Something New

As I promised in my first newsletter, I am introducing Home Decor items to my shops. I am beginning with pillow covers. I have a love of linen: the texture, the drape, and it's unfussy elegance draw me in. The first two covers that I've made feature a bit of linen with a satiny, home decor weight cotton twill and also a standard woven cotton. This first one is made with colors that I am surrounded by right now. And even though the print is snowberries, I was inspired by this pebble and moss photo that I took a while back:

This is the back side of the snowberry cover. It is in a cotton twill called, "Olive Oil." Isn't that a great name?













The second cover that I made has a linen back and cotton front:

















It was inspired by the contrast between the soft, pearly light of the Pacific Northwest and the fall leaves.


Stay snug, my friends!

Making Light

We have entered the late phase of fall. We live in the Northern Hemisphere. Not the northern most hemisphere, but we're closer to the pole than many. This means that the days get shorter and shorter as the winter comes closer. By Winter solstice, it is dark here by 4:00 in the afternoon. This can be tough for a sun-loving gal like myself, and so I do what I can to invite the light into my life whenever possible. For Halloween this past weekend, Bronwyn and I set up luminaria along our driveway and fun and spooky pumpkins on our porch to invite the goblins to our door. I used three candles in each pumpkin instead of just one, and the effect was very cheerful (if a spooky pumpkin can be described that way).


We had a great time seeing everyone's creative costumes and got rid of most of our candy!

I hope everyone else had a fun and safe Halloween!

In the realm of BCharmer news, I am excited to tell you that I have started a newsletter! I'm not sure how often it will come out yet (maybe quarterly?), but the first one has already been sent out. If you would like to receive it (with coupons and extra studio news), you can sign up on the right hand side of my blog here. It's easy to sign up; just enter your name and e-mail address, and then confirm your e-mail when prompted to. That's it! Cheers!

Packing in Summer (to enjoy it later)

Summer is closing in on its final moments, and I am soaking it in as much as possible; trying to stay awake for each beautiful golden moment. The spiders are busily trapping the light (and the insects who follow it) in their webs, the geese flew south over our house two days ago, the squirrels are planting hazelnuts in my yard, and there is a crisp-ness to everything.

I have been busy getting Bronwyn settled in school and harvesting the abundance which is otherwise known as our yard and garden. This week, we canned plums into chutney, butter, and sauce. The chutney is a delicious Indian relish of fruit, ginger, raisins, vinegar, and sugar. It is the Indian answer to sweet and sour. We had so many plums that we decided to also make a plum butter (a reduction of plums with clove, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg) and also a plum sauce (like apple sauce).

A long time from now, when the rains have been here for more days than the sun, and when I'm feeling glum, I can open one of these jars of summer and be reminded of the cycle of the seasons. I will take heart and enjoy my winter days while I have them because I know I will be busy with being outside again very soon.

Cool Thoughts

Because it has been SO hot here, I am actually dreaming of winter *gasp*! That's what lets me know that the summer has been truly satisfying: when I begin to long for the change of the season. I was thinking about school, and sharpened pencils, and the smell of new notebook paper, and pumpkins.... I have been making these little zippered pouches lately. They are small and cute, and perfect for holding pencils or knitting needles, or whatever other small things you might want to stash. Here is one that I made in a lovely arctic hue. It's available in both of my shops: Etsy and Artfire.

Have a beautiful day, my friends!

Trick or Treat

I haven't posted for a while because my sweet daughter has been sick, and then my other sweetie got sick after. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to participate in Halloween fun this year, but the good news is that we DID! Our lovely neighbor, Talcott, made Bronwyn and me these matching hats, and we carved a couple of pumpkins. We went out and walked our neighborhood early in the evening for some showing off (Bronwyn was the cutest little witch ever!) and then came home to pass out toothbrushes and candy to the little goblins that came to our door. Seeing our pumpkins glowing on the porch made me feel calm and happy. It all worked out in the end.