january

how did so many weeks go by since my last post?
sheeeeesh. i'm sorry.
let's see -- since my last post there was christmas. i didn't take many photos at all but here are some highlights:

bats and rats were baked, with help and enthusiastic support from bella:

b & i made terrariums to give as gifts to some of our loved ones:

thanks to terrain for the inspiration, and the supplies.

and then i got it in my head that i wanted to include a little animal or some other little figurine in each, and boy did we go on a wild goose chase hunting these down; finally finding these crazy wide-eyed animals at a model train and hobby shop.

having been so wonderfully but insanely busy with orders most of november through to the 21st of december, i didn't do so well with making my own handmade gifts to give.... one thing i did accomplish, however, thanks to a rare moment of forward-planning, was to brew up a few batches of homemade vanilla extract, and package it in vintage apothecary bottles that i scouted and scrubbed.

i also ground up the left-over cinnamon sticks from the terrain mulling spice project and packaged that in jars that i purchased from here.

and then there was new years eve - which we spent with friends at a little house party. it was fun, but i drank too much champagne and spent new years day with a headache. :( i wish i had some photos, because i love the dress i was wearing, which i scored at anthropologie on super sale just days before. oh! they still have some in stock, you can score one too - here!

last weekend, we got our first snow day - which b & i celebrated with an early morning walk. (can you believe that was my idea?)

at the end of our walk, after following footprints of fox, and raccoon, and bunny, and heron and deer and goodness-knows what else (but definitely no other people feet!), we happened upon a deer party -- a group of at least ten deer hanging out in the woods, watching us just as curiously as we were watching them. it was pretty great.

and, in between these little things and holidays, i have been working -- a lot more than i thought i would be at this time of year! my etsy shop continues to be busy and i'm working on a few different custom orders this week and next. it's been good!

i have lots of ideas in my head, though, and i'm just waiting for some free moments to make them happen. i have that fresh january feeling of clarity and optimism -- hoping for a great 2013!

(more smiths lyrics -- there are just so many good ones; thank you, morrissey!)

a super-long post to make up for weeks of silence

It's been weeks since I posted, but it's not because nothing has been happening, it's just that *so much* has been happening that I haven't had a chance to post! My days, and most of my nights, have been completely busy with work projects and I find that when I have a few moments on the computer, I've usually spent them aimlessly clicking from here to there.

First of all (because it's made up the majority of my busy-ness and business), it was an amazing month for my Etsy shop. Last night, after I stitched up what I thought would be my last order before the holidays (it wasn't.... I just finished another tonight; but NOW I'm finished!), I learned that I completed 90 orders in the past 30 days. WOW! That's a lot!

(this screenshot was taken last night, just after I packed up that last order. And then, not 15 minutes later, my phone went "ding!" and I received the notification of another order. I'm not complaining!!!!)

THANK YOU to my amazing customers and supporters! I'm so excited that there will be chez-sucre-chez gifts wrapped up and given with love this holiday season. That people want to give *my* products and handiwork as gifts is just so cool to me. Seriously, it makes me so happy, and flattered, and proud, and excited. Thank you for that. Really.

Next in exciting things that I never got to share with you; my work was featured in the super cool, and beautiful, Mollie Makes magazine. This is a British publication, so even though it was available in the UK (and other places) at the end of October, I had to wait a month longer to see it. (I was able to see an iPad version, but I was so psyched when it was finally on newstands here and I could see and touch the pages!)

The project was great - I'd never done a how-to for a magazine before and even though there was some frustration over the photos (up against a tight deadline and I realize that the photos I'd taken with my little digital point and shoot just weren't going to cut it resolution-wise... it was a learning experience!), I am happy with the project and really excited to see it in print.

(sorry for the less-than-stellar photos; it's so dark and grey here today!)

I was given the quote, and was asked to design a piece for it. I loved the way this quote fit in with my recent "bless this mess" piece/theme.

