our own homegrown garlic plus farmers' market eggplant = tasty eggplant parmesan! i love the stripes in the eggplants.

i have been experimenting with printing on various fabrics, and trying some colors i don't normally use. i wasn't sure what i thought of this print on a putty colored cotton, until i held it up to the light. here it is in front of the window with light shining through it - i love how the light makes the colors pop and shows up the weave of the fabric!

daytrip society

just finished off a batch of ribbon pouches and sunglass cases, which i am shipping off to Daytrip Society, a new store in Kennebunkport, Maine! I can't wait to visit the shop - it was recently opened by Jessica and Andy, two dear friends from college. The pictures of the store on their website look amazing!!

clear nights are somewhat rare and very cold here in humboldt. i miss the warm summer evenings of the east coast. tonight there is a full moon and a sky full of stars.

before and after #3

here's the view from my desk, looking into the kitchen and living area, and beyond into the bedroom. the whole house is very open - when i first got here i felt like i was staying in someone else's cabin in the mountains. now it feels like home.

snowboarding

when i first moved to california, s took me snowboarding for the first time at mt. shasta. i loved it! i found it to be a whole lot easier than surfing, and i've always been a big fan of snow. here i demonstrate the falling leaf, which is to snowboarding as the snowplow is to skiing...and show up s, the expert!

before and after #2

the living area of the house, during the painting and today. we were planning to paint the door a color, but couldn't quite decide on one and decided the cream wall color was fine for the moment, a significant improvement on the original dark brown (already painted over when i took this pic). we thought about ripping out the awful industrial carpets, but the sub floor underneath is actually worse and taking on the project seemed like a lot of work for a rental. we opted to add some bright rugs to cheer things up a bit instead. the redwood paneling off to the right is one of the nicest features of the house!

shipping

before moving here i had never been much of an internet shopper. now i depend upon it for many things, mostly art supplies. i have to think about shopping differently and plan ahead - i can't just pop out and pick things up as needed. consequently, the ups truck is a frequent visitor to our house. we affectionately refer to our delivery guy as "brown".

just had to take a picture of these beets - i love the concentric circles!

before and after #1

when i moved out to humboldt, i moved into the compound sight unseen. s had been living here for a while on his own and told me the place had charm, but was badly in need of renovation. my first project when i got here was to paint the house. the existing paint job was half completed, and the colors were generally awful. there were a few spots i left untouched, but most of the house got a fresh coat. it gets rainy here in the pacific northwest, so bright colors were essential! here is my sewing corner in the bedroom at the beginning of the project.... and today!

sunlight creating iridescent reflections on some new spiderwebs in the window..

radio

i spend a lot of time alone at home, and listen to the radio often for company. the local stations are entertaining in a number of ways - there is such a contrast between the slick national NPR broadcasts and the wacky local shows and news bulletins. I've gotten some great gardening tips this way.

i enjoy many of the interesting, varied music programs. my favorite so far is EuroBureau, which of course reminds me of another lifetime. its a mix of music (can you ever really get enough of punk yodeling bands?) and newscasts from the motherland. Fortunately it is available online at KMUD for those who might have missed wednesday's broadcast, or are perhaps far away...

there are so many hummingbirds buzzing around our porch. i have never had the chance to observe them in such close proximity before. they zoom, hover, buzz, and chatter ceaselessly. i'm hoping to get a photo but they won't stay still for the camera!

i have spent a lot of time in the past couple of weeks creating an entry of fabric jewelry for an exhibition at the museum of contemporary craft in portland. (thanks for the tip, lena!) i've just sent off my application. it was fun to do, and now i have to wait and see what happens..

this is the state of things out here in the sticks: JoAnn fabrics. gone are the days of shopping for sewing supplies at amazing stores in the garment district of nyc, rubbing elbows with project runway. i sometimes go to a few smaller sewing stores that cater to quilters - they definitely have more charm, but also higher prices. now i look forward to JoAnn's frequent emails that usually include coupons. yes, i'm on the mailing list - oh, how things have changed..

our house looks so warm and inviting from outside at night. this is the view from the porch into the living room window.

i have been introduced to many new plants out here. i'm quite fond of this one, its kind of fuzzy like a squash, and in this case was growing on the sidewalk along somebody's fence.

we have a skylight in the bathroom, and for a moment in the afternoon the light falls on the perfect spot...

my lovely assistant

ok, it is a little hard to work when Poe snuggles up to me while i'm working at the computer. especially when he lays down across the keyboard. but i do love his soft furry company, and frankly he's pretty insistent - he's even helping me write this post!

this is the contents of the garbage can near my sewing machine. someday i'll find something to do with these colorful scraps.

these country roads get really dark at night! only headlights illuminate the roads.

my ride

one of the biggest changes for me in moving from city to country is spending so much time driving. i was very fortunate to be able to borrow my brother in law's car for an extended period, and she's a good little fuel efficient honda. we live in an area off a very busy road that isn't safe for biking or walking, and its really too far to walk anywhere anyways, so we have to drive everywhere. this is my biggest gripe so far about rural living. i miss walking and public transportation!!

this is the hillside near our house, on an unusually sunny morning. i love the way the light creates different planes in the trees.

flygirl

many thanks to the lovely andrea of fly!
she has included raeburn ink in her second webisode of the renegade craft fair in brooklyn. you can watch it on her blog, and see me being interviewed on a very hot day. also, have a look at her earlier posts on the renegade, which include cal of hodge podge!

new collections

here are some pics of my newest wares!
the pillows and sunglasses cases are from the PATCHWORK collection, which is made from fabric scraps i've acquired over the years, including all hand printed fabrics. due to the limited nature of scraps, each piece is a bit different from the others. the totes and zips are from my I HEART JAPAN collection - i finally put some of those pictures from my trip to japan to good use!
i'm working on getting all of these pieces and more for sale online very soon.. in the meantime, you can email me at studio@raeburnink.com to purchase. also, they are currently available at the stores listed on my website.