new house project

Saya sometimes writes and draws in my notebooks and sketchbooks…

She writes stories and makes little drawings with doors you can open.

I like these hand drawings too…

The hand drawing photos are taken with Instagram.  Are you on Instagram?  If you are let’s follow each other!  I have stopped updating my flickr account, but I always have my phone with me and I usually snap a few pics a day.  My Instagram name is newhouseproject, so please say hi.  See you there!

We have been making these children’s pottery sets for quite a while.  We had fun with it, but after much discussion we have decided to stop making them for now.  We have limited time and other projects we want to work on.  We have always gotten a good response to the children’s pottery, and that makes us feel good.  If we fill our etsy shop with new items, I worry that people won’t like them as much.  We can make guesses about what people will like or what they will buy, but we can never really know.  What we do know for sure is what we like and what we want to be making right now, so I think we have to go with that.

We are planning a complete relaunch of our etsy shop, but first I want to offer a sale on the children’s pottery that we have left.  I added a bunch of new sets tonight, so if you see something you like, or if there is something you have been thinking about buying, now is the best time!  Please enter coupon code NEWHOUSE20 for a 20% percent discount on your order.  (Clicking on the photos below will take you directly to the listing.)

These are just some photos from one of our walks.  I like the clean air out here.

Junji hurt his back last week.  He spent one night in the hospital.  Although his injury is not too serious he is still not able to move around much.  He hasn’t been able to go to work and his recovery hasn’t been as speeding as he was expecting.  We are falling behind on some things, but I am trying not to get too stressed out.  Now he needs to rest and I need patience.

Here are two videos I like to get you in the mood for Valentines Day. Happy Monday

Today was amazing. It was just one of those days. The warm (for february) sunny weather helped it along. Saya slept in so I had some time by myself before she woke up. While she was at school I got to spend time with Junji in his studio. I am going to decorate these small plates. I am using a very fine brush so I practiced on a board. After school Saya and I went to our favorite cafe for a special treat. And it’s FRIDAY!!

If you are in Pittsburgh, head over to the I Made It Market. Say hi to Hazel and Ivy and Oceanne and all of the other sweet vendors for me and have a wonderful weekend!

My little one is sick with a cough, runny nose, and slight fever. We haven’t left the house in two days. Luckily we stocked up on library books and DVDs over the weekend. She may or may not go to school tomorrow.

I think her room is so cozy with her Namoo quilt and Hillery Sproatt mobile.

After a nice long weekend relaxing at home it was a bit tough for me to get back into weekday mode. (Saya doesn’t have school on Mondays, so she and I always have three-day weekends.) We never want to leave the house on weekends now, but we did have friends over. A friend from Pittsburgh came to stay and then we hosted a brunch on Saturday. We watched The Cats of Mirikitani which was wonderful and also Brave New Voices. I spent some time stitching of course. I want to make a lot of things this year. Sometimes I am not sure what direction I should be going in, but I know I love to make things.

Junji has been spoiling us with juice almost every day for the past month. It is usually carrot, orange, and apple and sometimes he adds other stuff like ginger, celery, or spinach. It is so delicious, and look at that color! I love it. I hope he keeps it up. We had been borrowing the juicer from a friend, but we just bought it from her today.

We have been talking about and planning some projects that we want to work on in the new year. I will post a bit more about that soon.

Tomorrow is Friday!

Saya got this awesome dollhouse for Christmas.  It was made for her by her Uncle Jim.  It is fun to decorate it with crafts and small art works.