the latest pendrops couture card, key to my heart, will be available at whole foods market in franklin, tennessee this friday, february 3!

they are handmade in batches of 3 or 4 at a time from upcycled and vintage fabric scraps and antique escutcheons.

aren’t they lovely!

do stop by franklin’s whole foods market and support local if you live in the greater nashville area!

what if the majority is wrong too?

what if all – all – the politicians are wrong?

what if it’s the marys and mother teresas and ministers of mercy around the world who have more to teach us than greedy, power-hungry men?

what if celebrities and athletes are not the ones to look up to?

what if the loudest voices pointing out which way to go are unfit to lead us?

what if we turned off the news – whichever news station we choose – and listened to our heart?

what would we hear?

what would we believe?

would it sound like the faith and hope and love of a child?

what if we searched for the mystery, not just the answers?

what if we found ourselves caught up in the beauty of the unknown?

what if we learned from a child?

what if we laughed and hugged, cried and danced like a child?

what if we ate and ran through the grass, played in the rain and told stories like a child?

what if we loved like a child?

i am weary today, but these questions have brought me back to a good place. a place where worry and anxiety are swallowed up in breath and love. a necessary place. a place where everything else is stripped away and i receive the good part.

sensing my baby as i breathed and walked.

lunch with my husband and son.

songs in the car that make my son clap and smile and laugh.

the scent of a lavender beeswax candle.

deep breaths between toddler tantrums and chaos.

the reminder that i cannot make anyone happy or holy.

the hope of a new friend.

a two-hour phone call with an old, best friend.

the husband who bathed and fed my son while i laughed on the phone.

the little boy who fell asleep in my arms under dim lights while my friend and i said good-byes.

it is on these days – days when i have lost it, lost my grip, lost my footing, lost all perceived control – that mercy bursts in. not to tell me to get my act together. not to tell me to put it in perspective and think about starving kids in africa. but, in her cheeky way, she reminds me that i can lose it, really lose it, and still be loved.

she is boisterous and bold on these days, flamboyant with the hope and peace she starts spreading around when all else is frustration and pandemonium. yes, she is quite unruly. and i mean that in the best possible way.

i know they say any art form – be it writing, painting, singing – is 90 percent perspiration, 10 percent inspiration. they say you can’t wait for inspiration to strike, but that you have to work to bring about the inspiring moments.

this is all good and true. and i know what “they” (whoever they are) are trying to do. they’re giving we who fancy ourselves as artists a reality check. they’re helping us become consistent at turning out great art (or at least good art). in their very western, industrialized, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps way, they’re reminding us that anything worth doing is hard work.

but i think i’m on to something. you see, i’ve done the whole assembly line thing. i’ve cranked out over 50 cards in a few days’ time. but there was something missing, if only in my heart.

today, i realized i’ve figured out an alternative for myself to this task-master way of creating art. and it has to do with living in a constant state of awareness. awareness of the world around me. awareness of the nuances in a strangers face. awareness of a really mucked-up moment that becomes a vessel of grace and mercy. awareness of a blade of grass or a sunrise or the scent of jasmine in the summer air.

i don’t have the luxury of seven- or eight-hour days spent in my studio designing and crafting cards. my “perspiration” comes in taking care of my son and managing our home. i don’t even have the luxury of two hours in my studio most days. but i have found that a humble spirit attuned to my sphere – in the midst of broken-down washing machines, dirty dishes, trips to the grocery store – keeps me centered in a place of wonder all day long.

no, i don’t have to be in my studio to be at work. with a ratty notepad, a satchel full of fabric scraps, and a heart overflowing with appreciation, i find myself at work all day. but somehow it doesn’t feel like work at all.

if you’re looking for an inspiring card to give to one you love, please consider a pendrops couture card, found here, in my etsy shop.

what if all the things they say about you are wrong too?

what if this quiet, deep-down instinct in your gut is right?

what if you’re still a long way off and the one who loves you most comes running to you?

what if your messy, stinking, tattered and torn self is given a sacred ring and royal robe?

