the "in stitches showcase" at renegade chicago!

ah! i totally missed posting about this; the opening was last night... darn, i'm a little late.
but it's okay! the show is up all month.
look look look!


sue, kate, and danny, the wonderful peeps at the renegade handmade shop in chicago have put together a seriously excellent selection of artists and works for the latest show in their spotlight series. this is show number three and it's called "the in stitches showcase." it's a cross stitch and embroidery group show featuring these artists:


clockwise: atlantic treefox, pinpals, lucky jackson, the time is now, moxiedoll, mucho design, lou lou and oscar, pidge pidge


gillian bates, miniature rhino, porterness


mary’s granddaughter, sissyfist, MummySam, et moi - chez sucre chez

holy crap, that's an amazing round-up, right?! i am bummed that i cannot make it out there... i am sure i'd be totally wowed and inspired and i would LOVE to meet some of these other artists and talk thread and needles.
and, last night, jenny hart, of sublime stitching, was there to do signings of her new book, embroidered effects. what an event, eh?
but it's up for a little while longer - so there's still time to see it if you find yourself in the chicago area. look for more details and directions here.

it's beginning to look a bit like xmas

just a wee bit.
last week i made up some ornaments:



i listed them in my shop with the option of having the year embroidered on there or not. i understand that some people like dated things, and others definitely do not. i know that in my family, my sister and i were given two gifts to open on christmas eve; one was a nightgown or pyjamas (we got matching pjs so that we looked all cute and match-y in the photos the next morning.) and the other was an ornament to hang on the tree. i really appreciate the ones that have the year on them. i think it's fun to have and see that little history each year.

and then there were these ones:


i printed them with stamps that i carved of the various bird shapes. i had hoped to have done more with these stamps, but that hasn't happened yet. i hope i can make those ideas happen in the next month.
here's what i am REALLY looking forward to this week. this thursday, besides it being the arrival date of this year's beaujolais nouveau, i've got a date with my z-town gals in the afternoon to do some entirely non chez-sucre-chez holiday crafting. hooray! we're gonna get together and eat some snacks and pore over the holiday crafts in this months (and those of last year, and the year before that and...) issue of martha. fun!

a stitch in time on once wed

once wed, the uber-huge wedding blog, just (yesterday) published a story that i helped to work on! remember this piece?


i had done it by request for courtney, of merriment events and the blog little white book, who was putting this story together. it's really sweet -- a super thoughtful dude comes up with a crafty-inspired proposal (and it's actually inspired by a true story). i was called upon to be a part of it by making the title piece and a set of stitched up l.o.v.e. letters. everyone who worked on the project did an amazing job and it's wonderful to see that it's been picked up by once wed. here's a preview of my work in the piece:



(screenshots taken from the once wed site, photos taken by kellan studios, who've also posted additional photos from the shoot.)
but you gotta go see it for yourself -- click here for part one and here for part two.
thanks, courtney, for inviting me to be a part of the story and thanks to everyone who made all of our work look amazing!

scratch market

whoa -- it's just about holiday season and my calendar is filling up rather quickly with lots of exciting stuff.
here's one for this weekend:


any of you PA peeps -- eastern PA, i guess, who may be looking for something to get into on the weekend. come on out on saturday to the from scratch market. it's a new craft fair event that's been organized by a talented and connected little bunch -- should be a good one. i will be there selling chez-sucre-chez goods alongside sara smedley, jen lindsay, and melanie linder (all of the z-town made group) who will also be hawking their wares. i'm kinda excited about this one because we're sharing a couple of tables and we'll be making it like a little z-town made store rather than separating and showcasing each of our own lines. i'm very much looking forward to a day with my ladies before the real madness of the holiday season sets in. c'mon out and visit us and get a jump on your holiday shopping!

chez-sucre-chez has gone to the frogs

i said i wasnt gonna do it -- but i did...
i made a more kid-friendly sandwich wrapper.
this one's got frogs on it:



i had gotten a lot of requests for prints and patterns that would appeal more to kids (boys in particular) and i had said that i did not plan on doing that... but then when i saw this frog printed vinyl, i decided to just give it a shot. they're kinda cute -- but definitely not very chez-sucre-chez... they're up on etsy.

oh, and speaking of frogs -- chez-sucre-chez goodies are now being sold by not one, but two shops in france! les fleurs in paris, and mum shop in bordeaux! tres cool!

