ho-hum

oh my it is a grey and dreary morning here in south eastern PA. it's too dark to take any new photos for the blog, so i'm posting a snapshot i took last saturday, after breakfast:


i wish all this rain was snow! the snow from last weekend stuck around for maybe two days and then it was gone. i've been feeling really cheated by the winter so far this year; more snow days, please!

my friend jill brought me these beautiful tulips:



i love the little lines of red on them.

now back to stitching for me... several custom orders in the works and another couple of sets of L.O.V.E. letters for terrain.
have a good weekend, all!

while speaking of love...

here are a couple of pieces that i did a few months ago for one of my favourite client couples:


last year, donna contacted me and we worked to create this piece (my first 8 x 10) for her husband as an anniversary gift.
well, this year, wasn't i pleased as punch (and swooning over the sweetness) when her husband contacted me about doing a piece for donna this year. (how sweet, right?!)


(jason's gift to donna - lyrics from "you've made me so very happy" - the lou rawls version.)

just wait -- it gets even sweeter. while jason (husband) and i were working out the design and details of the piece to be made for donna, donna contacted me about getting another (surprise) piece for jason. HOW STINKIN' RAD IS THAT?


(donna's gift to jason - lyrics from "you're the the best thing" by the style council.)

and that both pieces feature such totally awesome lyrics makes me wish that donna and jason lived closer so that we could be friends.


i love getting to do projects like this!

a lot like love

my l.o.v.e. letters have hit the (virtual) shelves of terrain!


i like how, on a very stark white background, they show/suggest how they can be arranged on a wall stacked, or horizontally.


(they're actually stitched on linen, not canvas...)

here they were stitched up and ready to be trimmed:


trimmed, labels getting affixed:


and here's how i had them bundled for shipping:



do you love them? i'm not sure if they're being sold in the store -- this might be an item that's only available through terrain online. i'll check today -- the store is only a couple of miles away (yes, i'm lucky) and i've got errands to run in the shopping center nearby anyway. so perhaps there'll be an update here?

candygram

what a lovely sweet endorsement from daily candy for chez-sucre-chez cross-stitch kits! (see here.) i'm tickled pink with the short little description --- happy to see that others like what I do.
this week I'll be doing lots of kit-making --- chez-sucre-chez has some new retailers, meaning you'll be able to find my kits at shops across the US. i hope to be adding to my list of retailers this year - if you've got any suggestions for shops where you think my kits would fit, please let me know!
happy tuesday!

a sunrise, a walk, a fire, and a preview

just some random things for you today...

first, this sunrise:


b gets credit for the photo. at that hour, he's awake and up and taking real photos out the window (lifting the screen), while i just take camera shots out the window from my pillow. (you may have seen some of those on my twitter over the past couple months.)

second, two snapshots from our saturday walk - through woods and fields:



close to where we live is a really wonderful collection of nature preserves. we've been picking different ones to walk on weekend days when the weather's nice. (this one was cheslen preserve.)

third, saturday night backyard bonfire:


(goodbye, chrismas tree. and goodbye, old chez-sucre-chez display boards!)

and last (and more relevant to usual blog posts here), little hints of what i've been working on. you'll be seeing more of both of these projects soon!

beautiful ladies' hankies:


(oh my goodness, i'm so excited to show you what i've got up my sleeve with these! they're done - i just need to take the listing/post photos! soon?!!!?!!)

and lots of love letters coming off the hoop:


(you've seen these from me before, but you'll hear more about where these ones are headed soon!)

i hope you all had a delightful weekend!

glitter and berries, a bird and a tree

oops! the last day of the year?! well, here's one more holiday season post before we ring in 2012.

glitter+felt stars+cranberries+popcorn = xmas decor:


the cranberry popcorn strings were a bit too much for our little tree, so i hung them up outside on the hedges that flank our walkway. hours later, i awoke to the sound of pouring rain. the popcorn didn't look so good in the morning. oh well, i tried.

