under cover help

hey friends and readers, i need your thoughts...
for the past couple of weeks, i've been obsessing over the idea of re-usable bowl covers. and now i've made a few and i wanna know what you think -- genius, or kinda dumb (or somewhere in between)?




here's the back-story.
some time ago, i was asked by the people at terrain about doing some mason-jar covers. i did some brainstorming, poked around on the internet, and came up with a few options, but ultimately, they went with a different design (which i was pleased with). in my research, i found a how-to by some older woman for little jar covers. of course now i can't find the link, but the idea stuck in my head. well a few months ago, something made me think of them again and i was thinking of the same idea but used as a re-usable cover for my kitchenaid mixing bowl. i do kind of a lot of baking, and when a recipe says to cover something in plastic wrap, unless it's going to sit in the fridge over night, i pretty much always skip the plastic in favor of a damp clean kitchen towel. i got the idea that it'd be kinda cool to make a cover, with elastic around it, that would stay taught over the bowl (kitchen towels tend to droop into the bowl sometimes) and that could be thrown in the washer and cleaned when need be.


i did a search on etsy and found that there is one shop that offers mixing bowl covers. honestly, i was a little bummed that there was someone already doing it, and i didn't want to compete with another etsy artist, so i let that idea go...
but it wouldn't go away. and then, i thought to myself, well, they don't have to be strictly made or marketed as mixing bowl covers, they could be covers that happen to fit and work for mixing bowls, but can be used as general bowl covers, too! it turns out, there are lots of people on etsy doing those.....
but none do them the chez-sucre-chez way!


here's what i envision, and this is where i need your help --- i need you to tell me if i'm onto something, and should keep on going, or if this is really not such a cool idea as i am thinking it is. (be honest with me!)
i see making these in the chez-sucre-chez aesthetic, which i see as classic, a little bit country (or, to use the more fashionable word of the moment, "rustic"), and understated. i've used the word homespun before. currently i'm envisioning and using solid color linen fabric and some classic print cottons - like ticking stripe.
i think they're terrific as mixing bowl covers, but i haven't run them through the full test yet. i used one the other night when i made pizza dough (pizza night happens at least once a week in this house) and it was a champ. i'm thinking i'll test it on one of my messiest recipes - the english muffin bread - tonight or tomorrow. we'll see how that goes.
otherwise, though, how cool would it be to show up at your next pot luck with one of these covering your bowl of salad or plate of cookies rather than wasteful and bad-for-the-enviroment plastic wrap or foil? you see what i'm thinking? or, imagine having a little outdoor picnic -- you're getting the food ready and setting it out before the guests arrive, but you don't want the bugs to get in there, so you put on a pretty little bowl cover.


am i selling you on the idea yet? can you tell i'm really into it? but i still want to know what you think.... i'm ready to go full-steam ahead on these for the upcoming spring/summer shows - unless you tell me otherwise. i'll have to take new photos - i realize that - i think i've got them styled in a way that's quite a bit too country looking right now... my house is wonderful, but it's limited for photo-styling.
okay - if you have any feedback, let me know. go on and send me an email or leave a comment. thank you!! xo.

le weekend

hello friends, how was your weekend?
mine was just right --- spent all saturday driving around the countryside and stopping into antique shops with B and then most of sunday working away in my studio.

B and i both saw this fan and knew pretty much right away that it had to come home with us:


i mean, come on, it's got that big K on it AND it's that beautiful turquoise green that i love? i did my usual hemming and hawing that i didn't *need* it, but B was a sweetheart and bought it for us. happy-making.

a little later in the day, i spied this amazing blue/red/white striped feedsack material. i pulled it out and marveled at it and then put it back, thinking, "kj, you have *so* much fabric at home; put it down." but i decided it was too special to let it go. i think it'll make delightful chez-sucre-chez zipper pouches. and i got a pony. B got a bunch of apes, but i couldn't find them to take a photo.



then, at what i think was our last stop before i declared antique over-load, i found these apple crates, which will be big players in my booth set-up for all of the awesome craft-show/fair/events coming up this spring/summer:


(they were only $6 each! woohoo!)

i hope you all had a super-swell weekend. this warmer and sunnier weather is making me feel much more happy and productive than i've been in weeks. more to come, soon! xo.

prints and the revolution

i've done it; i've gotten prints made and the first batch is up in the shop!


phew! this has been a whole heck of a lot more difficult of a project than i anticipated. well, no -- really, it wasn't THAT difficult -- but there were a lot more variables and much a steeper learning curve than i had imagined when i first thought of doing this. i've been wanting to make prints happen for many many months but sheesh, it was so intimidating to learn a whole new medium or process and materials. paper and print are very different than needle and thread!
but - the results are thrilling. check out the photo below -- can you even tell, from this not-so-far distance, which of these is the original?


no? it's the one in the box -- in the dark wood frame. ha!
how about this one:


this one's a little easier, maybe, because the color is a teeny bit different. the original is the one at the bottom, laying face up.



it's been a process, and i still feel like i have more to learn about papers and printing methods, but after many trials and errors, i've finally got a batch of prints that i am happy with and i've gone ahead and listed them in the shop. hooray!

