Clover & Maple

I loved these watercolor paintings by our daughter so much that I framed them yesterday. This was all her; I just selected the cropped sections. It’s a great way to showcase her creativity around the house while also supporting her ongoing creative expression.

We are so grateful to share the news that we welcomed our son, Fionn “Finn” River Conneely into our lives on Dec 21 at 12:38pm, weighing 9lb 2oz. We’re settling in at home and helping our daughter, Rowan adjust to being a big sister.

Deeply grateful to our birthing and postpartum team at Alta Bates for a smooth repeat cesarean, and our doula support for their expertise and gentle compassion.

Special shoutout to our OG fertility team at who helped us begin this journey six years ago. Our family of four couldn’t be more precious to us and we’re so grateful to be mothers, aspiring to raise two good humans in this wild world.

More from the shop in good time. Happy new year, folks!

Xx J

Finished pictures of our seven month DIY backyard landscaping effort. I had a video, but in true me fashion, it was like 20 minutes long and too much for IG 🤦‍♀️. I’ll try and post before pics in a story soon to show the difference. It’s so nice to have it finished and ready to enjoy!

If I can recall everything, here’s a recap of what we did:
- demo of existing concrete pavers, rocks, shrubs, weeds (!!!), gate
- haul away three truckloads of dirt
- installed a massive French drain to mitigate flooding
- new retaining wall in the view corner to secure land and enable us to build the deck over it
- regraded the entire area where you see grass, walkways, plants, and the play area
- buried all the downspouts (connected to the French drain or carried away from the house to the road)
- laid landscape fabric under all the rock and mulch
- laid new organic topsoil to help grow grass
- installed an underground sprinkler system for the grass and drip irrigation for the plants
- over-seeded to grow grass
- lay gravel base, drainage rocks, decorative rocks and pavers for walkways
- planted evergreen trees, shrubs, succulents, Japanese maple and fruit trees
- installed low voltage lighting (wired 27 lights!)
- assembled the play set and anchored the legs in concrete
- built a retaining wall for the playground with 6x6s
- added a Douglas fir 6x6 to separate playground from grass
- added 4x4 Douglas fir posts to support the shade sails
- put on cedar top boards and facade boards to make the retaining wall safer (hiding the pressure treated 6x6s); routed edges and sanded
- built a new side gate
- built a new 3’ fence and gate to separate the dog run from the rest of the backyard
- and built a giant composite deck (thanks, Dad!)

All ready for the littles and some quality time outdoors (without fear of massive flooding like last winter)😁👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

First thing I’ve made since moving: custom floating shelves and a window ledge out of butternut for our kitchen.

I used this new wood sealant for the window ledge since it would be more exposed to water from . It gave it this really subtle sheen and has been exceptional at maintaining the natural beauty of the wood while repelling water. The shelves were sealed with furniture oil and wood wax, though I’m tempted to finish them with the same oil from because of its beautiful finished look.

This thanksgiving marks one year of living in our new home on the west coast. It’s been a busy year of mostly water mitigation projects, DIY landscaping, and minor improvements. In the coming days, I’ll walk you through everything we’ve done and share some news we’ve been keeping quiet…

Thanks for your patience! Moving your family and business across the country is no small feat.

I don’t get to spend a whole lot of time with my Dad now that we live in the U.S., but whenever I do I’m reminded of some of his best qualities: patience, kindness, compassion, determination, humor, gratitude, and cleanliness.

We flew him here to help us with some house projects this summer and it’s been so nice seeing him bond with his granddaughter. Between dance parties, pretend play, and little toddler building projects, their interactions are warming my heart. She’s following in her mama’s fiercely independent footsteps with some love and wisdom from grandpa and I along the way.

Here’s to rare quality time with family and our little emerging maker ❤️.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

Keep following my stories for updates on our backyard landscaping and garage renovations. With any luck, I’ll have the shop up and running again in time for the holidays.

I may not be back in the shop yet, but I still make time to appreciate all the trees here on the west coast: redwoods, eucalyptus, cyprus… it’s a shame that eucalyptus trees are such a fire hazard because they smell so divine. They are not native to the area; apparently they were imported from Australia. The towering redwoods steel the show though!

A few pics from Northern Cali where it’s still chilly and foggy on the coast and starting to get sunny and warm inland.

Teaching our little maker about tools with help from

🪵🪛🪚🔨🔩

Hello👋 — Yes, I’m still here and will hopefully have my shop set up again by summer. We’re either going to build another shed or create some space in the garage if we can find a way to contain the dust since we need the space for other things, too.

