art star

sorry for the lack of posts. i've been going a little outta my mind getting ready for the upcoming craft fairs. if any of you all are in or around the philly area, please stop by and say hello. penns landing --- 11 - 6 saturday and sunday. come find me -- i'll be with my z-town ladies -- melanie of spread the love and i are sharing a booth, and right next to us will be karen of skylark studios jewelry and sara of sara smedley. yes! (this post probably makes no sense whatsoever --- after a full day of freaking out with last minute details and a glass or two of wine, i feel like a bit of a zombie.)

boulder building

wood base + chicken wire + thumb tacks + electrical tape + newspaper + flour + water = boulder
(i was called on to help a friend to build this prop for her dance studio's upcoming recital.)
and now -- back to freaking out about my three back-to-back weekends of craft fairs. (EEEEeeeeeeEEEk!)

country loving

more press! hooray for today!
i noticed that my hand-embroidered rose tea towels are featured on the website of country living magazine. see for yourself, here!


this was a good month for chez-sucre-chez and country living magazine. i was listed in the june issue as a source for a hand-embroidered lobster pot-holder. i was keeping it a secret until the magazine was out, but this is what started my whole new summer lobster theme. they had photographed a vintage hand-embroidered pot holder with a lobster on it and asked me to create a similar version for people looking for that item. i think it was a little confusing for some people who may have thought that i had created and was selling the one photographed, but i hope that my chez-sucre-chez take on it is sufficient! my copy of the magazine came in the mail yesterday and i was wowed to see chez-sucre-chez in a source list blurb that also includes williams-sonoma, wedgewood, anthropologie and jonathan adler! that's some serious company!

pressed sandwich (wrapper)

hey lookie! my sammy wraps got a little write up on unbreaded.com.


have you seen unbreaded?! it's a blog devoted to sandwiches. as sandwiches are in my top three favourite foods (along with pizza and ice cream), this is a blog that i can love. you should go check it out. (here)
and you should read the write-up they did on chez-sucre-chez sammy wraps. (here) so nice. i wrote to them about my wrappers this morning (hey man, marketing -- it's part of the job; gotta do it, although i hate it. but when it works out, it really is quite cool.) and next thing i knew, there was a post. thanks, guys!

sample sail

this newly stitched sampler went out on its way into the world today. it's taking a trip to massachusetts.


i SO love this red floss on the oatmeal-y colored fabric with the yellow-y wood hoop frame! (this piece was a custom-stitched combo of the two similar samplers i had done before.
i wish i had more time for samplers right now -- they are SO what i want to be doing!

kimberly jean, apron queen

i finally finished every last apron that i had in the works.
i've been working on these for weeks, between other projects, and had lots of different batches going on all at the same time.
some were merely cut out and waiting to be sewn, others were partially sewn and needing to be topstitched, others needed straps sewn for them, and then there were a few that were ALmost complete but needed finishing.
and now, they are all complete.
and i counted them -(which i hadnt done until now -- i was afraid)-- 55 done.
wow!

let her be

it's been a while since i've done one of these and i almost forgot how much i do still love them. i stitched up this B the other day for a custom order. ohlala -- i dont think i had ever done the B in this font (laura font) before.. it's lovely!

picnic

did happen.
i'm pleased to report that the blanket works.

picnic perfect

i took an hour to make something entirely for myself:


i found this fabric a week or two ago and COULD NOT pass it up. i think i got two and a half yards (as much as what was left on the bolt). so i just cut it in half, put the two pieces back to back (right sides out), cut the edges straight, and sewed it all together with binding tape. (i did it the quick method -- sandwich everything together and use zig-zag stitches to do it all in one shot.) it makes the perfect picnic blanket! now if the sunshine ever returns, my blanket and i are READY.

hold it

the first of the lobster pot holders is now in the shop.

fair warning

the promo materials for the (quickly) approaching craft fairs are hitting the streets (and the screens).
i received these in the mail yesterday:


postcards for the philadelphia artstar bazaar (may 30-31)
and this is being sent around via facebook:


banners for brooklyn renegade (june 6 - 7) (i love that they used embroidery in the flyer design!)
and now looking at my calendar, i get that little flutter of nervous anxiety when i realize that this madness is just two weeks away. next week, i am sure, that little flutter of anxiety will have turned into a full-on panic attack. holy shazaam, i gotta get my butt in gear. my mantra for today is this, typed in an email to me this morning by my friend jen, "okay well - work hard. too much work is good - focus and kick ass."

