etsy shop is back!

Last night I stayed up too late updating my etsy shop for the first time this year. I am not done, but so far there are luggage tags, makeup pouches and the old standby, drumstick cases. I hope this stuff resonates with people, since I feel like it was a step up from my last offering.

sussex county

I love Sussex County. When Paul and I were dating he would take me on long drives out to this corner of New Jersey that I never knew existed, all rolling hills, dairy farms and verdant summer grass. Even in the winter it looks like a winter wonderland. There is no snow in New York City at the moment, and hasn't been, so it is nice to see a place where they still have weather I used to know.
After a few years and learning about the downside of the country, I am still charmed. It is still a place of relaxing weekends and family and oddities. Such as the lamp above, which I saw in a junk store on Newton's Spring Street. The next evening, we ate dinner at the Walpack Inn, where deer come up to the rear windows at dusk like clockwork, because the restaurant leaves feed out for them each evening. So it is also a place of contradictions?
My husband's high school yearbook gives me pause, of course. Anyone who actually had ambitions made a point to mention in their "dislikes": Sussex County. I understand it can be claustrophobic and scary. I love dreaming about picking up, packing up, and living off the land in a place like that, but will my kids hate me for it? Will I?
I am glad I have the option, the understanding that the world is bigger than Brooklyn, or New York City, for that matter.

I took an amazingly productive day off from work on Wednesday - I called it working from home, and I did answer a few e-mails to that effect, but mostly I worked on some things that had been piling up. After phone calls, cleaning, and browsing, I came across this pattern for over mitts on Design Sponge, and decided to sit down and make something for myself, for once, with fabric that I actually liked. Usually, that fabric stays carefully folded and unused because I have problems letting go. But the pattern was fun, worked up quickly (to borrow a knitting term) and made me feel even more super productive that I answered some more work e-mails just to have a banner day.

The thumb turned out a little wonky, probably because I used batting AND terry cloth on one side to make sure they were safe for the heat. They were, and I overcooked some brownies later that night, just to make sure.

I am off for a relaxing few days in New Jersey. Enjoy your hopefully long weekend, and I have a feeling things will be re-launching when I resume posting.

Valentine’s Day Commute

These are two images that bookended my commute this morning. The left is a door in my neighborhood. There are better looking Valentine’s Day displays, but this one looked heartfelt.

On the right is a gentleman capitalizing on the human instinct to wait until the last minute to get a gift. He wasn’t mobbed at 9 a.m., but I bet lunch hour meant brisk business.

Tonight is dinner with my Paul at a local restaurant that does not do a special $$$$ menu, if such a thing exists. Happy Valentinstag’s Day, everyone!

a jumping start

There have been, and will continue to be, changes. I was working with Dreamweaver last night, trying to make a new website, when I realized that I don't even know what to do with it. I could, and probably might, take a few months coming up with a design, but Blogger's got everything so nicely laid out and I finally went and did some design changes. So for now, a blog is the way to go with jilluary. I will be updating the etsy shop as soon as I get some decent photographs.

As for a jumpstart, I was very much inspired by the above refurbished night stand. I have one that has been patiently waiting for years for a fancy updating, and I love working with furniture. It is the most useful of crafts, I think. It deservingly took home honors in the Apartment Therapy January Jumpstart contest, and has got me thinking about the techniques to adhere fabric to different surfaces.