click here for a special something that is sure to make you smile...;)
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Moth: Stories Told
I like to listen to things while I work. Lately it has been mostly the news from NPR. I guess because it's what I'm supposed to be listening to...because it's important to know what goes on in the world outside of Moop studios. But, I often tire of listening to the news or simply can't listen or just don't want to. My youngest brother is a Marine. Two weeks ago he deployed to Afghanistan. Soooo, right now I particularly don't like to listen to the news. In my search for something else to listen to, I discovered The Moth: Stories Told. It's a great form of escapism. Here are two of my favorites so far...one by Joan Juliet Buck and one by Mike Birbiglia...both will make you laugh.
You can also download many of the Moth podcasts for free on iTunes.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Letter Bag is new again!
I have been so anxious to get this into the shop. We have been working on this evolution of The Letter Bag for quite.some.time (almost since the first Letter Bag was released back in May!). We knew this bag was great, but we knew it could be even better with the addition of an adjustable strap. This is no simple thing to add, though. With a bag this size, we knew we needed to have a very specific piece of hardware to withstand the weight of everything you might put inside (like computers). So we custom ordered a set of d-rings that are welded and finished exactly how we want them.
This was a new process for us. We learned that it takes a loooong time to custom order hardware and you have to order it in very large quantities. But it was a great experience, our hardware suppliers are fantastic and helped us every step of the way (even though we are likely one of their tiniest companies to work with). An added bonus is this hardware will now be used on all of our bags with removable straps...so, all of our bags just got a bit better - yay!
Now, how to order...We have the gunmetal and the black in the shop and will be adding the option to the rosewood quite soon. You will be given the option of ordering with the strap or without the strap..but all of the new Letter Bags will be made with the d-rings so you can add a strap later if you don't want to order it right away. You can find the gunmetal here and the black here. I hope you love it as much as I do!
p.s. you can also find them in our Supermarket shop, here and here.
and our Etsy shop, here and here.
xoxoxo
w.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloweeeeen!
Parker carved her Halloween pumpkin. Jack o lanterns are like kids drawings...they're all super duper cute.
Have fun this weekend!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
heart shaped bananas
I saw this idea for heart shaped bananas last week on Poppytalk...it was posted by Sauna and Stephen of Somethings Hiding in Here -I thought it was completely charming (as they seem to be, eh?). I took their idea and tossed them on top of Parker's toaster waffles this morning...they really classed up breakfast! It was super easy. I didn't have time to photograph it so I stole this image from their website. But, you too can dress up your eggos in a jif...here's how Stephen says to do it:
simply carve a notch down the entire banana, then slice up the heart shapes onto pancakes, ice cream, or any of your favorite treats.
Monday, October 26, 2009
A few new bags
We just added a few new colors to the shop. The first (and one I think you'll be excited about) is a new color in the Market Bag! It's been a long time since we added to the Market Bag Collection and are super excited to show you the newest addition:
The Market Bag in brown corded canvas lined in 100% organic golden yellow cotton. This is one of my most favorite color pairings. I would love to know what you think of it.
We love this new brown corded canvas so much we decided to add it to the Messenger Bag collection as well. Corded canvas is the ideal material. It is durable, has texture, is slightly distressed, breaks in like your favorite jeans and pairs perfectly with all of our designs. Here, we combined it with matte black cordura (which is water proof and durable). Our good friend Owen just took this on a trip to Ireland...we'll let you know what he thinks of it for world traveling when he returns.
We also added a messenger in rosewood corded canvas. We made one at the request of a customer and liked it so much, we felt it needed to be in the shop. Why not punch things up a bit with the perfect red bag this winter? A little color is the best way to ward off the winter blues (though, we like blue, too!)
The Market Bag in brown corded canvas lined in 100% organic golden yellow cotton. This is one of my most favorite color pairings. I would love to know what you think of it.
We love this new brown corded canvas so much we decided to add it to the Messenger Bag collection as well. Corded canvas is the ideal material. It is durable, has texture, is slightly distressed, breaks in like your favorite jeans and pairs perfectly with all of our designs. Here, we combined it with matte black cordura (which is water proof and durable). Our good friend Owen just took this on a trip to Ireland...we'll let you know what he thinks of it for world traveling when he returns.