and here's our "tree:"


i was so on-the-fence about getting a tree.... we spend the days before, of, and after with our families, so we really weren't going to be around to fully celebrate and enjoy a decorated tree. but still, i kind of wanted *something* to decorate.
the saturday before christmas, i met my new friend jill over at terrain and of course seeing all of the beautiful festive decorations and breathing the smell of evergreen only made me want a tree MORE. and then luck struck.
as i was walking to my car, there was a handsome young man cutting the lower boughs off of christmas trees and, as he was throwing the large green branches into a big wooden bin, our eyes met for a second and we exchanged friendly smiles. i walked about three steps more and then turned right around, pulled out the old girlish charm, and sweetly asked if the boughs were sold after being cut. he said nope and to go on ahead and take them if i wanted. hiphiphooray; that's exactly what i wanted to hear!
so i went home and arranged the the boughs into a wonky treelike shape and felt happy.
with a bird for the top branch and a nest (that i found out in the yard the week before) cradled in one of the branches, i think all it needed were the little sparkly stars.


it only takes little things to make me happy.
thank you, all, for being here with me this year. you make me happy. you keep me going.
let's all hope for an even brighter 2012. happy new year! be safe!

spirit of giving

happy post-chrismas, friends! i hope you all had a really lovely holiday. mine was wonderful -- i have such a loving and fun family, and with an eight year old, a five year old, and a teeny little two month old baby, it was that much more special.

this year, i felt super good about all of the gifts that i gave. i hand-made most of them and actually had them done and wrapped BEFORE leaving for my travels! (all but two; that's an amazing accomplishment for me!) here are some of the ones i had finished and wrapped while it was still light enough for photos.

i made tiny baby shoes (using this pattern) and a little hat for baby Elvis:


(the hat's a little too small. i'll make another for next month, when he's grown out of it.)

a super cozy cowl for sis and fingerless gloves for my brother-in-law:


(i made the fingerless gloves for lots of other people on my list, too. i hadn't knit up a pair for years, and forgot how quick and easy and satisfying these are! here's a link to the basic pattern, which i modified for using extra bulky yarn.)

a pretty felt flower headband for niece bella:


(inspired by my much-loved rosette fascinator by giant dwarf and using the flower patterns found on the purlbee here.)

wine coaster thing-ys for the ladies-of-the-house on my list:


i had seen these *somewhere* but could not for the life of me figure out where -- i searched martha and purlbee and BH&G and courtyliving with no results. in the end, i did them how i remembered them to be, and using different color stitching on each to make them kind of like those wine charm things. honestly, i thought they were a little cheesy, but kinda just a little cool, too.
packaging them in fruit boxes upped the presentation points.


paperwhite bulbs (from ever-inspiring terrain):


i also did a few as single bulbs, placed in a small-size mason jar with white buttons at the bottom instead of stones. those turned out really sweet -- but i didn't get a photo of them.

home-made caramels using this recipe:


the orange-wrapped ones were fleur-de-sel, and the blue-wrapped ones were lavender. ( i kinda went a little overboard on the lavender -- they were a bit too floral-y, even for me who loves that flavor...)

one sack of caramels packaged up for my wonderfully friendly postal clerk:


and lastly, cookies:


two kinds of biscotti - one dairy free, for my lactose-intolerant landlord:


and the rest were either finished after-dark (more pairs of fingerless gloves, containers of paperwhites, and neice and nephew's custom-covered sketchbooks), or at the last minute (nani's felt flower wreath), or vintage (mom's yellow-ware bowl), or storebought (b's camera, dad's bar glasses, ed emberly books for bella and aidyn).
totally satisfying.
and i was a lucky little lady in terms of the gifts i received! vintage pyrex from b, this book from santa, snowshoes, a gift certificate to my favourite fabric shop, many exciting new dishes and gadgets for my kitchen, and so many other thoughtful and sweet surprises. i'm a lucky little girl -- my family and loved one mean the world to me, and that i get to spend my christmas with them -- perfect.

