Favors

 I did a special soap order recently for my step mom. She was throwing her daughter's baby shower and wanted soap favors to give as thank yous.

I made up a batch of mini peppermint pumice soaps (her favorite) and packaged them up in little kraft bags with bakers twine and shipping tags.

I really enjoyed putting them together as it was a little out of my normal soap making and labeling routine and it allowed me to buy new colors of baker's twine (!). Seriously, twine makes me happy.

I tried to match the colors and designs of the shower invitations while staying true to the rustic and simple feel of my soaps.

In fact I enjoyed doing this custom work so much, I plan to add some wedding or shower favor options to my Etsy shop in the next coming months. If you have any feedback or suggestions, I'd love to hear it!

Hope you're all having a lovely week out there.


 

Almond Blossoms

I have enjoyed walking past the almond trees on our street since the end of February when they appeared to bloom overnight. You can hear the trees before you see them as they are usually full of  bees. I love to stop and take a moment to inhale their sweet scent.

All these new surprises out here sure have made the transition easier on us.

Any signs of spring where you live?  

Our new home.

Ready for a whole mess of photos of our new space taken on a beautiful foggy morning? 

Good, I thought so. 

Stu exploring our neighbor's pistachio orchard across the street.

Looking down our street from our front yard.

Stu still exploring. He just popped out of that whole in the barn.

We have a pool!

10 acres behind our house is leased out to an organic farmer.

We have oranges!

The end of our street looking towards our house. That is a prune orchard on the left.

Our home! The mini grey house in the background is my new soap studio/seed starting room. 

We are settling in and happy to be here. 

So, we moved to California.

Hi Friends!

What a whirlwind the past few months have been. Matt graduated with his PhD and got a job in Davis, CA. We just moved here last week! I didn't mean to be gone from this space for so long, but I notice I tend to shut down on the blog during busy times. I'd like to change that. You will hear more from me soon as we are still getting the Internet all sorted out.

xo,
 Jess

Block Party

My friend Tasha hosted a block printing get together recently. It was a total blast. She wrote some great posts over on her blog  about how to carve your own stamp and how to print on fabric. Below are some of what I created that day.

Tasha carved this slug stamp which I was more than happy to use on this tea towel. The towels were wrinkled from being straight from the package, but I like the effect.

This bird stamp was hand carved by Tasha's aunt.

This was my first ever hand carved stamp. I love my wonky little triangle. I printed this on a thrifted pillow case I got awhile back. I liked the yellow and blue together.

This stamp was just a scrap piece of wood that was lying about in our back yard as I was really digging the geometric printing.

Find some inspiration here for more block printing ideas courtesy of Martha. I love the potato masher idea.

Happy Friday friends!

Just a few things I am loving this week.

Loving the late afternoon light this time of year. 

Loving the winter salad from this cookbook. Grated beet, carrot and turnip. Swiss chard. Radish sprouts. Sesame seeds. Topped with tahini dressing.

And this breakfast. Corn tortillas. Fried eggs. Cheddar. Cilantro. Hot sauce. Yes.

And loving this sewing book I checked out from the library.
And this song.
And this show.
Ah, so much to love this week.

Have a great weekend. Hope it's full of gorgeous light, yummy food and beautiful music.

October

Homemade pumpkin pie. Matt can't do gluten so he makes this pie crust. We love it.

Still loving my calendar from Sloe Gin Fizz. Can't wait for the 2013 edition. 

Can't let go of the flips yet. Why should I?

Homemade Sriracha. We got this idea over at the Lusa Organics blog. So good.

Knitting again!Fingerless mitts for me. They go with the matching headband which I love even more. Find the patterns here.

I didn't know how hard it is to take a proper photo of yourself modeling a headband. I tried, but gave up after awhile. Here are some of the shots anyway.

You can find me on Ravelry now. I am trying to be less of a lurker there and post my finished projects. It is such an inspiring community there, so why not join the fun?

Have a good October weekend!