golden brown

There has been a bit of a golden brown theme showing up in my photos the last few days.

We got a few candid photographs of the rucksack in use. I know it helps to see a bag actually being worn, for a sense of scale and proportion.

This rucksack pictured is a sample I have kept for myself. The straps in the final version are positioned slightly closer at the top for a better fit, but I love this pack. It’s comfortable and highly useful and holds as much as I need for daytime outings. I have carried as much as 14 pounds of books in it and periodically pack that around for lengths of time to test comfort and strength. More weight than I advise carrying around all the time, but it handles it well and I have stayed considerably comfortable.

I hope everyone’s enjoying the weekend. We ran errands today and the weather was so mild I wore sandals. A huge treat for this girl. I love bare feet! I found some gems at the thrift – a beautiful wool blanket, a vintage world globe, a length of suede leather and a really nice handmade plaid wool button front – oh my, and a pair of awesome chairs! They might have been the most exciting find. I plan to recover them with leather. When I manage to get around to that project, I’ll be sure to post a photo or 2. My furniture projects are piling up!

Time for a glass of wine and a full night of work ahead.

See you soon xo

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catch and release

Just a quick update on the squirrelly business from the other day. She found her offering of seeds and we found her in the trap. We brought her 5 miles or so down the road and released her into a national forest picnic area. When she finally figured out how to push the unlocked door open, she paused and looked at us, then bounded across the grass. She stopped for one last moment on the edge of the woods, looked at us one last time, and then she was off! So all is well in the world of squirrels, and we humans can stop worrying about all that chewing.

I hope she likes the new ‘hood. It’s a peaceful forested area with plenty of water and natural places to live.

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on safari

Do any of you use Kaboodle? I had never really heard of this shopping site, until yesterday. I got an email from Mary of etsy admin, letting me know the Rucksack in Cinnamon Brown was chosen for part of a special feature – all about Safari. Thanks Mary! Who knew Safari style was the next hot thing??

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chasing squirrels

This morning we woke up to the most incredible sunny day with summertime temps and warm gentle breezes. After answering all my emails and listing the new Rucksack, I threw on my tee and shorts and was really looking forward to sipping my coffee in the sun before getting up to work. But! the day’s events would have it otherwise, and instead! we spent the morning chasing a squirrel around the garage. Yes, really!

This little guy has been setting up a nest in the roof of our utility room for a few days (very noisy!). We have been thinking about how to deal with this. Today we finally spotted it coming down from the roof onto the deck. We chased it all around trying to scare it off from entering again, but my gosh those guys are persistent. A short time later, I spotted it in the garage. Since it seemed it’s only way in or out was through the door it walked through, we decided to try to catch it in a cardboard box. We closed the door it entered, and the adventure began. Oh my. We spent far too long devising countless crazy strategies for capture and boy some of them were close! I wish I could have been an objective onlooker because this must have been a hilarious scene. We are much too big and clumsy compared to such swift and agile creatures. I ALMOST caught it a couple of times, but we finally gave up so as not to traumatize it completely. We hope to have a live trap here tomorrow and we will try to catch it then, take it somewhere a few miles away and release it. I’ll let you know how we do. And if anyone has any tips on catching squirrels, by all means do share! Next we need to seal our roof.

 

Well, giveaway entrants, I know you are waiting! While drawing from the hat is always more fun and has a little more magic, I used the random number generator this time…

The giveaway winner is comment number 27. Congratulations Francesca!!

Thank you everyone for all your amazing comments. They really went straight to my heart, and I was happy to learn more about what you all like and appreciate. And don’t worry, there will be more great giveaways this year! I wish I could send every one of you a gift.

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coming soon

… the Rucksack in Hemp and Dark Olive.

I’ve got a new hemp in, sourced specifically for the purpose of rucksacks, and it’s even more beautiful than I’d hoped. Feels and looks like the most amazing thick, heavy linen – but of course it’s hemp! Mmm, and the smell. I love the smell of hemp. Sort of sweet, grassy, clean. There will be a reappearance of more hemp items in the shop this year. In the earlier days of infusion, hemp was more of a focus, and I want to bring that back.

