The Coming Weekend: Simple Pleasures

I was just having a conversation with a friend about how when anyone asks what my hobbies are, I'm not really ready with an actual answer. I guess that's the good thing about having a job that you absolutely adore: it doesn't feel like work to you! So, my answer is usually, "well, I like to work a lot." This is not usually met with a good reaction. The word "work" holds different connotations for different people. So, I've done a bit of thinking about other things that I actually enjoy doing. I enjoy learning French (although I'm not that great at it), and other than that, I enjoy simple pleasures. So, without further ado, I present you with my weekend map, my hobbies, so to speak.


1. Granny squares. I know we've chatted a lot about our Granny Square Kit (don't forget they're 20% off through March with the coupon code!), and also the little video that accompanies it, but this time, I'm going off the Assemble color spectrum and attempting to make someone a gift. You would think that nine months would be plenty of time to get this finished, but we'll just have to see. At the moment I have lots of tiny little circles! I'll be working on this at our Craft + Chat too.

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox: the cassette! My mom found a bunch of my old favorite cassette tapes from my childhood hiding in a box over the past year. The Roald Dahl ones are all original narrations by the author himself, and I'm longing for a cassette player so that I can hear them again! I also have The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me. So, perhaps some thrifting for a cassette player?

3. Sunmaid raisins. Speaking of things from childhood, I have rediscovered tiny boxes of Sunmaid raisins. I will be eating this simple pleasure most DEFINITELY.

4. Gone Girl. I have a very hard time reading books lately. My mind wanders to work and I end up absent-mindedly reading 18 pages without having a clue of what I just read. However, this one has definitely grabbed my attention. A mystery about a wife that's gone missing and the unreliable narrator is the suspected husband. It's a good one (so far)!

5. Painting my nails. I take way too many photos of my hands for this blog for them to always look so raggedy. This weekend, I will be painting them with my favorite FACE nude nail polish.

6. Brand new business cards. Okay, this isn't really something that I'm doing, but I'm so excited that we finally have our brand, new business cards with our new address and (finally) my new name. Yippeee, who wants one?? No one? K.

7. Magazines on the iPad! My favorite is definitely Matchbook Magazine, and I'm sure the new Martha should be coming out soon. I will be sitting on the couch, tea in hand, reading the brand new issues.

8. Another little treat: my Great Grandma's crochet hooks. This pretty much goes with #1, but it's a delight to use them and it always makes me happy to think that this was the same hook she might have used to make my baby blanket.

What will you be up to?

Coming Next Week: Prints from Fabulous Artist, Janet Hill

I came across Janet Hill's beautiful work when I was browsing archived editions of Matchbook Magazine (one of my faves), and stumbled on her story in the October 2011 issue. There is so much story in her work, and I'm so proud to announce that we will be carrying her prints at Assemble starting next week! In the meantime, check out this preview of some of our picks:



Can't wait to have her work in stock! I'll let you know when I have it up on the website too. Yay!

The Business of Happiness

I was chatting with a customer the other day about what exactly we do at Assemble. It's a simple question on the surface, but when it gets right down to it, there is nothing that one NEEDS other than food, shelter and water, and we definitely don't sell any of that. (Well, sometimes we give out glasses of wine, but that's beside the point).

We sell beautiful products made by mindful, thoughtful designers and teach crafting techniques. No one NEEDS these things to survive and live, so what business are we in exactly? We are in the business of happiness. We love having folks come into our shop and to our website and squeal with delight at the little treasures they find that make them smile. And in the scheme of things, isn't that just as important?

This morning, I watched a documentary entitled Happy. It was so interesting learning about the elements that make up a human's happiness. So, I'm getting down to the simple things. Things that are pretty, things that I just like. Here are a few of them:



1. Matchbook Magazine: Matchbook is a monthly online-magazine that details everything about a beautiful life. Profiles of successful designers, makers and doers, plus fashion, factoids and articles make this one a favorite of mine to devour in twenty minutes.

2. A friend of ours owns and operates Bananafish Studios, and her stamp collection is inspiring and definitely happy. One of my new favorites is this "Today" stamp. Make a list, remind yourself to live in the moment, or document your day. Coming soon, $2.50

3. Coffee. Isn't this stuff just great? I like to mix it with Chocolate Soy milk. Mmmm.

4. Fiesta Ware has a brand new color: Flamingo! So cheerful and oh-so-chic.

5. The Small Object (new products coming soon in our shop!) has a new product out: this sparkly Gold Heart Pin, $12. From Sarah of TSO, "I created this heart pin for me. I needed it--a super sparkly gold glitter glitzy pin for my lapel to spread the love with whomever set their sights on me that day. It's like imaginary fairy dust folks and it feels good. Dress up the night! Shine on!"