i'm really happy to be able to offer this option. i know that so many people have been so wonderfully receptive and complimentary about my work, but that the time that goes into each original piece causes a price that is not in everyone's budget --- well, now, with the prints, i can make chez-sucre-chez designs affordable and accessible to more people.


three people deserve HUGE thank yous from me for their help on getting me this far with this project; karen stanford for encouraging me to make this happen, and melanie linder and kristen solecki for sharing their print know-how and experience with me and answering my dozens of questions. thank you!!!

stay tuned - i already have three more prints in the works!

this week's randomness

my to-do list is long today, but i wanted to give at least a little update of the latest chez-sucre-chez happenings, so here's a brief rundown:

there's a new kit in the shop, and i think this'll make some of you very happy:


i've been asked for this pattern many many times over the years, and i have had it set up and saved as a pdf with the intention of getting it into the shop for a while now, and now i've gotten to it.


this is the largest sized project/kit i've put out -- it comes with a six inch hoop. i don't yet have any of those handy resealable and recyclable plastic bags (did you know they're recyclable? they are!) that will fit the large hoop size, so for the time being, they're coming packaged in hand-made machine-sewn tissue paper sleeves. i will track down better packaging that i don't have to make... (do any of you remember when my kits used to all come in little draw-string bags that i made?! that was crazy! but way cute!) here's a direct link to the new kit.

also new in the shop, a couple of new cloud instant-collection groups.
there's this one:


and this one:


i'm very pleased with some of these new colors and the groupings i've been able to make from the latest batch of clouds i've stitched. i really love offering the single clouds as pretty little gift-boxed items, believing that they're so special and whimsical and pretty alone. but even more so, i love offering them in these little collections.

i loved the large collection of them that i had hung on my old bedroom wall, and that was before i started doing them in pretty colors!



i stitched up this piece for a custom order:


so happy meredith went with the yellow on grey color combo.

and lastly, the breakfast bread of the week:


english muffin bread from this recipe.
oh. my. goodness. it is amazing. it's so amazing. so so sooooo delicious. it's so good, that the above photo is the best i've been able to get of it -- because once i have a slice all toasted and buttered, i cannot wait the three-seven minutes it would take me to arrange and get a good shot; i have to eat it up right away. i highly recommend that you make it. i did the half-recipe, and that made a lot -- two loaves, if you've got two loaf pans; i don't, so we got one big loaf and 8 skull-shaped muffins (which i froze to enjoy next week).
another recipe we enjoyed this week is this savory bread pudding. yum.

now i've got to resist the urge to toast up and eat another slice of english muffin bread and instead, get to work.
i'll be back here later today with another post of my latest new project adventure. happy friday!

like they've fallen from the sky

looking out the window this morning, i see not a single cloud in the sky. i think it may be because they're all in my desk drawer.

clouds on the horizon

i've been trying to get myself in the habit of doing one or two cloud pieces a day, as i rebuild my collection.
yesterday, the sky was bright and blue,


and the pieces on my work-table seemed to reflect that:


today, on the other hand, the sky was grey and dark,


and i found myself drawn to darker color fabrics:


i'm really excited about this growing collection of clouds... i still want to do several more, so i won't have any finished work for a couple weeks, probably, but i look forward to creating some new groupings for my etsy shop and to take with me to the spring fairs.

in other news, my house is mildly infested with lady bugs; it has been for the past month or so. but i don't mind, i kind of like it just fine and leave them be.
ladybugs seem to like silver-lined cloud pieces, too:


and my plants (which is good for them!):


and this one seems to like my milkglass vase collection. "she" just kept going round and round the rim of this one:


cute, eh? (we've also got stink-bugs, though - and those, i do mind. they've not been getting the kind treatment that the ladybugs have gotten. i get great satisfaction from lifting each stinkbug i find onto a piece of paper and then flinging it out the door or window, all the while muttering to it how it's just lived its last moments in luxury. "you're not welcome here -- goodbye!" i like to sternly say to them as i kick them out. i haven't seen one all day though - maybe i got rid of them all!)

and lastly, so that i leave you on a sweet note and not a stinky one, here's a recipe i highly recommend:


home made cinnamon raisin bread from the "martha stewart baking handbook." (this recipe here is a teeny bit different - but probably just as easy and delicious- i halved the recipe to just make one loaf.) man oh mighty, this stuff is good! if you're looking for weekend baking project, here's one to try!
have a good one, friends. and remember, if you're in los angeles, go to the opening party of "these friends three" at THIS tonight! (see below) ciao!

these friends three

if you happen to be in the los angeles area on friday night, here's an event for you to attend:


my friends over at THIS gallery in L.A. are going into their third year running and they're marking the event with the third annual friends show. The collective that runs THIS is a very well-connected (as well as amazing, and talented, and wonderful) group of individuals and their/our friends do some pretty awesome work. this is a great opportunity to see a whole lotta talent all in one place. and the opening receptions sure are one heck of a party; i was there last year and very much enjoyed. it's a great group of people that THIS gallery attracts. so -- go see it if you can. i wish i could....
(and if you can't make the opening, check the flyer for times when the gallery is open and go see the show then!)
oh yeah -- the piece that you'll see of mine is the recently completed "dreaming is free" piece.