what if you don’t have to say a word to be known and held and loved?

what if all your missteps and pride and fear can be recycled for good?

what if you believed the truth about who you really are?

what if the raw, undiluted, unrefined you is called beloved?

these are questions i’ve been asking lately. these are questions that break me down to the core of my identity. and these are questions that inspired me to create a very simple pendrops card, born out of my own need to be constantly reminded of truth.

i hope the be*loved card inspires you too.

it’s been a rough day. no two ways about it. a bad therapy session. a tantrum-ing toddler. a hormonal shift. the perfect recipe for mental-spiritual-emotional calamity.

six o’clock brought with it the arrival of my husband from work and the chance to remove myself from the frustrated grasp of my mostly loving and kind little boy. after vacuuming the crushed toastie o crumbs in the living room, i took a few deep breaths, sighed a prayer for mercy, and sat down to catch up on one of my favorite blogs: rachel ashwell.

within a few minutes, i was in tears. the beauty rachel ashwell conveys through design and use of well-loved decor is unparalleled. but more than that, the permission she gives herself to explore and grow and fail is inspiring.

in her most recent post, she had this to say in closing:

“the more i step outside of what i know, the more mistakes i will make. but always it will be true.”

i botched so many moments today. i missed a lot of beauty and whole-ness, within and without. i was forced to come to terms with the ways i am very petty and angry, unkind and afraid. i have been stepping outside of what i know more than ever before. and i have been making mistakes. i am at my most uncomfortable, shooting from the hip at every turn, overwhelmed by dreams and disappointments, standing still and moving too fast. but i will say, with rachel, i will remain true to my core. the good, bad and ugly of it.

now, do i want to grow out of my own tantrum fits and all the ways i am small-minded and selfish? of course. as i step outside of what i know, old behaviors and patterns and worldviews, will i make mistakes along the journey? absolutely. but in the midst of that pile of coat hangers, i am given permission to remain true to my name, the one given to me. beloved.

and there, again, is grace.

so, why a card with a crocheted flower on the front? isn’t that a little too bulky for an envelope or the average mailbox?

perhaps it is a little indulgent, this crocheted flower attached to a 4 x 6 piece of recycled cardstock. maybe it is a bit oversized for a card. and, yes, there is a slight trick to sealing the envelope once it’s inside (double-sided tape works best). but i am in love with the carte de fleur crocheted collection.

these cards speak to me of beauty for beauty’s sake. they are lavish. they are big. and they speak loveliness and hope and delight on so many levels. just imagine getting this exquisite card in the mail. just the sheer joy of opening such an extravagant card. the beauty of the card itself would echo the sweetness of the sentiment inside. such a lift to the spirit!

how did you get the idea for this card?

i love to crochet. when i was a little girl – 9 or 10 – my Gram taught me to crochet. i still have the scrap of paper on which she wrote the instructions for crocheting a flower. “chain three, slip stitch, chain 3, slip stitch…” it says in her scrolly script.

i’ve made afghans and hats and scarves over the years, but nothing is sweeter than these little splashes of beauty adorning everything from hats to purses to satchels. one day as i was working in my studio on some cards, i just laid one of my crocheted flowers on a half-finished card. with the burlap, vintage muslin and organic cloth, it just fit. a button in the center of flower gave it the final touch it needed. a new card was born!

how do you make the carte de fleur crocheted collection?

i start by crocheting several flowers, so i have a good stock to choose from. i usually do this while watching So You Think You Can Dance or episodes of Parks and Recreation!

then i cut my fabric pieces – typically burlap, organic cotton cloth and my seemingly endless supply of vintage unbleached muslin picked up at an estate sale. every once in a while, i’ll use a scrap of vintage flour sack fabric or a scrap of upcycled upholstery fabric, but the burlap/organic cloth/muslin combo is such an excellent combo for the shabby elegant look i love.

i sew the fabric pieces together. then i stitch a vintage button onto the crocheted flower. i also sew a scrap of burlap or other sturdy fabric to the back of the flower in order to glue a locking pin back to the flower. this way, the flower can be taken off of the card and worn in countless different ways.

