it's christmas

the bats and rats are baked and decorated:


(not my best year for decorating... it's been a busy few months; i was feeling rather lazy...
... but this one's pretty special, in its own way, right?)


plus many many other varieties of cookies including, but not limited to: holiday biscotti (one of the best biscotti recipes i've tried. it works every time -- and certainly shouldnt be limited to the holiday season!), mexican hot chocolate cookies, sis's ginger snaps, pizelles, fleur de sel caramels, meringues, pecan puffs, shortbreads and sugar cookies, and lots of others.

okay - gotta run for now.. i'm being beckoned to decorate this gigantic christmas tree....


happy happy happy christmas eve to all of you. thank you for following me through another great year! more posts soon!
xoxo-kj

(me and emil!)

mushrooms springing up overnight

last night, like a crazy woman, i stayed up into the wee hours making mushrooms.
i'm happy i did.
first i started with the sachets:


i had a bunch of "mess ups" from the batch that i did for terrain, so i simply fixed them to make them right and then put them in the little boxes. i was so thrilled with that that i couldnt stop. i had it in my head that i was going to make the mushrooms like i originally intended them when i first started playing with the patterns and colors and shapes (way back here).
and here's what happened!


hooray! i love them! love love love them! i wish i had time to make even MORE!
last night there were a half a dozen things that i had on my list that really really should have been done before i did these. i was going to finish stitching up a "listen to your heart and follow it, even if it takes you all the way to california," and i was going to try to do a "...to hollywood" version, too. i wanted to stitch up a set of l.o.v.e. letters, and then there were tags, and labels and business cards to make... but instead, i did something that i just really really WANTED to do. something that wasnt a part of my usual line; something that wasnt for an order..... hot dang, it felt good! this is what i love love love doing -- making - playing with patterns, making pieces that are unique and not all uniform and them putting them into a pretty little package. oooh, makes me happy. of course this morning i feel a little panicked about what i still really should get done before the opening tonight at THIS (because let's be honest, i know i'm not going to be in a state to do anything productive afterwards....) but oh well --- what's done is done and what isn't isnt. wow, how's that for a great attitude?!

anyways, i even thought of a way to gift-wrap these little boxes:

and now here's my fruit crate, all loaded up and ready to go to renegade:


i hope to see you there -- saturday and sunday 10 - 5 - downtown historic park (also known as the cornfields) - i'll be at booth 106 -- right near the food, atm, and bar - wooo-hooo! and, i'm sharing my booth with my old dear friend from boston, jes anthonis, and her line - mosey handmade. the weather forecast is looking great - sunny and 72 - 82 degrees for both days. it's gonna be great. (more info here if you need it.)
and remember -- come out to THIS tonight - 6 - 10 (more info here) to see/buy my limited edition and one of a kind cross-stitch pieces. it's a cash and carry event, so get there early, because things are coming off the wall as they sell. the other artists involved in the show are amazing - i feel so fortunate to be involved in this show. (and there are the free tote bags! and good free beer!)
i hope to see you at one of these events! xo!

THIS just in

check 'em out:


the totes that i designed for the opening tomorrow night at THIS have just arrived. i'm thrilled with them; they're gorgeous.
(want one? better get there early! there's only 100 - minus mine - that means 99, really.)
friday night, december 10, 6 - 10 pm, 5906 north figueroa street -- be there. (i'm super-psyched for the event! to see all of my work hanging on the wall - to get to talk about it and hear what people think of it, and then to be able to relax and go have cocktails afterwards, woo-hooooo!) come by and say hello and score a tote!

a berry, berry holiday

(i'm not supposed to say "christmas" anymore, am i? ugh.)
okay - so i thought i was early with my ornament kits, and now i'm probably late with my newest ornaments:


i didnt get the exact photos i was dreaming of - but hey, it's hard to feel like i'm getting a seasonal shot when it's 74 degrees out and there arent any evergreen trees around.



those who order them through etsy (right here, please) will get them packaged simply like this:


but you lucky ducks who'll be attending renegade L.A. this weekend will get them all done up pretty-pretty in green berry boxes like this:


(bummer, but it's just too difficult/costly to send them in the mail that way... but maybe i'll figure something out in the next few days... )

sing my life

here are two more pieces that i sent on over to THIS:


(yes, you saw this one earlier -- but not in its finished frame!)

and then this one:


(this is a rather poor photo, but these pixies lyrics are done up in grey stitching on that blue-grey fabric that i love so much... mi piace.)
now, back to my prep for renegade los angeles this weekend!

let it go-go

here's another of the ones i completed in the last month in my push to have lots of work to show at THIS (this friday and saturday, peeps):


i actually started it a long long time ago... i did the border first, not knowing what i was going to put inside it... and then i heard the OK go song with these lyrics when my friend jonny posted this video to his facebook page. those words kinda stuck in my head and months later, i found a font that worked and poof - there it is. yep.

busy busy scissors (and needle, and thread)

just packed up and sent (almost) all of these pieces out the door on over to the folks at THIS (los angeles).
i'll say it again, if you are in the L.A. area, please please please plan on stopping by the gallery for the show/sale: friday december 10th 6 - 10pm, and saturday december 11th 12 - 6pm.
and now that THAT work is out the door, i'm moving on to my preparation for renegade L.A., which is also that weekend!


there, i'll be offering more of my crafty product things (and some of the regular classic chez-sucre-chez cross stitch pieces). find all the details you need here. (and plan on coming out to do some shopping, if you can - there'll be a ton of great vendors!)

more newly framed pieces

here are three more done up in those beautiful frames that brian made for me:



i had stitched these a long time ago (see here and here) and then was having a difficult time finding good square frames in just the right size. and now, they're complete and i love the way they look -- that top one, especially. i have an extra one of these frames; i think that i'm going to stitch up another just like it and keep it for myself!