End of the Season

Sorry I have been ignoring you; it wasn't intentional. I've been real busy eating these.

Your Message Here

The dynamic duo Shauna and Stephen (of Something's Hiding in Here) have a rad installation piece in the windows that face the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, PA. They've invited readers to submit a message, and they'll post a new message each day on their hand built wooden sign. Today my submitted message got picked and placed in the window! I love this saying from the opening song of the Mary Tyler Moore show. It has helped me keep my head above water on many occasions when the cards seemed down. How'd you like that mixed metaphor?

Here's a shot of Stephen changing out the sign. To submit your own message, just write a comment on the project's blog, Your Message Here. All photos courtesy of SHIH.

August Travels

This has been a month of insane travel. From the start to the finish, I've seen more friends and family in August than I have since our wedding. To recap:

Brooklyn

Martha's Vineyard

Austin

Venice
(I wish! Gondola ride on Lake Merritt in Oakland)

This weekend I'm staying home and recovering (and unpacking). Looking forward to hanging out, getting my bike fixed at Manifesto, browsing the new mags at Issues, and cooking up a storm. It's a dinner party weekend, I think.

Geemo @ Bubble Show

While I was in NYC I spend some time at the Bubble trade show, which was so fun. Lots of wonderful designers, and among by favorite was Heroes Will Rise, who create this amazing toy named Geemo.

Geemo was a huge hit at the show, as you cannot not have a blast playing with it. Sold in Geemanisms of 6, Geemo's flexible magnetic limbs grab and repel each other in unpredictable ways. As Geemo comes to life in your hands, you can build, discover, create, and imagine with this new species of toy. It's made in Japan for kids' 3 years and up and is available online.

PoppyTalk Handmade

I just got back from my whirlwind East Coast tour very early this morning and am still adjusting back to California time. I'll have many, many photos to share from my trip, which had me in Philadelphia, New York City, Queens (my hometown), Providence, and finally Martha's Vineyard. My first night was spent touring around downtown Philadelphia with Vanessa and Doug, who gave me the full historical tour of his hometown via tandem bike. Thankfully I got to sit in the back and just coast as he did most of the pedaling. What a way to see a city!


Also, check out our new wares at the PoppyTalk Handmade "School Days" market, which opens today. We have apple boxes, egg sets, lunch bags, and many more things to help you start the school year off right! Many thanks to Jan & Earl for their awesome support of Miss Natalie. PoppyTalk is such a wonderful blog and highlights a wide array of artists.

Raindrops Dress

This weekend I tried to channel Tim Walker while photographing my first foray into toddler clothing, the hand crochet raindrops dress. I love this dress for many reasons. First, it's fair trade and hand crocheted by a wonderful group of Bolivian women. The lattice crochet pattern on the top yoke is really unique, and has a charming scallop crochet hem along the neckline and straps.

Second, I got to explore my raindrops pattern on the hem, which is hand stenciled, one of my favorite printing techniques.

And third--wood buttons. Nothing beats wood buttons. The wood beads on the drawstring waist comes in pretty close. Now available in the shop.

Day in the park

Wooden eggs and apples heading to the shop tomorrow. They took a detour and spent the day in the park sunning themselves.

Our hand painted solid wood eggs come in two sizes, Goose (large) and hen (small). Sold individually or as a set at missnatalie.etsy.com.