this little bunny, made from a beautiful plaid cashmere just bounced into the shop today.
brooklyn indie market...
just popping in to remind you i will be at the brooklyn indie market tomorrow from 11-6pm. for those of you who are local i hope you can come by and say hello! it's located on smith and union streets. i will be outside in one of the kiosks, with katy from winsome hollow, and sonia, from willowpixie. i'll be drinking lot's of coffee and hoping it's not to cold... brrr.
i also wanted to share a recent story from the new york times, my mother-in-law passed on to me. it's an interesting article about unschooling... which i am a strong proponent of. my son jack henry goes to a democratic free school, which adheres to the same philosophy, allowing children the freedom to choose their own paths for learning. if we didn't send him there, we would most likely unschool him instead. it was a little dismaying to read many of the comments after the article though. many people are so fearful of change and difference. kyle and i discussed it for a long time yesterday, and it was a good reminder to be thankful for the choice we have to send him to the brooklyn free school, where they work so hard to make a space where children can thrive and difference is embraced.
i'd like to share this message they recently sent to parents from the school:
"Here are some of the things that the BFS staff feel are important aspects of the school:
* Children are people and deserve to be treated with respect
* Students are not forced to participate in any activity beyond the basic requirements of the school.
* The basic requirements of the school are that students attend the weekly democratic meeting, go to other mandatory meetings, finish daily community responsibilities (clean up).
* Staff, students, interns and volunteers all have a vote on deciding school policy
* Students are encouraged and helped to pursue their interests
* Students are responsible for cleaning up after themselves
* Students are given clear boundaries- based off of rules created by the democratic meeting, permissions their parents have granted, common sense and a constant precedence for health and safety
* Rewards and Punishments are not used to influence behavior
* Explanations are always given for choices made
* Children are respected as individuals
* Students are helped talk through disagreements and conflicts with staff, siblings and friends
* Choices (good and bad) have consequences and the best consequences are natural
* Staff and students share their passions and interests with each other (and recognize that others might not be as excited as they are!)
* Staff try to make learning relevant in order to take down barriers between life and learning
* Staff and students read to each other and talk about books, magazines, articles they love and find interesting
* Staff acknowledges and respects that everyone's academic experience and goals are different
* We let children know that we love them
* We emphasize and work on sharing"
hope to see you tomorrow!
xo
cary
i also wanted to share a recent story from the new york times, my mother-in-law passed on to me. it's an interesting article about unschooling... which i am a strong proponent of. my son jack henry goes to a democratic free school, which adheres to the same philosophy, allowing children the freedom to choose their own paths for learning. if we didn't send him there, we would most likely unschool him instead. it was a little dismaying to read many of the comments after the article though. many people are so fearful of change and difference. kyle and i discussed it for a long time yesterday, and it was a good reminder to be thankful for the choice we have to send him to the brooklyn free school, where they work so hard to make a space where children can thrive and difference is embraced.
i'd like to share this message they recently sent to parents from the school:
"Here are some of the things that the BFS staff feel are important aspects of the school:
* Children are people and deserve to be treated with respect
* Students are not forced to participate in any activity beyond the basic requirements of the school.
* The basic requirements of the school are that students attend the weekly democratic meeting, go to other mandatory meetings, finish daily community responsibilities (clean up).
* Staff, students, interns and volunteers all have a vote on deciding school policy
* Students are encouraged and helped to pursue their interests
* Students are responsible for cleaning up after themselves
* Students are given clear boundaries- based off of rules created by the democratic meeting, permissions their parents have granted, common sense and a constant precedence for health and safety
* Rewards and Punishments are not used to influence behavior
* Explanations are always given for choices made
* Children are respected as individuals
* Students are helped talk through disagreements and conflicts with staff, siblings and friends
* Choices (good and bad) have consequences and the best consequences are natural
* Staff and students share their passions and interests with each other (and recognize that others might not be as excited as they are!)
