Making Chicken Salad: July 2009

the Retrieval Project

the Retrieval Project, originally uploaded by jennyswanson707.

I learned tonight (through Rachel of the newly redesigned and renamed Smile and Wave) of Joe and Jenny and The Retrieval Project.
A year ago Joe, Jenny and their four children moved to Minnesota to follow Joe's dream. After only six months the the job situation did not work out as promised and they packed as much as they could into two cars and drove back to California to start over. Again. Now the family is setting up shop in an effort to raise the money necessary to return to Minnesota for their belongings (which have been in storage for the past six months). Every day for the next fifty days Joe and Jenny will upload two "his and hers paintings of the same title" which will sell for $40 each. Once the originals sell, prints will be made available.

Their daughter, Brooklyn, has an etsy shop, as well with some adorable paintings (and an equally adorable name--Brookworm!). I had a hard time choosing, but finally decided on a cherry painting, and am honored to have been her first customer!
In a time when it seems we are all struggling a bit in one way or another, I love to see people try to solve their problems in a creative way. Go, Joe and Jenny!

Josh and friends...

The fat quarters have finally made their way into the shop...

Whoa--it seems like I had a little more fabric than I realized! I have been loading fabric, patterns, craft books, doilies and lace, and MORE into the new little shop and there is still a lot to add!
Here are a few things, which I have put in so far...

There are sets of 4"x4" quilt squares cut from vintage sheets (FYI this photo BUGS me and will be re-shot ASAP!)...

Fat quarters and 12"x12" squares have also been cut (four days and three OLFA rotary blades later!) and are stacked and waiting to be photographed.

Can you stand to see more?!?! I know you are on the edge of your seats for all of this. :)

At Home With Henry has a few new items, as well. Two Polaroid cameras and a DYMO labelmaker with eight rolls of tape...

Bed time. More of this madness in the morning.

P.S. Bonus points and cyber hugs to any observant person who can tell me how many different types of hardwood flooring there are in my house.

I <3 my backyard.

There are now apron kits in the fabric shop!
They include the following:
**all apron pieces (cut from vintage sheets)
**coordinating Coats & Clark thread
**(1) package of coordinating 1/4" double fold bias tape
**handwritten and illustrated instructions
I will be doing a tutorial next week and posting it here for anyone who is interested. If you make one please send a photo for the rest of us to see!

So far the fabric shop has been received really well--thank you! There is a huge stack of fabric (as well as a few other vintage craft items) to photograph in the morning and they will be in the shop at some point tomorrow.

Hope your weekend is a good one so far!

good job, girls!

It's fun to watch Elsie paint.

Sooooooo what do you do when you are cleaning up your studio and realize you have WAY too many vintage sewing and craft supplies? Like, more than one girl could probably use in a lifetime?

You open up a new shop, of course!
Announcing... Making Chicken Salad--the store!
Here are some of the items I have loaded up so far...

I will be adding more patterns and fabric ~~tomorrow~~ this afternoon, including some fat quarter sets!

Grace just posted this video about moomah, a creative arts cafe in manhattan. I love everything about this! I used to love making dioramas when I was young, and this project is right up my alley!

Some new items have just been added to the handmade shop...
Sewing machine stickers!

Buntings!

And something I am **SUPER** excited about...

I found these Dresden Plate quilt pieces at my favorite shop. They are stitched completely by hand are are kind of wonky in some places. I love them!
Here are a few other randoms...
More plates!

New fabric labels to sew into bags!

Bags waiting for linings!

And that's it. :)
Back to work...

Henry is with his dad for the week and I have been sewing all day. This bunting just went into the handmade shop, and three more (along with some very special totes!) will be in there tomorrow. The granny squares and the vintage sheet are both thrifted from my favorite spot--it has been a gold mine lately!

Do the next right thing instead of the next thing right. Awesome. For real.

LOVE!

Talk about making chicken salad... these two kids did just that with a little more $100,000. This makes me want to pack up and get the heck out of California. As much as I love it here, it is so expensive! Good job, you, two!

(via i suwanni)

Time for a little re-vamp and update of the vintage shop!
A new, simpler banner...

And some fun new items...

I will be adding more items all day, with one exception--this lamp was requested to remain in the bedroom by someone whose name I will keep secret. (Hint: it rhymes with "wash")

Bye, Bye, little rooster! We hope you have a good life on your new farm.
XOXO,
Kat, Henry, Josh, Pokie, Lucy, Chickie and Miss Chickie

Another great home tour from the Etsy team. I have followed both Francesca and Alice for awhile, but had no clue they were roommates!

I think I am suffering a "maker's block," most likely brought on by inspiration overload...
Someone who is does not have this ailment is Danielle Thompson. She just released these gorgeous digital washi tape frames last week, and they just might provide me with the incentive to start learning how to use the fancy Photoshop that has been on my computer for five years...