For the piece, I wanted to do something different -- a little bit of a challenge, a little bit of a departure from my recent designs. So, I went with a totally different and unique lettering style done up in a fresh colorway - bright coral on grey - and with that lettering style, it felt very 60's pop-ish to me.

So -- that was exciting.

And, this magazine feature reminded me of *another* magazine feature from soooo long ago that I never shared here on the blog! This one was in the Italian magazine CasaChic, and due to international delivery problems and me moving from east coast to west coast and back to east coast all the while the publishers were trying to send my copy, it never happened. So, I've had this pdf, and I'm blown away by how awesome it looks, but never have seen it in print.
Check it out:

I can't read Italian, but it makes me giddy to look at those page layouts!

Next in exciting news was that my "to die by your side" piece was featured in a gift-guide round up by the creative team at West Elm. It's always an amazing feeling to find out that my work is liked by people with this kind of great taste and influence!
(See the post here.)

(This was one of those pieces all stitched up and about to be wrapped up and sent on its way to California.)

ANOTHER exciting project this month is that I have been working with Philadelphia-based designers and purveyors of beautiful American-tailored menswear, Commonwealth Proper. We've been collaborating to bring my hand embroidery to the shop as an option for personalizing their amazing suits, shirts, and accessories.

Pretty sweet, huh?

NEXT on my list of awesome stuff is a guest post on Martha Stewart's crafts department blog. Hooray! I love this team of creatives and I feel honored to have been invited to contribute. Check it out, the post is live today -here- I give a how-to for an easy last-minute ornament gift.

Followers of this blog might remember these from here and here, but they're so classic - I love bringing these back!

And NOW -- I have one large wholesale order to complete (the Mulling Spice packets must be doing well at Terrain; this was an unexpected re-order!) and then I have *gulp* four days to tackle all of my own Christmas-ing. I honestly haven't done a lick of it yet. Oh boy. I've got work to do. :)

Happy happy holidays friends! I'm hoping to get back here to do some more posts of holiday fun, but until then, best wishes to you!

pop

New York friends; here's something exciting for you -- Etsy is doing a brick and mortar pop-up shop and it's stocked with some of the very best of Etsy - and that happens to include a few chez-sucre-chez kits... !!!
At craft fairs like Art Star, and Renegade, and Crafty Bastards, an often-overheard remark is "it's like Etsy come to life!" and that always makes me smile, because it is true --- those awesome events are quite like that, and packed to the gills with the independent creative artists that Etsy has so awesomely nurtured and supported for the past years. Well THIS, my friends, is really, truly, Etsy come to life!

The shop is set up in SOHO, and it's only going to be there for a few days, starting today and running through Dec. 8th. I wish I could make it up there to see! It'd be so fun to see in person so many of these things that I've only gawked at online. So - if you can, you should go see it and shop your face off! Here's the (beautifully well designed) site for the shop, where you can find all the details.

Here's another exciting little tidbit about the pop-up shop and how my items got there. Etsy had some of their favorite interesting people/personalities to curate the shop and guess who chose mine? Martha Stewart!?!?!!!!! What-what?! Yes, I do think that's so super awesome. (Thank you!)

And, maybe you saw me twitter or facebook about it, but if not, check out my kits on the Martha Stewart website. (See the post here.)

Hooray! Seriously, being the mega fan of all things Martha Stewart and her team of amazing creative talent, this makes me really, really happy and proud.

Okay, that's it for now - I have sooo much work to do. More soon!

cyber monday oops carries into tuesday

Hello blog friends!
I completely forgot to post here about my cyber-monday sale, and I know that many of you don't check in on the facebook and the twitter -- so I'm posting now and extending the sale items through Tuesday!

Kits are 4 for $44. (But you know you can actually get that deal for another few weeks through the shhh shop.)

