moop :: handmade

Happy Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Source: asubtlerevelry.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

Hi everyone! Are you making Valentine's plans? Wouldn't this be a sweet treat to give your little ones?
Hope you have a super nice weekend!
xxx
w.

World's Largest Dodgeball Game

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Again, This is Colossal shows us the crazy beautiful amazingness in the world.
The University of Alberta has hosted, for the third year in a row, the world's largest dodgeball game with 4,979 participants. That's a lot of balls.

all photos from Gateway Photography, via This is Colossal.

Las Vegas!

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Source: inoldlasvegas.com via Moop on Pinterest

This weekend, Jeremy and I are heading to Las Vegas! I have never been (except for the few hours i spent passing through on a road trip from boise, idaho to los angeles during my first year of college..which i don't count as a visit). We are going for a Moop Studios related trip (we're going to Magic to see what all the hubbub is all about), but once we're through there, we're planning to enjoy ourselves, Vegas style! Or, I guess...Wendy & Jeremy style. We're not gamblers...so we're planning on having some great food, fantastic cocktails, a super nice hotel and some great people watching. I would love to know your suggestions for places to go, things to see, etc. etc...please share!

Plus, I just joined Pinterest and hope to be creating some pinboards...my first one is Vegas related.

Poppy

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:10:00 +0000

Last weekend I did a little blog hopping and via one of my favorites, simplesong, I was introduced to Poppy! My wardrobe is in serious need of a makeover (or replacement as just about everything is threadbare) so, I will take one of everything. please.

On reading and living...

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:21:00 +0000

I often write about the books I've just finished…usually, as I've just finished them, when the emotions and excitements and longings of having just completed something you truly, deeply enjoyed have ended. Tonight, it was, A Visit From the Goon Squad. I loved this book. There were so many moments/descriptions/events that felt so close to my own past lives - in a way that always makes me uncomfortable. I have become very good at living my life in chapters…sections…closing off entire eras of my life in order to deal with (or not deal with) (or make it through the present) (or reinvent myself) (or to make things okay) whatever memories are trying to work their way into the present. I tend to avoid things that drum up the past - avoiding the easy things, like not watching certain movies that I know will trigger a certain memory or not delving into the dregs of facebook to find people I used to know or not going back through emails from 15 years ago (when email was really new) but, often I am sideswiped by books. Perhaps because I love to read. Maybe because I can be wooed by beautiful language. Possibly because I cherish getting lost in something else to end my evenings. But, it seems the books I love the most…the ones I find myself thinking about throughout the day and hurrying towards the reading hour Parker and I have each night, are the ones that most closely resemble the lives I've had or the life I'm living.

The Little Printer

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:32:00 +0000

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

I saw this the other day on Something's Hiding in Here's blog (you know that uber prolific, talented and charming duo of Shauna and Stephen…aren't they lovely!!). Anywhoo, back to this incredibly charming little printer. I can imagine doing so many fun things with this. Sending my little Parker love notes from work that she would receive when she gets home from school (the working mom's version of fresh baked cookies), printing out cute to do lists (i am a prolific list maker), printing a daily list of things I would like to read over while I eat my breakfast like news headlines, a new word to learn each day, recipe ideas (I prefer paper to digital for reading material while I eat my breakfast). Plus, it's adorable. Double plus, this looks like something Jeremy would have invented.

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Over the weekend, after we went sledding (because there was finally snow in Pittsburgh!!), Parker and I spent some time with a book that Jeremy had given us for xmas. It's called Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It - and it is full of simple ways to make seemingly complicated food staples.

I have long fantasized about canning. How I would get all of the equipment, make lots of jam and sauces and can all of our tomatoes and green beans and peaches and anything else you can put in a jar as a way to make our farm share last year round, to avoid vegetables spoiling because we did not eat them in time, to continue to teach my daughter how to own what she eats, how to cook and how to prepare just about anything (a skill I learned from my mother and value to this day)…but, the reality is that I will likely never take up canning. I have too many things on my list of things to do and things I would like to do and at the moment, canning is kind of far down on that list. Yes, I love the idea of it, but I know the reality is that I would get all of the equipment and it would take up lots and lots of space and I would always say I was going to use it, while feeling guilty about not using it, then rationalizing my guilt by stating out loud how I just don't have enough time to use it…so, to save us all from that unnecessary chain of events, Karen Solomon has written this book.