I have photographed the 2-tone version shown here, and I plan to make one up in pure hemp as well (oh and there are even more rucksack options coming too). It might be a little while , so I am open to requests in the meantime. It’s been pretty darn busy in these parts. A huge thank you to everyone who has placed an order recently!

Be back soon. xo

 

 

P.S. The giveaway closes tomorrow night, so if you’d like to enter make sure to get on over there.

 

 

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light lines

Signs of the change in the light are everywhere these days. My body notices this so much and I love the changes it brings, for myself and for all the life around me.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about melatonin, and kids on computers, and life indoors… and he was sharing that just 15 minutes of sunlight each day brings better sleep and a better flow of all the bodies systems. We have had a very dark and wet winter here. Unusually so. While I don’t suffer from seasonal depression, and don’t mind clouds and rain, my body responds so incredibly to a day of sunlight after so much darkness. And it seems the whole town comes alive! We are, in many ways, no different than a fern frond or blade of grass. The life force of the sun is so incredible, so nourishing.

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head first

Amazingly, we rarely ever have birds hitting the windows here. There is a whole wall of windows on the back of our house and many many birds live around here, which are very active throughout the day. Fortunately, they manage to navigate around them most of the time. However, a couple days ago when a large group of Pine Siskin were here, one of them slammed into a window at full speed. I hate this! It is almost painful to me, and I am not the one who slammed my head into a window.

It fell straight to the deck, belly up, and laid there completely still, aside from the movement of it’s panting. I was worried it wouldn’t make it and I crouched in the window, just a few feet from it, watching closely. It felt like a half hour went by, though I’m not really sure.

We tried to get it’s life force moving and remove any blocks in the head and neck area, and I was trying to sense if it was damaged beyond repair, when I realized it was probably knocked out cold. Dang, I know I would be!

It wasn’t long later that one eye popped open. It looked around for a few minutes. What it must have been thinking….

And finally, it flipped itself around and hopped onto it’s feet! So exciting : )

It sat there looking all around for another few minutes, gaining it’s bearings and then – probably realizing it was being watched by 2 giant humans – flew off into a tree across the yard.

Moral of the story is, make sure to always sense ahead before going forward!

 

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a giveaway!

Every now and then I like to try to express my appreciation for all the support there has been for infusion. infusion is a way of life for me, and to be able to support myself with my work is so dang awesome! I am really so grateful every day. I work super hard, often with long days and very late nights, but I have never been happier with my job, than I am at this point in my life.

As a gesture of thanks, I’d like to offer a chance to win a 2-Tone Tone in natural hemp and dark olive canvas. Please leave a comment below by midnight on Tuesday January 24. Though not required,  I’d love to hear where you have seen infusion out on the world wide web, where you first found or heard about infusion, what’s your favorite design, or what you’d like to see appearing in the shop… or a little something about all of those, if you wish! One winner will be chosen at random next week.

Thank you!!

xo

 

P.S. Be sure to enter your email address into the comment form. It will not be visible to anyone but me, and it will allow me to contact you if you win!

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sideways buckets

around the studio

 

Hi there! A quick hello. I hope you’re enjoying the weekend. It’s pouring sideways buckets, with flood warnings out on the coast here. There are crazy amounts of water falling from the sky! Makes me feel extra grateful to have a home that is dry and warm and safe (and on high enough ground not to float away).

There will be a giveaway on Tuesday, here on the blog. I think you are going to like it, so if not sooner, I will see you then!

Now time to get some coffee and head upstairs to work. See you soon… xo

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dreamscape

No matter how many times I enter the dunes, I feel overwhelmed with the unusual beauty of this landscape. Like being on the moon, or in a rare dreamscape. We ran around and played, explored the many animal tracks, breathed deeply in the cold air, watched the sun set on the ocean and the crescent moon glow in the crisp clear sky. There is comfort in such vastness of nature.

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