Hello friends - I have big news! 

First, I've decided to take a creative sabbatical for the summer. After four years of running my business, I simply need some time to play with ideas, organize my thoughts, and rest my hands. 

Second, I've made the decision to begin working under my own name. When I re-open my shop in the late summer, it will have more of a focus on my printmaking and so it feels right to sell my work under my own name.

I'll be writing about my sabbatical as well as other thoughts on my new site, samantha-hirst.com. I would love to have you join me there. As always, I appreciate your support (and comments) more than you know. See you in my new space. Samantha

Hey, hello there, how are you? Lately, our little family of four seems to be running from morning 'til night every day and we joke about pushing the pause button for a few hours. But today is one of those magical days - when noone has any after school activities or extra work to get done and the weather just happens to be gorgeous. So, we're headed to the beach for the afternoon/evening for a much needed pause. 

I have so much to show you, but it will have to wait until next week, after I've had my feet in the sand and my first ice cream of the Spring/Summer. I hope it's gorgeous where you are too!

This week / I'm eating ice cream at The Penny Ice Creamery / reading My Life in France (because I've never read it) / watching baseball games / shopping for new sandals / adding houseplants to my office.

Lovely links / nice knitting patterns / a gorgeous old baker's rack / a pretty dress that's WAY outside my budget / lovers, by zachochani / what I want for Mother's day (apparently I'm a cozy entertainer) hint, hint honey

Hi there! Some of you might remember this photo from the last time I grew an avocado plant. That first attempt was mildly successful - the plant grew tall and had a few leaves, but I forgot to cut it back when the first leaves came and I never actually potted it, so after about a year, it finally gave up. I'm trying it again and this time, I'll be sure to take better care of it. 

This week / I'm reading The Tipping Point / watching our weeping cherry tree bloom / rooting for my son at his baseball games / eating a dutch baby.

Lovely links / tomato soup / prints by ken christensen / draw a stick man (for kiddos)

Hello there. I took this photo on my way into work this morning. (blurry, yes, but I love those blossoms) The trees outside my office are full of happy, sing-songy birds which make the walk into the office a little more delightful.

This week / I'm reading Rose, My Life in Service to Lady Astor / listening to the birds who want me to stay away from their babies whenever I walk into our courtyard / hoping that the heavy rains will wait to fall until Saturday / making new pillow covers for my sofa.

Lovely links / a paper mache project I'd like to try / the perfect coffee cup / elias & grace (for kiddos) 

See you next week; I'm hoping for some sunshine because I have loads of photos to take.

I know...it's not quite Spring yet, but I've been busy with some cleaning projects outside in the yard and here in the house too. In my studio, I'm making room for new products and ideas. In an effort to get back to my original love for printmaking, I'm going to begin selling prints and will be discontinuing a few of my sewn items (read: sale coming soon!).

As I work on new ideas and make decisions about what items to keep in my collection, I keep reminding myself that simple is beautiful. So, one day I sat down and drew and carved the print above. I kept one for myself and it will be the first print listed in my shop. I'm not planning to make other prints with words, but I couldn't resist just this one. 

Happy weekend everyone.

Hello friends; I hope you all had a great week!

Phew! After a number of large wholesale orders and the event at West Elm last weekend, I simply needed a bit of a break, so I gave myself the week off. The event was really fun and I was able to introduce some new products which I'm really excited about. As the year progresses, I will be adding more prints and paper goods to my shop and if you take a look at the photo above, you might be able to spot a few of them.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

I'm very excited that I've been invited by sfgirlbybay, West Elm and Etsy to sell my work at this event on Saturday, February 25th. I'm working away in the studio this week making many old favorites as well as a number of new things to debut at the show. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello! 

Here’s a complete list of sellers. You can rsvp here, so they have some idea of headcount. It should be a really fun event!!

where: west elm, emeryville
5602 bay street • emeryville • 94608
when: saturday, february 25th, 1 – 6pm
rsvp: west elm facebook

silk brooch from bstudio

Last fall I took a few photos of some tree branches from our yard and drew this print. I finally had the time to finish carving the print earlier this week and just did the first test print. It needs a bit of cleaning up, but I really love the way it turned out. Now, I just need to figure out what type of tree this is so that I can name the print!

My favorite of all the Valentine's crafts I saw this year is the DIY elbow patch above.

I hope you all get to spend today with some of the people you love. Our kids are head over heels for this holiday so we try to make the day fun and special - and I've been known to enjoy a box of chocolate. 

More: my Valentine's post from 2011 and 2010.