treehouse kid and craft

So I have been wanting to tell you about my favorite kid's shop in town... and really, I love it. It's called Treehouse Kid and Craft, and it's located on Broad right across from Peaches Fine Foods and Ohhhh, Boy Vintage. Owner Kristin Bach has curated a lovely collection of wares, and it is well worth the visit. 

The shop is filled with bright, colorful, thoughtfully made and carefully selected things for little ones. They carry books, toys, games, clothing, art supplies, and accessories for moms as well. It is more than just a shop, though-- it is a DIY center, complete with a library of books and resources for parents and kids. They host group crafts for kids and parents, trunk shows, and artist's markets. They carry handmade goods from local artists and are super supportive of the creative community here in Athens. They also have a section of cute, gently used clothing. They really do welcome children... the shop is set up with a coloring table, crafting area, and friendly attention from the staff. Piper LOVED being in there. They sent her home wearing a little hat made out of craft paper with a pink pom pom on top :)

I am so thrilled that they are here in town!! This is just one more reason why I love living in Athens. I really recommend that you stop by if you live in the area. Be sure to visit their website to see their schedule for upcoming events and learn more about them. You can see the rest of the photos I took here. I want to write more in the coming weeks about some of my other favorite spots in town, just to give a better picture of the place we call home. It really is a rad place to live.

We have some exciting things coming up... lots of work to do, but work is a good thing. I have some really sweet photography gigs in the coming weeks, and I am planning to do lots of sewing... possibly some diaper bags and changing pads for Treehouse. The beginner's sewing class that I am teaching begins on February 8th at Community in downtown Athens. Please email me if you are interested, or just go by the shop for more information.

much love--

xo

paige

Trevor's birthday party

This is me sitting next to Trevor.

So... Trevor's birthday was on Wednesday. We had a party.

It was super fun. Friends, kids, beautiful 

music (see here and here and here).

It was good to celebrate Trevor's life.

I served mexican food... fresh salsa, chunky guac, mexican

rice, and carnitas and fish for tacos.

I made this recipe for carnitas, and I misunderstood the 

part about rubbing salt onto the meat. I thought he meant

extra salt, not the 2 tablespoons. It was way too salty :)

But I made it again today, and it is AMAZING.

Be back soon with more.

xo

my child with post-nap hair

If you are friends with me on facebook, you already know

that half of Piper's play-doh went missing.

Either she ate it or hid it somewhere in the house.

It has not turned up in her diaper so I am assuming

that I will find it someday :)

I love life as a family with our little one.

There really is never a dull moment.

I don't have much to say this post, except that the feature

on my favorite local shop is still to come... and also to show you this:

Yes.

I found it for $50 at the thrift.

My best find to this day.

Near perfect condition.

Terrible picture (clients, please erase

this image from your mind).

And also, I'll be teaching a beginning sewing

class at Community. It's a six week course, covering

everything from sewing machine basics to completing a simple

pattern from start to finish (including fabric

and notion selection). If you live in

the Athens area and haven't already spoken to me

about it, let me know if you are interested!

Next post will be about a little shop as promised, 

with some links to cute stuff, a new blog introduction (a friend's), 

and a children's clothing business another friend started.

xoxo

p

p.s. can't WAIT for church tomorrow :)

thankful. and farm news.

 

So much has happened since I posted last. I guess I'll start with the farm.

After speaking with our landlord, we have decided not to break our lease. She gave us the go-ahead to find a new renter... which is good because we wouldn't have to sublease or anything. And she agreed to list the townhome for us in a couple of places. Josh and Clare are going to put the farm on the market, which I am really glad about because I want them to be able to start again in Columbus. If, however, we find a renter and the house is still available, we can contact them and talk. So... we need a renter, and we also may have to find another farm to move to :) But we will be moving, just not the way we thought. I really am okay with this... because I have seen God's perfect and specific care in our lives. He has good plans for us. I really have peace about the way this has turned out. I am okay with it taking longer... more time to pray, and hope, and plan, and study, and learn about the things we want to do.

We drove to Gainsville on Sunday night to hear a band called Storyhill with a couple of families from our church. The music was amazing, and was such an unexpected sweet experience... a very intimate setting, in a home, with really wonderful people and our dear friends. We lingered long and the snow began to fall. Really hard. Trevor and I had a public disagreement about whether or not to leave... definitely not my finest hour as a wife. We ended up deciding to try to make it home, and it was one of those experiences where you know you're in danger but you have a sense of calm. Everything was completely covered with snow, we couldn't see in front of us at all, it was dark and at times there was no way to tell if we were still on the road. But we made it safely home... even up the giant hill leading to our home. God was so good to us that night. I saw his protection... there was a semi in front of us for the worst part, and we could follow him and stay in his tracks. We had all the food and water in the car that we needed to keep sweet Piper happy. We had blankets, working cell phones, beautiful Storyhill music to listen to the whole way (shade of the trees), and we came home to a warm house with firewood and a pantry full of good food. We were snowed in for the next couple of days... today Piper and I drove our for the first time. Trevor's classes have been cancelled (thank you Lord) and Piper has gotten to play in the snow (which she really doesn't like that much). And we have amazing neighbors, John and Ginny, to spend time with through it all. 