In this book, I can indulge in all of the things I think I love about the idea of canning by taking on tiny projects, one at a time, without purchasing a whole bunch of equipment that will not get used. Like, for instance, the pickling project Parker and I did over the weekend. We took a few carrots, green beans and cucumbers and we pickled them! It was easy and delightful and we both learned how to quickly and deliciously extend the life of a vegetable. Perhaps next weekend we will learn to make marshmallows.

Moonrise Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:31:00 +0000

I can't wait to see this.

Victory in a small space...

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:55:00 +0000

The last few months have been quite a whirlwind. Our holiday season set in around mid-November. Every year we start upping our production around August and every year we think we'll be extra prepared for the holiday rush so it won't be such a drain on our energy (anyone who makes things will understand this - it's an incredibly rewarding time of year while also being incredibly exhausting and draining) and even still, every year we are working extra long hours from November to January. This year, we had thrown into the mix a huge project - an order for 300 Moop bags! 300 of anything is a lot to make. Bake 300 cookies..that's a lot. Make 300 custom bags in the middle of the busiest time of year, each with at least 57 steps...that's a whole whole lot.

The overall production of this huge project was condensed into a 3 week period...with the bulk of it happening in the last 2 weeks. We worked long long long continuous days and finally reached our satisfying end when we packed up the last bag in the last box and stacked it in a tower that reached the ceiling of our studio. This was definitely the largest project I have ever taken on and I could not have done it without knowing I could rely on those around me.

I can't gush enough about the fantastic team of incredible women I have working with me. Emily and Jessica (on the left and right of me in the above photo) came through in ways that bring me to tears every time I think about their dedication to this thing called Moop that I have worked so hard to build. It means the world to me that they have chosen to work with me. Jeremy's parents were a huge support in making this project happen, helping us with Parker and in 25,000 other ways that can't be listed here on this little blog. Mina, our high school student who comes and helps out for a few hours each week, spent a majority of her holiday break at Moop pressing over 300 straps - I don't know many 16 year olds who would want to spend their holiday break to come to work, but she did and we love her for that! My dear sweet Parker who put up with having two absent and exhausted parents for two weeks over the holidays, seeing us only at night and meeting us with warm meals she had prepared for us, is the best daughter in the world. And, Jeremy, the love of my life, dropped everything to join Moop for the last 10 days and worked 15 hour days right along side me. I love him for that.

So, I think I speak for everyone at Moop when I say, bring it on!!! We're looking forward to the next huge project :)

amazing

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:52:00 +0000

I love this. Completely.

by Yayoi Kusama
called The Obliteration Room
currently on view at The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
found via Janice and This is Collossal
this will make you smile.
hope you're having a super fantastic week! now, go sticker something!

p.s. all photos courtesy of the museums website and thisiscollossal.

Pittsburgh. Yes.

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Yes, Pittsburgh is the land where people work hard - and they're/we're proud of it! It's also where I live and call home. Granted, I know I'm new to this town...I married into it (J was born & raised here)...but, we also decided to leave Oz (read: Western Massachusetts) to make it our home (who does that??) and we love love love it. I can't wait to show you what 2012 has in store for Moop and co...but, in the meantime, just read this great clip on my great town that I and Moop call home.

p.s. thanks to Karlye for the link ;)

p.p.s. i have nothing against Portland or Portlanders or hipsters. i love 'em all.

p.p.p.s. (several hours later) i can't stop thinking about this article and now i'm really annoyed by it. no one should pit one city against another. generalizations are just that...generalizations. i'm pretty sure being a butcher is pretty hard work. and i'm pretty sure so many, so called hipster enclaves, built up because people who want to work in a different way need a support community around them to do so. they need like minded-ness to support their types of businesses. they need like minded-ness to find people who want to work in their tiny businesses. they need those that are willing to try something different, to be something different. hipster-ism may be mainstream now, but that's just the typical cycle of sub-cultures. it always has been. i say, so what! if dealing with thrifted ironic t-shirts in the 90's made way for mustaches and shirt dresses and butchers and seamstresses and handmade and entrepreneurship and small tiny micro business booms and teeny tiny manufacturing businesses like my own, then i say, bring it on! all of that led to me doing what i do. i am like the butcher...only i make bags (which is not bloody work...unless you stick yourself with a pin, which hurts like hell and bleeds a surprising amount). i'm not town proud because i love pittsburgh to death. i would probably love living in portland, too. i'm town proud because this is where i live and make a living and am raising a family. i like it here. i'm happy here. i have friends here who are building lives in a similar manner to my own. you may like it here, too. but, don't bash portland. there's annoying people that are full of themselves here in the 'burgh, too. just as there are everywhere. so, that's all of my rant...i'm tired and overworked and headed back to work.

handwoven scarves

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I'm pretty sure you all know how much I love nicely handmade scarves. I am not a knitter or a weaver but I am a maker and I really appreciate seeing something that has been produced from someone else's finely honed craft. These scarves are handwoven in Germany. They're nice.
top, middle, bottom.