Settling in has been a little slow going, but we’re getting there. We had to deconstruct our entire life back east and are in the lengthy process of reconstructing it all again on the other side of the country. It just takes time and days feel so fleeting.

Somehow we managed to move to California the winter it decided to rain a ridiculous amount, which means we’ve been preoccupied with house stuff. We’re really knowledgeable about heating systems, drainage, and crawl space encapsulation now ;)

Our move also happened to coincide with a lot of economic volatility and a dystopian amount of tech layoffs. I've fortunately been spared thus far, but work has been really stressful and chaotic to say the least.

But here we are, we have a beautiful home, the sun graces us occasionally, the eucalyptus trees smell divine, we have some wonderful new friends and neighbors, and we are on noticeably more liberal ground with other families like ours. There’s a lot to keep you up at night as a parent, but today was a good day and we’re so grateful for each day we get to spend with this little nugget.

Thanks for your ongoing patience during this transition. And to the lovely person in NY who recently purchased a trivet from my online store, thank you for helping me feel like a small business owner again.

More from me again soon ❤️

**Update**

Hello, folks! Yes, I’ve been quiet on here for several months it seems. Life has been busy and I’ve been focused on being a loving mom to this incredible little human and keeping up with my full-time job.

After months of working unsustainably late hours, we have decided to relocate west to Northern California. We’ll be searching for a home with space for my shop so I can continue my woodworking side business. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting some tools and materials for sale - keep an eye on my stories. And if anyone local would like to purchase anything from my store while we’re still based in Virginia, you have about two weeks for local pickup 😉

Many, many thanks to my fellow local Alexandria makers for the memories and support, and to all those of you who have supported my small shop these past two years. We’ll see what creative making I can do with the new west coast wood species!

Stay tuned for updates once we’re settled. And please DM me if there’s anything you’d like to purchase (tool wise) or order from my shop.
Thanks! Xx Jacq

Hello from Canada 🍁

Heads up all weekend market goers! I’ll be attending Growing Pride at this upcoming Sunday from 12-5pm in Alexandria, VA.

I’ve been hustling this week to finish up a bunch of new things to bring with me. Here’s a glimpse of some of the work-in-progress.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

One of my two last 20x14” end grain walnut heirloom cutting boards. One for us. One as a gift from a very awesome customer to his best friend.

Lots happening in the shop this week as I prep for my first and possibly only maker event of 2022 + my summer restock!

Most of these have been tinkered away at for the last several months between motherhood and my full-time job. All that’s left (ha!) is sanding… lots and lots of sanding. Oh, and the fun part: oil and wax 😊

Finished with cutting board oil and wood wax.

After nearly three years of isolation at home, our new family of three escaped to the wilderness of Hudson Valley for a relaxing getaway among the trees.

It’s not easy finding a liberal retreat that welcomes families like ours. Hopefully more people find it within their heart to choose love over hate so safe spaces like this become more abundant.

During a stop on our drive, one man sitting at a table remarked, “lucky moms!” And his plural use of mom both shocked and delighted us. We’ve grown used to hearing, “sisters?” And well, I’m sure you know how we feel about that 🙄. It’s subtle, but gestures like this help us feel safe and instill a sense of hope that our daughter will grow up in a world where having two loving moms is more normalized.

Really excited to finally reveal this 16” round oak serving board for , whose patience and understanding were so appreciated while I transitioned back to work.

The oak is from . Cut to size and flattened on the with an surfacing bit. Rounded the edges with my router and table. Sanded smooth with and . Finished with cutting board oil and wood wax. Natural brown leather handle made with leather from .

Another rosewood coaster set ready for its new home alongside a walnut catch-all tray. Thanks for the support, .rianlim 🙌

I’ll have a few more rosewood coaster sets stocked in the online store soon, possibly 3-4. These will be the last of the rosewood ones before I refine my collection for the spring and summer.

Hi! 👋 It’s been a while with little time for making lately, but I did manage to finish up this cherry serving board this weekend. I’ve been tinkering away at it for the past few months whenever I had time. I’ll post it to the store shortly, but it’s currently available.

The void and cracks were filled with a smoky grey epoxy from and , sanded super smooth with and , and finished with . It always starts with a quality slab of wood and this beautiful piece of cherry came from .

More soon, folks. Just trying my best to juggle everything while I transition back to work and squeeze in as much quality time as possible with the little one. 🤗

⭐️ GIVEAWAY ⭐️

It’s one day until my first year anniversary for Clover & Maple!