holla daze

oh my goodness what an insanely, intensely, wonderfully busy few weeks i've had with chez-sucre-chez; stitching up dozens of tea towels, running out of them and ordering, laundering, ironing, and stitching those ones, too; packing up scores of boyfriend hankie kits and working all hours to keep on top of my shipments to go out -- all to ensure that my customers would get their orders in time for gift giving. it was a wild, wonderful time. but now i get to breathe (a little) and jump into my own holiday gifts! i've got five days to make and bake my little butt off to get it all done. there'll be knitting, and sewing, and cards and caramels and felt wreaths to make, cookies to bake, packages to wrap, and a tree to trim. hooray! thank you all for a wonderful year. i hope that i'll remember to snap some photos of all of these projects over the next week -- if i do, i'll certainly post. if i don't, i hope to meet back up with you here soon! happy holidays, friends! xoxo

pressed handkerchiefs

phew! it's been a whirlwind couple of days! i returned from my trip to nyc (the Divine Studios sale was divine, as usual!) completely exhausted and was stirred from my zombie-like state on Monday night by an email from a friend letting me know that my boyfriend hankie kit was featured in an etsy newsletter of "gifts for the mysterious man," written by the wonderful jan, of poppytalk.


of course, i was ill-prepared and only had a handful of hankies/kits in stock. eeks! i debated whether i should just let them sell out, or if i should spend half the day driving to restock on hankies. i opted to restock. (it was a beautiful day for driving, anyways...) so now -- all colors of hankies are now back in stock and i'm madly putting together new kits to fullfil the orders that have come in so far.
i'm super grateful to jan for picking this up as a featured gift item -- this really is one of my favourite chez-sucre-chez products and i'm glad to see it getting discovered! want to stitch one up for your man? head to the shop -- i'm selling them with and without a hoop. i'm making post office runs every day from here through next week so get those orders in and i'll send 'em on out quickly so you get them in time for stitching and giving.
now back to the madness of my studio. (good golly it needs a good cleaning after all this craziness! next week... next week..)

nyc, see you soon

all this rainy day i've been running around getting my last minute materials and supplies to work on my display for the above event. if you are in the nyc area -- please please please come by! sunday, dec. 11th, 11 - 6pm, at 21 east 4th street (4th & Lafayette). i didn't do this one last year, but i did it the year before that and the year before that and i tell you, it's exhilarating - all the talent and personality packed into that little room. if you are at all a fan of the martha stewart living magazine, and the whole MSLO brand in general, you should be sure to come on out to this -- take a look at the vendors and compare them to the masthead of the magazine; you'll see what i'm talking about.
okay then, see you there? xo.

to the letter

here's a grouping of letters i did as a custom job for my aunt susan, who is giving them as gifts to her nieces. i actually really enjoyed stitching these up; it'd been a while since i'd done any letters like these. i took the listings for custom-stitched letters out of my shop well over a year or two ago but have, since then, continued to collect patterns . it was nice to finally stitch some of those patterns up, and in fun colors for girls of a range of ages.

i liked the G so much, in fact, that i put that one up in the shop as an option.

i think it'd be better suited in a hoop that is one size larger (a seven, rather than six-inch hoop), but i love the lettering style and can see it looking great in any number of colors. it does look particularly festive all dressed up with a bow, too:

home is - a little bit bigger now

i finally got to stitch up, photograph, and update the listing for the new 8 x 10 size "home is wherever i'm with you" piece.

stitched-to-order as always, with choice of colors, this design has been one of my biggest sellers and i'm happy to now offer it in the larger size and with the nicer frame. that's it - just wanted to share that. i hope you're enjoying your sunday!

monogram madness

sheesh --- i've been terrible at posting lately.

the reason is, i've been pretty much non-stop stitching up monogram towels, since they appeared in better homes and gardens magazine a bit over a month ago.

i'm super happy that they've been so well-received. and they're keeping me busy.

this is today's lot to be shipped out:

good times! keep those orders coming -- i can handle them -- just please be sure, if you are planning on ordering a towel or two or two dozen, to get those orders in as early as possible (here!) - some colors are running out and i've only got two hands, so i may have to put a cap on orders at some point in the month. so far, so good though - hooray! happy weekend!

black friday

howdy! i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. (i'm still full from dinner at 2pm!)

just wanted to let you all know that it's sale time in the shop! for one day only, enjoy 15% off all items in the shop that are black.

