hello, my name is

Well, I've been "tagged" by my dear friends at secretleaves and have humbly accepted the invitation to chat about my emerging business. See their site for instructions if you'd like to play along as it sounds like a great idea. I'm not sure I'm well-acquainted enough with anyone in blogland to pass it on but perhaps at a later date. For now, let me introduce myself with a handful of tidbits (the game calls for seven).

1. periwinklebloom was inspired by my new role as a mom and former role as a graphic designer and educator. Like many of you, the collision/merging of worlds nudged/bulldozed me to reevaluate my professional direction. My business has developed much slower than expected but so has my goal of becoming 'mom of the year'.

2. My business is rooted in kind design, using natural materials, subdued hues, careful detail and hand-crafting. I intend to stay small, create work I'm passionate about and honor the simplicity of children.

3. My collection offers lovely little hand-me-downs made of organic cotton, largely grown and fabricated in the U.S (with local collaboration always in mind). The idea of life-recycled drives the concept. And the design and quality will allow these pieces to be passed on. For now I have nearly ten designs for toddler girls clothing in production.

4. I have spent years dabbling in letterpress, which I originally studied as a student at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. A passion of mine is typography and I have taught this discipline for many years at the University level in St. Louis. Ellen Lupton is my distant muse and Ken Botnick (Washington University) rekindled my love for printing. I have restored a Pearl press and plan to add a line of letterpress correspondence to my collection. My studio is in my home.

5. I have a memory from childhood one Halloween where I dressed as Paddington Bear. I arrived to school late (tardiness is an inherent trait of mine) and was paralyzed by the fear that I had gotten dress-up day wrong. Sweating in the tiny 2nd grade coatroom, black nose painted on and beading up, I headed in... immensely relieved to find a room full of homemade capes, a variety of princesses and hobo-types. The next year I went as a pair of dice with my best friend figuring if I went down, she was going down with me. I don't think this has been a guiding principle of mine. I do generally recall my childhood fondly and have had the same three best friends since I was six.

6. I don't like glitter, never have.

7. When my mother and I would argue growing up (and we had some turbulent chats!) she would often say, exhausted, "you didn't come with a book." And she was right. I get it now. Loud and clear, this is a test and only a test, in the event of the real thing, we'd be given instructions, right? I dedicate periwinklebloom to my family, to our quirky dynamic, to unconditional love, to humor and to the endless commitment of parenting.

Enjoy the weekend, thanks again to secretleaves for the invite to boast. Fyi, tomorrow is earth hour, where we are all invited to shut off the lights for one hour, worldwide. Isn't it a small world after all?