My Morning Jackets

Just finished up some new spring jackets! 
Here's a couple photos of the finished product, I'll post some pictures of Milo modelling it once he wakes up from his nap. $40. 

Mustard coloured cotton twill with polka dot flannelette and turquoise trim (also available in hot pink).

xo Kirsten

Dreamer, nothing but a dreamer...

I've always been a vivid dreamer, but when I was pregnant with Milo I began having the craziest dreams (an inordinate amount of which included Darren leaving me for a gay lover...?). During this time D's mom gave me a sketch book called 'Last night I dreamed...' filled with pages upon pages of good quality paper to record your dreams on. (Available at the fabulous store collage collage, for those interested.) I tried to get into this at the time but found that whenever I had free time I just sort of wanted to sit on my laurels, or read, or go for a ski, or stock the freezer. 

I recently remembered this book, however, and pulled it out. So for the last six weeks or so I've started illustratively recording my dreams each morning. I do this during morning nap time over a cup of coffee. Some drawings I do in a day, some take a few, and most spill some into awake time. However, this spilling over works into my personal parenting philosophy of making Milo a witness to mine and his dad's creative work in the hopes that he will respect and honour this work in us and himself as he gets older, and hopefully be a part of it! 

This has truly become such a rewarding and lovely little practice that I really look forward to each day. Here's a few of my favourites. 

xo Kirsten

Happy birthday to you Milo Fox!

On a cold, clear night just after midnight one year ago today, our bright eyed, bushy tailed little babe came into the world. My memories of a lot of that day(s) are a bit hazy and mostly include throwing up and laying in the bathtub, and sometimes doing both at the same time! But the one thing I will never forget is when our midwife told me to reach down and grab my baby and I got to push/pull my babe up on to my chest, gaze into his old soul/new soul eyes and meet my beet faced, blue eyed boy. Deep love. 

This year flew by quicker than we could have ever thought and now that tiny little babe is a joyful, gentle, boisterous, squishy faced little boy who we love more than we could have ever imagined. Happy birthday Milo Fox! We're so much better for knowing you!

In celebration of this little guy there will be free shipping for the month of April! Hooray!

xo Kirsten

Dots and Stripes!

Some new items up in the shop!

Baby leggings in chevron striped fabric. Super comfy and soft. $20, get 'em while I've still got the fabric!

Hand printed cloth napkins on organic unbleached cotton.

xo Kirsten

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

While I am for the most part a big fan of winter, it does bring with it some dreary days where the weather is cold and blustery enough to trap us inside for the day. This is okay for me, but less so for my busy body of a little boy who gets cabin fever pretty quickly in our little home and absolutely loves being outside. So when we are trapped inside (like today!) we spend a lot of time staring out the windows, watching the snow fall, the branches blow in the wind, and the cars pass. The bus route just changed so the bus now goes up and down our street, much to Milo's delight, so there's that too. Poor man's tv. 

In our yard we have a hedge of lilac and rosebushes where a banditry of chickadees (that is for real what a group of chickadees is called!) converge on our rose bushes to eat the rose hips. Milo has become obsessed with these daily visits. It's really been quite the love story. So to foster this relationship (and give us something to do!) throughout the winter we've been making pinecone and peanut butter bird feeders to hang on the porch and outside the windows as entertainment on these cold, snowy, sleety days. You remember making those in kindergarten? I do! So far they have provided us with hours of entertainment. Literally. And we also get to help out our little feathered friends make it through to spring time. 

At our feeders we get regular visits from chickadees, wrens, flickers, and stellar jays. Aaah, simple pleasures.

Here's how you can make your own.

xo Kirsten

A Whale For The Kissing

This summer we packed up the babe and the dog and the Subaru and went on a three week long camping and island hopping trip. It was truly magical in so many ways, too many to mention, but was made especially so by being able to introduce our then 3 1/2 month old little man to some of our dearest, most beloved friends.

During this trip we went up to Sointula, which is on Malcolm Island, between the northern end of Vancouver Island and the mainland. Sointula, meaning 'place of harmony' in Finnish, was founded in 1901 as a socialist utopian society. The commune disbanded but many of the settlers continued to live there and it is still a vibrant little community. We had wanted to go up thatta way for years for a couple of reasons, one: across the waters from there is the birthing ground of my dear sweet man friend, two: I had read about Sointula years ago in a book about utopian communities in BC (highest amount of communes per capita!) and was smitten with the landscape and the folklore. And then some favourite friends moved there to start up their art/life project, The Sointula Art Shed.  Serendipitous! And so the deal was sealed and away we went.

