SHIM + SONS

the midas touch

When I was preparing the centerpiece design for CHOW, I started noticing all the golden hues throughout our house. Although I think golden yellows are the perfect summer to fall color, I think they'll be sticking around throughout the winter since it is a nice color to brighten up these dreary dark days we're having here in Portland.

:: throw pillows made from Ikea fabric ::

:: billy buttons ::

   

:: cattails::

:: our golden boy ::

I sketched up a new winter-y tablescape design for our kitchen nook. Think lots of white, touches of green [if I can find the right shade of green in my stash] with a dash of outdoorsy influence. I hope to work on the design this weekend along with finishing our advent calendar [any suggestions on fun activities/goodies for my boys?], trimming the tree and fulfilling shoppe orders--thank you to those who stopped by to do some holiday shopping! [We sold out of the bakers + dozen, but if you would like to order a set, please email me.] I'm starting to get into the holiday spirit. A few nights ago I went to check the mail and it was snowing! Soft little snowflakes were falling from the sky and I could hear some of the neighborhood children running around yelling, "It's snowing! It's snowing!" The snowfall didn't last long, but I know there is more to come. When snow is in the forecast I tend to get into that nesting mode, making sure our refrigerator and pantry is stocked with food [we always get stuck at home for a few days during a heavy snowfall]. The other day I gifted myself with a panini press and have to confess that I've eaten five paninis in less than 24 hours. Gluttony, that's my vice. Appah also brought home a deep fryer a few weeks ago [which has been on my wish list for years] and we've been enjoying some of his tasty homemade chicken wings. Donuts are next on my list of things to fry up. Although it doesn't sound like it, we are actually pretty healthy eaters around here. Speaking of healthy eating, have you seen this book? A friend just sent it to me the other day and the recipes look quite tasty. My boys like vegetables, but it is always nice to think of new ways to inject them into our diet. Oh, and thank you to those who left oatmeal cookie recipes for me. I plan to try some out today.

Have a fun weekend!

the shoppe :: update 08

The shoppe has been stocked with new [and old] goodies!

:: button + clips ::

:: doubles as a paper clip and magnet ::

:: packaging sets ::

:: for your homemade holiday treats ::

:: paper + clips ::

:: button + magnets and push + pins ::

Happy shoppe-ing!

P.S. I plan to update the shoppe in early December with patchwork + towels, pencil + cups and pin + boards. After that I'll shifting my attention toward handmade gifts for friends + family. If there is something you are hoping to see in the next update, please let me know [info AT shimandsons DOT com].

bakers + bags + boxes

Baking seems to go hand in hand with the cooler weather and holiday season. I've been baking batches of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies [Ina Garten's recipe] on a weekly basis. Yum. And I just baked a batch of banana nut muffins [I threw in some chocolate chips] using Myra's scrumptious recipe. Double yum. Soon enough I'll be baking goodies for friends + teachers. Of course I love packaging them up in boxes or bags, baker's twine and handmade gift + tags. I'm always on the lookout for simple packaging materials and I'm in love with the white boxes + kraft bags I've been using for many years.

For the longest time I've been wanting to create some packaging sets and I finally got around to it. I figured there might be some folks out there who would like to have some simple boxes + bags to fill with their own homemade treats this holiday season. So, I put together some bakers + boxes [boxes, twine, gift + tags] and bakers + bags [bags, gift + labels], which can also be used to package small gifts. And for those who plan to do a lot of baking, you might like the bakers + dozen, which has a bit of everything [boxes, bags, twine, gift + tags and gift + labels]. All of these packaging sets will be in the shoppe this Thursday @ 10a pst.

Happy holiday baking + eating to you all!

P.S. Does anyone have a good oatmeal cookie recipe? I love the oatmeal cranberry cookie over at Pearl Bakery and have been wanting to make something similar.

baby j :: 29 months

happy thanksgiving...

...from our home to yours.

cutting + stacking

:: fabric for patchwork + towels :: pencil + cups :: push + pins :: button + magnets :: paper + clips :: and a few new goodies ::

i love...

:: this little boy [I held him for a few hours yesterday and he is the sweetest thing] :: and this beautiful wood box given to me my his mama ::

:: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies ::

:: spicy noodles ::

:: Japanese candy packaging ::

:: this little dog ::

:: finding yards of cotton twill + denim in the remnants section :: hoping to make some pants for the boys :: 

:: this porcelain log vase :: this wallpaper :: this little jacket :: these scarves :: these simple number candles :: this pen pal project :: this dress :: this cupcake blog [via Oh Joy!] :: this sewing spot :: this green dollhouse project :: this body of work :: these porcelain stones ::   

eating in seattle

A friend who vacationed with our family once commented that it is odd how we plan our day around our meals. What? I thought this was the norm. Anyways, what can I say, we like to eat good food. Seattle is quickly becoming one of our favorite vacation spots--partly because of its proximity to Portland [the boys will nap the entire car ride up/down], but mainly because of all the yummy food.

