ::

:: names printed on strips of linen ::

:: hand sewn on to linen leafs ::

:: linen leaf tree :: linen + cotton patchwork runner ::

A big thank you to Michele over at CHOW for making this such a wonderful experience!

student of the month

Hooray, I can finally share my good news! Look who is one of ReForm School's Student of the Month! And boy, am I in good company, sharing the honor this month with fellow Portlander Amy Ruppel. I really cannot say enough good things about Billie + Tootie, the dynamic duo behind ReForm School. It has been exactly one year since they started carrying my handmade goods in their brick and mortar shop in Silverlake and they have continually been great supporters of my work as well as the work of so many independent artists and designers. I was thrilled when they asked if I would make some of my handmade goods for their new online shop. So I made a big batch of wall + pockets and pin + pockets, which are exclusively available at their online shop this month. Since I'm not planning to make many of these in 2008 you might want to grab one while you can!

And thank you to everyone who left kind words on my last post! In lieu of drawing a name out of a hat [or colander in this case], I used the random number generator and came up with #19. Congratulations, CG!

craft --> package --> send --> repeat

Thank you to everyone who placed a shoppe order last week. I cannot even begin to express how appreciative I am of your support! It just dawned on me that the shoppe will be celebrating its 6-month anniversary this week. What a fun ride it has been! To show my appreciation, please come back here this Thursday, 11.01.07, for an opportunity to win something special. Oh, and I also have some exciting-to-me-maybe-to-you-too news to share.

I spent the weekend packaging orders. This is one of my favorite things to do. Mid-way through packing the stationery + boxes I decided to change the baker's twine packaging. So now the twine is wrapped around small flat clothespins and topped off with an abc seal.

I enclosed a few holiday gift + stickers in each order. I'll be stocking the shoppe with holiday stationery and more stationery + boxes over the next few weeks.

I also spent some time rummaging through old computer files and found these custom reading, writing, arithmetic cards I designed for a client last year. I believe these were a gift for a elementary school teacher.

And these were a gift for a reading specialist.

And who still needs to get their children's Halloween costumes ready? [If you could see me, I'm raising my hand!] I'm a bit relieved October will be over with soon enough--this was a challenging month for me. But November is looking up! No business trips for Appah [I'm knocking on wood as I type this out] and who doesn't love Thanksgiving [yummy food, here I come!]? And I'm super excited that I'll be spending a whole 48 hours with Melissa in a few weeks. We're heading up north to relax, spend time with our wise friend and check out Daria's trunk show. I cannot wait! 

stacks of stationery

:: everyday + flats :: restocking at the heath factory store ::

:: custom everyday + flats :: for Big J's preschool teachers ::

   

:: custom everyday + flats :: for a client's daughter's ::

   

:: new gift + tags :: back-to-school inspired ::

   

:: and gift + stickers :: sent out to the kind folks who ordered goodies from the shoppe last week :: will also be available in the shoppe in a few weeks ::

 

:: sneak peek :: Wiksten business collateral for the uber talented Miss Jenny [I cannot wait to see her fall collection!!] ::

in the crafting zone

Is it just me or is this summer flying by? I've been on a bit of a crafting + sewing high lately, hence the update earlier this week. I'm just going through one of those phases where I'm being very inspired by fabric + various color combinations, I can't seem to stop cutting fabric for one project or another. I'm sure this will result in a crafting lull in a few weeks, you know, the ebb + flow of crafting cycles.

Anyways, this week was my first taste of what it will be like when Big J starts preschool this fall. He went to church camp Monday-Thursday this week and boy did he have fun! He literally ran to the front door every day and wasn't ready to leave by the time I picked him up at noon. Of course Baby J kept asking me every few minutes, "Where's hyungah [big brother]?" He missed Big J, it was sweet.

I found a big box of clear bags that I had ordered several years ago for a church bake sale. I've been using them this week to package up orders. [If you're expecting a package from me, everything was sent out Wednesday, so your goodies are on its way!] After I use up this box of clear bags I'll look into some more eco-friendly packaging.

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love wrapping up the orders? I do, I do, I do! And I even had some help from Big J.

And I don't know about you, but I really need a balance between crafing for work and crafting for myself/home/children. I finally made a set of patchwork + towels for our kitchen. [That was the second thing on my "crafting for our house" list, remember?] And I just cut some fabric for more throw pillows, so hopefully I can work on those this weekend. We're doing a little room switch-a-roo this weekend, which will result in a nice spacious studio and crafting area for the family. I'm very excited about this new project.

We've been having some scorching weather this week so I've been living in light summer dresses. And after seeing so many folks make some really cute Built By Wendy clothes, I finally picked up some patterns since they were on sale at our local fabric store. I have the perfect summery cottons set aside for some tops + mini dresses.

Have a fantastic weekend!

more than a pencil + cup

:: looks like plain ol' pencil + cups ::

:: useful for holding writing instruments ::

:: or crafting tools ::

:: or wooden spoons ::

:: or holding branches of lunaria annua ::

:: more pencil + cups in the works :: available in the shoppe on 7.09.07 ::