I've moved! New blog address.


My new website + blog is emilyneuburger.com.  Please visit me there!

If you have this site bookmarked in a blog reader, you'll want to switch to emilyneuburger.com.

Thanks, and see you in my new space!

xo emily

right now

I'm about to get my groove on  at Mouse's movement class.
Loving the warm sunshine on my cheeks as we walked Chick to school.
Thinking about some new art I've been slowly working on.
Taking photographs of a few vintage goodies I plan to list in my shop.
Sifting through a tin of new old buttons. (more on those later)
Staring at our garden a little too long.
 
 Happy weekend.

xo e

treasured: scarf 02

Each Wednesday I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn't necessarily have to make its way home with me - it just has to be noticed. The idea is for it to cost very little and feel very big. After all, this isn't about acquiring new things; it is about paying better attention to the world around me.


If you discovered a treasure this week (a new friend, a snow fairy, a fancy dish at the thrift store, a bird's nest) please do share it, as well as any links, in the comments section below.

*****
This is the second in the Nanny Ruth scarf series.  This smashing little number is definitely one of my favorites from the collection. I imagine that one of her friends bought it for her at Bloomingdale's in the early 70's.  I especially love the geometric medallion in the center.

It doesn't feel like pure silk, but it definitely is a silk blend of sorts.  The part that isn't silk actually makes it perfect for wearing in my hair because it makes it a bit rough and grippy, so it doesn't slip around.  

The designer is georgio di Sant Angelo, who was a New York textile artist in the late 1960s and 1970s. The internet tells me that he studied with Picasso for six months and had an apprenticeship with Disney before landing in New York where he made plastic jewelry and began his work in textile design. 

Happy Wednesday, you guys.

xo e
 

spring printing


These are little hand carved prints on cereal box squares.

Printing with bright colors onto small cereal box squares is a nice little activity to do with children.  The color pops against the natural, muted color of the box board, and they can use the little squares for game playing and storytelling.

These little squares have me thinking.

xo e 

treasured: scarf 01

Each Wednesday (ahem) I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn't necessarily have to make its way home with me - it just has to be noticed. The idea is for it to cost very little and feel very big. After all, this isn't about acquiring new things; it is about paying better attention to the world around me.


If you discovered a treasure this week (a new friend, a snow fairy, a fancy dish at the thrift store, a bird's nest) please do share it, as well as any links, in the comments section below.

*****

Anyone who sees me on a regular basis knows that I wear a scarf in my hair quite often.  It's one of my things.    I have three favorites, which I tend to rotate through during the year until this past Sunday when my mom gave me a bag full of my Nanny's scarves.  I inherited every single one of her beautiful scarves, and she had so, so many.   My mom told me that people often gave them to her as gifts since she wore them so often.   When she did wear one, she'd tie it around her neck in that classic, but also kind of old timey, way - sometimes with a pin or brooch.


And, so I am going to show you some of my new old scarves in my treasured feature over the next few weeks.  Because I treasure these.  I really, really do.

I can tell this one is 100% silk just by touching it, but it doesn't have a tag or designer listed anywhere.  It is mostly teal green and red and pink.  I remember her wearing this in the springtime.  It is skinny and long, which makes it the perfect shape for a hair scarf. 

I'm a day late with Treasured because it is vacation week.  Enough said, right?

xo
e

Big news


Over the past few weeks, I've been hinting about a super exciting project that I've been working on, and it is finally time for me to share.  It is a project that resonates with every bit of my creative self, and it is so dreamy that, sometimes, it just comes out as a whisper.  A thrilled whisper:  I signed a contract with  Storey Publishing, and my educational craft book will be published next spring (2012)! Eeeep! (that part wasn't a whisper.)  Not only am I to the moon excited about the book, I couldn't be more happy to be working with the ever inspiring peeps at Storey.  They publish incredibly useful, thoughtful, creative books of all kinds.  I've admired their books and publishing style for so long, and it is truly a dream come true for me to work with them.

And, so, I am busy, busy making it a reality.  This has meant long hours in the studio and at my desk.   When I put a full day of work into this project, I am left feeling that it is just what I want to be thinking about and it is exactly what I want my hands and head wrapped around. Simply put,  I feel incredibly lucky.   As I've been writing and designing, I've been sharing portions of the book with my children.  This has become a meaningful, new way to connect with them as they give me their opinions, feedback, and suggestions.  Chick has been writing "how-to" books and slips them on my desk to surprise me.

Thank you, dear readers and friends, for reading, for your continued support, and for your kind words.  They mean the world to me (for real).  Your lovely messages and encouragement truly fuel me, and for that, I am deeply thankful. 

xo e

p.s. This red balloon is from Cradle's Grand opening celebration two (!!) years ago.   I did a craft demonstration there, and snapped this photograph on my way home. It made me happy then, and it still does.

more spring

It rained for most of the weekend, but the sun came out at the end of Sunday, and I found even more spring busting out around our home.  Sorry if you guys super sick of me documenting spring in my backyard. I can't help it.  But, first spring inside the house. 


