profound

A mother, whose children are grown and gone, said to me today, the days are long but the years are quite quick. How simply profound.

Somewhat unrelated but equally thoughtful, I'm completely compelled to see this film. Please consider taking the pledge.

are you my mother?

"Yes, I know who you are," said the baby bird.

a sweet sentiment, on my wish list at figs and ginger

the bath hour

The Bath Hour crafts small-batch artisanal soaps by hand. Our bars are emollient-rich and contain none of the harsh detergents found in commercial soap. Best of all, each bar smells like a little slice of heaven.

Delightful scents, one for you, one for mom.

love your mother

Delectable dishes by the stunning Cannelle Et Vanille. And a lovely homage to her mother and grandmother rooted in the stories and scents of spring pea soup.

Love your mother on this Earth Day, she is bountiful.

sweet chaos

Happiest new year! We've been taking some time to celebrate our growing family but do miss the whirlwind of clever blogs, creative juices and kindred spirits out there. Still visiting your lovely spaces as I can and have loads to share soon. For now sweet chaos fills the air as we cozy up through a midwestern winter.

Periwinklebloom is now participating in this eco-minded shop that donates partial proceeds to a charity of your choice.

Still having my winter sale here. And have a mangle dress in Lucinda Rooney's latest book featuring her beautiful blooms, Bouquets with Personality. Catch her interview tomorrow on Martha Stewart Living radio at 1:00.

And do please peek at these fabulous designers (and favorite Christmas gifts this year!); tinctory, enhabiten, paloma's nest, MimsMaine and locallibrary. Cheers!

taking time, be well

Taking some time to celebrate family. Please consider how you give this season.
A gentle nudge toward independent small studios and causes for a greater good.
Sending comfort and joy!

please click image to view larger

comfort

'Tis the season for hearty stews and sweet squash soups. I've just picked up the latest Real Simple best recipes and have nearly the entire publication dog-eared. Wishful thinking but I'm feeling a bit domestic these days, nesting and planning. Expecting big and little changes around here in the next couple of weeks. I'm afraid I've been a bit scarce of late only to be more scarce in the near future. Sending cozy thoughts to my blogging friends and I will certainly check in as time permits. Between new baby and seasonal soups I'll be trying my best to nourish and nurture over the next few months. Be well!

sharing the love

Tooting my own horn a bit and sharing the love with a few fabulous shops. I'm so thrilled to play a small role among these thoughtful spaces and lovely designs. Periwinklebloom has recently found a home in the beautifully neutral and lush world of Line+Liv in Flensburg, Germany. The showroom acts as a gallery, simply staged and open with light, the products come alive. So excited to be well-received abroad!

Also anticipating the relaunch of fawn&forest.com, they are currently mentioned in this months InStyle magazine. Enormous gratitude to Summer for carrying my collection among a selective cast of conscientious designers.

And a kind mention by ontippytoes this month. A stylish online publication offering tips for tots, modern design, get-aways and gourmet goods. A must bookmark for moms.

Lastly, Sweet William will soon offer a few snuggly sherpa pieces to introduce periwinklebloom to the posh Brooklyn scene. Bronagh's thoughtfully curated collection features independent designers, handmade forms and delicious fabrics to layer your little one. Most of her picks use certified organic cottons and tout responsible design practices to ensure your purchase goes a long way.

Please do visit these lovely spaces making great efforts toward cozy family life and small studios. They seem to share the vision of quality over quantity with an understanding of what it means to give and what it means to create.

pod

A darling shot all snuggled in sherpa from the lovely pod in Brookline Village, MA. Periwinklebloom is thrilled to play a small role in this eco and style conscious cozy space. Pod is a neighborhood lifestyle boutique that specializes in textiles in all forms with an emphasis on those for the home and body.
Be good to you and yours this crisp cool autumn!

khall warehouse sale

If you're in St. Louis this weekend, the lovely khall studio is having a warehouse sale full of delectable scents and wares for the home. Kelley has graciously carried periwinklebloom along with the sweetest childrens' crocheted and vintage garments. Her space is a dream of rustic creamy tones and loads of lush texture. And the soft aroma that wafts through the air is captured in vintage apothecary bottles to gift or give to yourself. Please stop by and stock up. 8416 Manchester Road

images by Robin Frisella, periwinklebloom petticoat featured

the solution

'Women hold up half the sky' ~Chinese saying

A recent New York Times magazine dedicates nearly every spread to the crucial and 'seminal moral challenge of our time.' Carefully detailed here and here. And captured in a book by Pulitzer Prize winner authors Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, called 'Half the Sky - Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'. This powerful call to action surely merits our attention as the authors suggest 'The oppression of women worldwide is the human rights cause of our time. And their liberation could help solve many of the world's problems, from poverty to child mortality to terrorism...'The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren't the problem; they're the solution.'

The numbers, from 08.23.09 edition of The New York Times Magazine:

100 Million women and girls are missing around the world
because of gender discrimination

2100 women die in childbirth for every 100,000 live births
in Sierra Leone

5000 women die a year in honor killings, the majority in the Muslim world,
according to U.N. estimates

1 percent of the world's landowners are women

21 percent of young women surveyed in Ghana reported that their
sexual initiation was by rape

130 Million women around the world have been subjected to genital cutting

39,000 baby girls died annually in China because parents didn't give
the same medical care

1 bride is burned almost every two hours in India - punishment for
an inadequate dowry or to make way for another wife

Please take a moment to investigate and consider this monumental issue. And, yes there are ways to help from across the globe via impossibly different circumstance.