As a thank-you to all of you for your support and encouragement this past year, I’m doing a little giveaway: a handcrafted knotted maple serving board along with a branded t-shirt and eco hat! (valued at $229 USD)

The contest is open to anyone in the continental U.S. or Canada and includes shipping to your home.

To enter:
- like this post
- follow me 😀
- visit my online store and sign up for my email newsletter (yes, I’m actually going to send these out in 2022 😅)
- share something you were grateful for 2021 in the comments below

The winner will be randomly drawn tomorrow (Friday 1/21) night at 8pm EST and announced via my stories. 8pm because we go to sleep early these days ;)

I’ll DM the winner for your t-shirt size and shipping address.

Thank YOU and good luck! 🍀🍁

xo J

Today marks one week until I return to work after my maternity leave [insert ALL the feels].

After having a baby and preparing for holiday markets and online shopping, my office had become a bit of a disaster (see last two photos). I invested in some organizational storage solutions and put things back in order so work felt a little more zen. Here’s the latest look at my home office that doubles as my small business office and music studio. With all the freezing cold temps and snow this winter, I’m really craving a garage or climate controlled shop. I think this would also make it easier to hop into the shop for short bursts of work since I currently need about 20-30 minutes of setup before I can begin work in my small indoor/outdoor shed.

Thoughts for 2022: larger climate controlled shop + more focused product collection.

If anyone has any advice or love they care to share with this working mama as she prepares to return to work full-time, my mind and heart are open ;)

For anyone waiting on custom orders, you have my deepest gratitude for your patience and continued support.

Xo J

A belated happy holidays to everyone! ❄️

It’s been a little quiet in the shop the past week and will be for the next few weeks while I spend some quality time with the family before my mat leave comes to an end at the end of January.

I have a few exciting ideas for a more focused approach to my making in the new year and can’t wait to share these new designs with you when I get back into things in the spring!

My one-year anniversary of starting this business is just around the corner (Jan 21st), so be on the lookout for something special.

A little soapbox moment: when it comes to paid family leave in this country, it’s both appalling and abysmal. Honestly, wtf America?! While it’s nothing like what I would have received back in Canada, I am really grateful to for providing me with six months to transition into motherhood and meaningfully bond with our daughter. Even after we put her to sleep, I still find myself looking through photos from the day. Being a mom is the greatest joy of my life. It’s exhausting and the pandemic has led to more isolation than I would have imagined or hoped for during this time, but she’s everything to us! ❤️

Thanks to everyone who’s given my account a follow this past year or purchased one of my handmade items - I appreciate every one of you and look forward to another year of making and building community in 2022!

Stay safe,
Jacquelyn

Holiday sale! Save 10% on my remaining inventory of tealight holders, catch-all trays, cedar and walnut trivets, and tri-blend cotton t-shirts. Today only!

Here’s what’s available:
- x2 cedar “stone” tealight holders
- x1 walnut tealight holder
- x2 maple tealight holders
- x1 rectangle walnut tray
- x2 rectangle maple trays
- x1 round maple tray
- x2 round walnut trays
- x2 square ambrosia maple tray
- x3 cedar trivets
- x1 walnut trivet
- lots of t-shirts in all sizes

Link to store in bio. Discount automatically applied at checkout. My sincere thanks for your support… honestly, those little sale notifications really make me smile!😊

Stay safe this holiday season, however you celebrate! 🎄

Finished up the cherry live-edge coffee table tonight! Here are some pics of the table nestled in her new home with a wonderful client-turned-friend.

Huge thanks to Sean and Ronda for the beautiful cherry slab!

Cherry slab
Epoxy-filled knots
Finish furniture butter
Legs

Finished up the last of my limited series maple tealight centerpieces tonight! This is four of four in a unique collection and it’s headed off to a good friend as promised before the holidays.

The wood started as a large curved maple branch that I ‘liberated’ from the mulcher when two trees (one maple, the other chestnut oak) were being cut down by a builder across the street. After watching from the window, I got up the nerve to walk across and ask if I could have some of the wood. To my surprise, they were like, “take as much as you like.” I started with a few small logs and then, before I knew it, I had a modest harvest of logs covering our front lawn without really thinking through how I was going to mill them. Safety gear, a chainsaw mill, hours of effort, and a broken big toe later, I decided to give up on the idea of milling my own wood and brought the logs to a local sawyer who milled them into 1” and 2” slabs for me. I sealed the ends, bought a pile of “stickers” (wood strips to allow air to pass through the slabs), wood palettes as a base, some corrugated roofing to create coverage from the elements, a moisture reader, and then air dried the slabs for a year before I started working with them.

