{Fabric Friday} Dreamy space & lovely fabric ...

We live in a small town about an hour north of Seattle. Unfortunately, great fabric stores are hard to come by (there aren't any). So, I order almost all of my fabrics online. For a tactile person, this method of fabric browsing & purchasing isn't the most gratifying. On our little getaway to Seattle on Monday, we stopped by one of my recent discoveries, a gorgeous fabric store called Fabric Crush. This lovely shop is in a remodeled elementary school building that was originally built in 1904. It's now called Wallingford Center and it houses sweet little shops & businesses. I found Fabric Crush earlier this year when we took Sayer to get a haircut in a fun little salon for kids. It was a great day for everyone. Across from the fabric shop is a wonderful toy store, and down the way... yummy cupcakes!  What I love about Fabric Crush is that it is uncluttered, spacious, has amazing natural light, carries a gorgeous variety of current fabrics, and the people are knowledgeable and passionate about fabric. I was glad to have my iphone with me during my last visit -so that I could share the space with you.

I was really pleased to see that Robert Kaufman's new organic collection of fabrics was in the store and I quickly snatched up 3 gorgeous designs. I also snagged a few Kokka florals and some nostalgic, navy & white striped ticking (that reminds me of an old pillow or mattress). After adding to my klt:fabric stash, Chris and I went across the hall and lost ourselves in the land of toys. Of course we had to bring something fun home for kiddo. What a great day Chris and I had on Monday- new spex, fancy coffee drinks, vintage junk shops, inspirational fabrics, and holding hands in the streets of Seattle. Happy Fabric Friday everyone!  

{art imitating life} If I was an owl...

I have worn glasses since I was four years old. I actually got them on the day that my little brother was born. There was a time that I wore contacts - for about 11 year actually.  But wearing glasses makes me feel more like me. Growing up, I did feel a bit different because of them and tended to gravitate towards kids that wore them also. Wearing glasses seemed to affect how I reacted to a ball being thrown at me (I ducked) which meant I was the last to be chosen for teams in P.E. Maybe that is why I always did things that didn't require teams- I was a dancer until my junior year in high school and then played tennis.  So, it is safe to say that I definitely have a soft spot for kids that wear glasses. 

I have been thinking a lot about glasses lately as I am completely overdue for an eye exam and have had a permanent eye twitch for weeks now. I have been sort of excited about picking out a new pair of frames. I suppose that is why I bought the funky, linen eye glasses fabric a while back. Chris and I had a day to ourselves in Seattle on Monday, and I found myself a pair of new frames and I completely have glasses on the brain. Well, sometimes, when I work on plush orders, I make one plush a little different- just to amuse myself and spice things up. You can call it art imitating life, because this owl plush hipster just emerged last night when I was working on an order of owl plushies. I know I would have loved this wise friend as a kid! 

{Cool Idea} Carbon Neutral Blogging...

While cruisin' around the web the other night, I came across this site and found a really cool initiative called, "My blog is carbon neutral". It is an active contribution to help the environment. By participating,  blogs and websites can become carbon neutral for free! 

As described on the website:

“My blog is carbon neutral” is an initiative, originally started in Germany by the “Make it Green” programme, that has the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They plant a tree for your blog and thereby neutralise your blog’s carbon footprint for the next 50 years! Everyone can make a small contribution to the environment. Every tree counts! 

According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.

I have to admit, I didn't even think about how a blog or website would affect  the environment. I am glad to have found this site! My blog is carbon neutral now, is yours? Click here for more information.

{Music Monday} A little Squirrel Nut Zippers...

The very first gift that my husband ever gave me was a Squirrel Nut Zippers cd. We were both teaching in the art department at the local college during that time and just starting to hang out a bit. I remember thinking, anyone that would give me a Squirrel Nut Zippers cd on first meeting, was someone to keep around. The cd, "Hot" had just come out (1997) and both it, and Chris, knocked my socks off. 

I have been listening to Andrew Bird a lot in my studio lately (my all time fav) which made me dust off some of my old Squirrel Nut Zipper cds. I had forgotten that Andrew Bird used to play in that band and that it was our introduction to his music. I have been enjoying cruisin' down memory lane along with sharing the Squirrel Nut Zippers with Sayer. He seems to really enjoy the music too- not that i am surprised at all. Sayer loves to get on my lap and watch music videos with me. He comes running when sees me starting to play one. These certainly don't disappoint and the word, "more" is repeated by my enthusiastic toddler whenever we watch them. The second video for Ghost of Stephan Foster, was a Winner of the "Best Animated Music Video" at the 1999 Vancouver Animation Festival {directed by Raymond Persi & Matthew Nastuk}.

I love how listening to early Squirrel Nut Zippers makes me feel. I think it may connect with my old soul and inner tap dancer (I tap danced for 11 years growing up). It's cool to see Sayer get excited and want to sing, play music, and dance to it too. And it's so nice to have a  mini dance partner during the day. I have to add, that I think Sayer is a spittin' image of his dad in these pictures -which also makes me smile really big. Happy (Pre-Father's Day) Music Monday!