understated

The 'statement' necklace for me says, timeless simplicity, delicate form, natural materials and well...understated. The bauble that tempts a closer look, a light stroke of the fingertip, a feminine drape and dangle, with a slightly raw handmade appeal. I've fallen in love with the work of lauren haupt who embodies these elements in her sculptural wares. Her interview here, speaks of 'creating art as a free pass to express herself' and by doing so she 'can share these little tangible expressions with others'. Beautifully said. Lauren's process is always informed by the world that surrounds her, and her hands rather than head, lead the way in creating, a fluid 'happening'. Her forms echo the process as ascending wings, droplets of rain and feathering leaves are captured in metals and wood. Understated with loads to say, her pieces wear well for all occasions and enhance the most dreamy of décolleté.

waste-not wares

Lovingly made of our organic and vintage scraps. Festive garland, approx 12 feet in length, stitched in red on cotton twill ribbon. Petit mouton, simple forms made of snuggly soft sherpa for all ages. The same warm sherpa drapes and bundles into lettuce-edged, contrast-stitched blankets. And mangle cloth satchels gently remind us to 'gather' found treasures, in small drawstring pouches or larger over the shoulder market style bags.

Happy weekend. And kindest thanks to Pia for featuring my autumn collection. Your space is a dream and I'm thrilled to be mentioned.

back to school, sweet!

A week-long flurry of photoshoots and faculty follow-up. I'm eager to share the new Autumn additions to periwinklebloom (very soon!). The shoot was a hoot albeit exhausting, wrangling six small tots with big personalities. A warm thanks to my patient parents, to my ever-talented dear friend, Greg and to Andy for sharing his story-filled space.

Back to the books, a lovely illustrator discovered this summer here. Melissa Sweet brings tall tales to life in stained hues and whimsical characters. Her unique use of type and texture, layers and line quality offer delightful reading for parents and kiddos alike. A vast collection of beginner and back-to-school books here as well (scroll her book of the week list, wow). Enjoy!

Farewell, lazy mornings of milk and tea. Farewell, summer sun and sleepy starts. Periwinklebloom is on hiatus briefly, photographing Autumn wares and welcoming the school year. Please do visit soon.

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worries
You belong somewhere you feel free
~Tom Petty, Wildflowers

persevere

This time of year I tend to reflect, to linger between change, to ponder. The exchange of swimsuits for backpacks, sundresses for scarves, nostalgic and invigorating, eager to turn new leaves. A few timely topics I've recently crossed are here and here.

The conversations are ones I have with myself regularly and I thank dear Lotta of inleaf design for mulling it over outloud. 'To blog or not to blog' seems to ebb and flow throughout many of my favorite spaces. It seems if we post on our passions some will surely follow. A form of therapy, a form of business, a collective space that draws in common interests. I am grateful so many of you have opened your worlds so that I may open mine.

The second post is near and dear to my inner battle as designer and business owner. The incredibly talented, Martha of Uniform Studio, offers a dialogue regarding children's clothing that certainly resonates and explains the delicate balance of costing goods. Again, a common discussion by those who create and I'm glad to see that most are compelled to design and persevere.

Enjoy the reads and the comfort in common questioning. Kind thanks to Pia for spotlighting periwinklebloom. Your space is a dream and I appreciate the encouragement.

Waste-not wares in the shop next week along with new Autumn/Winter garments. pictured: snuggly-soft organic sherpa sheep lovingly made of scraps.

two

Two articles to share of profoundly impressive women. One, a girl actually and victim, who is finding her voice amidst a culture of oppressive silence. Against the odds to say the least, Assiya Rafiq is confronting the prevalent violence toward women in Pakistan via horrific personal experience. She is lifting the veil so to speak and exhaustively exposing injustice. mercycorps.org

A more passive injustice plays out daily in third world living where children lose their mothers at an astonishing rate. Thus continues the gross lack of value placed on womens' well-being. Christy Turlington, former model and designer, is tackling grad school and using her brains and beauty to promote awareness of maternal mortality through documentary film. The stats are staggering as I have posted before. Simple procedures and simple efforts can support desperately needed change.

If you have a moment, please hear these two.

old yarns made new

My kindred spirit...this lovely atelier and 'purveyor of fine home wares', reclaims vintage threads for modern living. A poetic blend of history and function, romance and utility, Kristina of oldyarns, weaves new life into found textiles. Her treasures, gathered worldwide, are gently mended and embellished to adorn your home. The styling offers timeless and natural accents, pure comfort and perfect simplicity. And do see her journal of musings and inspiration, rustic and beautiful imagery and everyday living down under. She'll also be featured in the thoughtfully curated market, poppytalk handmade 'home sweet home', beginning this week! A kind reminder to support independent studios and to breathe new life into old.

To those of you in town, do check out this important and tasty soiree supporting 'Parents as Teachers'.

summer sale in the shop just got sweeter

lazy days of summer

Periwinklebloom is happy to offer our newest bloomers, created with care in a small edition of reclaimed vintage mangle cloths, handsewn in the US. Softly washed with age, these flouncy blooms gently tie at the waist and perfectly capture lazy days ahead. Simple, kind and lovely little ‘hand-me-downs’. More cozy organic wares on sale in the shop.

jess' girls

Delightful dolls handmade by Jess Brown. Reminiscent of vintage rag dolls but absolutely exquisite, draped in reclaimed tapestry, silk and cashmere remnants. Carefully brought to life with each stitch and tea-stained tone, dolls to be treasured and well worth handing down. A recent write-up in the very clever 'small magazine' shares her collaboration with the ever-enchanting 'wovenplay'. A whimsical blend of lush textiles into prima ballerinas celebrating natural processes, vintage style and loads of imagination. An addition to my wish-list for sure, Jess' girls exude endless charm and beg us back into childhood.

click to enlarge the lovely details. periwinklebloom remnants soon to adorn a few of her creations. i'm thrilled!