While I love the idea of upcycling urban trees (especially ones that are wrongfully cut down), I do think this type of work is best left to the pros… and then I can focus on the making aspect 😊.

I do enjoy tealights though, both for personal use and the craft of making them, so they’ll no doubt be making an appearance again in 2022. I may have also ambitiously purchased a bunch of soy candle making stuff earlier this year, so I have some ideas for that as well 😉🕯.

Wood: maple from Alexandria, VA
Finish: furniture butter

Get ready for the big board sale this Friday! Save 20% off my remaining inventory of handmade serving and cutting boards. I’ve got walnut, maple, ambrosia maple, cherry, and chestnut oak available in a range of sizes and styles.

The boards will be automatically discounted at checkout, no code necessary. Feel free to scroll through the photos to see what’s available or visit my online store for more details. Link in bio.

The sale starts at 12:00am EST Friday, December 10th. I offer free local pickup, $2.50 local delivery within a 6 mile radius, and shipping across the U.S., Canada, EU, and UK. I can have your purchase shipped same-day or the following day if it’s a late order.

Thanks in advance for your support and happy holidays! ❄️

I have a few sets of entirely handmade and hand-painted maple and walnut coasters still available from hometown holidays, featuring earth friendly paint and finish from . They come in hexagon, round, and I have one set of square left.

I can’t say enough positive things about these paints and their natural aesthetic - I also love that they are environmentally friendly and non-toxic, a must for my household! The finishing cream is the perfect companion to hand-painted coasters, as it protects them from watermarks while also maintaining a natural matte finish.

They are currently on sale - today only - for 10% off (no code required). Get them while I still have some available if you’re interested 😊 - many, many thanks to all of you for your support and to for the incredible products!

Happy holidays! 🌲

The first promo for tomorrow’s sale is the Bolivian rosewood coasters I recently finished making. They feature two 1/2” round cherry inlays, two opposing rounded edges, and cork bottoms. They’ve been finished with to bring out the beautiful rosewood grain and protect against watermarks.

Bolivian Rosewood is an exceptionally hard and heavy wood and the grain is stunning!

The coasters are sold as a set of four for $45. I currently have three sets available and wood inventory to make three additional sets, but of three instead of four (if the existing ones sell out). These are a limited run, so get them while I have them if they spark your interest!

Link to my store is in my bio.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to support my little wood shop yesterday during at !

When you spend hours upon hours handcrafting wooden goods in your little shop and then you’re greeted with love at these small local markets, it’s an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience. Thank you!!!

I’ll be updating my online store with the remaining inventory and will post an update here shortly. If you’d like anything custom made prior to the holidays, definitely get in touch soon, as my shop time is more limited these days with the little one. Also, if there’s anything you’d like that you see in these photos, please DM me and I’ll make sure to save them for you.

The Alexandria and greater DMV maker community is amazing. So grateful to be among you all! Same goes with this IG community of makers - happy holiday season to you all! ❤️🌲 ❄️

Come on out to today from 12-5pm and shop small this holiday season. I’ll be there along with dozens of other local Alexandria makers!

I’ve been working hard on some new coasters and tealights featuring earth friendly paints and finishes. Love their stuff! It was a full on family business last night, as my wife and mother-in-law helped me twine and tag all of these during the wee hours while little Rowan was sleeping.

If you’re not local to Alexandria or unable to attend the event, stay tuned for product updates to my online store - I’ll be updating my inventory for the holidays and offer shipping across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe.

This thanksgiving, I’m most grateful for our daughter and this community, both of which ground my life with meaning and joy.

Last thanksgiving, she was merely a tiny seed of hope, growing inside of me, our fifth attempt at healthy pregnancy after two painful losses. Today, we got to spend the morning conversing in baby babble while I looked at her in awe, smiling and full of life.

At six weeks pregnant with her, I lost my job and turned to woodworking as therapy to help recover my self-confidence. You’ve collectively helped me feel seen and valued. You’ve helped me reconnect with the maker inside and embraced my learning journey along the way. Thank you!

And to JB, my fellow , thanks for the added sense of community, both as a new parent and an evolving woodworker.

Happy thanksgiving, y’all! 💛🍁

Spent a few hours prepping some boards for coasters yesterday. Cut them into sections with the miter saw and then split them in half to approx. 1/2” boards with the table saw. Whoa, the table saw makes me dang nervous! 😳 I didn’t film yesterday, but if I had, you would have seen me jumping up and down to shake off my nerves from those cuts 😂.

I’ve got curly maple, walnut, and rosewood. I’ll be painting patterns on the maple with and finishing them up all with some of the new wood finishes from . Stay tuned!