all things girls can tell

special project: rowhouse pint glasses

each year, my neighborhood organizes a beer tour - it's basically a series of open houses where each house offers a different local, seasonal craft beer, along with oktoberfest themed foods + snacks. it's great fun, especially if you're like me + getting to peek into other people's houses + craft beer are two of your all time favorite things.

the planning commitee this year asked me to do an illustration for the pint glasses for the event. they mentioned that they had a drawing of a rowhouse in mind, since every house in our neighborhood is some derivation of pretty much the same model of traditional rowhouse. it was quite a bit of fun drawing out all the rooms + furnishings, which i think shows in all the little details in the illustration. i heard they weren't expecting a front / back section through all the rooms, but everyone seemed to love the drawing. yay!

halfway to summer

(planting + potting this spring)

it's hard to believe spring is half gone - we're well on our way to summer. yesterday afternoon, i finished up my print list a bit early + ran home, excited to tackle the table full of plants i'd gathered with my mom at their local nursery on sunday. after much deliberation, i settled on lots of herbs (basil, dill + thyme for my yard, cilantro, oregano, chives + a few others for cute erik's), romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, miniature hanging petunias, verbena + sweet potato vine.

(the yard last summer - progress!)

i couldn't be more excited about finishing up the yard this month. despite the tiny-ness of it (the entire yard of my 100+ year old rowhome in newbold measures a mere 14 x 7 feet), it's taken a few years to completely refinish each surface. considering i started with a big overgrown stump that had swallowed a cement curb + an old, rusted box spring (below) for a north fence, getting to this point was no small task. over the past few years, i upgraded removed the culprit stump and put in red brick on the ground + replaced the box spring with a proper shadowbox fence (above). this year, i'll finish the block wall (above) + replace the dilapadated south fence (you don't want to see a photo of what's there now, trust me) with more shadowbox.

(the yard in 2006)

 

 

less three sixty five

so, i'm going to cave and try to challenge myself to the less 365 phenomenon thing that's been circulating the webz lately (kelly actually blogged about this same thing a few weeks ago, because she's cooler than me). the idea is pretty simple: you pick one thing you don't need each day for a year and recycle, donate, give away or dispose of whatever that thing is. generally, i'm pretty good at cleaning things out and decluttering on a pretty regular basis (the show hoarders is pretty much my worst nightmare), so i think this might actually be kind of challenging, but the idea of having a few less hundred things by the end of the year is very appealing. i'm starting today, september 1, 2010, so this should take me up until the same time next year, if all goes well. rather than catalog whatever it is i'm getting rid of each day (i'm not ready to commit to that kind of pressure! sometimes i don't want to upload a photo to the internet!) i'm going to post once a week (probably on flickr) the 7 things i'm getting rid of.

i haven't decided yet if i'm taking on this challenge for just my house, for my studio , maybe a little of both or both at the same time. i guess i'll play that part by ear. in any case, here's my first set of discards: a green clock that mysterious stopped working when i hung it in my kitchen, a pair of shoes that just don't feel right, a skirt that is way too big now (yay!), sunglasses i got for $1 at h+m that hurt my face when i wear them, a wallet i haven't used in about 5 years and two purses that just don't feel like me.

and yes, i do think it's weird to photograph what you've decided is no longer (or never was) vital to your life and document it for everyone to see. but i put lots of weird stuff about myself out and about here on the internets, so i guess it's not weird at all, relatively speaking. i'm also really hoping that, in addition to decluttering myself, this practice also makes me more mindful of what i'm accumulating during this year. ridding myself of 7 items a week should probably make me really think twice about how i'll use the things i'm buying for the next 51 weeks.

thursday felt finds

probably as a combination of the simple facts that a) i was traveling back from my sister's wedding all day monday and b) weeks that culminate in a craft show happening on the weekend always fly by, this week has just gone by so unbelievably fast. but i wanted to take a hot second (literally, since it's kind of unbearably muggy, humid and just plain hot here in philly) to share some of the things i've been just plain crushing on this week. most of it, i'll warn you, is felt related. because i just love felt. mmm. felt.