(that includes the newest diy kit -- deer in the night.)

the sale is going on all day -- no need to wake up and get into line at some ridiculously early hour in the morning. (unless, that is, you want to be one of the few to snap up some of the limited number of stitched-to-order pieces....)

have a great weekend!

holiday wind up

little by little, i'm getting the shop ready for the holiday marketing/shopping season. yesterday i posted a new photo of my red striped monogram towels.

i wish i had time to bake for real, and not just make a baking-like set up for a photo!

related to baking, i (with a little layout help) designed a set of recipe cards (like the one in the photo) for you!

i hope that you will print them out and use them this holiday season. here's what to do: go to this link (googledocs), where you'll find the pdf. you can download and print from there - easy as that!

do you have a favourite recipe? i know i shared one of mine years ago -- great aunt mary's black pepper cookies. check it out, it's worth revisiting!

lately i've been more into bread-baking than sweet-making. i'm hoping to jump back into it next week and bake up a couple more baguettes -- they're so delicious (and not that difficult)!

happy weekend, everyone. remember, if you're in the philly area, to come on by the art star holiday bazaar!

fair play

philadelphia locals, here's another chance to do some craft-fairing, shopping, browsing, meet-and-greeting, and early holiday-spiriting:


this friday (night), saturday, AND sunday is the first ever art star holiday craft bazaar, being held at the 23rd street armory (23rd street, between market and chestnut). friday night is an early bird party - just meaning that you have to get tickets to it, but there's gonna be food, drink, music, free stuff and a photobooth! craft fairs are fun, yes - but add cocktails and music to the mix and it becomes even MORE fun. check it out here. but then saturday and sunday will be the regular old good-times-to-be-had thing, too. i'll be there sharing a booth space with pal melanie linder. i forget our booth number, but just look for the tent, INSIDE, and you'll find us underneath it. (HA! another reason to come by -- to see our crazy rad set-up!)
i had such a great time at last friday's event at paradigm gallery. it was a small event in a small space, which gave plenty of opportunity for mingling with the other vendors. i feel like i don't do that at the larger affairs for several reasons; one, i am usually setting up until the last possible minute, and then still fiddling with stuff for most of the first few hours, two, i'm kind of a nut about being in my booth to talk to my customers, and three, i'm actually quite a bit more shy than i am outgoing, in terms of meeting and hobnobbing with other vendors. i think i probably come off as a snob, but i'm not!

come on out this weekend if you can. stop by and say hello. introduce yourself. i'd really like to meet you.

now i gotta get back to crackin' on my preparations! i've still got a ton of work to do. (sigh.)

little bits of life

sometimes, i do take a break from work.
here are some little bits, captured less-than-perfectly through the lens of the camera on my phone. sadly, i've gotten out of the habit of taking my good digital camera around with me on adventures....


lately, b and i have been really into exploring the walking/hiking trails of the local nature preserves. this was a shot from today's walk. on this walk i found my first hen-of-the-woods; too bad it was past its peak/season.

then we discovered baldwin's book barn --- possibly the most beautiful bookstore i've ever visited. it's five floors of books in an old house/barn!




the majority of the stacks on the upper floors are made from old fruit crates; beautiful!


on the way home we passed this sight:


only in pennsylvania.... (right?)

rewind a few weeks; we carved pumpkins; (can you guess which one i did?!)


and then the next day it snowed on them. (crazy!)

the next week, niece bella and i used skewers dressed up as flags to save nephew aidyn's birthday cake from slippery doom:


(we called it the muddy river cake. it may not have been my prettiest, but it was darned delicious!)

and lastly, one of my latest little joys; watching the sunrise from my pillow;


sometimes emil watches it with me, too.


that's it for now! hopefully on my next post i can give a little recap of the art/craft fair i did this past friday night. til then, ciao, friends!