start making your lists...

of naughty and nice.
i'm now in full-swing holiday season prep mode for chez-sucre-chez. expect lots of new shop updates over the next couple of weeks.
first up are the new napkin colors.

in addition to the classic cream/ivory, i'm now offering the monogram napkins in deep festive red:

and crisp medium/navy blue:

(haven't had a chance yet to stitch up a sample on the blue....)

napkins are available as singles or sets, with options for monogram placement. check them out in the shop.

coming up soon - the new tea towel and hand towel colors.

bowled over

For the Martha Stewart event, I knew that I only had a small table space and wasn't going to be able to bring too much in terms of props or hardware for my set-up, so I opted to keep it simple and just brought four different products from my kind-of all-over-the-place line. I brought the cross-stitch kits, a selection of monogram tea towels, the new produce bags, and bowl covers. Those bowl covers sold out the first day! I should have known; the same thing happened at Renegade Brooklyn this summer -- I thought I had made plenty and then POOF, they were gone. The funny thing is that these have never sold well in my online shop, but when people see them in person, they freak out over them!

They're really hard to get good photos of, I think that's one of the issues with the online sales thing. I'm hoping that this new batch of photos is a little more interesting than my last ones... Anyways, with the holiday season coming up, and Clover Market next weekend (Ardmore, PA - 11/4) and Crafty Bastards (Washington DC - 11/10) the weekend after that, I'm sewing up more. Hopefully this time I'll be better prepared (and that, once I am, people have the same reaction to them)!

Currently, I've got them in the classic ticking stripe, blue linen, natural/light beige color linen, and this beautiful floral print. I love this floral print so much that, when I couldn't find it anymore at my local fabric shop, I special ordered more. I think it's got the same sweet charm of a Liberty print.

The packaging for the covers has certainly improved since I first started offering them! Originally, I just had them all lumped together in a bin, and girls would go running over to them exclaiming, "Bonnets!" Seriously. And then they'd be interested once they realized what they really were, but still - it made me wonder if I should, indeed, start making bonnets!
At Renegade, I packaged them in little green paperboard strawberry boxes, and that worked well, but the new bakery bag packaging is a huge improvement, I think. I like the way it instantly makes them more gift-able. (And, they look so neat and tidy all lined up on my studio shelf as I add more and more to my stock pile.)

Check them out in my online shop. Better yet, if you are local to PA or DC, come and see me at Clover Market or Crafty Bastards and see them for yourself! (I'll have them in more colors/prints and sizes, too.)

Here in the Middle-Atlantic/east coast, we're getting ready for some major storm action. It's so hard to tell with the media these days, and with unpredictable weather, what's really going to go down. But we've got water jugs filled, flashlights and candles ready, and plenty of snacks in the house, just in case. I'm going to jump off the computer and bake us some yummy bread now, too. Best wishes out there to all my friends in the storm path; stay safe! xo.

american made - recap

The Martha Stewart Presents American Made event last week was awesome. My head is still spinning with gratitude and joy that I was invited to be a part of the Our Finds Marketplace. Here's a blurb about the Marketplace that was hanging nearby our little table set-ups:

Wow. Seriously.
I didn't get many photos, because I'm pretty terrible at documenting these types of events. I sometimes remember that I should take photos, and then I run around snapping shots and then, when I look back at them, I realize that they're all really terrible photos. Sorry. Here is at least a little glimpse of what our Marketplace looked like:

(that's my set-up on the left and then Vintage by Crystal next to me, and then Threadfollower to the right, and Gleena Ceramics at the very right edge of the shot.)

My set-up was on the end, at at the end-cap, Posman books was selling copies of some of Martha Stewart's books. Around the other end, directly behind me, was Jane D'Arensbourg, and then Foxy & Winston.