more buddies

last week was one for stuffing things. i stuffed the birds for ornaments and i made and stuffed a bunch more tooth buddies.
here's the newest line-up:


my favourite thing about this batch is the color scheme going on with their eyes and mouths. b got me a big jar of buttons and in it were lots of these matching greenish-blue buttons. i liked how there were lots of buttons in there that were this same color, but the pairs were of varying sizes and shapes.
these gems were also in there:


ooooh, i love those colors together:


anyways -- yep. so there's a new batch of tooth buddies.
here are some of my favourites:
minxy:


marv:


this guy, with the crooked little smile who doesnt yet have a name:


and this guy - whose face i love:


he doesnt have a name yet either. (if you've any suggestions, please do leave them in the comments!)


look at how much fun they seem to be having all hanging out together. they look like they're playing "ha'" (remember that episode from the brady bunch?)


i think that these little guys are gonna be in a magazine this coming month, but i'm not positive... we'll see. just in case, i'll be restocking the shop.

ornamental

so, i started working on my little holiday line a few weeks ago and i was thinking, "christmas is still awfully far away... i should maybe wait on this stuff a while." and now i feel like it is practically here and i should have had this stuff done before now.
there's lots more in the works, but here's the first round - tree ornaments:
this is kind of a weird photo of them -- i gotta take some better ones some day soon. let's just think of this as a sneaky peaky, since they arent going in to my shop or anywhere else for at least another week or two. this way, though, you at least know that i'm working on it and that there's more to come...


(i'm HATING these photos! they look gross and bloody! -- maybe i still have halloween on my mind. well, trust me, they'll look way better with the red contrasting against an evergreen tree.)

keeping up with the smiths

new posts soon! i just gotta get caught up on this past week's orders and then i'll show you the new stuff that i've been working on!

ha!

need a last minute halloween costume? be a pilgrim!

How To Make a Pilgrim Costume on Howcast

noticed notices

i've noticed some more blog mentions over the past week, which is great, because it's been helping a whole bunch to drive more viewers to my sites.
i saw this post on design is mine:


this one on darling dexter:


this one on lah mode:


and this one on india knight's posterous:


and just this morning, i received an email to let me know that one of my pieces was included in this beautiful etsy treasury by pretty in posies:


thank you so much for the approval, support, kind words, and exposure, bloggers!

carving the bird(s)

update soon.

my baby does the hanky panky

b used to tease me about my affinity for vintage hankies over modern fluffy disposable tissues, until a few weeks ago, when he found himself at my house with a snotty nose and no tissue box in sight. he ended up going home with two said hankies (one was one of the feather embroidered linen ones i had done a while back.) and i think i've got him hooked (on hankies, that is). well i was in my most awesome and always surprising and inspiring local fabric and notions shop the other week and i there i spied a pile of plain new cotton hankies, and they had manly colors, too! so i picked up two of them and then yesterday, to celebrate the wee victory of being caught up on orders (kinda), i gave myself some non-work project time to sit in the sunshine, listening to belle and sebastian, and stitch these up for him. i spent a little time the night before searching for fonts to use and it took my a while before it hit me to do it in the tattoo lettering style.(i used this, here.) i'm pretty psyched on that one. working on the thin cotton is a little difficult - the fabric is not so forgiving, once you've poked the needle through, the hole tends to want to stay there, which is why the other hankie is so boring in comparison; i had done that B first and once it was in and i saw how boring it was, it was too late. oh well. i like them, i think he'll like them, they're just gonna be used for snot.


ps - here's a joke for you: Q: how do you make a tissue (hankie) dance? A: blow a little boogie in it. (HAHA!!)

keep me in stitches

the november issue of country living magazine has hit the stands and chez-sucre-chez has made it once again!



hooray! my monogrammed tea towels are included in the fresh picks section featuring ticking stripes, and i've offered a discount code on them of 10% off for country living readers. well, chez-sucre-chez blog readers, you get the discount, too, if you want it.
shop my online store (here) and just enter the coupon code 'CL' at checkout. these make lovely holiday gifts. (just sayin'....) the coupon is good until november 30th, so get to it and keep me (even more) busy.

news news

with all i've been trying to do, i missed some press mentions over the last week or two. here were some that i managed to catch:
jen, over at made by girl, gave a little shout-out for the new smiths pieces and home-sweet-homes:


see the post here.

the "please please please..." piece also got the attention of uncle beefy (the bedlam of beefy):


see that post here.

my hot air balloons were posted about over at oh-dee-doh:


here.

