Photo Shoot Special!

I believe the highlight of my business is meeting all the wonderful, creative, fun and inspiring people I get to meet!  A few weeks ago Stephanie came over to get some wool for some props she was making for her business, Stephanie Hyde Photography.  She asked if we ever let people use the studio for photo shoots and I told her no one had ever asked, but that she was welcome to come and shoot away!

She is having a special until the end of the month ~ $50.00 for a photo shoot! check out her blog HERE! She does a beautiful job and is such a delightful person!

Here are a few of the pictures she took on Monday:

Beautiful photos and a beautiful mama-to-be!

Admiration

This post is l o n g overdue!  It's a story that happened back in December of 2010.  I made brief mention of it on our family blog and never took the time to get the photos uploaded. I have finally finished uploading them. With the class our guild had with Kerry Green this past week, I was inspired to share this.  It seems many of us have fallen in love with embroidery and embellishing wool projects.  As you will see, Sally should wear a crown in this arena. She is a master at it!

Mark & I have made several pilgrimages to Boston. We love it back there. We love the American History, the quaint architecture, the amazing restaurants and my family roots from the New England area. My mom grew up about an hour south of Boston. This December Mark attended a conference there and we went with our dear friends. It was their first trip to Boston and we had a blast seeing it with new excitement.

Months before the trip I was doing some poking around online to see what was going on while we would be back there. To my surprise and delight I discovered one of my favorite artisans, Sally Mavor, would have some of her work on exhibit at Danforth Museum near Boston and she would be there doing a book signing while we were there! What a treat that day was! My friend Stacey & I got ourselves train tickets to Framingham and after one wrong turn and a walk through a dicey neighborhood, we got ourselves turned around and enjoyed the sweetest afternoon. Photos do not do justice to her incredible work. Seeing it firsthand was remarkable and I was even quoted in a local newspaper article!

We looked around the gallery while we waited for her lecture to begin.  It was so  captivating to study the beautiful three dimensional illustrations!  They were incredible! 

She was very warm and gracious as she chatted with us and signed books.

It was so fun to listen to her talk about her inspiration and the journey this project took her on.

If you have a few minutes - check out this link on Sally's blog.  It will give you a peek into her studio and her thoughts.

Stitching With Kerry

Busy days getting kits ready and searching for a rainbow of threads.

 

Our guild had visiting artist Kerry Green teach a sweet class on embellishing. We began our individual creations of these cute Blossom Sewing Tucks.

Getting side-tracked admiring Kerry's beautiful bag and bucket!

A few of us brought little samplers we were working and soaked up Kerry's wonderful advice.

Everyone enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and found the rhythm of our stitching. There was a little salad buffet for lunch and great company as we stitched.

Here are a few close ups for reference as you ladies finish up your projects. We'll be excited to see the finished sewing tucks and your smiling faces!

Thanks Kerry for a wonderful class and for your enthusiasm and patience!

So Many Projects...

...So little time! I guess I better get myself more organized!  I really can't believe this month is half way over.  We even get an extra bonus day - but I am the lucky one who has an appointment to have a root canal done that day. Yippee.  The studio has been well used this month.  Lots of wool dying and project days with friends, sleep overs with cute little grand kiddos, and hours of pondering and sketching going on.

 

 

Lisa taught us some fun new embroidery stitches to embellish our wool projects with. 

We are enjoying them so much!

 We sure know how to make a creative mess!

   
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I'm excited to present the latest pillow slips for Needles and Friends! I have enjoyed creating these each month and I am thinking

about putting a little book together with the patterns.
Two more projects to go! 

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"Nesting"

A new woolie project designed for a retreat I am 
teaching for Peace By Piece next month. 

And...if all goes well, we will be having an Spring Open House 

in the studio next month...more info to come.

2012 Color of the Year

PANTONE announced the color of the year for 2012. Their choice is Tangerine Tango (17-1463) which according to their press release, is ‘a vivacious, enticing hue’ that will ‘provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward’. “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.” As with their Color of the Year choices of Mimosa (a yellow) in 2009, Turquoise (blue) in 2010, and Honeysuckle (pink) in 2011, we can expect to start seeing a lot of orange in fashion and interior design in the new year.

Orange happens to be one of my very favorite colors!  Lucky me :)

What do you think? Will it be popping up in your home and wardrobe?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The measurements and mini tutorial for the base pillow will be coming soon!