a sea of possibility

because i have no new work or projects to show, i'm leaving you with this sweet mermaid drawing by 5 year old niece bella; she's obsessed with drawing mermaids at the moment, and i think it's rather adorable.
new things are in the works for chez-sucre-chez, though! i'm working on a pattern and doing experiments with ladies' aprons. (i've been doing the kids aprons for a while now, and always, at my craft fair events, am asked if i do aprons for women. this year, the answer will be yes?)
i'm also working on some PRINTS. oooooh, this both scares and excites me.
more on these later. have a great weekend!

dreaming....

finally, i've done a new piece!


this line from the blondie song "dreaming" crept into my head a couple of weeks ago and i couldn't let it go -- the more i thought about the words, and the more the line went 'round and 'round in my head, i knew it was something i wanted to put into stitches.

when i design a new piece, i usually start with the lettering -- finding a letter style that i like is the first challenge. then, there's creating the pattern for the letters - which, when i'm working from a book or a blurry image of an old pattern on my computer screen, makes my eyes want to kill me. then i come up with a border style or ornamentation to flank the letters, and then i go about getting everything spaced and centered. color choice is almost always the last step. for this one, i think i knew i wanted blue stitching on the platinum aida cloth.

i got this far with the stitching -- about 3/4 of the way finished, when i figured out my color inspiration:


a-ha! i had been in flemington, nj the days or week before, helping my sister to pick out paint colors and ideas for her new restaurant. (she and her husband own the blue fish grill -- they're moving into a bright shiny new space in a refurbished pottery factory.) seems the colors we picked out stuck in my brain just as the words to the blondie song did!


once the piece was finished and framed, i had just a day to snap some photos before sending it off to los angeles, where it'll be a part of the upcoming "these friends 3" show at THIS.

luckily, there was snow, because i also had this image in my head of me holding the piece in the snow, captured from above.

b is a great sport in helping me with my chez-sucre-chez projects. he had just gotten home from the gym when i said, "baby, would you please help me and take some photos outside for me?" and then i kept him standing outside waiting for me while i looked all over the house for any one matching pair of gloves. i couldn't find one...


we took a couple dozen shots and then came upstairs and i looked at them and said, i love this one, but.... i really wish i had gloves on. so we went back down for another round. (i found the gloves that i was looking for -- they were in my car.) i'm glad we did. even though i like the sunshine and the shadows in this first shot, i'm even more pleased with this one for the second round. i think the colors are perfect.


see what i mean about the difference a small detail like gloves makes on an image?!

(thank you, b, for being my photographer. xo.)

snowy white

if you've read my last few posts, you'll know that i was very happy to wake up to soft white flakes floating past the window and covering the ground. snow! finally! (even if it is just a dusting....)

two shots from my morning:


yesterday afternoon i made this cake, after seeing it via tastespotting. it's a grapefruit olive oil cake --- very *very* zingy. try it!

and last week, i bought myself an instant collection of milk glass vases:


they're all lined up on one of the window frames of the studio. (the rest of the studio is such a mess, i couldn't put any more of it in this photo.) i love seeing these milky white glasses sitting there, especially on sunny mornings, when the light shining through them casts blue on one or two (especially the third one from the right).

i hope you all enjoy your saturday. i'll be toiling away in the studio making some last-minute valentine goods for a mini craft fair/sale/event on sunday at tattooed mom in philadelphia. here's the flyer:


if you're local enough, please stop by! even if you've already done your valentine shopping (if you're into that sort of thing...), you can stop by for a drink and a hello, right?! (a craft event in a bar? genius!)

hanky panky -- a whole lot more of it!

i'm trying to get out the door to start my weekend with a walk at one of the local nature preserves -- and a trip to terrain (their pop-overs make for such a delicious breakfast!), but before i do, here's a quick post to show you all of the newest hankie kits.

a while back i mentioned the new bestie kits - kits meant for you to embroider and give to your best girl friends - well, they're up! (they've been up for a little while, actually.)


i have to give huge thanks to the chez-sucre-chez facebook followers who gave me such super fantastic suggestions for the words you'd use for your best friends -- i was stuck for ideas and their ideas made it much easier for me to create the template.


how beautiful are these hankies?!?!



these kits are available in the shop here and here (with hoop).



and then, there are these ones, which i just listed this morning, also for your best gals:


i have been positively swooning over the style of these hankies since i got them. so far, i've only been able to snag two of each color of these, and i used one of my favourites to stitch up the sample. i'm not yet sure if i can get more of these, so i suggest you snatch one up quick if you like them!


acorns - yes, they're ACORNS!



and, in time for valentine's day, i was able to get more white hankies for the valentine-edition boyfriend hankie kits.





and i've restocked on all the other regular boyfriend hankie kits -- blue is now back in stock!



gotta run! see them all here. bye!