(Re)Open for Business

After a long absence the Plumm shop is re-opening for business...I have taken essentially a year off to really be home with my boys. Running Plumm was just requiring SO much more of my time than I had anticipated at it's launch...and that was on top of actually making all the bags and hats to stock the shop with!

But! Now! The boys are in school FIVE days a week and I really, truly have the time to give to my business WITHOUT taking it away from anyone else. It feels very good to be at this place in my life that I have been telling myself I would get to...but never really beleived I would reach. In the past six years my life has gone from being all about me, to all about the boys...and now we seem to have achieved a nice balance, somewhere in between...let's see how long I can maintain it!

Above are a few photos of the Fall/Winter 2009 line...The Hanna and the Harper bags are in the shop now.

Spring...

is here.

The boys couldn't be happier.

Neither could their mamma.

Sigh.

Christmas Gifts Revealed...

Here are the Capes and hats I made the boys for the holidays this year....

The flashlights from Santa complete the ensemble.

I hadn't really intended them as a 'set'...

so funny.


More gift photo's coming soon.

Santa!!!

Here's a little video of the kids and their cousins the moment Santa makes a delivery at our Christmas Eve celebration at Nona and Grandpa's.

Santa = Grandpa jingling Bells and leaving a big red bag of toys outside the front door.

Our Solstice Celebration.....

Baking Cookies

ArtA Night Time Drive
Hot Cocoa by the Fire

(See their Solstice Jammies there? They chose the fabric themselves.)

A Custom Whimsy Order...

Complete.

On to another.

Soon I will close up the Plumm shop so I can focus on
crafting gifts and decorations for our family and friends.

Only 2 weeks left until the Christmas.

And

11 days until winter Solstice.

Because, for us, the Holiday Season is primarily about celebrating the change of the season...
we'll give the kids a gift on December 22 to celebrate the Solstice.


Pajamas...if I can finish them in time!

Today's Treasure's

For Chris's birthday his parents offered to watch the kid's this weekend. They had them for two entire days. Entire days. Our kids have stayed over at their Nona and Grandpa's many times before...and they always love it. Nona and Grandpa's house is a very special place.

So, for the first time ever, we planned nothing at all for our kid free days. In the past we've always arranged weekends away, gone out with friends, or had another obligation already in place when the kids had an overnight.

It was amazing!

We thrifted, sat on the couch, leisurely sipped our coffee, spent hours in the bookstore, went to a few art galleries, puttered around our respective studios and just generally, truly relaxed.

When we went to pick up the boys they seemed bigger, cuter, sweeter, smarter and more precious than they had just a couple days before.

We got the two little treasures above at a couple of the Estate sales we made it to over the weekend. A great old sheet, perfect for a tote bag and some curtains...and a vintage Polaroid camera in it's original leather case with manual.

It was his idea...I swear...

Imagine my delight when My sweet boy said...'Mommy, will you teach me to sew?'
I dropped everything and got that boy a needle and thread.

We used embroidery thread and a hoop just to make it as easy as possible. I sketched out a heart shape on the fabric so he could practice staying on a line. He actually stayed at it for about 20 minutes. I was grinning like a fool the entire time!

(note his 'concentrating' face in the bottom photo.)

Pumpkins and Not So Scary Crows...

We had a delightful weekend doing all things Halloween-y around here. What a truly Californian Halloween...carving pumpkins barefoot and shirtless.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

1 Years Time...

Last Year

This Year
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Last year

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This Year


amazing.

Clementine Crazy...

We inherited this very prolific seedless citrus tree when we bought our house. I think she's a Clementine but am not absolutely sure. Every year around this time she is absolutely overburdened with fruit, to the point where I am sure the branches will all snap off one by one. I know I should probably be doing something to assist my poor tree through these fruit bearing months, when she is slumped over with offerings, but I've no idea what. Like some sort of thwarted Citrus Midwife.

The fruit from this tree is absolutely amazing...It's sweet and juicy. Perfect. The kids can just walk up and grab a Clementine right off the tree, peel it, and eat it with no worries because there are never any seeds.

And believe me they do.

No matter how many times I go out and sweep up, our lanai will be littered with little bits of orange peel from now until Christmas . Eventually, after Thanksgiving, when it's cold and rainy, I'll begin to care much less about there being orange confetti scattered about. It'll still be there waiting for me in the spring, believe it or not, as a little reminder.

Today we savored the first of hundreds of this season's Clementine's...it did not disappoint.

Preschooler Yoga Pants...

So, I finally got around to figuring out that serger I got for my birthday (5 months ago).
My first project....some yoga/lounge pants for Mr. Luke.
I used stretch cotton jersey and just traced the inseam from a pair of pants we have around.
Worked like a charm...I made actual pants on my first try.
I used this Tutorial over at Luckybeans.

What we've been up to...

We've been easing gently into Fall around here. I picked up my knitting again, found some cozy reading spots for rainy days, gotten all the board games out, gathered some seasonal treasures for our nature bowl, and created a new studio for myself. Every thing's just rolling along.

One of our great reading spots...get's alot of use by the boys.

My new friend...A 1950's Necchi, made it Italy. She's amazing. I named her Bella.

My new Studio space.

A couple bags I have in the studio.

My old (sorta) reliable machine on her desk. That's Sylvia the half lady.

The boys playing Candy Land on a rainy day.

Our Nature Bowl...we fill it with seasonal treasures. Leaves and pumpkins in the Fall, flowers and seed pods in the Spring.....etc.

Yesterday's Art project.

My most recent Thrift store score...and most favorite chair of all time...
sitting nicely with our magazine rack full of two of my other favorite things...
Dwell and Atomic Ranch Magazines.


Hope Fall is finding it's way into your space as well.

Golden Gate..

We recently had a great day trip to San Francisco...or as we call it 'The City' (apparently the city we actually live in doesn't count)...to sort of mark the end of our summer. We went to the aquarium and then to our favorite beach under the Golden Gate. One of the many great things about this beach is that you just can't take a bad photo there. I mean how can you flub up a photo with one of the most famous bridges in the world as your back drop?!

This is really the first summers end since the kids were born, or since college for that matter, that has required any 'marking'. I enjoyed that feeling that this was the beginning of an annual tradition. The first of many end of summer celebrations. Luke has started back to preschool for his first full year of school, albeit only two mornings a week. We will now fall into the schedule of parents everywhere with a winter break, a spring break, and a glorious summer break. Up until now, as parents of babies and toddlers, we have enjoyed (and occasionally dreaded) this very free form, days running together, devil may care sort of existence. Now, as the structure of polite society is slowly being imposed upon us, I find I am a tad resistant and even a tad more totally relieved.
Relieved to be sharing the task of ushering Luke into adulthood, even if just for 5 hours a week.
Relieved to have those same 5 hours alone with Kai.
Relieved to have successfully reached yet another marker in the parenting road.