This is our third trip to Seattle this year so we have our "favorites"--mini coconut cream pies from Dahlia Bakery, tomato soup + paninis at Beecher's and gyros at Pikes Place. This time we squeezed in some potato + cheese piroshkys and apple cinnamon rolls at Piroshky Piroshky [this place always has a long line, which a good sign, right?]. We also tried out some dumplings at Mee Sum. Yes, we ate the soup, gyros, piroshkys and dumplings all before 11am.

And all this yummy food makes for happy little boys.

A few people had recommended Trophy Cupcakes so we checked it out. It is the sweetest little cupcake shop. Love the decor and the cupcakes were quite tasty.

Although my boys look quite excited to be sharing a cupcake, the reality of it all is they will eat one little bite and a lick of frosting and leave the rest for me to finish off [tough job, I know].

Baby J could be a cupcake-eating model, no?

I had a red velvet cupcake. Not too sweet, just right.

And as if that wasn't enough food for us, we topped it off with some homemade ramen at Samurai Noodle. Appah said the ramen was comparable to what you can find in Tokyo. This really is the perfect meal to eat on a gloomy day.

As we were pulling into our driveway on Sunday Big J said, "No, I don't want to go home. I want to go to Seattle." Good times in Seattle, we'll be back.

signed book + wise friend

Last Thursday night kicked off three fun-filled days. I think all the crafty-lovin' folks in Portland were crammed into Bolt last week for Amy's book signing party.

I ate a donut, had my book signed, got a goody bag [King Pod cards + The Small Object needle case], chatted with Melissa + Mariko and met some new crafty friends. What a fun night.

The next morning, after a little change of plans, I headed up to Seattle with the family for an impromptu weekend getaway. As soon as we arrived in the city we drove straight to Dahlia Bakery for some yummy mini coconut cream pies. We then had a fun touristy crab + clam dinner on the waterfront. On Saturday morning I headed over to Blair's house and proceeded to talk nonstop for the next 5 hours or so. We chatted in almost every room of her home [which is so beautiful and filled with handmade goodness + artwork], inside the car, at the trunk show, at lunch, you name it. And I still left feeling like there was so much more to talk about [you're coming to visit soon, right Blair?]. Oh, and look who left with some wise craft goodness of her own? [I left her with a few goodies as well.]

I was secretly coveting this pillow when I first saw it over here. It is made from a beautiful grey wool and backed in lovely blue wool. Love it, love it, love it. 

And as if the pillow wasn't enough, Blair made me my very own patchwork purse! Just what I need to brighten up my neutral wardrobe. Isn't it nice having crafty [and generous] friends? I have loads of Seattle photographs which I'll post in a different journal entry. After three days of play I've been catching up on some housework and freelance projects. I've also been trying to clean up my studio which is in desperate need of a worktable and shelving [on my "to buy" list after the holidays]. Part of my big studio clean up involves sorting through my fabric, keeping what I really love and letting go of what I probably won't be using anytime soon. I'm putting together some fabric + trim boxes, some will be gifts for friends and others will make their way into the shoppe or tag sale site.

Have you all started your holiday shopping or gift-making? I still need to finish making my list. Yikes, is it really Thanksgiving next week? One thing on my gift-making list is making some calendars. I've been wanting to design a calendar for the past four years and have yet to accomplish this task. I'm hoping to make a small batch this year for friends and family. Wish me luck. Oh, and I think I need to make a few blurb books as well. 

A big "thank you" to everyone who ordered some holiday stationery from the shoppe. Your orders have been shipped out. I'm planning for a big shoppe update right after Thanksgiving which means I better get back to work!

holiday stationery collection

I've been working on my holiday stationery collection for the past few months. I usually sit down and try to work on as many designs that come to mind. Then I narrow them down to a few themes [in this case trees, floating circles and plain ol' text] and work on different colorways for each design. I tend to avoid the traditional Christmas colors in my holiday cards, but this year I embraced the red + green and threw in some grey to give it a modern twist. Once I'm happy with a design I print it out and pin it to my oversize pin board. Then I look at them over and over and over again, weeding out the 'so-so' ones or tweaking the ones in the 'good pile'.

So here it is, stationery collection 02! Just in time for the holidays. I don't know about you, but wrapped presents make me so happy! This collection is made to order, so it will take approximately seven business days to ship, but this also means if you see stationery you like that is sold out in the shoppe you can contact me and I'll make it for you.

In this collection you'll find gift + stickers in 4 colorways [3 designs in each colorway], round gift + labels [you can write names on them or leave them blank] and round gift + tags.

There are also over a dozen Christmas/holiday cards to choose from...

...in a variety of colorways...

...and even some flats that can be transformed into photo cards...

...just glue your favorite photo on to the flat!

And there are even some cards celebrating the New Year, for those of us who might not be able to get our Christmas cards out in time. I suppose I have no excuse not to write my Christmas cards in time this year since I have a big batch of cards to choose from. [You can find the entire collection in the shoppe right now.]