We also added a messenger in rosewood corded canvas. We made one at the request of a customer and liked it so much, we felt it needed to be in the shop. Why not punch things up a bit with the perfect red bag this winter? A little color is the best way to ward off the winter blues (though, we like blue, too!)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Hello Hello
The last few weeks have been so nuts. A few traumatic events coupled with many business and personal obligations have made it high stress and very very busy around here. We are looking forward to having a few days off some time in the future (we're aiming for Thanksgiving). In the meantime, we're sewing and sewing to get caught up on all of our orders (we're almost there!!) and we want to thank all of our wonderful wonderful customers who have been so patient with us - you're truly the best!
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Wendy & Jeremy
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Wendy & Jeremy
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Local Motion by The PGH City Paper
This Thursday night you will find us at The Kelly Strayhorn Theatre for the 5th annual Local Motion benefit fashion show organized by the Pittsburgh City Paper. The event highlights some of the best local designers and shops. We are very excited to be involved and looking forward to meeting more of the Pittsburgh community. Here are the details:
Local Motion
October 22, 2009, 7 pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theatre (5941 Penn Ave in East Liberty)
Event includes cocktails, trunk show, runway show, sweets and an after party
You can see our bags in person and we will be taking orders.
Buy your tickets here
It promises to be a fun time (plus, the after party is at The Shadow Lounge, a place I've been wanting to check out and there's going to be a burlesque show.....so racy!).
Monday, October 12, 2009
I need the parenting wand
Last Thursday, Parker and I were working in the studio. Jeremy had just left town for a project he's been working on with a group of Dutch artists. Things were going fine. I was sewing, Parker was doing homework....everything was good.
As many of you know, we are renovating the building the studio is located in. When we moved in, the building was in need of repair due to some water damage. We had to replace the floors, repair some walls, paint, etc...but, the bigger issue was in the basement. The basement is a stone foundation which had been insulated with a vapor barrier, dry-walled and fitted with lovely drop ceilings (why do people do this!!!). Several months before we moved in, a pipe burst on the main floor, ran for several days, flooded the main floor and the basement - nothing was really done to take care of the damage that had been done and the water sat there for months. This meant the basement molded - in a way I have never ever seen before. It was covered, floor to ceiling in black mold...literally, the walls were black, the floors were black...it was horrible. To make things worse - the only usable bathroom was in the basement. So, one of the first things we did was seal off the basement from the first floor so we could safely work in there (we have since gutted the whole basement). The air quality was so bad - everyday we went home with headaches and Jeremy developed some respiratory issues. To remedy the situation, Jeremy tore out the basement bathroom, salvaged the sink and toilet and replaced the bathroom in the second floor apartment (which will soon be turned into an office). In order to use this bathroom, we go outside, up the back stairs and into the second floor. The back stairs are just old deck type stairs that raise up above a dead end alleyway type space between our building and the building next door. This space is pretty big and very dark...it's about 30 feet deep, 5 feet wide and 12 feet high. We have been talking about closing it off and turning it into outside storage since we moved in. There have just been so many other things that needed to take precedence that we never got around to it.
So, last Thursday, while Parker and I were at the studio, she went up to the bathroom, returned and went back to homework. About 30 minutes later, I did the same. Only, when I opened the back door to go upstairs, I walked into a police raid on our backyard. I was met by about 10 police officers who had just arrested one man. (Parker witnessed all of this) It turns out, this one guy mugged someone about an hour earlier right up the block from our building and had been hiding under our back stairs for that whole time - during the same period of time that Parker had gone outside and upstairs by herself. I spent about 15 minutes with the police trying to get the details about what had happened only to find out this guy has been coming to that space under our stairs to get high on a regular basis (I'm pretty certain he's not smoking pot). I have been completely trapped with thoughts of "what could have happened" for the last three days. While, thankfully, neither of us were physically hurt, our sense of security has been completely compromised. Parker especially.