finally, i take the sewn fabric scrap, pin the crocheted flower to the fabric scrap, and adhere that entire piece to a 100 percent recycled kraft paper card.

why is this card so special?

the fact that you can carry a piece of this card with you always. that is what i absolutely love most about this card. i have so many cards that have been so lovingly given to me, but they are stashed in a box for lack of a better way to display them. with this carte de fleur card, you can take a piece of the card (the crocheted flower) with you and always remember the love and kindness of the one who sent it. the flower can adorn a belt, a lapel, a jacket cuff, a purse, a backpack, an apron, a skirt…the possibilities are endless.

i love that when you give carte de fleur, you are not just giving a card, you are giving a gift and a memory. you are giving your loved one a way to carry your love with them wherever you go.

please visit the pendrops couture etsy shop to find the carte de fleur card that’s just waiting for you!

why cle de porte?

the aisles are close and cluttered. my mom and auntie are talking quietly as they pick up chipped china plates and purple perfume atomizers. i am a couple booths behind, scouring mason jars and cheese boxes for skeleton keys. they are my favorite antique item.

i find one. it’s design is unique, sort of scrolly and ornate…not like the other more utilitarian skeleton keys i have already collected. i hold onto it. i have found my treasure. and a million daydreams about what this special key unlocks.

yes, i loved the heavy, metal skeleton keys i found on antiquing jaunts as a little girl. and i love them still. there’s a mystery about these old keys. what hidden door or secret passage might they lead to? what undiscovered wardrobe tucked in an attic might they open? what brass bound trunk might they unlock? not only does a key symbolize mystery for me, it speaks of potential and hope, excitement and possibility.

how do i make cle de porte?

i begin by selecting vintage and earth-friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton cloth, natural burlap and vintage unbleached muslin picked up at an estate sale. i cut these fabrics into scraps and sew them together on the 30-year-old sewing machine my mom passed down to me. i then cut a piece of twine, tie it around an unearthed skeleton key. finally, i wrap the twine around the card a couple times and adhere the fabric segment to the card.

why call it cle de porte?

cle de porte is french for “door key.” doesn’t everything just sound better in french? oui!

i love all the ways this card can be offered to dear ones. for special occasions like graduations, moving, job promotions, and retirement. for thank yous and encouragement, for hi theres and hellos. the cle de porte collection also offers a subdued masculine feel for father’s day, a husband’s birthday, or a boyfriend’s new job. so right for so many occasions. love this card.

you can find a handful of cle de porte handcrafted cards at my etsy shop.

cheers…

it’s hard to remember, right? because we don’t send notes the way we used to. but when we do, in these harried digital days, it makes a dent, doesn’t it? i mean, let’s not deny it: we are so over-stimulated, inundated, and isolated that to get a note in the mail stops us in our tracks.

but a note arrives. and it’s not your birthday. i don’t care who it’s from. someone took the time to put pen to paper, stick a stamp on an envelope, and trek to a post office. there’s something to that. something more than an email (and i’m sorry to say that, because i love email).

but a note is delivered to your mailbox. and it is swimming fiercely upstream in a sea of coupon booklets and airline reward offers for the person who previously lived at your address. yes, a note has come. but it’s not just a few sentences jotted on a piece of paper. it’s a lovely piece of stationery too. even the card itself conveys a message.

you glance over the design at first, then open the card and read. you then close the card and study the front again as the words roll around in your mind. and heart. you notice the many textures. you touch the filmy fabric and rugged burlap. you notice that the crocheted wool flower comes off if you ever want to wear it in your hair or pin it to your satchel. a lovely reminder of this moment you can always carry with you. but it’s not just this moment you’ll remember. it’s the love with which this card was sent. and the way your story intersects with the story of the one who sent it.

you set the card on your window ledge and bask in the love someone sent you.

call me an idealist, but that, my friends, is the experience i deeply hope pendrops couture cards brings to you.

please visit my etsy shop to find the card that’s just right for you. and for the ones you love.

cheers…