Maybe you read the heart wrenching letter Elizabeth Suzann posted this week. (here is where I try to find words that I feel are appropriate for this space!!!) Elizabeth's story is so incredibly telling...about the clothing industry...about human connection...about the precariousness of all of our systems. As her news sinks in, I think of all she has taken on in growing her company...the responsibility for all of her team members...which is a model that we hold up as exemplary + ethical.

I start to wonder what other ethical brands are having to make similar gut wrenching decisions...and then I come upon the difference. Most other brands that we consider ethical stand somewhat apart from their makers. Whether this protects their businesses + is wiser or not...the point is that the responsibility is allowed to feel somewhat removed. I want to believe that small, ethical brands do have personal relationships with their suppliers + do feel deeply the connection with the survival of those suppliers. It is undeniably not, however, the same as Elizabeth's intimate connections.

To set the contrast even more starkly, many big brands are cancelling orders + in some cases refusing to pay makers for clothing already sewn...leaving garment factories with no money to pay garment workers for work already done. When connections are allowed to become more + more impersonal + removed, the suffering compounds toward the bottom of the supply chain.

We can throw around the word "sustainable" without a real understanding of limitations. This global pandemic is now a real, palpable, evident limitation...where farmers' + garment workers' working conditions + compensation, resource depletion, soil degradation, pollution, energy consumption, microfiber proliferation, and excessive waste production have somehow remained somewhat hidden. 

None of us are immune to this virus or its effects on our health or finances. It is testing the sustainability of big brands + small brands + all of the systems that sustain them. Elizabeth Suzann has allowed all of us to make connections between the clothing we wear + the people who make them. The connection is always there + always has been.

I have no doubt Elizabeth Suzann will flourish again...if + how she wants to flourish. Many of us too will see the other side of this pandemic. We've seen how a virus connects us. Let's live like the flourishing of others is part of our own.

Lovely image via the spectacular, inspiring, tenacious Elizabeth Suzann.

Love,
Jane

I don't usually buy magazines these days...and when I do...I take them along to leave at the dentist's or eye doctor's office when I'm finished with them. I had one magazine with nowhere to go for a while, so I decided to get out the scissors. I'm having fun (again revisiting some habits from the past) playing with shapes, color + glue. I think these will pair nicely with the envelopes I made the other day.

I used to make things like these with a bit of the prolific artwork made by my girls. I might pick some autumn-colored paints, for example, and let my toddler paint away on a few sheets of paper. After they dried I'd cut some leaf shapes + let her glue those onto cards that could be sent off to friends + family.  :)

What are you up to these days?

Love,
Jane

A gift certificate to a favorite, little, local bookstore made another gift. I double checked that the shop can order any book she desires. I thought it might be fun to just have a little cash that has to be spent + to decide how to spend it on some special books. ​

Birthday dinner involved picking up take-out from our favorite sushi spot along with a homemade cake (yum). It felt good for both giver + receiver to know that our celebration supported some of our favorite neighbors + the work they do to make this a good place to live. 

Love,
Jane

To what type of life am I going to gift my time?
~Andrés Varela (via)

I still love reusing + making things...and it's fun to make envelopes of different sizes + shapes. I based these envelopes on the structure of clasp-style envelopes + just sort of thought backward through the structure in order to determine what cuts to make. A couple of the shapes are shown here before gluing. 

It might be fun to make envelopes out of an old calendar or children's plentiful artwork. I've also enjoyed making boxes out of these things. They can be a nice way to wrap a gift or deliver some cookies.

These envelopes might be used as wrapping for (an upcoming) birthday gift or two + also for letters that will be sent off in the weeks to come. I think they'll make for some happy wrapping + mail. 

Love,
​Jane

A little good news.
Take action.

A few things we'll be doing today:
-spending as much time as possible outside
-eating plant-based
-tending our pollinator + food garden
-opting out of consuming + driving
-social distancing
-breathing deeply + drinking tap water
-avoiding plastics + waste
-noticing all the goodness this planet has to offer us today...right where we are
-enjoying the simple life

Happy Earth Day, friends! Enjoy it!

Love,
​Jane

I had a conversation with my sister today. When she asked me what's new with us, there was a pause...and then we both just laughed. In a way, we are blessed to have no exciting news to talk about. Our families are healthy, and we have an income. 

Until the last day or two, the weather has been cold + rainy...so I hadn't been venturing outside much or felt too productive. I have managed to read + watch a few things that I enjoyed. This sort of thing is usually the stuff of a weekend dispatch, but what constitutes a weekend has blurred a bit lately...so...

:: a case for making paint 

:: connection + motivation    

:: mrs america (related...I learned that I greatly admire Shirley Chisholm from this)

​:: exposing holes (again)

​:: like a cathedral  

Lovely photos via links.

Love,
Jane

crucible /kro͞osəb(ə)l/ noun  a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. 

I've made these simple "cookies" twice this week. The recipe appealed to me because of its title of "Breakfast Cookies" (!) + the list of ingredients. I had a can of pumpkin purée + a few bananas, so I decided to try them. I think that calling them cookies calls out the fact that they aren't very sweet...but I really like them...mainly because of this.

​Here is how I made the recipe :: adapted from Mona Awad's Breakfast Cookie recipe
2 bananas, mashed
4 Tbsp pumpkin purée
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of cardamom (because I have it)
1 cup oats
handful of pecans (or dried fruit or other nuts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ingredients + let the mixture sit while the oven preheats. Drop spoonfuls onto parchment or silicon mat + flatten slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes until firm, but not browned. Enjoy!

I imagine this recipe to be quite adaptable + look forward to trying some other combinations as well. 

Love,
Jane

Lots of advice is going around about keeping to a schedule for those of us staying at home these days. It's probably great advice, but honestly...I'm not exactly doing it. So many things just seem a bit pointless in light of all the heaviness in our world right now. Is anyone else having a hard time getting into a book or feeling like watching anything at all?

Instead of scheduling reading time or cleaning time, I think it might be more helpful for me to have some looser categories of things to do each day. I'm setting the bar low + making the categories broad. My main goal is just to feel that I've done something of value with my day...tending to some sense of well-being. I do want to keep a clean house, exercise, learn, be creative, make good food...and all the rest...but some days are more productive in those ways than others. It's mainly those "others" that I'm thinking about here.  :)

Here are the five things I'm putting on my list:
-do something that feeds the soul (or at least feels sort of good)- that might be taking a walk or a shower, journaling, drinking a cup of tea or eating three pieces of banana bread  :)

-do something for someone else- it might not be as big as shopping for a previously unknown neighbor's groceries (bravo, if it is), it might just be mailing a post card with five words on the back to a relative or friend, it might be painting a rainbow + taping it to the door, smiling in the direction of someone seen while on a walk, giving a shoulder massage, playing a game with a little one or letting someone else be right (even if they're not)  :)

-move the body- maybe it's a long, brisk walk, bike ride or yoga or maybe it's stretching indoors or arm dancing while sitting on the couch

-give a hug- I live with others + even though we are in close proximity, I need to make an effort to connect...positively  :)

-eat something nourishing- maybe not every meal is perfectly clean or instagram worthy, but something deserves credit (+ might create some momentum)

So those are my five things. I think I will try to record them for the next seven days in an effort to tend to my sense of value + well-being. Do you have some things that you try to do every day to tend to your sense of well-being right now? I'd love to hear what's working for you!  :)

Love,
​Jane