for starters, i've been more than a little obsessed with hats lately. and while it's entirely the wrong season for this particular hat here now, i'd be tickled pink to wear this felt hat from claudia schulz in fall. or winter. or spring. or whatever, i'd probably be silly enough to try it out now. she also has about a dozen other amazingly cute styles, as well. so fun.

claudia schulz, $198

so, for years i had clocks hanging in the perfect spot in my kitchen. at one point, the first clock i had there seemingly leapt to its untimely (chuckle, chuckle) death as i found it mysteriously lying in pieces on the floor after i came home one afternoon. and my dog, janie, claims to know nothing about it. so i bought another clock to hang in its place. it stayed put until i moved out for a brief spell (to live a block away) for a year. when i moved back into my house, i rehung my clock there, since i'd always thought it was a great place for a clock. but for some reason, three clocks that i've tried there have all repeatedly kept stopping in the same spot. it's the oddest thing, and so now awesome clocks always taunt me, since i want them, but am afraid to hang them in this cursed location. i'm still tempted by this felt clock from cake, though.

   

whitney clock by cake, $45

even though my deceptively hairy dog would totally fuzzy it up in a matter of minutes, i'm completely smitten with this circle felt rug from moufelt. at this point, i wish i could have any rug (though choosing puppy over rug is probably a much more fun, cuddly decision), but this clean, super geometric rug would totally be atop my area-carpet wishlist. 

circles wool felt rug, $575

these little potted planters are probably one of the few felt items i've found in all my years of searching felt goodies that seem quite so bright, summery and just superlight. i've been coveting them for a while, but they're just gorgeous little pots from california based papaver vert. so pretty. 

papaver vert, $54

and we should probably all get back to work now, yes?

super news! exciting upcoming events

 

lots of things have been brewing here at girls can tell world headquarters lately. on the events front, some big things are coming up and coming up quickly!

i mentioned a few weeks ago (eek!) that craft show season is sneaking up on us, and i couldn't be more excited to announce two new shows that have been added to the GCT schedule: renegade san francisco (the first official girls can tell west coast event! woot!) and the buyer's market for american craft in baltimore!

as always, you can check out the events page at girlscantell.com for a full run down of upcoming good stuff. see you soon! xo!

moving day is near!

 

hello, bloggity friends! thanks so much for your patience - i know i've been posting somewhat sporatically lately, and for that, i apologize. hopefully things will be back to normal some time next week. to keep you all in the loop, as you may know, i've been remodeling the tiny bathroom in my house (almost done! so close!) and now that the project is finally nearing an end, tomorrow i'll be moving back into my little house. yay!

long time readers (well, hello, there!) might recognize my little house from photos (of which there are lots!). my orange living room (in an older photo, above, and i swear i didn't intentionally paint it etsy orange) will probably once again make an appearance here, time and again. what i'm so very excited about is blogging my re-adventures in decorating the great little spaces of my home! i'll be sure to show you all the new and exciting decorating i do (and, of course, all the great little nooks i've always loved).

i figure it's only appropriate for a lady as obsessive about housewares as i am to give you a little sneak peek into my own little place from time to time. so wish me some (much needed! we still have lots of snow!) luck on my move tomorrow!

drexel school farewell party

 

at the end of the block, south of my house, has stood this stately, decrepit, old school building. you can see its gorgeous arched brick openings with its dignified keystones from my backyard (here's a photo i took the summer before i moved in looking down the alley from my yard toward the school). as years have gone by, i knew that the likelihood of the school being salvaged and made into something amazing (the type of potential you're trained to see in such lovely bones of buildings in architecture school) was decreasing by the day.

as beautiful a relic as it is, it began to cross the line from lovely and abandoned to ominous and threatening over the past months. trees rooted themselves at the roofline, their roots weaving their way down the brick facade, causing a hazard to pedestrians and cars on the street. the fenced off areas of sidewalks attracted the grossest types of litter. it became an unfortunate eyesore at street level.

finally, the city put up demolition notices. our neighborhood association scrambled to arrange a meeting with L&I and our city council representative to learn what the impact would be on us and our houses during the project. so, we're now a week into what we're told will be a 5-6 demolition. i'm posting photos of the demolition (as i happen to walk by) in this flickr set.