I am blown away by God's generosity and care. Especially since reading this-- I kind of had a moment of realization where I saw God's heart of love for me again. And listening to this. And, oh my goodness, reading this... another little girl named Piper, who is about the same age as mine, beat Leukemia. That is so huge. What an awesome mom too.

Shifting gears, I have something cool brewing... a beginner's sewing class at Community. Be back soon with more details. I have taken a bit of a hiatus with my sewing, but need to get back in the groove because I gots bills to pay. Thought of some new designs and also a baby sling. Watch out. I am hoping to do some good new things with my pictures coming up as well. In my next post, I am going to introduce you to probably the best little shop I have ever been in, and share some sweet finds that I thrifted this week. We have two cars again, so let the thrifting begin :)

love ya. mean it.

xo

paige

pictures of my little one

Piper is my ever-present muse. She is fun and easy to photograph. I don't have to try to get her to look at the camera. Plus the front room of my house is filled with perfect light. I love sunlight... it makes everything beautiful. This was my favorite part of moving back to the South-- the weather (initially... I realize it is kind of shallow). It was almost sixty degrees here on New Year's Day and it is sunny probably nine days out of ten. Portland was an awesome city but I completely loathed the rain.
Anyway...


Did anyone else notice that this was happening and find it kind of strange? It seems a bit incongruent. I mean I guess it is good for an independent artist to have the West Elm level of exposure, and I am glad for these artists, but the whole issue is that West Elm is a corporation... their goal is to make money, and when they join with an independent artisan it is because there is revenue changing hands that they are missing. They want in on the action. (I sound very cynical right now... maybe their motives are pure. I can't say for sure that they aren't.) It was one of those moments for me where two seemingly parallel lines converge.. the lines of hand-crafted vs. mass produced. But maybe this is a false dichotomy. I do think it takes some effort to remind people why buying things that are not mass-produced is important, and to then sell those things alongside the mass-produced things seems counterproductive. However, I also see that most people are not going to go all out, diverting all of their spending to hand made. I don't do that now, and I probably won't (although it would be great if most of the stuff I owned or bought was hand made). Most people will just divert a little of their spending into the handmade economy. I guess having these two things together aids customers in making that choice... "...enabling etsy artisans to show their wares directly to our customers" as it were. I am totally pontificating on something that really is not all that important. I know this kind of thing has happened many times before. It just struck me as odd this time.


I hope to be able to share news about our farm pilgrimage by Monday at the latest. I might know something sooner, possibly tomorrow. I will be writing and publishing the whole thing. 


I mentioned also in my post about the upcoming year that I wanted to improve as a photographer. And I do. I think the most prominent way that I want to do that is by developing the look of my images, making it more specific, so that the people who come to me want images that look like mine (if that makes sense). A photographer's website is a big part of that. I want to build my website myself. I have alot of learning to do as far as web design goes. One photographer wrote on her blog that she learned there are things she cannot bend on when it comes to taking pictures, and one of those things is location. I have talked about this with my friend Kaitie Bryant, another photographer. I am figuring out which things I have to insist on. 


Also, I want to bring my sewing and love for vintage things together with my photography. It seems false for them to be separate. It all has to do with being able to communicate what looks beautiful to me, and that is what draws people in. Because really, this isn't about making money (I mean it is sometimes but that is not my main motivation). This is a way of worshiping God and being like him for me. It's something I think about alot. I will probably save my thoughts for another post.


Anyway, I just wanted mainly to share the pictures, and I hope that I will have more good news to share soon!!


Love to you readers, and thank you so much for stopping by (even you incognito ones who don't comment) :) 


Oh, and lastly, if anyone knows where a good place to start learning html/css would be, I would really appreciate you sharing that with me. I need to learn how to build a site from the ground up... the whole thing, beyond the tweaks and things I did for my blog. It would be even better if it was free or super cheap. The same goes for photography resources. I want to learn and improve, so please share helpful instruction, resources, anything like that! I really love to hear from you!


xo
paige

pigtails

Piperkins got pigtails for the first time today! She is such a big girl!! Last night was the first night she slept without her paci. It went pretty well... she cried for about 20 minutes before settling down. We talked with her about it all through the day, and I think she understands that she's not getting it back. I am hoping that she won't even know the difference in a couple of days. Trevor and I went to Chattanooga to shoot wedding on the first, and she stayed with friends overnight... her first overnight adventure. She was totally comfortable with them! I love my girl.


So... about the bed I mentioned in my previous post that I want to build. I got the idea from Ashley and Sarah Kate (I think I like the second one better for Piper since it has sides). I like the way this guy did the feet on his barn wood coffee table (thanks Barb for pointing out his furniture on your blog!). So I have lots of ideas about how I want it to look, but not so many about how to actually build it. This is going to be a challenge for me :)


Also, I have been listening to this talk by Tim Keller and I can't stop thinking about it. He is speaking to a group of attorneys about vocation, the law, and the role of a Christian as 'cultivator'. It is so good.


Trevor is going to back to school early next week. I will miss this time... we have been together as a family so much and I hate that it has to end. But I love what he is learning and his hopes for it. 


xoxo
paige