The paper bride

~ The Paper Bride ~

A little while ago a few of us hutch minds were discussing ideas about story telling  and in particular the story of our company's original inspiration "Elsa".  She was the grandmother of our company founders Krys and Suzanne and a seamstress of dresses, gowns, and just about anything she could think up.  I wanted to come up with a very special object that married her family connection to "fishing" with her passion for creating beautiful dressess.  Pictured here is the bride that I constructed out of many old nautical charts.   Being a fan of the competitive design show "Project Runway" I couldn't help but pretend I was in one of there crazy "think outside of the box" challenges.   I took many photos of this project and I'm sure there will be many posts to follow.  If you notice the cut out fishing boat casting it's net in the train of the dress,  I like to think she is trying to catch a good one.

Play at Hutch.

~ Play at Hutch ~

There has definitely been a lot of changes at Hutch lately and one of the very best is the emphasis that we are putting on idea of "Play".  The magical quality that a child's eye and imagination possess has always been at the core of what we have tried to express with what me make and how we present those things.  I think that this shows better now that it ever has before and especially in the rooms of Hutch.  Below is a shadow that is cast on the window sill in our play porch from the childlike drawings of bunnies on our window glass.  I realize it is a small thing that might easily go unnoticed but I always find magic in these little moments of discovery. 

Krys, who is like Hutch's professional picker has been very busy combing our area thrift and vintage shops and finding some great treasures. The porch is full of vintage games that fill the older customers with nostalgic memories of "play" and still  effect children with the playtime feeling.  So much so that on one occasion a little girl was playing quietly while her mother browsed the entire shop for a good long time and when they had both finally left I discovered that every little bunny in every room had been magically moved into one of the dollhouses on the porch and they were having a fun old time. Very cute.

One of the very fun things we have done lately is put a hopscotch game on the floor in our side porch.  By using tape it isn't a permanent addition to the floor and hopefully will easily remove in the future when we think of some other fun thing.

And it's not just for decoration either.  It gets used frequently by young and old.  Sometimes I think the older ones, look at the floor and hop along in their minds remembering their own childhood experience.

To end this post I want to share something I discovered one day written on our little child's easel located on the play porch.  It made me smile.  The little girl that wrote it returned a week later to happily discover it was still there and hadn't been erased.

There will definitely be more playful posts to come.

DIY Paper Cut Project

"Oval Flower Window Frame"

At the studio we have a long side porch lined with windows.  I knew that these windows would be a great place for an eye catching visual element that could grab the attention of passers-by. I began making tiny birds in wire cages that I could hang in every window. To draw more attention to them I decided to frame them in a oval paper cut.  It was spring so flowers popped into my head immediately. 

Well they did attract customers in to the shop but The birds were hardly noticed.  Everyone wanted to know if the paper cut outs were for sale.  I am happy to announce that a pattern and instructions for the "Make It Yourself" paper cut project.

  

Now available for purchase- $8. and is listed in our "shop" section on our blog. Stop by or just give me a ring at 360-466-2303.