SNAPSHOT: August

It has been a beautiful summer. Sunshine, and lots of time outdoors is what this summer is all about for me. This morning I woke up and the air was brisk. I can feel the seasons changing. But until the first leaf falls, I'm staying outdoors and soaking up as much of it as I can.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Trillium, me

Penny, fun summer shoes

Flying Dog

days in the grass, steak frites!

starbucks, my best friend brought me flowers

working outdoors, sunshine

SITE VISIT: Barrington Coffee Roasting Company

I love coffee. Every morning I rev up my Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine and pull a couple of lovely shots of perfect creamy coffee for my daily americano. It's one of life's little rewards. But the perfect cup starts with great beans roasted to perfection. And those, I recently discovered, can be gotten at Barrington Coffe Roasting Company in Fort Point.
Recently, my coffee loving boyfriend, discovered this little gem and decided we should pay it a visit. It was as good as we had hoped. My first impression was of the spare decor which hit just the right note for being in this industrial part of the city. And then the coffee...well balanced, not over roasted or over extracted, perfect.

SKETCHBOOK MONDAY: better late then never

Ok, it's Tuesday. You know it and I know it. Oops. Yesterday slipped away somehow and I had no time to get here to post. But, alas, I'm here now and Sketchbook Monday is in full effect. I dug through the archives for these sketches. I thought I would post a few that show what a sketch ultimately becomes...

What seem like scribbles in the sketch above left are actually the beginning thoughts for the Birds Clutch, above right. Can you see it? Squint, no?
And below is an idea I had for a mobile made from plywood cut into the iconic for of little houses. I did make a few little houses and a couple of mobiles. Those ended up being made of paper. I gave them as gifts and, of course, didn't get any good photos. But, there are a few bad ones here you can check out.
I think this is a project I need to pick up again and see where it goes! I'm inspired.

IN CONSTRUCTION: Trillium Brewing Co.

No doubt you have, by now, heard about Trillium Brewing Company. It's a project I've been working on for over a year. Yesterday I stopped by to see progress on the tasting room/retail space. The guys at G.H. McKissock Construction are doing an amazing job with all the little details of this small space . I love the reclaimed windows the owner JC got from a building next door in Fort Point Chanel. They really are turning out to be the show piece of the space. Here's a peak!
What do you think? Will you stop in for some craft beer when it opens in the Fall?

A Lesson in Leather

Leather is all about luxury. Its not just the association with buttery soft Italian handbags, or gorgeous shoes that only get more beautiful the more you wear them. It's about the moment you touch a piece of leather and you are seduced by how it responds to your own skin.
I haven't worked much with leather...yet. But, lately I've been curious to know more about this incredible material. So I decided to learn.
I signed up for a series of four leather smithing classes at Tandy Leather Factory in Chelmsford. Last Wednesday was my first class! I walked in twenty minutes early, I was so excited. The smell of tanned leather, the feel of swede, the beautiful hides hanging form the ceiling, I was instantly in love.
The first class was learning to carve leather. Yup, that's right, carving leather. It's hard! But I did it. You can see my handy work in the last image. Not bad, right?
I'm excited to try these newly learned techniques on a future line of handbags. It's so exciting to have a new skill and figuring out how to adapt it so it for the things I make. I have some ideas...

 

SNAPSHOT: Life is good

Do you ever just feel like life is good? There is a stillness, a quiet, a calm. It's nice.

As I put this post together it struck me that even the photos tell that story:

the living room for watching the olympics, dentist (I'm weird, I actually like going to the dentist!)

zucchini frittata for dinner, delicious!

cat, dog

pretty cool new bag, and it's vertical cousin

summer napping on the couch, a moment at the studio

good strong coffee from this lovely place,  a well crafted americano

camping disaster (full story is on the way), living room camping instead!

flowers, new boots

suede (not to be confused with swede), sunday magazine reading

I hope you had a lovely week and weekend! I'm looking forward to reading a new book this week!

?Out of Space?

Well, it appears I've uploaded TOO MANY photos to the MAKE.GOOD journal and now I'm out of space. Eeeeekkk. What to do?

I'm a bit of tech dummy when it comes to stuff like this but I'm going to do my best to get back on line asap. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Meanwhile, check out a couple of oldies but goodies, right here and here.
See you back here soon!

Sketchbook Monday

I've been wanting to try a series that documents the behind the scenes of the design process.
Ok, in truth, I want to sketch more... this is perhaps my way of getting back to the sketchbook.
So here goes, a little peak into my sketchbook. It's kind of scary putting it all out there, but hey, why not, right!
Look for Sketchbook Monday every other week. I hope you enjoy it and maybe it will motivate you to get a sketchbook of your own and start a place to doodle and document your own process...or anything at all.
Happy sketching!

I hope you enjoy Sketchbook Monday. Would you like more info on each sketch, would you like to know what ultimately the sketch became? I'd love to know your thoughts and feedback so drop me a line in the comments below!

NEW WORK: The Therapy Tote

I'm so excited to share this new tote! I'm calling it the Therapy Tote because it can take whatever you throw in it. In a way it's like therapy. It's a place to put all the things in your life that otherwise would weigh a lot. Right?
I'm being a bit cute, but this bag is a show stopper. I'm loving the sunny yellow stripe and little side pocket for you cell. The natural leather straps are so modern and the gray fabric is recycled from an installation for a window shop display!...and it's waterproof! Ya, it's a gorgeous soft gray fabric on the outside, but hidden underneath, doing some serious work, is a waterproof lining.
I'm working on a vertical version of this tote as well as a bright blue stipe option!
But the yellow Therapy Tote is in our Etsy Shop right now! Hit GO to shop!

Hit GO TO SHOP!