A Valentine Frame with Henry!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by admin

I collaborated with my niece Amanda on this valentine for my Mom and her grandmother! It all started with Amanda’s fabulous photo of her newborn son Henry! I had a simple unfinished wood frame that I got from Michael’s and some red Paris map fabric from my Bon Vivant collection for Windham!

www.windhamfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=465

If you would like to try something like this, I’ve made a tutorial for you to check out:

Materials Needed:

1 unfinished wood frame with heart shaped opening (the one above is 8″ x 8″), 1 piece of Paris map fabric in red #32164-1 14″ x 14″, ball point pen, fine black marker, scissors and pinking shears, 2 inexpensive bright paintbrushes in size 8 & 16 (for applyling fabric glue), Soba fabric glue, small plastic jar (for easier glue access), a 5″ x 7″ photo, clear acetate (to use in place of glass), spray mount, 8″ x 8″ black illustration board, Matt knife, Gorilla Super Glue, 2 black easel backs

1) Flip fabric upside down and frame upside down on top of it. With a ball point pen draw a heart a bit smaller than the opening and cut it out. Draw around the edges of the frame to make a square.

2) Draw lines equally around on the fabric. These will be your cut lines.

3) Lift the wood frame off the fabric and cut snips where pen marks are.

4) Apply a coat of spraymount to the front of the frame and place down inside pen lines of your square.

5) Paint fabric glue to each section and peel back to hug the wood edge.

6) Take a photo of the back.

7) Print out at true scale (can be B/W) on card stock. Cut out the heart shape.

8) Get your acetate and use your heart as a template. Draw around the heart with a fin tip marker. Cut out your acetate heart. Place in side heart shaped opening.

9) Get your photo and again use heart template to draw outline you will cut from.

10) Cut out photo, flip over &  place inside heart shaped opening. Use same method to cut a piece of heavy weight paper (like bristol) & place on photo to protect. Peel back metal prongs to keep in place.

11) Cut excess fabric and notch out a square at each corner. Use larger brush to apply glue and fold back quickly. Apply super glue to back of frame and press black illustration board onto it firmly for at least 30 seconds. Peel and stick 2 black easel backs to stand it up. Enjoy! OX

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Bon Vivant Coupe Wall Art

Posted on January 4, 2012 by admin

I made this picture for my niece Amanda’s baby shower using 4 of my Bon Vivant fabrics from Windham!

http://www.windhamfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=465

It is scaled for frame elements 14″ high and 24″ wide. You can refer to my elephant wall art tutorial a few posts back for the method except this went a bit quicker because there’s no embroidery involved (spray mounted pieces onto white bristol and spray mounted those in layers)..

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2012 by admin

My dear friend Eric Mueller cleverly crafted these festive party hats for us using tree glittery trees from The Dollar Store and lights from Michaels!

I invited some friends over for Scottish desserts last night to ring in 2012. FYI Balthazar makes fabulous mince pies which folks were loving with my whipped cream spiked with a bit of Drambuie!

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Our Christmas Table

Posted on December 27, 2011 by admin

It just wouldn’t be a festive and cozy Scottish holiday table without TARTAN! These tablecloths were so popular this year that William Sonoma had only a few left in the NY area by early December. I’m lucky I got one! The reindeer is vintage Pottery Barn. I usually get my wreaths and plants from either University or Casey’s Floral.

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Scottish Christmas Sleigh!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by admin

This is the gift basket that I created for my Scottish Mom this Christmas! It arrived today and I heard it was a big hit! It started with a sleigh from Hobby Lobby, then I layered in a napkin from Crate and Barrel, added some Dundee marmalade, Spiced Milk and Honey soaps from Anthropologie, dark choclate from Dean & Deluca, a Nutcracker ornament from Bloomingdales, and Scottie dog coasters from Bergdorf Goodman! One of my favorite holiday decorations growing up was a mini sleigh that I always set up so I guess that was partly what inspired it!

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A Carnival of Animals!