The great thing about this set-up is that we artists/vendors were all so close to one another, that we got to hang out and gab all day long. Usually, at craft fairs, I don't leave my booth - either because I'm there all by myself or, when I do have help, because I don't want to miss the opportunity to talk with my customers or anyone who might pop by to see me. So --- I don't usually get the chance to meet and talk to other vendors. I worry that people think I'm a snob - but I'm not, I swear! At this event, however, our close proximity and shared space allowed me to make new friends - hooray! I so enjoyed talking to the Janes (Jane D'Arensbourg and Jane of Foxy & Winston), Crystal of Vintage by Crystal (Her work is SO cool - my photos were terrible - but you should click the link to see what she does.) Cynthia Treen of ThreadFollower, Jordan of Enormous Champion, Asya of Gleena Ceramics, Angela Ligouri (her shop/studio was featured in the latest issue of Living. Her work and products are so pretty!), and Claire, who was with Winter Water Factory. What a great bunch of women!

Almost directly across from my table was this:

It's amazing. I swooned when I saw it in the November issue of Living and it's just as impressive in real life. Alisa Toninato, of FeLion Studios, is the artist behind these cast iron pans. I got to chat with her a bit as we were all setting up on Tuesday and I asked her about the crazy looking boots that she's wearing in the photoshoot for Living, and she explained that they're to protect her tootsies in the event that spilled molten metal should get on them. Yikes!
The only other honoree that I got to speak with was Flora Grubb, she's super sweet, too!

Honestly, after three days of going to "work" in the beautiful and historic Grand Central Terminal, surrounded by so much talent and inspiration, I kind of didn't want it to end! It really was as good as I hoped it would be, with workshops and presentations (that I wish I could have attended), beautiful floral arrangements, delicious food samples (we vendors would occasionally hear of some deliciousness or other being served and we'd sprint over to snag a sample!), and scores of amazing people. I got to meet more of the MSLO staff (including Jodi Levine, whose work with Kids magazine was some of my favourite of all the MSLO publications.) and so many really encouraging and enthusiastic supporters of chez-sucre-chez.

Phew! It was a great three days. THANK YOU Betsy, and Jennifer, and Ayesha, and Marcie and Hannah and Martha and everyone else who helped to put the event together and to make me a part of it!

Check out some of the press of the event (and see some photos of me!) on the MSL tumblr and this post and this post of the Martha blog.

That's my mom & pop at Grand Central! They took a special train trip up to see me in the big city -- so did my Nani and Aunt Laurie. I'm so lucky to have such a supportive family. Love.

a most beautiful gathering

Last Saturday night (actually, it was the Saturday night before the one that just passed) I was so fortunate and flattered to have been invited to the beautifully inspiring Terrain for a gathering and shared meal. They called it the Terrain Table and held it to bring together members of the Terrain community -- artists, farmers, bloggers, community members, employees of Terrain (and other UO brands), and other wonderful people -- so that we could meet and mingle and share an evening of wonderful food, warmth, conversation, and inspiration.
It. was. amazing. I am so happy to have been there, and that my friend Jill was able to go with me. We swooned over all of the details (and the food!) and mingled with our fellow diners. I took photos, but they were less than stellar. Here are two, which will give you just a teeny idea of how awesome it was:

Susan Hutchinson, author of the blog Fluerishing (remember, she and I worked together to create custom pieces for the nursery of her twins?) was there and did good post about the evening on her blog. See it here. I found another great and comprehensive post on the Free People blog (here). (And, if you see the photo down the table, you can see Jill and me - I'm the one with the red bandana head!)

Sharing food, drink, and conversation with interesting people and/or loved ones is possibly my favourite thing in the world. I wish that could happen every night, but then, maybe I'd take it for granted. Well, I certainly didn't take for granted that I was able to take part in this very special evening. Thank you, Terrain (and, especially, Miss S!).

mull it over

for the past couple of months, i've been working on a project for terrain and they've finally hit the shelves; seasonal goodness -- mulling spices! my studio, with over a hundred pounds of mulling spices in it, smells amazing.

the first part of the project was selecting fabric for the bags. at my favourite dry goods store, wooden bridge in kutztown PA, i found four prints that i liked. i was hoping i'd be able to find three or four that i liked both on their own and together and that they'd each evoke a warm autumny feeling. i think these work quite well. i love a project that allows me to go fabric shopping.

then i sewed up all of the bags, and was able to do that lickety split with the help of my mama. (she's been a champ of a helper since she retired; i love it!)

