SHIM + SONS

restocking the shoppe

I just restocked the shoppe! You'll find a large batch of pencil + cups...

...and paper + clips...

...and button + magnets and push + pins...

 

...all right over here.

the library

:: there are some perks of having a husband who travels :: and having a husband who is not afraid of venturing into a huge fabric store in tokyo ::

 

:: to pick up a few goodies for his wife ::

:: oh, and of course a stop at the local bookstore :: ISBN978-4-579-10996-8 ::

 

:: love the bonnet + bloomers ::

:: love the simplicity of this outfit ::

:: ISBN4-579-11121-4 ::

:: sweet clothes for boys ::

 

:: and girls ::

:: my oh my, he sent a lot of books :: too many [wait, did I really say that?]:: I'll be putting some up for sale early next week :: in the meantime, I'm slowly adding my craft books to the library ::

the shoppe :: update 03

:: small update :: button + magnets :: push + pins :: pencil + cups :: gift + tags ::

one in ten

wall + pocket 28

I made this wall + pocket [16" x 24"] and coordinating push + pins for the one in ten auction which will take place August 19-24 on ebay. You can find details about the auction here.

finding inspiration

:: finding inspiration from this stack of patchwork + towels I made a few weeks ago :: love the simplicity of white and flecks of color prints peeking through :: reminds me of Yoshiko Jinzenji's Simple Quilt book :: inspiring me to make a white quilt/duvet cover for our bedroom ::

:: finding inspiration in this bundle of Uniform Studio fabric scraps :: from the lovely summer into fall collection ::

:: which I cut into right away :: yet another use for a pencil + cup :: storing fabric scraps ::

:: finding inspiration in thin strips of patchwork ::

:: nice little can to stash sweet treats ::

hi appah!

 

We miss you. Hurry home.

hello + welcome

A big "thank you" to the kind folks over at Typepad for making shim + sons :: the journal their featured Typepad blog today.

And a big "hello + welcome" to everyone who is visiting for the first time today. Enjoy your visit!

[namebadges created using fd flickr toys]

spiffying up casa shim

Yesterday's naptime crafting included making some new throw pillows for our living room sofa. Yes, I'm making some progress on my "crafting for our house" list.

Here's a more realistic photograph of our living room. Oh wait, envision the pillows on the floor.

I really wanted to make some textured pillows [I love Martha's fold pillow!], but these patchwork + pillows were a quick fix.

Coincidentally the pillows match our new patchwork + towels. Cheesy? Oh, yes!

I love the linen tape on the backs of the pillows.

 

It looks like we're having a bit of a reprieve from the wet weather so we're heading out to the berry patches!

built by wendy :: sewn by sally

Hope you all had a great weekend! Our weekend included a trip to our local farmer's market [Rainier cherries and Sweet Sue peaches, how I love thee], moving furniture for our little room switch-a-roo [boxes + piles everywhere, but at least the furniture has been moved], breakfast at Byways Cafe [their amaretto-infused french toast is quite yummy!] and hanging out with new friends.

I also squeezed in some sewing over the weekend and made a few summer dresses. I was going for instant gratification, so I selected the easiest pattern from my Built By Wendy pattern stack. I basically turned the simple shirt pattern [3835] into a summer dress. Super easy. I made one during naptime on Saturday, wore it to church on Sunday, made another during naptime on Sunday and wore it on Monday.

I stink at self-portraits, so these are the best photographs I could come up with. One dress is made out of a navy + white gingham swiss dot fabric and the other from a navy + white + yellow vintage floral. It is kind of funny because these fabrics are not really "me" [even Appah made a comment about that], but I picked them from my stash because I had some yardage of both and they seemed like good summer dress prints.

Next up, summer tunics! Stay tuned.

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!