Meg Staley Handmade is moving...

TO A NEW ADDRESS!!!!! it's simpler: Megstaleyhandmade.com. That's it! come visit me now!!!

Staley/Gretzinger does the Red Carpet.

My brilliant hubby, Jerry Gretzinger, sewed up this fabulous area rug and when the finishing touches were complete today, it went right outside our front door. I love the new welcome mat with our goofy painted entry fence and pots. But if I leave it there, Clarence the lamb will eat it, no doubt, so back inside it goes.....

SOLD OUT

4th of July weekend wiped us out.

Moonset at the beach

The universe gives us gifts all the time, but rarely are we paying attention. Last night Mother Nature wouldn't let us ignore her. A wonderful dinner with new friends and old on the beach at Leland, Michigan yielded this photo and a forever moment. Every body, every morsel, every dappled view was perfect. Thankyou.

This is the end of our road

and beach days are finally here. My son, Lucky Gretzinger, took this photo a couple of years ago and I asked him if I could steal it for the blog, because it personifies summer in Leelanau County.

Our farm sits in the middle of Leelanau Peninsula which juts out into Lake Michigan. Most of the shoreline here is federally protected and managed as Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Miles and miles of white sand beaches are available for all to enjoy. Just a bike ride away!!

Fireworks Finale!

Explosions of color going every which way, this tunic just made me smile! I hope someone at the Magic Jacket in Fish Creek, Wisconsin takes it home for a terrific 4th of July celebration...that's where this one-of-a-kind headed earlier in the week. (Good grief, can't these people at Meg Staley Handmade find a real model?)

Clarence the lamb arrives at Fake Rock Farm!!!

It's been a busy couple of days here at the farm. Our dear friends, Susan and Edgar (that's him wearing a hat in the background,) have been visiting from Maine and today Jerry and Edgar took delivery of Clarence, our new 3-month-old lamb. He's a little shell-shocked, missing his flock and wants to charge/play with Sugar, who can't decide if Clarence is a playmate or a terrorist. Even the turkeys seem to be curious about the newcomer, though when Jerry attempted to bed him down in the chicken coop, birds of all feathers went up in arms (wings?), and Clarence was retired to the old granary. Needless to say, a solar-powered fence has been ordered in a hurry and our neighbors are bequesting one of their baby boy goats to keep Clarence company during his stay with us.

Meg Staley Handmade has taken a back burner to all the 2- and 4-legged excitement. Sheep today, clothes tomorrow....

The hills are alive.....

with DAISIES! EVERYWHERE!

Longer Patchwork dress

I know. It's kind of old school. But I love how easy and free the shape is (without the self-consciousness of bellies and other misbehaving body parts hanging out!) In the summer, nothing's easier to pop on and this dress goes over crop pants, leggings or bare legs with equal aplomb. As an artist I get to play more with fabric juxtapositions, print accents and such. Right now I'm into an old botanical sketch of a kiwi cross section. Crisp black on white. Ahhhhh... summer.

Martha Stewart Eat Your Heart Out!

Shabby Chic??? Jer captured our (ahem, UNUSUAL) decor in the morning light, after I'd been possessed by a rare, but fruitful desire to clean the house. The big window bed couches are covered in our knitted rugs piled high with Staley/Gretzinger patchwork/applique pillows.

The crazy blooms on the right is flowering RHUBARB!

Meg Staley Handmade has a cousin in Montepulciano, Italy!

My sister, Lynn Staley, has a great eye and loves clothes, design, and all things artistically quirky just as much as I do. Must be the DNA...Here she is in Montepulciano modeling a local designer's clothes so her friend, Gail Anderson, could snap a picture for me. She was right. I loved it. Unapologetic color. One of my mottoes.

FYI this designer's website is: http://laboratoriolavgon.it/immagini.html. Gee, maybe I should have a website..... Nope, not ready to be a grownup yet.

Unbelievable Bug/Bird

Is it a Bug? or a Bird? This was the question as I weeded a garden bed today. Adrian O'Barr, our caretaker/adoptive son this year, came over to look and couldn't decide either. It was about 3" across and its wings were a blur of beating stripes. Research yielded this photo and a name: White-lined Sphinx Moth. Wow.

printed summer smock

The final product. Loose, easy, pretty. (model is available and free, therefore my only option...)

My print table in the afternoon light

Someday I'll be a real photographer and know how to capture the beautiful nuances of light and shade in our barn. Henry, my lighting genius son, will set me up with the appropriate gear to capture this atmosphere. 'Til then, I'll have to fake it. I often get an idea for a mini-group of pieces based on a pile of fabrics and garments that look pretty together. After cutting out the parts for the garments, I print them flat on the table, one by one. Loved the way these printed parts formed a sort of plaid with the slant of lights coming through the barn siding.

Meg (Finally) gets back on the Blogging Horse at Fake Rock Farm

Yes, I know this doesn't look like a piece of clothing, but....my handiwork, nonetheless. I'm out at our farm in Maple City, Michigan, in the heart of beautiful (really!) Leelanau County.

We have 55 fowl of all varieties and the prolific egg production demanded a shingle be "hung" to ease the Staley/Gretzinger consumption bottleneck... We've met a lot of new neighbors subsequently. Nice folks looking for yolks. (Couldn't help it.)

I've promised myself and Jerry that I'll blog daily from here on out. Now that the printing/cutting table is set up in the barn and our machines are oiled in the sewing shed, I'm good to go. Life is very interesting up here on the farm, so there's a lot to document and muse about.

xoxo Meg