* Staff try to make learning relevant in order to take down barriers between life and learning
* Staff and students read to each other and talk about books, magazines, articles they love and find interesting
* Staff acknowledges and respects that everyone's academic experience and goals are different
* We let children know that we love them
* We emphasize and work on sharing"
hope to see you tomorrow!
xo
cary
no shopping list this week...
water landscape, photograph, metallic paper, 8x8- valcoxsorry not to participate this week. i'm drowning in work, and my husband has taken the kids off on an adventure so i've got to get down to it. happy weekend all!
favorite artists...
i thought i would start a new series of posts sharing some of my favorite artists, or new (at least to me) finds. i am amazed by those who are able to create beautiful embroidery work, especially by hand. my friend sonia creates such work, and her ability and patience is inspiring. i was looking through stitch spectacular today, which is a blog that "recognizes the exploration of new frontiers in creative hand embroidery". dorie millerson is just one of the amazing artists whose work i discovered there. she is an artist and educator living in toronto, and i find her textile pieces absolutely stunning. millerson writes that her "work is concerned with the themes of attachment and memory", and that "(s)he has been experimenting with an embroidery process called needlepoint lace... that it allows her to literally draw with thread." i would love to see her work in person.
cookie...
i was lucky enough to be featured on the cookie magazine nesting blog. that one is sold... as are all my pumpkins, actually. i am working on a large order of them for a wedding, plus i want to make a few for my craft fair on the 18th.
exciting day...
look what came in the mail today from noelle at xenotees! so nicely made and great colors... my kids were really excited:) they made me read all the collective names of animals listed... there are over 100!
giveaway...
i wanted to let everyone know that my sister katy (winsome hollow) is participating in a very large giveaway going on over at unconditional love. there are many packages to choose from, but if you want a chance to win one of katy's beautiful trees (see it in the middle there?), you can leave a comment here, saying it's your favorite. unconditional love is the blog of jessica jane, who has two great shops on etsy, the lovely jessica jane and also one of my personal favorites, petite house.
blue bird of happiness...
i'm so busy trying to finish up some special orders, making things for craft shows, getting ready for halloween, while thinking about what to make for winter... but needed to take a little break to make something different. i was inspired by this beautiful blue cashmere to make another bird. i thought it might add a little cheeriness to darkening autumn days. it's working for me so far! it's a really soft fabric to the touch and so lovely to look at. i added a pretty vintage floral that i splurged on at the brooklyn general store recently (and will be included in a new line of wool and vintage fabric animals). i'm not sure the pictures capture the bird well... still something i am exploring. oh well, off to do more work now. tweet tweet... hope you enjoy!
saturday shopping list no. 8
one of my favorite things to indulge in is ceramics and pottery. sadly, with two little children, my collection is looking, well... a little cracked these days. maybe it's time to start replacing some old chipped favorites with some new lovely finds...
1) green stripe soup bowl, made by campanaceramics
2) small semi matte cream 3-way server, flow series, by juditavill
3) camper vessel, made by paigerussell
4) set of three bud vases, from bigggirlco
5) vintage white ceramic bird, at dandeliongirl
6) tiny stoneware bottles, made by sarapaloma
7) bubble robot- bud vase, made by 5pmstudio
8) vintage japanese coasters, at berdandbe
9) little friends in bottle green, by the runnybunny
check out fancypicnic for more! also go visit my sister, katy, at winsome hollow... she's participating this week too.
1) green stripe soup bowl, made by campanaceramics
2) small semi matte cream 3-way server, flow series, by juditavill
3) camper vessel, made by paigerussell
4) set of three bud vases, from bigggirlco
5) vintage white ceramic bird, at dandeliongirl
6) tiny stoneware bottles, made by sarapaloma
7) bubble robot- bud vase, made by 5pmstudio
8) vintage japanese coasters, at berdandbe
9) little friends in bottle green, by the runnybunny
check out fancypicnic for more! also go visit my sister, katy, at winsome hollow... she's participating this week too.
brooklyn children's museum...
since jack henry was born, one of the best things i have discovered i like to do is visit children's museums. when i was young, there was a small one in the town my grandmother lived in, and when i visited we would sometimes go. i was a little old for them at that point... it felt more for my younger sister and cousins. now as an adult, i think i'm just the right age to enjoy them! it really brings out the playful kid in me... especially if it's a good one. last summer, i was able to take my own children to that same children's museum near my grandmother in lexington, which has been remodeled and is even better. my two favorites are probably still the boston children's museum (amazing!) and the children's museum of denver, as well.
the brooklyn children's museum was one of the originals... but until very recently reflected that! it was getting a little dusty and out-dated, although their collection of memorabilia was very sweet. well they have kept that originial nostalgic feeling and incorporated it nicely into a beautiful and modern new space. after a very long renovation (boy was i impatient) it finally reopened this month. we took the children on tuesday when jack henry had the day off school. it was a great experience, and we all can't wait to go back and explore some more!
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