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

Just wanted to share with you some of my favorite Christmas windows in Manhattan. These are at Bergdorf Goodman who chose A Carnival of Animals as their theme this year!

The McQueen aquactic grouping was fabulous!

Things are looking pretty glam at The North Pole!

And put a new twist on a classic song “Girls go crazy for a sharp dressed elk!”

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I’m interviewed in Laurie Wisbrun’s new book!

Posted on October 25, 2011 by admin

Newsflash – Laurie Wisbrun has authored the amazing book pictured here! It’s the perfect primer for anyone with an interest in learning about the making of textiles. She begins by describing design types and suggested methods for gathering inspiration. Laurie then shows people’s various ways of creating patterns both by hand and digitally.

The second section has Chapters on fabric inks and dyes, block printing, steciling, and silkscreening. It’s very visual with an interesting variety of studios sharing their experience! Speaking of contributors I’m interviewed in the third part that focuses on the business of fabric ie: licensing your work to manufacturers! Laurie also talks about portfolio development and lets us hear from designers who have always done the manufacturing themselves to create their brands . It’s chock full of relevant links and tips!

The UK, Australian, & New Zealand version – shipping now (from Amazon) is published by A&C Black and is called The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric!

The American version will be published by Chronicle Books under the name Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design – available in March 2012!

Congratulations to Laurie and her publishers – I’m proud to be a part of this unique creation!

Posted in Worth Reading! | 4 Comments

Tutorial for making Elephant Wall Art!

Posted on October 16, 2011 by admin

Need some fun artwork to decorate your child’s room? Try sewing an elephant using my pieces of my Bon Vivant fabrics from Windham!

www.windhamfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=465

Materials Needed:

1) Sharpie black marker and white card stock 2) Windham fabrics 32165 (grey paisley), and 32164 (red Paris map) 3) fabric cutting scissors 4) embroidery scissors 6) black satin cord 7) black thread 8) dark grey embroidery thread (I used DMC #314) 9) a black button (for the eye) 10) straight pins 11) embroidery needles (I used Clover) 12) 2ply bristol board for mounting

Draw your elephant on white cardstock and cut it out. Mark sections 1-4. These will be your pattern pieces.

Cut along outlines to separate pieces 1-4.

Flip fabrics over with printed side down and trace shapes with your marker. Cut shapes and layer on top of one another to assemble the layout. Position the button eye.

Pin along edges of fabrics to hold pieces in place.

Using dark grey embroidery thread stitch the main shapes together.

Cut satin cord to define ear flap and toenails.

Using black thread sew around the cord to secure it between the two fabrics.

To create tail fringe clip fabric at the bottom into vertical strips. Sew the tail on the back of the elephant with light grey thread.

Would suggest mounting on 2 ply bristol board 18″ x 24″, trim it down and frame in black wood.

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My first sewing patterns have arrived!

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin

It’s official I’m a manufacturer! My first sewing patterns have arrived for the mini & adult aprons shown above! Simplicity did a beautiful job printing them! Many Thanks to Ella Sawtell for collaborating with me and to Carrie & Tracy too from Pink Chalk Studio. They helped us so much by testing the patterns (A few posts back you can see what their creations!) In fact Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Fabrics should be receiving today her first order today www.pinkchalkfabrics.com ! I visited PurlSoho and The City Quilter last week to share the news as well!

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Bon Vivant Kimono Robe!

Posted on September 25, 2011 by admin

My Accessories (#32166-1) and Composition Notebook texture (#32167-7) prints from my Bon Vivant collection for Windham Fabrics make a lovely kimono robe, right?

www.windhamfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=465

I mentioned the idea to my friend & neighbor Carrie and she said “If you made one I’d buy it!”

That was just the encouragement I needed! Indygo Junction had a pattern that my friend Jane Fried Sheinfeld at The Pieced Palette started with and once adjustments to the pockets & trim were made we had another beautiful product! Carrie told me she wore the robe for the first time this AM and felt glamorous – I just love that!!

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