And the whales! You see, in addition to it's legit socialist past Sointula is also home to Bere Point, where the northern resident orcas come to rub on the smooth pebble beaches. I've always been a huge fan of whales, so much love and awe. So the whales were a big draw. While there we saw a pod of orcas, dolphins, and a humpback whale breach while we watched from the beach. Humbling and amazing. In honour of this, Milo's first whale sighting, I decided to make him his very own humpback whale. I'm a little late on the draw, but hey, better late than never! I'm also perhaps the most uncreative stuffy namer in the world (we've got a Foxy, Puppy, Baby...) so we've just been calling her Humpy. Here she is in all her glory!

You can find the instructions to make your own knit humpback whale here.

xo Kirsten

Etsy!

I finally got my Etsy site up! I took advantage of having my mom around, chasing after the little man, (and baking us muffins and cooking us dinners and making us coffee and french toast...) to get it done. Thanks Mom!

Here be the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HandmadeLuckClothing






xo Kirsten

Baby Wren

Here's baby Wren looking super adorable in the Geranium Dot Dress. Thanks for sharing Dannii!

xo Kirsten

Boyz in Da Hood

A denim and gingham jacket. Perfect weight for spring or fall. Made in denim with gingham accents and lining. Fully lined. Wooden button or toggle closures. 

xo Kirsten

A Fat Man in a Little Suit

A romper! A romper! For some reason I just love that word... And the suit is pretty cute too! My little man lived in this all summer. Perfect for lounging at the beach. (Or on an Ikea rug!)

Made with denim and pinstriped cotton twill. Fully lined bodice. Elasticized legs. Button closures.

xo Kirsten

More Big Bum Baby Pants Pics!

I don't know if your family is like mine but it seems that I'm always the photographer in the bunch. We have about a kazillion photos of the boy alone or the boy with his dad, but really few with me in them. Hmm. I'm forever sounding like a pathetic little broken record: "Hey, why don't you take a picture of us?" "Look how cute we are being right now, why don't you take a picture? Huh? Huh?"

Even so, I never really thought about getting professional photos of my family taken before, but this summer while visiting a friend on Vancouver Island (who also just happens to be a really talented photographer) he offered to take some of us at his studio. And I've gotta say, we are just so happy with the results. I love this collection of photos from this little snapshot in time and now when the little dude's an old man he'll have proof that he had a mama in the mix, too! We'll totally be doing it again. Hey, thanks buddy!

 

(I've shared some of the shots that show off Milo's pants.)

If any of you live in the Victoria area holler at our bud Adam and get yourself some cute pics of your own cuties!

http://www.tbcphotography.com/

xo Kirsten

Geranium Dot Dress

So even though my whole inspiration behind starting this little venture was to make stylish, quality, locally made clothes for baby boys, I just can't resist the dress!

The dress is made from linen double-guaze with a fully lined bodice and buttoned back. Options of ruffled sleeves and/or pockets. I have a selection of different polka dotted fabrics, some hand printed, some not, but all full of delicate whimsy.

*Pattern designed by Rae Hoekstra of made-by-rae-.com*

I made this dress for the crazy cute Maisey Lynn on the occasion of her birth. Welcome to the world Maisey! Way to rock it!

xo Kirsten

Big Bum Baby Pants

One of the cutest things about babies has got to be their mismatched proportions. Those huge heads, eyes and bums! My little man has always been in the 40th percentile for height and weight and the 90th percentile for his head. Wowza! That's a whole lotta brain. He's like super smart. I'm hoping that soon he'll acquire a neck and then he won't look like such a toggle head, but until then... cuteza!

These pants are made to deal with the bum part of the equation. As we use cloth diapers I've always had a hard time finding pants that fit. They either fit in the bum and not the legs, or vice versa. These pants solve the problem by providing ample bum space for the extra padding of cloth diapers without being too long in the leg. Add some suspenders to make your wee one look even more dapper for special occasions (this was Milo's summer wedding outfit).

The inseams are double sewn for extra protection against wear and tear. The pants are made from  blue and white pinstriped cotton twill with denim bum and knee patches. Elastic waist.

xo Kirsten