I Heart my Bicycle

This morning my boys and I walked out the front door just in time to see their bus pulling away from the stop. We're a one (drivable) car family at the moment, and that one drivable car was already somewhere in Northeast Minneapolis by then. Not cool. But we happen to be having the most amazing fall ever, and it was already in the mid-sixties, so after a lot of complaining about the poor bus driver, we all got our bikes and rode the four miles to their school.

Yes, they were late to school, but it's not possible to stress out while pedaling through sunny neighborhood streets with the leaves falling around you. Generally I'm not a fan of the fall, since it means summer's over and winter's next, but this was a pretty awesome morning. And every time I get on my bike I think the same thought: I love you bike!

I also love my small messenger bag. It's the perfect size for holding what I need--lock, water bottle, sweatshirt, keys and phone, etc--without feeling like I'm towing a VW. Sometimes big is good, like if I'm headed to the grocery store or carrying a package to the P.O. But I like to travel light when it's possible, and this was a perfect morning for it.

Face Cozy + Stag Satchel

Not that long ago my sister had a birthday, and I made her some stuff. My sister is awesome, and I'm really bad at birthdays, so I wanted to make this one totally great. First, I got this crazy thought to embroider her face onto a beer cozy. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but in its idea-form inside of my brain, it really looked rad, so I tried. As it turns out: vacation photo + iron-on transfer pencil + hot pink wool fabric = sweet face cozy. As for the benefits of having your own face on a beer cozy, well, those are pretty much endless.

After I finished that, I kind of wanted to stitch something else. I'd picked up this herringbone wool fabric at a yard sale for like a quarter, and I kept looking at it sitting there on my work table. So the night before cake day, I cut out and quilted the body of a bag, and embroidered the flap with the antler design my sister really liked from my MN Love series.

And then on cake day I made an enormous slab of chocolate cake layered with peanut butter mousse and covered in dark chocolate ganache. Done!

Custom Laptop Bag

Here's a project I finished for a graphic designer in Washington who needed a bag able to hold her laptop, accessories, paperwork, cell phone, wallet...plus anything else the job and day happen demand. This bag has tons of pockets, plus a cushy quilted laptop sleeve sewn in. The adjustable strap is heavy duty polypro webbing which wraps around the bottom of the bag for extra stability and durability. I lined the entire interior of the bag with a fabric that draws from the same color families as her company's identity. I also created a custom screen based on her business logo and hand screenprinted the front flap of the bag. For a vintage-inspired design, I finished the bag with a few touches like the pleating on the front of the bag, and vintage button closure on the flap.

Bicycle-Themed Goodness

(** Simplicity Poster by Nick Dewar)

Bikes are great for many reasons, but being a generally shallow person I choose most of my loves on a looks-first basis. There's something about the aesthetic of a bicycle that I just dig, so when my favorite design blog, Design Sponge, posted a collection of bikes, accessories, and other bicycle-themed glory, I wanted to share the delicious eye candy, this poster being a perfect example of such (I want that). See the rest of it here.

Bike Tracks Custom Cozy

Disclaimer: I know you're thinking all I ever do these days is make cozies. That's just your imagination. They're the easiest to photograph, though I'm actually working on a bunch of other stuff as well. Turns out this is a busy season for both me and my husband/photographer, so I've put any major product shoots on hold for just a bit.

More importantly:

I made this custom cozy today. The project may or may not have involved me painting the front tire of my husband's cross bike with black screenprint ink.

I Survived BTSW

To celebrate making it through the horror that is Back to School Week, I'm having an Etsy tote sale. All totes in my Etsy shop are marked down 20%. Check it out.

Also, we're in Mega-Production Mode here at the R is R headquarters. (That's our official term for making a TON of stuff...BTSW also marks the return of retail season.) Lots of updated designs for the fall in a bunch of awesome fabrics, all destined for local shops. I'll be keeping aside a few choice items for the Etsy shop though, so be sure to check back soon for the newest items available.

MN Love Project

I decided my fall project is going to be a Minnesota series of designs. After this post, I was kind of hooked on quilting wool and flannel, so I'm building a whole series of cozies around the concept of being a Minnesotan. Fall and flannel and beer!

So far I've created two designs, and over the last couple of days have been playing around with mediums. Yesterday I came up with this:

I liked it, but I felt like it was missing something. Like kitsch. So I spent my Saturday morning coming up with this:

And also this:

The Antlers and Radiant MN designs are both embroidered in a chain stitch on repurposed fabrics, which I then sewed to quilted panels of wool, also repurposed, yes. The elastic tabs are adjustable and secure with a velcro closure. (You can read a cozy's list of functions here.)

Here's the set so far:

These two, as well as the first version of the Antler design, are available in my Etsy shop. I'll be posting more sets as they're finished, so check back for more designs and renditions in the series throughout the fall.