The Hunger Games

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

We just finished listening to The Hunger Games here at the studio. We invested weeks of our air time listening to this unexpectedly enthralling trilogy of books (which we did not know was being made into a movie until we finished the first book and said...someone should make this into a movie ...and then the internet told us they were). We enjoyed just about all of it. It made for great conversation in the studio as we all speculated about what would happen next, when the revolution would happen, how it would happen and who would die trying to make it happen. Until the last few chapters of the last book. I won't spoil the ending, but if you have even the tiniest shred of a feminist bone in your body (of which Moop studios has many) you will not like the way this book ends. Now that we've spent the last few hours ranting about how it ends so status quo…so, non-empowering….so, reinforcing of cultural norms...so, blah….we don't know what to go on to next! Any ideas? Over the last few weeks we've listened to Tina Fey's Bossypants (full of awesome feminist bones), Go Down Together: a book about Bonnie and Clyde (which I would recommend to anyone) and The Omnivore's Dilema (again).

Tell me what you're listening to! I would love to know.

Happy Holiday Rainbow!

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:27:00 +0000

Yesterday was such a weird weather day for Pittsburgh. It rained. It poured. It thundered and lighteninged (that's not a word). Then, it rainbowed! And if you look real close, there's a faint double rainbow!!
The only thing a double rainbow induces is a smile.

Hope you all have the loveliest of holidays, whatever they may be.
Thanks for a fantastic year. You all make my heart swell.

Much love,

Wendy

Holiday Traditions

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:48:00 +0000

I am finally getting excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday (it's been so busy, I've hardly had a chance to think about my own family's xmas!). I am not a religious person but I will welcome any opportunity to show those around me how much I love them. I also love indulging in traditions and creating new ones. The first few years Jeremy, Parker and I were together we would spend Christmas Eve making pierogi from scratch. This would then become our holiday dinner. I suppose we started this because Jeremy was born and raised in Pittsburgh and I am part Polish…but, really I think it had less to do with either and more to do with us all liking a good pierogi…and wanting to create some new family traditions for our new family (and not having enough money for a holiday ham). As the years passed and we discovered that Jeremy has a very very terrible awful wheat/gluten allergy, we left that tradition behind. But, we have not found a suitable replacement! Last year we shared Christmas dinner with Jeremy's family. I wanted to bring a small bit of my family to the meal (to carry on a tradition from my childhood) and decided to bring our longest standing Christmas tradition, Christmas Pie. Jeremy's family hated it…and let me know, too! I was super bummed for a long time. But, I have gotten over it! (kind of) This year I will still make a Christmas Pie, only I'll save it for when my brother comes to visit closer to New Years…it will be a post Christmas Pie. And it will be loved and honored as the pink marshmellow-y tradition that it is (it's also my sister's favorite pie and was always made for her birthday, which is Christmas Day). Aside from pie, we're still trying to figure out what our Christmas traditions will be! What are yours? Do you have good memories of family traditions? I would love to know.

Plus, I'll post the recipe for Christmas Pie later in the week!

My preferred drink...

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:57:00 +0000

image from Tomboy Style

I love this post from Tomboy Style. Bourbon is by far my drink of choice. I had a great time going to Longman & Eagle last February (we'll be back this winter, for sure!) and having to choose a whiskey from their impressive collection (I tried a few). Great conversations with the bartender that night on the art and craft of small batch whiskey. So, I loved coming across this article penned by a woman on the art and craft of choosing the right whisk(e)y. Read it here.

p.s. We're sharing Christmas dinner with my in-laws and I am planning to bring a Christmas Cocktail! I'll share the recipe once I settle on one.

hanging plants

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:40:00 +0000

I have a secret. We're working on some big changes at Moop. I can't tell you the details now, but just image a whole bunch of these hanging from the ceiling.

