Renegade Craft Fair SF is happening this weekend! I'll be there with loads of Inklore goodies. If you're in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello. I'd love to meet you.

I'll be taking next week off, but I've asked a few of my favorite people to stop by so you'll be in good hands here on Good Measure. Have a great weekend!

The photos above are from my favorite home ever featured on The Selby. It is such a fantastic marriage of clean, modern design that still pays homage to classic details. I simply love it. It is the home of Fitzhugh Carol and Lyndsay Caleo, both of whom do incredible work. If you missed this one, go take a peek; there is a lot more to see.

photos via The Selby

Last week when I shared a few sweet spots in my home, Kathryn Clark left a comment with a link to her own sweet spots. When I clicked over to visit her site, I was immediately drawn to her work. It has a thoughtful simplicity; I am most intrigued by her idiom series.

The Idiom Series renders literally the idioms of everyday language. Phrases spoken casually without much thought as to their origin and literal expression. I remake the essence of such phrases using simple, basic materials.
Hand felted wool, steel wire, embroidery thread and twine on sewn linen and silk. (from Kathryn Clark website)

My two favorite pieces in the series are above: Up and Out and Over and Over Again. I'll be watching Kathryn's process on her blog and through her flickr stream. Lovely.

all photos via Kathryn Clark

I was talking to my mom the other day and she mentioned that she's going to be making some chalkboards, which reminded me of this fantastic project: turning an old frame into a chalkboard. So, I'm posting this for my mom; Hi Mom! Pop over to Poppytalk for the instructions.

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you had a bit of time to relax and have some fun this weekend. I'm quite busy in the studio, but am trying to take at least a few minutes each day to do something fun. I did put my feet up this weekend while catching up with a few blogs and fell in love with the embroidery work of Valerie Roybal. Her portfolio is full of colorful, engaging work, but it is her embroidery that I found most fascinating. 

My embroideries are drawings with thread, non-traditional in the sense that I do not use or start with a pattern, or a set idea of what the drawing is to become. Several of these drawings are part of a series called "Inevitability," of which I'm interested in capturing the intricacies of natural forms such as diatoms, radiolaria, and objects and creatures imagined, The series began with inspiration from the studies of Ernst Haeckel, a naturalist and artist (among other things) who fantastically captured and published natural history from the mid-nineteenth to early-20th century.  (Valerie Roybal, from her flickr set)

via embroidery as art

Hi there! I hope you have had a lovely week. As it turns out, taking photos of my home during a week of craft fair preparation turned out not to be such a great idea. Sometimes I really can't do it all, so I relaxed a bit about blogging here this week for good measure. I did want to pop back in today and wish you a happy weekend and show you my new table. Do you remember this post? Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered the forgotten beauty above at the back of a little shop. It's often when I stop looking that I find the very thing I need (want). See you Monday!

I love the wall of windows in my kitchen that looks out to the courtyard. It's fun to work in here and watch the hummingbirds visit.

I appreciate the sliding kitchen cabinet doors in this home. I have not once hit my head on the door after leaving it open. (This used to be a big problem of mine!)

And I adore the hutch in my dining room where I keep all of my favorite collections. 

I would love to see your sweet spots this week too! Leave a comment with a link to your flickr photos or blog posts if you decide to join in the fun. 

Next week is going to be a busy one here in my studio as I work to get ready for Renegade Craft SF, so I thought it would be the perfect week to slow things down here and share something I've been thinking about for a little while. I started this blog as a way to celebrate life, hoping to inspire myself and others to notice the little things that make life great. So, next week, rather than sharing other spaces and other things, I'm going to share the things I love, in this moment, about my own home. I would love it if you joined in the fun too and shared your favorite things and spaces in your home. So, snap some photos this weekend and meet me back here on Monday, OK!

Last weekend, at the end of a very long day of my daughter's ballet performances, I came home to a really lovely meal cooked by my husband and son. My husband grilled some chicken, my son made risotto (from a box) and they both worked together to make a Tomato Feta Salad, which is a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa at Home. The salad was so pretty and delicious, the perfect way to celebrate summer tomatoes. We ate the whole thing before I thought to take a photo, but it looked even better than the photo in the cookbook. Thanks for the meal guys!

Tomato Feta Salad

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, red or mixed colors
• 3/4 cup small-diced red onion
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 2 T chopped fresh basil
• 2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
• 3/4 lb. feta cheese, diced into 1/2 inch dice

Cut the tomatoes in half and add the remaining ingredients. Gently fold everything together and serve at room temperature. 

Later today, I'm going to be sharing a recipe from one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, so I decided to share her kitchen with you this morning. Her kitchen is not exactly humble, but it is full of smart ideas, simple solutions, beautiful surfaces, and high quality tools. There is no denying that this is a hardworking kitchen.

PS: I really, really need a bread drawer. Really.