dressing my new bathroom

you may recall that i mentioned just a few short weeks ago that i was completely renovating the (tiny) bathroom in my little house. i'm really excited about the progress we've made, but now i need your help!

i've done all the big decision making by now - picked the tile, the fixtures, tweaked the layout and everything's falling nicely into place. so now comes the fun part - picking the accessories! i need a shower curtain and a pretty (little) bath mat / rug to make it feel nice.

so far, i really like the following curtains and things, but i'd love, love, love to see what you've been drooling over! i'm positive i'm missing something really wonderful (ideally in the less than $100 range...) so link away in the comments! so you know what you're working with, the tile i chose is primarily white (forgive me for being dull -  think of it as a lovely new canvas), with really classic patterns (overall, i'd describe it as neutral retro... does that make sense?) a pop of color would be nice, but i'm not opposed to staying nice and light and just playing with texture, either...

 
from urban outfitters 

from india rose

from sprout home

what can you find that's more exciting?
(ps. in case you've never checked, the selection of shower curtains on etsy is pretty dismal. almost in an entertaining way, i guess...)

super small bathroom

i've always hated the bathroom in my little house, and it recently dawned on me that this month would be the ideal time to completely gut the little space and start over. it would be impossible to renovate it while the house was occupied since i only have one tiny bathroom in my house, but this month the house can be empty.

 

to say my bathroom is about 5' x 6' would be a generous description. it's tiny. and the weirdo who worked on my house before i bought it actually thought it wise to build a wall into the middle of the space (that's it above, after a little demolition), partially obscuring the (small) window. genius!

so, after a little convincing, last weekend, my dad came out to help me clear out the existing (so small it was practically a joke) tub, super cheap looking vanity, that infamous wall and all the supremely ugly tile. now the room's a rather refreshing clean slate (well, maybe not so much clean as empty) and the fun part is here - selecting the new finishes and hardware!

which leads me to the inspiration for this post, really (my goal wasn't simply to tell you about the work my dad and i did saturday) - googling for "small bathroom" inspiration or design ideas? totally amusing. i can't actually figure out what these people would consider a "normal size" or "large" bathroom. so, enjoy some of the "small bathroom" photos below, and take a minute to think about these underprivileged homeowners that have to deal with these unfortunately tiny washrooms. awwww.

 
(this one might actually be bigger than my eat-in kitchen)

(hello, gorgeous bathroom which is easily twice the size of my bathroom.)

(who hangs decorative plates in their bathroom. kitchen or dining room? sure. bathroom? odd.)

i can't wait to show you what i decide!

floods, diagrams, and features - best (and worst) week ever

this has been an incredible week so far - it's beer week here in philly, and being the giant craft beer nerds that we are, cute erik took today and tomorrow off of work. which would have been as nice and relaxing as it sounds, except that right after i finished making scones for breakfast this morning (i have the best scone recipe ever, passed down from my great-great-grandmother in scotland. so good.) we discovered a good 2-3 inches of water in the basement. right now, the basement is the current home of girlscantell (more on that below), so it was a nerve wracking morning, getting a pump set up and drying off so much stuff and hoping for the best.

the good news is that the damage was minimal, and the better news is that the lovely folks at apartment therapy san francisco highlighted my work today in this lovely write up, really brightening up a pretty crummy start to my day. if you have a moment, take a peek at the post!

the best news is that girlscantell (that's me!) will soon have a brand new, real, super fun, clean and lovely studio space! my friend, kate, and i will soon be occupying a big, bright, amazing workspace on the fourth floor of the vox populi building in chinatown (those are our windows, above). i can't wait to have lots of room for making (and storing) girlscantell goodies, and to have the company of one of a whip smart, super creative studio mate all day. yay!

so, the sad news is that the diagram of the week will probably be postponed for another day or so while we collect things and put the temporary basement workspace back in order. but i'll warn you - this week's diagram is so phenomenally awesome, you definitely want to pop back in a day or so to check it out. or you can sign up for the girlscantell email list and not only get a first glimpse at the new design, but also a special handy dandy discount code for it. awwwww yeah.