We had an early Passover dinner at my parents' home.  There was much talk about rebirth and renewal.  And some toasting and tears for my Nanny who wasn't there.  She was kind of there, though, in a really profound way. With every single morsel of tradition, I was reminded of her smile and warm voice.  I envisioned her rocking with pride as Chick read the four questions (it is first year she could do it on her own). She would have said, "Oh! My bubbala! That was wonderful!" And, she'd tell me how proud she was of my matzo ball soup.  It was the perfect first holiday to celebrate without her because it is the one that reminds us about the continuation of life and the strength of the human spirit.   We dipped the sweet, tender greens into salty water to remind us of our tears, but not five minutes later we were toasting our sweet wine and grape juice to celebrate how far we have come.  And, how much further there is to go.


And, so there is renewal.  And, rebuilding.  There are lands to create and stories to tell. 


And, buds to gaze at


And, chives to nibble.  (The chives weren't up last weekend)


And some Magnolia tree bloom wagering. Those buds are heavy with life.  My money is on Thursday.

There is so much beauty surrounding us.

xo e 
 

treasured


Each Wednesday I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn't necessarily have to make its way home with me - it just has to be noticed. The idea is for it to cost very little and feel very big. After all, this isn't about acquiring new things; it is about paying better attention to the world around me.


If you discovered a treasure this week (a new friend, a snow fairy, a fancy dish at the thrift store, a bird's nest) please do share it, as well as any links, in the comments section below.

*****

a little list of treasures from the week

an egg sandwich for dinner
6 1/2 mini pine cones in one load of laundry
some t-shirt orders made and delivered (see above)
a note left on my desk:  "i love u, i love u, i love u, i love u"
watching Chick and our next door neighbor climb the trees outside of my office window
quesadilla picnic in the backyard
red stripey pajama pants from the Salvy
and, a bit of good health related news for a loved one

happy wednesday.

with love.
e


outside

Tom and the kids spent almost every hour of this past weekend outdoors.  I was inside working on my big secret project, which I'm super excited to share with you early next week.  Promise.

 Tom raked and plucked and raked some more.  He removed some vines that were choking some of our front bushes, and used them to make this sweet little wreath.  Isn't it pretty?
 We grow hearty, ginormous dandelion root in these parts.  This one in particular made me wonder if anyone anywhere eats dandelion root stew. 
 Chick made fairy lands with trees and caves and fire pits
  while Mouse rode the fence.
 I hung the spring wreath.  And worked some more.

xo e

stitch-a-bird

This spring I've been spending time drawing with my  non-dominant hand.   This technique has produced lots of wobbly leaves, spindly stems, and skinny crooked houses.  As it turns out, this sort of thing is perfect material for storytelling.  The kids and I have been using our drawings to tell imaginative outside tales.  The other day, as I was settling down for a tiny afternoon nap, my eyes were closed and a yellow, stitched bird came to me.  And, so, the next day, I made it.   I think it would be  a nice start to a set of story telling cards.

Using my sewing machine as a drawing utensil gives my illustrations a airy, curious quality, which I quite like.

With pencil, lightly draw a shape (I drew the bird) onto watercolor paper.



Use your sewing machine to follow your pencil lines.  Don't worry about being too careful and perfect.  Erase your pencil lines, and then tie off the ends of the thread on the back and use a very thin layer of glue to secure. Once dry, fill in your drawing with watercolors.

Oh, and it is kind of like my sew-a-sprout tutorial from last spring.

taaa weeeeeeeeet. tweet. tweet. tweet.  (says the blue jay living in the bush outside my study)

xo e

treasured

Each Wednesday I post about some sort of treasure I found during the past week. It might be thrifted or found on a walk or whispered in my ear or discovered on a dark shelf in the basement. Something. Anything that makes me feel lucky and thankful. It doesn't necessarily have to make its way home with me - it just has to be noticed. The idea is for it to cost very little and feel very big. After all, this isn't about acquiring new things; it is about paying better attention to the world around me.


If you discovered a treasure this week (a new friend, a snow fairy, a fancy dish at the thrift store, a bird's nest) please do share it, as well as any links, in the comments section below.

*****
 
 
A new (to me) vintage springy treasure.  

And, look at the shadow is it casting on my desk as I type.

Green and white vintage graphic glass, I think I love you.
 
xo e 

twilight

These were taken earlier this evening when the rain had ended.
  
    Grays layered with grays.   
 

 
  And, little pops of color.
  
                                
 
 I kind of like damp, low lit, steady rain days even though my thick, curly hair never seems to be fully dry. I also kind of like when the clouds blow away right before the sun sets.  It's like ending a lazy, long, up and down game of cards with a winning hand.
 

 xo e