then the fun part -- filling the bags. each gets two scoops of mulling spice mix (a blend of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and dried orange peels) two re-usable steeping bags, and a cinnamon stick. each bag/packet makes up to four batches of mulled wine or cider. yum!

then they get packed up and shipped to terrain, which is a little funny to me - because i live less than two miles from the shop. but the shipments go to the distribution center, which makes sense because there's now a terrain in CT, and they do online sales. (the last i looked, the mulling spice bags weren't available online, but i just sent a new batch - maybe they soon will be?)

speaking of terrain, on saturday, i'm going to dinner there at the cafe and i couldn't be more pleased and excited. i was invited to take part in what they are calling the terrain table -- a gathering of artists, farmers, bloggers, community members and other friends of terrain. how fun does that sound? this is exactly the type of event/gathering that i love doing and wish i were able to more often host in my home. i LOVE love love sharing beautiful meals with inspiring people. i'm taking my friend jill along with me and we're both super psyched. (i'm guessing i'll probably snap a few shots and post them on instagram... take a peek there!)

for those of you able to come to clover market on sunday, i'll have a few packets of mulling spices with me. come and get 'em!

a very busy week

i'm hoping to post more this week, but not sure if i'll get to --- i am sewing and stitching like mad in preparation for two exciting upcoming events:

one -- this coming sunday, october 14th, i'll be setting up and selling at clover market, in ardmore PA.

PA locals know that this is a good one, with an impeccably curated group of crafters and antique dealers. I've got lots of goodies all made up and ready - including some goods that i've never offered in my online shops before. i'm hoping that i get a chance this week to photograph and post some sneak peeks of those items.
more info about clover market can be found here.

two -- next week is the american made awards event, presented by martha stewart, and i am so overjoyed and excited to have been invited to be a vendor as part of the "our finds" marketplace.

tuesday night is the award ceremony and a private reception and i might even get to meet martha herself! then, wednesday and thursday are open all day to the public, in vanderbilt hall of grand central terminal (nyc). there'll be workshops and presentations and plenty of awesomeness to see and do and sample and taste. they're billing it as "bringing the pages of Martha Stewart Living to life." being as it's my favourite magazine, that sounds amazing to me and i'm so incredibly psyched to be a part of it! more info is here.
as you can guess, i'm going a little bit crazy getting ready for it. i have no idea what to expect, so i'm just stitching stitching stitching making making making sewing sewing sewing as much as i can, and making everything look as pretty and polished as can be. my mama's on her way over here for the day - she's been an amazing help with sewing and keeping me and my studio organized. last week, she spent three days here and one of the best things she did for me was to cut through the madness of my mess! woohoo!
so, if you don't hear from me again this week, you know why -- but i'm hoping to post some photos the prep and the progress. til then, have a great week, friends!

in anticipation

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm feeling the change of the seasons come on quickly. Unlike so many people I know, however, I don't welcome the crisp days and chilly nights of autumn; it's actually a huge bummer for me to feel the warmth and light of summer quickly fading away!
I'm trying to be optimistic this year, though.. so I'm finding reasons to be happy about the season. These chestnuts, gathered just downstairs in my yard, are one thing to be happy about. Last year, the squirrels always beat me to the best nuts, leaving only the teeny tiny useless ones and empty shells. This year, however, they don't seem to be so interested in them! I've gathered overflowing pockets-full of chestnuts for the past two mornings, and there are still so many on the tree!

In other optimistic and exciting news:
*I've got a new piece in the works. I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks.
*I've been asked to participate as a vendor in the upcoming American Made celebration hosted by the folks over at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. I'll be doing a post on that soon with more info.
*I'm teaching a cross-stitch class this Sunday! It's been a while since I've been in the classroom. (Did you know I used to teach fifth grade? Yep, it's true.)There are still some open spots, so if you're in the eastern PA area, check it out and sign up!
*Clover Market is happening again in less than two weeks and I'll be there! It's another PA thing. Come on by if you can!

