Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New in the shop: a leather iPad sleeve and a waxed canvas tote

Hello friends,
Busy times in the shop. I am so grateful for all the orders I have been getting!

I was up late last night finishing up a tote I had been meaning to make for a couple of weeks: a bi-color waxed canvas tote. Summer is -almost- around the corner and I wanted to create a tote with a nautical feeling that could be used as a beach bag, a boat bag, or a pool bag - as well as an all-around tote.
I used a wonderful cream and navy waxed canvas with super sturdy burgundy leather. Here are the results:


While I was at it, I made a simple leather sleeve with wool lining in the front. I like the organic, freeform feeling of the flap. The cool thing about this sleeve is that it can be used as a clutch as well.



I have a few more designs up my sleeve (LOL) - more on that later.
Take care,
Genevieve

Sunday, March 25, 2012

A Day Without Sewing: Spring Garden Chores

The weather has been beautiful lately, and last Saturday, I decided to take a day off from sewing and play in the dirt instead.
I started with the compost piles. My two compost makers sit in the back of the property and are fed regularly with kitchen scraps. Our climate being so dry, compost takes a long time to "cook" and be usable. So I emptied out both bins in a wheelbarrow, mixed everything up, put all the materials back in the bins, and watered thoroughly. Hopefully, I will have nice compost in a couple of weeks.
After that, I trimmed all our lavender plants back to nothing. My only hope is that they will grow back nicely; the plants had become very woody and gnarly dead sticks poked out of the middle of the plants.

Still on a roll with the shears, I turned my attention to the herb garden. There I removed all the dead stems from the oregano, the thyme, the lemon balm, and the tarragon. The herb garden now looks nice and neat. I did uncover some new growth under all the dead wood: 
Oregano

Tarragon



Indoors, the citrus, fig tree, and grapevine are doing well. The Meyer orange tree keeps producing, blooming and bearing fruit at the same time. I ate the last oranges two weeks ago, and the tree is blooming again. The lime tree is full of baby limes and blooming as well.


My day in the garden was very uplifting and energizing. When I went back to the studio- I did get a couple of orders while I was playing in the dirt- I felt rested and ready to tackle the work at hand.
Give yourself a break, do something different for a day. It's good for the soul.
Take care.
Genevieve


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Leather Shopper Number 2

It's been a few weeks since I have posted. Wow, time flies...
This month, I have been kept quite busy with the Zakken shop,which is wonderful.
Maybe due to stress and fatigue, I have also been accident prone lately: twisting my ankle while rushing to work- running in high heels is NEVER a good idea: I was awarded four days on crutches-, skidding on gravel on my scooter on my way to school (try lifting a 250 lbs machine off the road while people are watching...), and on the same day (yesterday) whacking my left hand really hard with a hammer (while setting rivets). OUCH!
Other than that, I have been doing great :)

I found a wonderful piece of burgundy leather at the leather store last week, and I designed a new leather shopper. It is simple, elegant, and very pretty. Judge for yourself.


I like it so much, I may keep it to myself.

Spring is around the corner ( Hope springs eternal) and I have ordered my vegetable seeds. I am anxious to plant the lettuce clusters from Burpee, and taste the new Cherry Bomb tomatoes, with chopped organic cilantro.
I also borrowed a bunch of organic gardening books from the library. Pure joy!

I hope this post will find you well.

Take care,
Genevieve