Friday, August 29, 2008

Denver, 30 January 2008
Check out the two cute faces in the crowd, lower right,
my 12 year-old twin nieces, Lilly and Charlotte.
They were thrilled to be so close to Barack Obama.
"He shook Lilly's hand and smiled at Charlotte."

Denver, 28 September 2008
so exciting
everybody is talking about the possibility, the hope, the change
and drawing parallels to JFK and 1960

I'm an Obama Mama
my pocket book

Found this pin from 1960 at my father's house this winter
same excitment today

Thursday, August 28, 2008

In 1996 a group of people in my town sought to bring more diversity to town.

A Better Chance (ABC) was established in 1963 
and recruits minority high school students
 for placement in independent and public high schools.
The Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, is a graduate of the program. 
He says: "This organization starts from the premise that talent resides in every American Community - and then puts that talent in the way of opportunity.  
It's as simple and as powerful as that.  And it's transforming too - 
for 13 and 14 year olds like I was and for the institutions we pass through".

This is the original ABC House in Wilton.
Our program was initially for boys.  It has grown to 8 boys.
As the program expanded the boys moved to a bigger house.
This year 4 girls were added to the program.
This is where they will live.

A group of talented individuals worked hard 
to update this house for the girls.
Here are some of the memento boards and picture frames 
that I donated for the girls 
and for the resident family.

Command station in kitchen

fun dotty board and frame

a bright and cheerful Sea Cloth board and Sis Boom frame
(Sis Boom designer Jennifer Paganelli is also a Wilton resident)

yellow & white checks

more checks 

fun zebra
I will add a picture of the girls soon.
They moved in last week and started school on Monday.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

After you take a peek at more of my new fall line below
pop over to Annechovie
where you can read an interview she did with me.
My first interview. Wow!
Thanks for the pop Anne!

Handsome rather than pretty styles 
from the Fall 2008 line

Rosewood and maple faux bois 


Sophisticated green and browns

The green and white Quadrille fabric
was created for the 12 board members of the 
2008 NYC Garden Conservancy Spring Luncheon Committee

Red cane fabric 
two views
Anna Griffin fabric



Anna Maria Horner's Up All Night Garden Party fabric
with velvet

More Anna Griffin fabric
I have noticed  the left geometric design style
 in a lot of fabrics this year.
Quadrille, mentioned above, and Anna Griffin below


Two handsome navy frames both with velvet ribbon
Kaffe Fasset on left - called paperwieghts
and a batik on right


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

More of the Fall 2008 line-up

fancy fruits
good n'plenty
remember those lozenge shaped licorice candies?

happy gingham check
with the standard top-stitch or the skull and crossbones

happy discs
lifesavers and decals

love these colors
celadon green and robin's egg blue
the ribbon has both colors


Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hello friends.
I am back from a wonderful two week break from my usual routine.
It was such a boost to my spirit and energy.
We started with some fun at the beach.
The weather was glorious.
Thanks to Jim for letting us stay at his house.
It was PERFECT.

the waves were fun

the water temperature was just right

then the jelly fish arrived


we bicycled everywhere
and performed a very interesting experiment -
more on that later in the week

  I got all sorts of projects done after
 a few restful days at the beach.  

The studio is shaping up - more organization, less clutter. 
 I even hired three great helpers. 
 I am so happy about this development. 

Lots of new frames in production.

Cake Rock Beach fabric designed by Joelle Hoverson

Did you know that Joelle is the founder of Purlsoho?
Joelle's sister Jennifer handles all of the fabric from the West Coast.

And did you know that Joelle was senior style editor 
at Martha Stewart Living?

I listen to books on tape while I work on the frames.
One of the books I listened to this summer was
The Martha Rules; 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You
Start, Grow or Manage a Business
Martha writes about her experiences and other entrepreneurs such as Joelle.

It was fascinating to learn about Joelle Hoverson and how she built her business, 
purlsoho, a hip yarn store in NYC.
If you have not been to purlsoho or heard of it - 
check out the EYE CANDY on the web after you finish reading this post.
especially for those of you with fabric or yarn fetishes! (like me)
It is a worthwhile book to read if you are building a business.
 
Remember the woodgrain frames I showcased in early August.
Check out the pink woodgrain - fun
here it is in light pink
and a wild and bright fuchsia (not the best photo quality) 
The frames look great in person!
Faux bois is everywhere, on everything.
I just replaced my faux bois bag from FLEE
I liked it so much I bought the exact same one for this fall/winter.
I use a FLEE bag all summer too.

I will have lots of new frames on Etsy in the next few weeks

You can also find my frames in these wonderful boutiques

Sea Beans, Wilton, Connecticut
Mrs. Monogram, Bedford, New York
M Milestones, New Canaan, Connecticut
All She Wrote, Chicago, Illinois
All She Wrote, Winnetka, Illinois
The Fuchsia Frog, Birmingham, Michigan

The business is growing.
I have a design patent pending for the frames.
All very exciting.

If you know a store that I should pitch to, please let me know.

You can always contact me directly about purchasing frames.

Monday, August 11, 2008


taking the road less traveled
will be back in a bit
toodle-oo

Friday, August 8, 2008


I am very excited to be on a quasi-vacation,
from the office, that is....
got lots of work ahead me for mrr design.
Check out my new fabrics.

Anyone with a fabric fetish like me knows about purlsoho.
Purl has a beautiful website with delicious yarns and fabrics.
Cake Rock Beach, pictured above, was designed by Joelle Hoverson, the founder of Purl.

Here is my expanded faux bois collection. 
I highlighted the maple and rosewood last week.
The pink pine, fushcia and light pink, are fabulous. 
I was so excited when they arrived - all the way from Nebraska and Oregon. 
and the red cane (not quite faux bois, but ...) 

Remember Good & Plenty candy?
that is the name of the two middle fabrics pictured below.
Can you just taste the old-fashioned soft and chewy licorice candy, 
first made in 1893!

The other two dots are fun.
The elongated dots on the right remind me of the 
 double oo in the word look
that my daughter would color to look like eyes
when she was young. 
Isabel's relatives thought it was very funny 
when they received a thank you note with the 
colored-in look eyes.
Wish i could manipulate the computer to color the oos
 
fancy fruit will make great frames with pink or brown saddle stitch ribbon

and my geometrics 
The fabric on the right is by Anna Maria Horner
called
up all night garden party
Was she up all night designing with all the colors of her garden swirling in her head?

some handsome damask and some very mod damask 

busy few weeks ahead 
stay tuned for lots of new frames

I always order too much fabric;
too many choices for my customers.
But I can't resist.
Still more to come from Heather Bailey,
who has a wonderful new collection.

ps.  i almost forgot - today is a very good day
8-8-08
A very good number, 
so lucky that the Chinese changed the Olympics to start today,
precisely at 8:08 pm on 8-8-08.

something about those double oos
around and around - no end - continuous loop
great if it's a loop of good fortune!
I think there is a lot of good karma in the loop.
 enjoy

talk about the power of 8 in her life!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

happy feet

comfy feet & fashion feet

enjoy your weekend

Friday, August 1, 2008

the last of the birthday photos for awhile

the two youngest siblings have finally made it to the blog
i have been searching for this picture

This posting is for my darling brother CV
who really wants me to stop bothering him with all this blog stuff
"can I be taken off the blog list NOW" says he.
Not a chance, how else could I send you such a BIG birthday greeting

happy birthday kiddo

and Jeanne - you thought you escaped the blog...
I mentioned Jeanne, almost named Indepedence, on her bday, 
4th of July,
but did not have the photo.