Okay, I've given you too many hints already. Come February, we'll talk about the big news.

p.s. it's not a baby. everyone always thinks i'm having a baby when i say i have a secret.

winter

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:28:00 +0000

Winter is just about to fully set in here in Pittsburgh and I love these boots.

favorite people...

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:08:00 +0000

I have been admiring the collaboration between Satsuma Press and Little Bright Studio online ever since they announced it. So, two days ago, in the midst of my longest two weeks of the year, when I was so tired and running on mainly coffee and crackers, I opened a plain flat envelope containing this print! It literally made my day starry and bright!

Lynn is definitely one of my most favorite people I have met from running Moop - she is admirably involved in so many things and makes the most beautiful letter press cards. Her shop is open for just a few more days this holiday season. She's closing up on December 13th so you should place an order for your holiday cards and gift tags now! I love these and these.

And, I think we should all make this our new daily reminder:

Make every day starry and bright.

xo
Wendy

Sunday Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Sleep in (ha! 'til 9:30)

Eat breakfast as a family (individually prepared by each person but consumed together)

Say I'm going to the studio asap so I can get my work done early.

Instead, play games with Parker on the iPad (someone had to teach her how to play Sonic…and win).

Go to the studio for real, to do the bookkeeping.

Write a blog post (procrastinator!)

Make coffee.

Stare at the ugly bookkeeping computer (it's a PC).

Do the damned bookkeeping!

Grocery shop.

Find the xmas decorations which are in storage.

Maybe go to the 4pm spin class.

Decorate xmas tree, as a family (love this part).

Make dinner. Maybe cookies, too (or beg Parker to make her cookies).

Watch the last episode of Modern Family, season 1, as a family, so we can send it back to Netflix and start season 2. (love this part, too).

p.s.

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:45:00 +0000

we've extended our holiday sale through the end of this week - using TINYMOOP upon checkout at www.moopshop.com or in our etsy shop will give you 10% off.

hope you're well and good! we're well and busy!!

xx
w.

Messenger no.4 - for iPads

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Hey! Hope you are all wonderful on this beautiful weekend! Just quickly writing to let you know we have a brand new Moop bag to introduce! Messenger no.4 for ipads, in brown and gray. Designed with a built in iPad sleeve made from 100% German merino wool felt. The exterior is built with our favorite waxed canvas and fully lined in cordura. You will love this small bag.

Also, just a quick reminder our TINYMOOP discount code is only valid through this coming Monday…so, get your orders in!

Cheers,

Wendy

Happy Thanksgiving: a love letter

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:55:00 +0000

I just want to quickly write and tell you all how thankful I am for you. Over the last 5 years I have made relationships with people all over the world because of this incredible thing called the internet. I have been able to build a business that seemed like a total pipe dream because of the love and support shown from all of you. You have listened to me as I worked through the successes and the trials of building not only my business but my family, too. Anyone who runs a small business knows it becomes part of your life as well as the your family's life. It defines who you are and how you do everything. If you love what you do, this is a wonderful thing. Moop has been such a great adventure and has introduced me to fantastic people the world over. I am continually humbled and wowed by the graciousness of each of you. The stories you have shared with me about your lives, your lives with our bags and the things that you yourself are building, are fantastic. I read every single email that is sent to me and I absolutely love to know the stories of the people who are supporting me…please keep them coming!

I am every branch of this little business. But, I have been lucky enough to find a few fantastic assistants. Emily has listened to me celebrate, complain, cry, rejoice and grow. And, I have been lucky that she has shared the same with me. She's a super talented woman and I'm grateful to have her as part of my life. Jessica is brand new and we love her already! She has brought a brightness and positive energy to the studio and we are really enjoying getting to know her. And, Marlene (who is my mother in law) is often the thread that pulls me back together when I'm falling apart. She is so level headed and enjoyable, I feel very lucky to have been able to get to know her as a friend and a mother in law. She is the best listener I know (a trait she successfully passed on to Jeremy). Parker and Jeremy are my two biggest supporters and I owe just about everything to them. They're my two most favorite people on the planet. I love them with all my heart.