Tea towels are 2 for $32 (regularly $36)

And ornament kits are $8 (regularly $10)

That's it! Thanks so much for your support through these years! xo!
(click to shop here.)

small business love

i know - there's so much to-do about shopping these couple of days; black friday, small-business saturday, cyber monday, and there's maybe one or two marketing holidays this week that i don't know about...
while i don't want to force any do-gooder or pushy-saleswoman rhetoric in your face, i do hope that you'll support independent merchants and artisans this holiday season - your support and dollars really do mean a HUGE deal to us.

this saturday, as you're out and about, perhaps you can pop into and make a purchase at one of these fine independently-owned businesses - all good people/businesses that i can vouch for!

art star boutique: philadelphia, pa
megan and erin, who own this boutique selling wares by independent artisans, are awesome. i need to send them more kits, but go shop there and see what else they've got!

blue fish grill: flemington, nj
owned by my sister and her husband, the bfg makes a danm fine veggie burger, but what they're really known for is their fish & chips and wood-fired grilled fish and steaks and stuff.

cafe chismosa: philadelphia, pa
owned by my high school boyfriend (awwwww), the menu at chismosa makes me wish i lived a lot closer to philly. veggie friendly with super good coffee and lots of fresh daily specials.

clay, wood & cotton: beacon, ny
i've been working with these lovely ladies for a few years now, but never have made it to the shop. so you should go, and tell me how great it is! stocks chez-sucre-chez, but i definitely owe them more merch!

domestica: des moines, ia
i wish i lived closer so i could shop here! chrissy stocks chez-sucre-chez kits - go get 'em!

the foundrie: st. louis, mo
great place for gift shopping! despite its location in a mall, the foundrie is independently owned and supports independent artists by selling their work at a really fair consignment cut. they sell chez-sucre-chez kits; buy 'em up!

french garment cleaners: fort greene, brooklyn
owned by my friends alec and greg, french garment cleaners stocks nicey nice clothes (and a few home items) for men and women. stop in and tell them i say hello; i don't see those guys nearly enough anymore.

harvest coffee roastery: medford, nj
owned by the father/family of jaime/general-merriment, this is a new small business in the town where i went to high school. they're roasting up (and serving) coffee as well as selling a carefully curated selection of goods from local/small-business artisans, including chez-sucre-chez!

bringin' 'em back

maybe i'm a little crazy in the head, but i've just brought back a bunch of classic chez-sucre-chez custom-stitched items/options and put them in the shop. i was digging through images on my old hard drive and saw photos of all of these items and thought, well now, that's a nice option to have in the shop, especially around holiday time...

remember these oldies but goodies?

the love letters:

first seen here, now available again here.

the hand-embroidered hand towel:

first seen here, back in the shop here.

to die by your side...

first stitched up in october 2010 as a custom piece for my friend curtis to give to his girlfriend (who is now his wife!). i've stitched up and sold a few for/at events,including my little gallery show at THIS los angeles, where it was snapped up by stylist shirley kurata and photographed/featured in her home tour on refinery29. and now it's now available in my shop (here) as a custom-stitched piece.

another custom option now back in the shop is this one:

from thunder road, by the boss, mister bruce springsteen.
i really wish i had a better photo of this piece.. i've done it a few times in various colors, but these are the only photos i can find. maybe someone will order one soon and i'll stitch it up and snap a better shot of it! maybe that someone will be you? it's up in the shop here.

and, the next two items have been re-listed thanks to requests that came in JUST THIS MORNING. (it's not even 10am!)

the piggy goes to market tote!

thanks for the suggestion, meghan! i only have *four* of these totes left, find them in the shop here.

and this much-loved piece:

thanks to sven (okay, i was going to put this one back up anyway, but this morning's email got me to do it a lot more quickly!) it's back in the shop, custom stitched. find it here.


now if i actually get orders for all of these things, i am going to be a *very* busy girl, and it might even get to the point where i have to limit items or pull them back out of the shop if i get too overwhelmed. i'm hoping for a perfectly happy balance of busy, but not nuts. snap 'em up early if you want 'em!

i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, friends. happy holiday season!!