Jeremy came home early and we tried to asses what we could do to make our building and back yard a place that would not be conducive to intruders - for starters, closing off the dark alley and following through to a more thorough security system. It's all very unsettling. In many ways I feel like it was a wake up call for us to be more careful. The reality is, the neighborhood of our studio is in the city and while I do not think it is dangerous...we can't be naive... things do happen and we must take precautions to protect our business and family. We can find solutions to this, but the harder part is working through an invasion of personal safety with an 11 year old. She has been like velcro to me since this happened. Afraid to go to bed at night, scared at the slightest noise...I'm not sure what to do except show her we are taking preventative measures. But the reality is, she is only 11 and her 11 year old imagination has taken over...she does not feel safe. This is one of those moments when I wish there were a magic parenting wand that would just make everything better. If you know where I can find one...let me know. In the meantime, we're doing our best to try and work through things.
As many of you know, we are renovating the building the studio is located in. When we moved in, the building was in need of repair due to some water damage. We had to replace the floors, repair some walls, paint, etc...but, the bigger issue was in the basement. The basement is a stone foundation which had been insulated with a vapor barrier, dry-walled and fitted with lovely drop ceilings (why do people do this!!!). Several months before we moved in, a pipe burst on the main floor, ran for several days, flooded the main floor and the basement - nothing was really done to take care of the damage that had been done and the water sat there for months. This meant the basement molded - in a way I have never ever seen before. It was covered, floor to ceiling in black mold...literally, the walls were black, the floors were black...it was horrible. To make things worse - the only usable bathroom was in the basement. So, one of the first things we did was seal off the basement from the first floor so we could safely work in there (we have since gutted the whole basement). The air quality was so bad - everyday we went home with headaches and Jeremy developed some respiratory issues. To remedy the situation, Jeremy tore out the basement bathroom, salvaged the sink and toilet and replaced the bathroom in the second floor apartment (which will soon be turned into an office). In order to use this bathroom, we go outside, up the back stairs and into the second floor. The back stairs are just old deck type stairs that raise up above a dead end alleyway type space between our building and the building next door. This space is pretty big and very dark...it's about 30 feet deep, 5 feet wide and 12 feet high. We have been talking about closing it off and turning it into outside storage since we moved in. There have just been so many other things that needed to take precedence that we never got around to it.
So, last Thursday, while Parker and I were at the studio, she went up to the bathroom, returned and went back to homework. About 30 minutes later, I did the same. Only, when I opened the back door to go upstairs, I walked into a police raid on our backyard. I was met by about 10 police officers who had just arrested one man. (Parker witnessed all of this) It turns out, this one guy mugged someone about an hour earlier right up the block from our building and had been hiding under our back stairs for that whole time - during the same period of time that Parker had gone outside and upstairs by herself. I spent about 15 minutes with the police trying to get the details about what had happened only to find out this guy has been coming to that space under our stairs to get high on a regular basis (I'm pretty certain he's not smoking pot). I have been completely trapped with thoughts of "what could have happened" for the last three days. While, thankfully, neither of us were physically hurt, our sense of security has been completely compromised. Parker especially.
Jeremy came home early and we tried to asses what we could do to make our building and back yard a place that would not be conducive to intruders - for starters, closing off the dark alley and following through to a more thorough security system. It's all very unsettling. In many ways I feel like it was a wake up call for us to be more careful. The reality is, the neighborhood of our studio is in the city and while I do not think it is dangerous...we can't be naive... things do happen and we must take precautions to protect our business and family. We can find solutions to this, but the harder part is working through an invasion of personal safety with an 11 year old. She has been like velcro to me since this happened. Afraid to go to bed at night, scared at the slightest noise...I'm not sure what to do except show her we are taking preventative measures. But the reality is, she is only 11 and her 11 year old imagination has taken over...she does not feel safe. This is one of those moments when I wish there were a magic parenting wand that would just make everything better. If you know where I can find one...let me know. In the meantime, we're doing our best to try and work through things.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Real Hulk Hogan
Just trying to help you in your search for the perfect Halloween Costume. Made by the (clearly) talented Thrills from Brooklyn. You could buy this in her Etsy shop. Genius, if you ask me.
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