That's it for now -- more soon!

blooms and berries

autumn's come in pretty quickly this year, hasn't it? it sure feels that way to me - and i think my inspiration is being influenced by the oncoming chill and shorter days. i've come up with a new pattern + kit for the season:

i'm pretty sure that the berry shapes were inspired by those that i found a few weeks ago. and the dark garnet red on grey is a color combo that i've had in mind for quite some time.

the pretty dove grey aida cloth is not so easy to find these days -- i think it's actually been discontinued, so the kits in this exact colorway are going to be limited.

they're up in the shop - hop on over!

custom in blue and red

Here's my latest custom order:

I'm positively thrilled with the colors, which were the choice of the sweet wife who commissioned it as an anniversary gift for her husband. (Their friend, who married them, flubbed their names during the ceremony, instantly creating these sweet new terms of endearment; cute, eh?)

Here's a behind-the-scenes fun-fact about this piece: as I was stitching the birds, I was watching The Birds, by Hitchcock. !!!!

feeling blue...

...in a very good way.
Remember that post just last week when I was freaking out over the color of those blue berries? Well, the day or two after that, I inherited my grandmother's Blue Nordic dishes -- and they are THAT blue color.

Aren't they great? (I do understand that you cannot see them fully in this photo....I forgot to get one of *just* the dishes...) I have so many wonderful memories tied to these dishes. I'm pretty sure they were the only plate set that my grandmother and grandfather ever had, while I was around. I remember eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and English muffin pizzas off of those dishes.(My Nan made the *best* English muffin pizzas - to this day, I have never been able to replicate them.) I remember Sunday night spaghetti dinners with all of my mom's family seated around the table. (And tasting super dry Chianti and thinking it absolutely disgusting.) I remember my Poppi carving turkey and putting it on the serving platters of this set. (Way back in the day when I still ate turkey!) And then I remember setting the table with those same dishes years later when Nani and Poppi retired down in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
My Nan moved out of that house in NC years ago and since then, the plates had been packed up in a box - and for a time, thought to be lost or donated. And then they were found! Hooray! Hooray! I wanted these so badly... So many good memories tied to them and I just think they are absolutely stunning. So now they've become inspiration.

I'll soon be putting in my order for the towels that I use for my monogram tea towels and this holiday season, I'm limiting the color range slightly. Last year I offered many different color options, and I liked giving that choice, but honestly, it was a bit too much for me in terms of keeping track of inventory and running out of colors and having to replace/reorder so many. This year, I'm going a little more simple... This blue will definitely be on the list, though.

making props to get props

It's getting close to fall and winter market season and I made these guys up to use in my display for the new produce bags. I'm kind of really really loving them. I'm trying to figure out whether or not to make some to sell...
So far, the only market event that I have on the books is Clover Market, in Ardmore PA on October 14th and November 4th. (Please note that I will not be doing the September market.) I'm working on filling the calendar with more sales/events/dates; I'm even thinking of doing some traveling for holiday shows.... ooooooh.
Are there any markets in your area that you know of that you think I should do? Please let me know!
Have a great weekend, friends! I'm heading out in a few minutes for fabric shopping - that's always a good time!

classes and bike boxes

Hello friends!
I've got two little bits to share with you today. They're both long overdue, actually...

One: I'm getting back into the classroom! I'm teaching a beginner cross-stitch class on Saturday, October 6th at the Creutzberg Center in Radnor, PA as part of Main Line School Night. I'm pretty excited about this. With the class, students get a Little Owl Love kit and we'll do the project together. It's really the best way to teach/learn cross-stitch - by going through a project together from start to finish. Afterwards, students will have the opportunity to purchase other kits at a mega discount price. Sounds fun, right?

I know this is only good for those of you who are in the Eastern PA area, but the info is here. If you do happen to be local, even if you're not interested in learning cross-stitch with me (I know most of you reading this probably know how already....) there are a lot of other really fantastic classes being offered by Main Line School Night. I know if I lived a little closer that I'd be taking one or two! Check them out here.

