Beth Van 10/15/21 Beth Van 10/15/21

This Week in My Haven: Or Should I Say Month?

This week in my haven I finally have enough time to sit down and write a journal post for the first time in a month! I’m not complaining though. As much as I enjoy writing these posts, I enjoy sewing more and the reason I haven’t had time to post anything is because I’ve been busy sewing.

Beth Van 9/17/21 Beth Van 9/17/21

One Year

This week in my haven I’ve been thinking about how different things are now versus one year ago. Next week (September 22nd to be exact) marks the one year anniversary of opening the Haven Handmade shop. Even though I have a few more days to go before I can technically say I’ve been in business one year, I thought I’d share my reflections on how things have changed one year into this journey.

Beth Van 9/3/21 Beth Van 9/3/21

This Week in Our Haven: Back to School

This week in my haven was the first week of the school year. Joanna started second grade and is in school five days a week again. (I have very mixed feelings about this, but that’s another story.) Peter and I are also both back to teaching. Yes, you read that right! I have returned to teaching part time now that it seems like schools are fully open and intend to stay open, but I also fully intend to keep the Haven Handmade open. Haven Handmade has quite a lot going on actually, so keep reading to get the details!

Beth Van 7/30/21 Beth Van 7/30/21

Behind the Scenes: Free Motion Sewing

All of the new designs in the Haven Handmade shop feature something called “free motion sewing”. But to those who don’t sew this probably doesn’t mean much, so I’d like to share a little bit more about this unique sewing technique for today’s “behind the scenes” look at Haven Handmade.

Beth Van 7/16/21 Beth Van 7/16/21

New Product: Travel Drawing Set

I’m not sure about you and your family, but mine has been on-the-go a lot more lately than we have been in previous months. It feels so good to get out and go places and see people regularly again. It also means we’ve been driving a lot more. I started to notice a pattern every time I asked Joanna to get packed up to go in the car and be out of the house for a few hours. She would always end up putting the same things in a tote bag: a mask, book, water bottle, stuffed animal, notebook, and drawing supplies.

Beth Van 7/2/21 Beth Van 7/2/21

Behind the Scenes: My Sewing Room

Did you know that a tiny spare bedroom in the basement of my home serves as the workspace for Haven Handmade? It’s nothing too special to look at, but it’s functional, and I feel beyond lucky to have a whole room to myself for sewing and working. Keep reading if you’d like to see my sewing room and some of the things that make it special to me!

Beth Van 6/18/21 Beth Van 6/18/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 39

This week in my haven I have spent more time at my computer and less time at my sewing machine than usual as I try to make plans for the summer months. I want to make it as easy as possible to find Haven Handmade products, whether you are shopping locally or online, so I have been doing tons of outreach these last few days. A bit of news about that below...

Beth Van 6/11/21 Beth Van 6/11/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 38

This week in my haven I am getting ready for my second in-person handmade market and it’s a lot less stressful and overwhelming than the first one. I’m glad I did so much preparation before my first market because it is making me feel much more confident going into this weekend’s market. (Details below)

Beth Van 6/4/21 Beth Van 6/4/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 37

This week in my haven I thought the pace might feel a little slower, but I’m not sure it has. I am more motivated than ever to keep sewing after the positive feedback that I got at the Syracuse Artisan Market last week! I’m excited to keep branching out in new ways and I hope you’ll keep stopping by here to hear how things are going.

Beth Van 5/28/21 Beth Van 5/28/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 36

This week in my haven has been all about making the final preparations to sell at my first in-person artisans market. I’ll be going back to my small hometown of Syracuse, Indiana on Saturday to sell…

Beth Van 5/21/21 Beth Van 5/21/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 35

This week I’m in the mood to write a little different type of journal post for you. If you read this journal every week, you probably already know that books are an important part of our family routine and culture. We really believe in the power of a story to educate, entertain, inspire, and connect us. So what I’d like to write about today is some book recommendations to pair with a Huggable to create a perfect gift for a special young person you know.

Beth Van 5/14/21 Beth Van 5/14/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 34

This week in our haven has been quite busy. I was letting my brain run through all the different things we did this week as I was trying to think of a better way to describe it, and I realized just how much we did. In my sewing room…

Beth Van 5/7/21 Beth Van 5/7/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 33

This week in our haven has been good in an “everything’s normal” sort of way. We worked on our yard and garden plans and even enjoyed a snack on a restaurant patio last weekend. Peter and Joanna are both back to school in-person part time during the week. I am making plans to sell at some local craft markets too.

Beth Van 4/30/21 Beth Van 4/30/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 32

This week in our haven has been an in-between week. There are some weeks where my main focus is on sewing and others where it is on planning. This week was a mix of the two.

Beth Van 4/23/21 Beth Van 4/23/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 31

This week in our haven has been...something. It’s hard to sum up this week in a word or two. Work-wise, I’ve been busy creating a few custom orders (at least one of which will be available regularly). This week also had a few “first time since quarantine began last March” moments.

Beth Van 4/16/21 Beth Van 4/16/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 30

This week in our haven has been busy and productive. I had some extra special projects to work on this week and I’m excited to be at the end of the week so that I can share it with you. You can now find (and purchase) Haven Handmade products

Beth Van 4/9/21 Beth Van 4/9/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 29

This week in our haven has gone by really quickly, for me at least. I’ve been busy getting new items ready for the shop, preparing for Joanna’s birthday, getting back to our school and work routine, and enjoying some unseasonably beautiful weather. Between the weather and the new Huggable designs,

Beth Van 4/2/21 Beth Van 4/2/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 28

This week in our haven has been spring break, so I haven’t done much work for the shop. Because of that, this week’s journal post is going to be short and sweet. It was nice to have a lighter workload this week by choice, but I am looking forward to getting some new Huggable designs in the shop next week. Keep your eye out for them because they are super-duper cute!

Beth Van 3/26/21 Beth Van 3/26/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 27

This week in our haven we have been anticipating spring break and a welcome intermission from the school routine. Even though we are a family that generally thrives when we have a routine, it is nice to have a break once in a while too. I know I am looking forward to some quality family time this week.

Beth Van 3/19/21 Beth Van 3/19/21

This Week in Our Haven: No. 26

This week in our haven we saw the unpleasant side of spring in Chicago: cold, dreary, wet, and windy. But besides the weather and adjusting to the clocks changing it has been a pretty regular week. I am continuing to add to the Huggables line little by little.

Haven Handmade is a proud member of the Craft Industry Alliance.