abby try again

in my pocket

So these photos look pretty different than my usual, right?

Well the other day I walked into my photo lab and was offered some kinda crazy deal. You know those scenes where the old timey snake charmer is trying to sell you some sort of wonder medicine? Yup, that happened to me only it was a $20 a month film club and I got a free tiny, pocket sized digital camera.

I definitely spend $20 a month on processing photos for this blog, so it was kind of a no brainer for me (thanks to all of you who buy prints from my shop and my etsy-your purchases keep me going as do my sponsors over in the right column there).

I would really, really love a nice digital slr camera someday-but for now this tiny one will do.  Since the main film camera I shoot with is gigantic and heavy (about 5lbs) it'll be nice to carry this little guy around to capture life in a different sort of way.

For a free camera that ain't bad, right?

* * * * * * *

In case you are curious-that book up there is this one which I highly recommend. It makes me happy, curious, interested and inspired.

The jelly is from my sister-thanks for bringing it all the way from the Czech Republic to me :)

And that mini print up there is from Lisa of Kiki+Polly.

* * * * *

Happy Thursday to you!


 

deep in the heart of Texas

So here I am, back home in Texas.

Wait-did I just type "home" and "Texas" in the same phrase?

Funny how when you're a "grown up" the word home can mean so many different things. 

To me-home is California. Home is Portland and I guess, for now, home is Texas.

This weekend was a really great weekend to be back in Texas. The weather was cooler-in the 60's and 70's-and it was sunny and breezy. The East Austin Studio Tours were in full effect. There were actually lots of people out and about walking around! It literally blew my mind. If you follow this blog you know I'm not a driving gal-so to see pedestrians here in Texas made my heart burst. I hope this continues to happen (the people walking-not the heart bursting).

I didn't get to tour many studios, but I hope to do so this weekend. I'm so excited to see what makers are doing down here in Austin.

Speaking of Austin makers, I was able to pick up some goodies from Salt & Time. Every time I grab a little something from Ben and Natalie, I know it's going to taste phenomenal. If you are Austin based-go by Hope market on a Sunday to catch them. I highly reccommend their pancetta and can't wait to try their fig jam.

(p.s. Natalie is also a great designer and maker of these cute things)

And wow, this post is seriously all over the place....but I must mention this, too. The super talented Eireann has launched a little holiday shop filled with her gorgeous watercolors. I am in love with her calendar.

Hope you are all having a great week out there.

 

 

a break from the words

My head and heart are full and yet, I cannot write.

I leave you with these final scenes from Oregon.

I can tell you, though-that it is getting chilly finally down here in Texas.

This is making me very happy.

Also making me happy?

Gifted magazine and Sweet Paul.

Much love to all of you out there.

let's go for a Sunday drive...

 

Won't you join me for a lovely Sunday drive?

I saw this shot in Portland last week and thought it was the perfect fall companion to this shot here.

I'm off to enjoy the company of friends today; my favorite coffee shop, my neighborhood market and this studio tour.

Hope your Sunday is lovely!

five senses friday

Hello out there!

I hope you are having a great Friday. I'm feeling especially good and thankful today. I was going to list off all the lovely friends both old and new that came down to Little Winter this weekend, but I fear I may leave a person out unintentionally so can I just say here and now to all of you-thank you, it was lovely to see you!

I can mention this one, though. I was so thrilled to meet Sue of Giant Dwarf. She and I have corresponded on and off for over five years (!!). When I first moved to Portland, she had just moved away and emailed me a long list of her favorite places. I will always remember her kindness. She also is one of the first Etsy sellers and is a total inspiration to me. Thank you for travelling 3,000 miles to visit us, Sue!

All right...on to five senses friday...

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.    

Smelling:

the most delicious scents of coffee roasting and food cooking during my Portland stay

Seeing:

smiling faces of so many friends, the gorgeous vibrant colors of fall in Portland, so many bicycles!

Hearing:

laughter, lots and lots of laughter

Tasting:

wow...this is a long one! So many lovely meals with friends including truffle+parmesean popcorn, caviatelli with wild mushroom sauce, pumpkin pie trifle, bagels with lox and cream cheese...and more

Feeling:

hugs and pure elation-and for the first time in a long time-really proud of myself

* * * 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, friends!

(p.s. I'm doing a round up for the Little Winter blog-we want to link to everyone who attended and posted about it. If you did-can you drop me a comment or email with a link to your post? Thank you.

market scenes

There are only two things I would change about Little Winter if I could-one; I would take a LOT more photos and two; I would schedule myself more time to chat with friends both old+new. 

Other than that-the event far exceeded my expectations!

I feel so lucky that I got to spend a lot of the prep time with Shanna and Kenzie-two inspiring, creative and hilarious women.  It's a funny thing to feel so close to people that live so far-but these two are just amazing souls. Thank you, ladies.

And I also wanted to give a shout out to my girl April who showed up to support me even though she is in the middle of organizing a huge project for her own family. If you have a minute, please look at this project, Harper's Playground. If you're in Portland, there's a kid's benefit show this weekend!

All right, I could go on and on about Little Winter-but I'm just going to let it all process for now and give you all a break!

Tomorrow I will be back here for five senses friday and I hope you'll join me!

Thank you for all the kind comments and support lately, I love you readers :)

 

Little Winter...

It probably seems a little silly to be so giddy about a market...but yeah, it was pretty magical.

I just arrived back in Austin and am so tired and hungry-but I did just want to share a little bit of the weekend with you all. 

There is something really amazing that happens when 20+ talented ladies are in one room together with their magnificant creations accompanied by hundreds of super supportive fans+customers. It is pretty darn cool. The best part of my weekend was seeing so many people smiling over hand made things. It gave me so much hope.

I believe so strongly in connecting the makers of things with the people who use them. It was so incredible to see that happening all around me. It was an experience that will last a life time and has inspired me to do so much more in the future.

I'm sure I'll be posting soon about more specific things (like the super fun party at West Elm and all of the amazing vendors and volunteers) but for now it is bedtime.

Thanks for reading.

(I'll be posting these photos with details over at my flickr stream in case you are interested)

oh...and if you'd like-you should watch this amazing video about Little Winter

in awe

This weekend was so amazing and incredible and life changing and dream making....I don't even know where to start.

One thing I'd just like to say is a huge thank you to all the artists and volunteers who helped make my dream a reality. Little Winter was a huge success and the most fun I've ever had. I feel lucky to be able to have created this event and support such genuine, talented artists who are in it for all of the right reasons. To you-I am forever grateful for sharing this with me.

And thanks to so many of you for coming out and introducing yourselves.

 Thanks to my partner-stylist queen Chelsea Fuss and to our awesome manager Corey Harmon. And an enormous thank you to my sister Lindee who generally worked all day every day this week helping in every way that she could.

I am overwhelmed at all of the love. 

More soon...

(photo by my dear friend, Shanna Murray)

scenes from Oregon