Home Goodies

I'll admit that part of my sudden interest in home goods is that I finally have a home!  It's strange- it's all happened sooner and later than I thought it would.  Sooner, as I was finally growing accustomed to a more nomadic lifestyle.  After I was first married, I had the strong instinct to settle down and 'nest,' so to speak.  When it was quickly apparent that we'd remain renters for a while, I gradually incorporated that into my outlook.  As it came to us moving back to WA, I had prepared myself mentally for apartment living again, and was determined to live happily and set up shop in an even smaller corner than I had at our last tiny place!  But praise God, there were other plans to follow & my creativity is abounding in my wonderful new space!  My younger self would have thought it all a long time coming, but here and now, I remain amazed and grateful. 

So… home goods!  That's what I was writing about.  While I'm still not ready to reveal the main project for my new Etsy Store (soon!), I wanted to talk about a thought I had for additional stocking purposes- tea towels!  The thought came because I could use some new kitchen towels now.  The very nice ones we got for our wedding are starting to wear a bit & have some stains… so of course, I thought to make some new ones for myself.  It occurred to me that perhaps others would like new kitchen towels too.  I've got some great designs floating in my head & I'm excited to try them out.  It dawned on me that sewing tea towels on my own from scratch would take a fair bit more time than if I found some high-quality ones to decorate.  I searched and searched- I wanted American made cotton towels that had nicely finished edges.  I think I found some that will fit the bill!  They are the "Deluxe Flour Sack Towels" from ACS Home and Work.  They'll be sending me a sample so I can check on the quality myself (very kind of them to do so!), but from their description and the reviews I read, I'm sure they will be top notch.  Here's a link to their store, if you are interested in ordering any towels or soft home goods from them for yourself:

ACS Home and Work   

I'm really looking forward to implementing my designs.  Of course, there will be a tea cup design (as is partially pictured above in the quick marker sketch I did), to truly make one that will go well with one's tea accoutrement.  :)

Okay!  Back to work!  Much to do, and less time to do it in! 

Happy summer to y'all!


:)

 A Zinnia from my little garden

New Studio- A Little Tour

Brightly Hude is back!

Whew!

What a whirlwind these past few months have been!  Early in April, my dear hubby was offered a transfer to an area of SW Washington that we've always really liked.  He accepted the job and few days later we found ourselves up there looking for new housing.  We were scouting out apartments for the most part, as rental houses in the area were a tad more than we were budgeting for.  For kicks (and because we were curious about the home-buying process), we popped into a real estate agent establishment to ask questions.  Two hours later we found ourselves pre-qualified, in love with a house we'd just been shown, and then we put in an offer!  A quick 2.5 weeks later, the house was ours*.  We're not usually so rash- if we hadn't been loosely following the housing market of that town, well since before we got married, I don't think we would have jumped as quickly.  But now that we are all settled we can say we're happy with the decision, with the house, the town, and our local parish, so we're very grateful!

I've dubbed our new home "Parkhaven," as we live near a park (though hubby keeps calling it "Rancho Hude-o," to my dismay- we'll see which one of us takes the time to make a plaque to put by the front door!).  One of the best things about Parkhaven is that I, for the first time ever, get my own true studio!  A lovely little 10' x 11' room with a good sized closet that is totally dedicated to making stuff!  I'm absolutely loving it, and have a hard time not being in that room & remembering the rest of my lovely house (it is a 1950's ranch, by the way!).

I've rambled on long enough- time for pictures!  I'm a big fan of the Better After blog, so I've decided to show the studio in a similar fashion.  Here's what it looked like when I first dumped put all of my stuff in there:

And now, it is much, much nicer!

 

My drawing desk, sculpting desk, and computer/sewing desk...

 

The printer/shipping desk, filing cabinet & crazy lamp I painted!

 

The rest of my sewing desk, my book/supply shelf & art collection!

I need to get more of my art collection (mostly lovely gifts from artist friends over the years) up on the walls!  I've just a smattering up there right now.  The studio closet has these two wonderful cabinets- one side I'm using for horse stuff, the other side has this stuff:

Items for my new business endeavor!  My new Etsy shop.  Those hoops, by the way, look like this right now- painted up in chalk paint:

What are they for?  Well...  I'll announce it soon!  Really!  I'm just not quite there yet- I want to get my shop all stocked up before I sing about it from the rooftops.  I'll just say that it is something different, something to do on the side while I sculpt, etc.  It does involve sewing, and I'm having a blast with it!  There will be a new (sister) blog too- so those who are interested in home decor & gifts can follow that blog, and those of y'all primarily interested in horses, can follow me here.  

So- more to come soon!  I'm hoping to blog about my animation project, sculpture and Jeanie cat book in the coming weeks.  I do hope to keep up better with my blogging- gotta push myself!  I think I'm a better craftsman than writer- I'd much rather 'do' than write about it, but I really like having this connection to all of you, so I am determined to post more.  So stay tuned!  I leave you with the lovely view from my studio window:

Gotta love all of that green up here!

:)

*We got the house quicker than the job transfer, so our move took a while!