Two: Friends of mine are working on a really cool project -- they're making canvas covers for milkcrates that you can then use as a bike box. They're calling them Boova Boxes, which is a little nod to the mennonite culture that inspired the design. (These friends and the Boovabox project are based in Kutztown, PA.) Taking steps towards getting the project off the ground and into full-scale production for a wider audience, Paul and Giles have set up a kickstarter to help generate funds. If you like riding your bicycle and the idea of a new cool bike box, maybe you could check it out - the page is here. And if you click, you'll see the design that I created for them! (I stole this little preview image from their site...)

on inspiration

i know that it may not seem it, because i've been blogging so infrequently lately, but i've felt the most creative and inspired over the past few weeks than i have in a long time.
maybe it's the season, my favourite, and the weather, which has been absolutely perfect in my opinion these past few weeks. maybe it's that i've been spending more down-time outdoors; between a little mini-vacation with my best girl friend on the delaware in beautiful bucks county, and few days at the shore with my family, i've been soaking it in and doing a pretty darned good job of leaving work at home. or perhaps that's just it -- that i've been more relaxed about the pressure of working and making enough to keep it all going.... i'm sure it's a combination of lots of things (including the fact that i cleaned my studio!!!), but i've been feeling good and happy in my creativity. and i haven't been stressing about photographing and documenting it all. which is a bummer, because i'd like to share it all with you. but then, maybe that's why it's felt easier....
i'll work on getting some snaps of some of the projects i've done recently. a lot of them are for upcoming projects and the fall and holiday markets, so you'll see at least some of them, sooner or later.
in the meantime, here are some photos i took this morning of some treasures that i found -- the luna moth wing at one of our local nature preserves and the blue berries on a walk through some woods last night. i don't know what those blue berries are... surely not edible, but the color of them is blowing me away. i have a pretty good feeling that these colors will work their way into my craft somewhere...

whoo-ee i've been a terrible blogger! sorry! in between making the most of the summer days, lots has been going on here with me and chez-sucre-chez, but i have been terrible about taking the time to take photos and post blog posts.... oops.
this may not be the most exciting, but here are some tea towels done recently. i've had a few orders for white tea towels with various color monograms. dang, stitching looks great on these crisp white towels.

come mid-late fall i'll be gearing up for the holiday gift-giving season and will have new photographs and listings for the monogram towels (and napkins!) in the most current colors.
i'm hoping to do another post or two this week -- until then, have a good one!

crusader

i've got a new item in the shop --- reusable produce bags.

another product created by my intense disgust of wasteful plastic use! as i said in my etsy listings for these, i've been using tote bags for many many years, and i'm pretty crazy about it. if there were a sound board of the ten things i say the most, "i don't need a bag; i can put it in my tote," would certainly be one of them. i'm such a freak about not taking/using plastic shopping bags that i'm that person who won't let friends who happen to be shopping with me get bags. i butt in and tell the cashier, "we don't need a bag, he/she can put it in my tote." or, on those days that i purchase more than what will fit in the tote(s) i brought, i might walk to my car with a pack of toilet paper or a box of tampons under my arm, a carton of eggs in one hand, and anything else i can possibly carry in the other.
but those plastic produce bags -- i often find that i don't plan well enough and end up needing one or two on a shopping trip. and i feel crazy guilty every time i take one, even though i always reuse them or recycle them.
so -- i'm working to correct that. i made up these reusable produce bags with the intention of just making a few for myself. not even half way into the project, though, i was so pleased with them that i decided to try them out in the shop. i really really like them and i want you to, too!

i made them in two different sizes. the one is small/medium, it's perfect for most produce shopping needs, fitting at least six large apples, or a bunch of lemons, or three or so average size zucchini or cucumbers. it's also great for herbs or delicate little lettuce mixes. and then i made a larger size one, which is great for bigger heads of lettuce like romaine, or for bunches of kale or collard greens, or beets or carrots with the greens still on them.

i gotta admit, i felt pretty darned cool walking out of the store with one of these bags full of lettuce and the other carrying apples and lemons.

each is embellished with a row of a machine-embroidered leaf pattern.

and the top is a drawstring of vintage ribbon that matches the embroidery. it's knotted so that you won't loose the string in the laundry machines.

what do you think? is this the kind of thing that you would use? or would you get them and then forget to bring them along when you went shopping? i'm certainly excited about them...
see the details in the shop, here. ciao!

new edit --- i made more - a lot more! yesterday i got on a kick and was having so much fun letting my sewing machine do all of the fancy stitchwork that i just kept going. here are some of the new colors and patterns:

yeah!