New in the shop! Handmade pillows from vintage textiles

I've been taking a break from blogging and working on the house (and running my business to some extent), since August of last year. I took a full time position working with Etsy (WAHOO!) and after that it took a while to readjust.

I'm feeling a lot more settled now, and I was finally able to finish (at least in part) a project I have had waiting in the wings for quite a while. PILLOWS! This small collection is made from vintage chenille comforters I sourced from all over. I have been collecting them for at least a couple of years now. I love chenille but it often has a granny look to it (which lets be honest, I for one like a little of, but too much becomes apparent very quickly... one can only have a granny moment or two in a space before the whole room looks dated... I'm getting off track). I specifically gravitated towards the simple more graphic patters of chenille (popcorn aka polka dot tufting is my favorite) and stuck with on trend and classic colors. I then backed each pillow with a modern fabric to balance the old with the new and create a fresh feel.

I am hoping I will be able to do a repeat of these pillows but that involves finding the exact same chenille in excellent condition a second time around (not impossible but not guaranteed) so consider this a limited run! 

I'm so pleased to introduce:

new site, new blog, new post

I am so excited to finally have updated my website. It has been on my to do list for about a year and life kept getting in the way! In the past when I redid my site it was a huge pain. I had to resize and reformat every picture. Write tons of copy to explain everything, but this time it was easy. I used a template from squarespace and 24hrs later here you have it. I even integrated my blog.

Speaking of blogs... that's why you're here.

Today I want to share with you my adventure on Governor's Island from this past weekend. We picked the most humid day of July for our trip, but I'm glad we suffered through the weather because we had a blast. If you live in Brooklyn like I do you'll be happy to know that the East River Ferry runs from Greenpoint (and all the other stops along the way) directly to GI on the weekends. The return ferry stops running around 6:30 though, so make sure you head to the Island early so you don't feel rushed to make it back by then. I am a sucker for a good ferry ride, so that alone made the day great.

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Photo by Paulo Dias (@goldisthenewblack)

When we arrived on the island we were greeted by food trucks galore. It's like a mini Smorgasburg. Paulo and I had eaten earlier, but couldn't resist the Waffles & Dinges truck. After our nutella waffle we headed towards the beer garden and ended up in a little village  (Colonels Row) of wood sided homes that reminded me of something I would have seen in New England where I grew up. I wanted to claim one for my own and never leave! But alas, we had to meet up with some friends so we headed towards Little Eva's for some frozen lemonades (with vodka, ha, so refreshing) it is one of 2 places allowed to serve alcohol on the island.

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Unbelievable this is in NYC!

After a couple of hours relaxing in the shade we decided we had to rent one of those 4 seater bikes (aka Surrey). We were a group of 10 + baby so we had to rent 2 4 seaters and a 2 seater. We pedaled around the island trying to avoid all the pedestrians (we should not have let the men drive...) and took in the views. Finally we took a break at the hammocks. We parked our surreys and returned to find someone was pedaling off in one. The guys ran after them and it turned out the capers were three 12 year old girls... HA HA. They claimed they though they were free to take, we're going to give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. Also we had to catch our ferry back to Brooklyn. We caught it with 5 minutes to spare!

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Photo by Kathy Monahan (@vivalakathyyy)

All in all it was a great day. Next time I go I think I will go earlier in the morning, choose a cooler less humid day and bring my own bike as I think it is a great place to just go for a ride!