jeanealogy

the latest drawing to grace the chalk-board-painted wall at the end of the hall. by my neice, miss bella jean, age three. her drawings are so great they give me screamy insides.

nantastic

huge props to nani (my grandmother!), with whom i spent a lovely afternoon. she came over to visit with me while i worked and in addition to a wonderful lunch and great conversation, nani did two hours worth of ironing for me!


she pressed my freshly washed fabric and tea towels as well as the last of the apron strings. ho-ly! in that time i was able to stitch up more lobsters and do a little more work on some custom orders. dang, that was really sweet of her.
oh man, my nani is so great. SO MUCH LOVE to you nan. xo-kj

crustacean frustration

lobster stuff is coming along ---


nothing's quite ready to go into the shop yet, but i am happy with the red on the white towel:


i just wanna refine the stitches a little bit (originally i was thinking that really jagged stitches was the look i wanted for these ones... it's okay, but i'm afraid people will just think i'm a messy embroiderer.) and the red on the black gingham --


well, i really love it (friend molly suggested this combo -- good idea, eh?) but i'm afraid it's a little difficult to read the image. it looks better in real life (darn photos!), but still....
i have a couple of other towels and combos i wanna try.
and then it's onto pot-holders!
(i'm not really frustrated about it --- i moreso just used that title because it's the only thing i could think of on three and half hours of sleep.)
now -- off to go see the fam. (happy mother's day mama bear and nerdie and all of my friends who are now mommies!)

i did this fur you, lil.

ten pairs of fun fur leg warmers (for a friend's dance studio's recital costumes):


and a very fuzzy me:

rock

lobsters are coming soon, i promise! i'm stitching some up this weekend! (you'll see.... soon.)

flocking to the country

yesterday i took a lovely back-country drive to this place:



wanamakers general store in kempton, PA. look at it -- a real live honest to goodness general store! this place is fantastic. they make the most delicious sandwiches to be had for miles and miles and miles around (with or without salt), and, true to the concept of a good old fashioned general store, they've got just about everything, including chez-sucre-chez sandwich wrappers -- and clothesline design stuffies and tummytime mats, AND spread the love postcards and prints (yeeeeeah, z-town).

and then after my visit to wanamakers, i went with my friend lala to check on her new baby lambs. she's got a whole bunch of sheep and she shears them and makes stuff out of their wool and sells the wool, too. amazing, right? she's got an etsy shop -- here. (mon dieu! i love my crafty friends... le sigh.)

so, this being springtime, lala's been really busy checking up on her sheep and monitoring all of the births and the health of the new baby lambs. i was really happy to have had the opportunity to go with her.

this little one was just brought out for his first day outside the barn -- brought into the real outside world:


he met the lama and the lama seemed to accept him just fine.

this little one climbed into and sat down in the water bucket. so stinkin' cute:


and i got nuzzled by the little black lamb:


do you see that farm-awesomeness going on? lama and sheep and lambs (and somewhere outside of the photo is whiskey, the goat). so great.

illness

swine flu, lymes disease, and avian flu cookies.
my mother had only two words for me as i, laughing maniacally, put the trays into the oven; "you're sick."
oh, i know.
they're not my prettiest cookies, as i made them in a complete rush. i was on a quick stop-over at mom and pop's, and i left most of my cookie cutters here, and i was having a baking-urge -- so i whipped 'em up quick. i would have done 'em up with the royal icing, but i've got a hot date with two foxes in the city in an hour! i gotta zoom.

(yes, i know this is serious stuff and that these illnesses are grave. i don't mean to make light of people's health. what i am reacting to is the media madness surrounding these instances.)

mine swine

i got an email the other day from jessica, who writes the blog the window ledge, to let me know that she had featured my butcher-cuts piggy tote.


(see the post here.)
she created a round-up of piggy themed goods. i love that -- showing love to the hogs amidst all the swine-flu media frenzy. awesome. thanks for the mention, jessica!
also in positive pig PR: the regular piggy goes to market grocery totes are back in stock (after being sold out AGAIN!).


i just got a new shipment of tote supplies and i'm stitching up another batch. get yours here, before this batch is gone, too!

reminder

tomorrow i'll be over at cafe grumpy in greenpoint for the spring edition of the hearts and crafts affair. this is my third year doing this one! wow! you should stop on over -- it's always a lovely little collection of vendors and wares and the coffee is strong and the people-watching is good. this would be a good opportunity to pick up a gift for your mama -- mothers day is next weekend, peeps.