We interact with lots of people on a daily basis at the studio. I have enjoyed getting to know them all! Our UPS drivers - Jason (who was recently switched to a new route) was like the sunshine at 3:30 every day. We loved chatting with him and love that we can call him a friend. And our new driver, Nick, is so attentive he continues to offer the reassurance that our packages will make it from our door to yours. Then there's Conrad! Our accountant has brought so much peace of mind to our business and personal life - we have absolutely loved making friends with him. I have a hard time keeping my regular interactions with people on a surface, business level - I love to get to know who people are, how they work, what they like…I see it as one of the great advantages of being a business owner. There are so many other wonderful people we get to work with on a daily basis and I feel very lucky to have such great interactions. So, this Thanksgiving, think of all those around you who help to make your life what it is. I know I can't do everything I do alone. I am so grateful for all the people that help me accomplish my goals and hope that in some tiny way, I am helping them with theirs.

It doesn't matter if you are in the US celebrating Thanksgiving or if you are in any other part of the world going about your daily doings - take a moment today to reflect on those around you. There's a lot to be thankful for…you'll see, it'll make you smile.

Holiday 2011

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Hello! If you are in the United States you are likely preparing for Thanksgiving - my most favorite of holidays. I love bringing together friends and family for a day of relaxing, cooking, conversation and football. At the Moop household, it is the calm before the frenzy. A few days of solace, comfort and rest before we switch into overdrive, making as many bags as we can. Every year, as daylight becomes shorter, our work days become longer. It's a hardworking time of year for us but really we love it! We shift our audio landscape to winter themed stories (we love to listen to David Sedaris and all of his riotously funny stories) and bundle up in chunky knitwear.

The first year we moved to Pittsburgh, Moop was only Jeremy and I. It was the first holiday season Jeremy had experienced working full time at Moop and the first holiday season where our studio was not in our home. From late October to early February, we sewed and sewed and sewed late into the night, every day of the week. We would pick Parker up from school and drive back down to the studio, where she would spend the rest of her day and evening and part of the night. The studio is quite small…it's only about 700 square feet and houses our office, production space, storage and everything else. That year we put a Christmas tree in the window, a folding cot in the back room and a crock pot on our desk. We would let dinner simmer all day long, Jeremy and I would trade off helping Parker with homework and then we would eat as a family in the back room of our studio during short breaks from working. Afterwards, Jeremy and I would get back to sewing and Parker would settle down with a drawing pad and colored pencils and we would listen to A Christmas Carol. Parker would eventually fall asleep on the cot until we could head home around midnight every night. It was an immensely exhausting time, but it was filled with fond memories of our little family of three, working to make holiday gifts for those around us while spending time together as we all adjusted to life in a new city.

Because of the support from all of you, we've been able to hire a few assistants so our holidays are not quite as Tiny Tim as they used to be. They are still a huge amount of work, but it means we get to take off for Thanksgiving and Christmas to spend at home with friends and family. Jeremy has gone back to teaching, art making and education project building and I have been able to add a few fantastic people to our studio. We still listen to David Sedaris (it's tradition!) and if I can convince my assistants of its merits, we might also listen to A Christmas Carol. Even though we have grown (and Parker no longer has to sleep in the back of the studio during the holiday season!) we're still the same - building every single bag, start to finish, in our small and cozy studio. And, we will still run out of certain items as the holidays approach (we can only make so many bags!). So, get your orders in early! In hopes that you will, we've set up a special code for use at www.moopshop.com. Simply enter TINYMOOP upon checkout for 10% off from now until November 28th. Also, we're offering $5 flat rate shipping on all orders shipped within the domestic US and $12 flat rate shipping to Canada - from now until December 15th**.

Many thanks and fondest memories,

Wendy & Jeremy

**Flat rate shipping offer applies to orders shipping within the domestic US and Canada. Orders will be shipped via UPS Ground Service. Flat rate shipping is available from Nov.18,2011 - Dec. 15,2011. TINYMOOP discount applies to all orders, except Gift Certificates and is valid from Nov.18,2011 - Nov.28,2011**

Your new favorite website (and major procrastination tool)

noreply@blogger.com (moop!) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:53:00 +0000

I know Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is next week, but take a scroll through photos of Halloween past (really, of 80's past) on I'm Remembering. This is like reliving my childhood. I was a child of the 80's (born in 78) and I really really loved Care Bears (who didn't?). These Halloween photos are great. One year I was a mummy. My sister dressed me up and did my makeup. I looked so scary that I cried and took it all off. I don't remember what I ended up going as. Another year I was The Noid. My Mom made the costume for me.

**photos from I'm Remembering