berry boxes

new packaging for little sets of strawberries!


i'm still doing them in sets of six, but i kinda wanted to switch up the packaging for the craft fairs. these feel a little more fun than the drawstring sacks.


i got the berry boxes over at weavers hardware (that place is great!), and then i filled them with berries, wrapped them in a sheet of parchment, and tied 'em up with pretty pink and red baker's twine (from the martha stewart line of crafty fun at michael's). me likey.
the labels aren't ideal -- i ran out of cardstock and just dont have time to go get it so that i can print smaller tags. i can do that for the next event - art star.


i'll have a few of these with me tomorrow, at the from scratch market in trexlertown. if you want one and you're in the area, stop on by! these would be a sweet mother's day gift....

craft fair season is upon us!

first of all, how great is this drawing? dang, i wish kids drew like this forever. or, at least until the age of fifteen. i hate to think that baby bella will one day (soon) not draw like this.

second of all -- chez-sucre-chez has a lot of events coming up, and i would love to see you, friends and blog readers, at these events. here's when and where you can find me over the next few months:

first -- this saturday, i'll be doing the FROM SCRATCH market in trexlertown, PA:


i did this event last november with my z-town made gals and we all agreed that for a small local fair, this is a good one and worth doing again. so, sara smedley (and her step-daughter anna), melanie linder and i will be there this saturday for the spring edition of the event. it's a little out in the middle of no-where, but if you are in this neck of the woods, come on out -- the vendors last time were really top notch and the food they'll have for sale (especially the baked goods by organizer pam parker) is SO good!

then, saturday, may 15th, there's the art star craft bazaar:


it's held on philadelphia's penn's landing - right by the water. last year i shared a booth with melanie linder (spread the love) and we're doing the same this time around. karen stanford (skylark studio) should be right next to us.

then, in june, i'm doing renegade brooklyn:


it's the weekend of june 5th and 6th. i love that event so super-much and i'll have a WHOLE bunch of stuff all set up and nicey-nice, so plan on coming out to see the chez-sucre-chez tent. (you'll also get to see full set-ups by melanie and karen, who will also be there somewhere near my tent.)

and THEN -- it's los angeles, baby.


i love those renegade peeps so much that i am doing one of their west coast shows, and i couldnt be more psyched. (so much more on that later...) the event is being held july 24th and 25th -- i'll keep you posted with more info as time draws nearer.

words to live by

my friend megan gave me this mug for my birthday when we were in like sixth or seventh grade, and i've just found it! i love this mug and it's little caption. i'm almost embarrassed to admit, but i have visualized those little zebras and that caption A LOT of times over the past twenty years. (i am totally cracking up here to myself as i write that out loud, but it's true!)
anyways, about a year and a half ago, megan and i reconnected (and it wasn't even through facebook!). we were friends in grade school and then she went to a different high school and we lost touch, and then she found me though a mutual friend and we've been sending emails back and forth ever since. (i even got to visit with her while in chicago for renengade last september.) meg was the artist in grade school and i really admired her talent. she's now living in wisconsin and she's still making art. it's been great to have one another to correspond about our work and the need for studio space and finding balance and inspiration. recently, megan started a blog like this one to chronicle her work and inspirations and creative outlets. give it a peep (here); she's really great.
*i just realized that i already told almost all of this story on this post -- oh well, here it is again!

one inspirational mother

growing up, i had these to look at on the walls of our family kitchen:


they were all done by my mother at some point when i was really young. it's funny, i never really thought about it until recently, but i bet these have had a huge influence on me and the work that i am doing.
they're all worked on even-weave or linen, on which i have been thinking it's time i start working.
lookie at this one:


and this one really gives me the excited shivers:


the colors! the stitches! it's so my chez-sucre-chez style! i just realized that one of my first more complex lettering attempts was done with this almost very same font:


yeah -- i'm pretty psyched to have these to serve as inspiration. my mama's pretty cool. hey; it's her birthday today! whoo-hoo. this cake is in the oven, and we'll be together later on with the rest of the family to celebrate. happy b-day mama and thank you for being so good to me.

here's a project that i started last night -- still on aida cloth, but it's this new beautiful platinum colored fabric i just got - i love love love it with the red:


ooh lala! i've got a framing lesson with the multi-talented karen stanford sceduled for this thursday. then i'll be able to get all of these new works framed and photographed - yippee!

home is anywhere

i finished this one a few weeks ago while in L.A.


and then i got to spend some time with the painting that inspired it while spending the week at the home of friends greg and alec. look on the wall behind me to the right:


(self portrait in a borrowed house and a borrowed scarf taken after quite a few cocktails with the lovely laura.)

hunting and gathering

brought home this little collection of treasures from my favourite junk shop. these colors make me swoon -- green milkglass, cream satin ribbon, antique pink lace, industrial-green knitting needles, old wooden spools and a beautiful antique button card... mmm, happy-making.

shoe shop shopping

while staying the week in new york, doing lots of snuggling with these cats


(among other things, of course -- including lots of inspired stitching)
i happened to notice that my very favourite store-front on greenpoint's (brooklyn) manhattan avenue is for rent:


oh my goodness. please, someone cool, rent this place and make it great. keep the awning! keep the signage! call the shop "paris shoe"! (and, as a bonus, the cafe next-door serves delicious croissants!)

violet owls

such a good color combo!

excited for the outcome

i've been commissioned to stitch up an "owl love you always" piece in purple floss on a background of cream. given the range of purples to choose from, miss sarah chose this one, and i'm gonna stitch it up on the oatmeal colored aida cloth. i havent begun yet, but seeing these two colors together makes me excited.

this project made me think of this one, and it made me realize that i think i like purple/violet! it was my favourite color when i was a kid, but then i grew out of it, i guess. my great aunt mary loved purple, too -- i remember her sheet set - a beautiful print of tiny violets all over them - dang, i wish i had those sheets now.
okay - so i'll snap a photo of the piece once it's finished.
sorry for the lack of posts lately - i have been stitching and stitching and stitching SO much this past few days - i've made A LOT of totally brand-spankin' new pieces and i'm excited to show them, but i kinda want to wait until i've got just one or two or three more done and then i can photograph the whole new collection.

fresh off the hoop

i'm back on the east coast! this was the scene in seat 27A on the runway of jkf airport this evening:


this is the first piece i've ever done on red aida cloth. i am super super so loving the red and white. i think red and white is like a chez-sucre-chez classic. (like this in 2007, and this, and this, and this, and lots of other older projects that i'm too tired and jet-lagged to look up.)

there was lots of red-and-white going on in my life this week, like my new pretty dress:


and the bunny cookies:


(not to be confused with the bunny scones, which i posted about already --- these were the citrus sugar cookies that we brought to the afternoon easter party. AND there were the bunny-head shaped pb&j's, and egg salad sandwiches... claire and i worked hard to find that cutter - we were determined to get some good use out of it.)
also this week i decorated my one easter egg with red hearts. i didnt think to take a photo, though... but hey, claire and jeremy took lots of photos at the super easter party that we went to. you can see some of them here.

red

bunnies for breakfast

a plateful of bunny scones on our way to easter breakfast with friends in los angeles.


my mama had made these strawberry-rosemary scones for valentines day and they were delicious. with the bunny head cutter (that claire and i searched all of L.A. for) they're perfectly adorable, and delicious, and super easy to make. here's the recipe -- it's a good one.