lushlee posted about my silver-lined-cloud zippy pouches:


(and now they're all sold out!) that post is here.

and i actually caught myself on the etsy front page the other day:


(after noticing a significant jump in traffic!!)
hooray hooray!

hoop-la

these look way better now that they're framed in vintage hoops.


the letters were totally lacking umph in the regular hoops that i had them in while i was stitching them, but now i feel a lot better about them. bueno.

the latest

just finished this up last night:


it's for an upcoming project. i'm really pleased with how this one, so different from my other works, turned out. i love the soft chocolate-y brown aida cloth with the cream stitches. if all goes well, there'll be a better photo of this piece to show off at some later date.

letters on the wall

i'm stock-piling letters again.


i've found, thanks to many of my sweet sweet blog readers, a whole bunch of new sources for old patterns and i've had some fun giving them a try.
let me introduce you to some of my current new favourites:

here's w:

i like the way he's a little cute and creepy.
and m:


teeny, but sweet.
i don't really know why, but i really like this u:


maybe it's the pink.
i so like this h:


it reminds me of edward gory.
and like the u, i'm not quite sure why, but i do like this e.


i've got a few projects in the works that use lots and lots of letters so this collection is going to be growing!
also, though, i've added the option to my shops for ordering groups of letters, rather than just individual initials. that way, buyers can customize and order letters to spell out names or words or whatever and it's easier and cheaper for them. i need to take better photos for the listings, though...

ooh you've got blue skies...ooh you've got graaaay skies

by request - i've added some of the silver-lined clouds to my shops.

this one is all gift-boxed up and ready to go:


it's listed on my bigcartel shop. see it/get it here.

this wee little one is gift-boxed, too:


it's on etsy. here.

this set of three is up on the big cartel shop. here.



and then there's this one - which i just did with a much thicker silver-lining:


i particularly like this detail shot:


it's up on etsy. here.

reeling

i can't say i'm reeling around the fountain, but i sure have been feeling like i've been reeling lately. sorry for the lack of posts; it's been a bit of a nutty week or two. here's one project that i've been able to complete though, outside of the nuttiness of orders and obligations and life:


something new! i've framed a piece, in a regular frame rather than an embroidery hoop. mostly i did this because i cut the fabric too small and it wouldnt fit in the embroidery hoop that i had intended for it, but also because i feel like i was going for something a little different with this piece and the frame seems, to me, to suit it a little better than a hoop would. this was actually my original vision for the smiths series -- traditional style samplers but with quirky pop/alt-culture lyrics/references rather than the traditional ABC's and 123's. but then i fell in love with that fabulous script-style lettering and decided to do the other pieces like that instead. and then i found myself still itching to satisfy that original vision. and now i have. so i think i can move on now.


that's it! c'est tout!
(oh yeah, the piece is up on etsy, in case you're interested... here.)

golden lights

some really very lovely press is going around about my cross-stitched smiths lyrics.
apartment therapy:


pretty cool, right?! see the post here.
i enjoyed reading the comments:


i particularly enjoyed the one from the girl who said she started running around her living room screaming "oh my god" when she saw the post, and the one that complimented my choice of lyrics to stitch (yay! i love when people get it!). i checked this morning and there was, of course, one naysayer, who made some comment about "the kids of this generation." i'm not quite snarky enough to comment back to inform him/her that i am of the original smiths generation.

poppytalk did a post, too:


see it here. i also enjoyed reading those comments:


the haystack needle also posted about the series:


read the post here.
so cool! it's great to see how passionately people respond to the smiths and things inspired by or related to them. i think they were just such an influential band to so many of us as we were going through our wacky teen years. i know i am certainly not the only one who analysed and hung on every word that morrissey sang; i supposed that's why i was so drawn to stitch that series...
anyways - - thanks so much for the press, jessica, and jan and jen! (wow! three j names!)

pretty in pink

loving this soft pink cross-stitch fabric:



i got it for an upcoming project, or venture -- more on that in the coming weeks...

bat-tastic

here's a little project i did well over six months ago, but never remembered to take a photo:


heeehee! awesome, right? it's a batty finger puppet that i made from maritza soto's pattern - which she so generously posts for free on her blog. not the crafty type? well then, you should check out maritza's shop instead, where you will find some of the coolest finger puppets and little stuffed things i ever did see. shop here. blog here.

making good

this is really really cool. thank you so much to everyone who has blogged and twittered and facebooked to spread the word about my red balloon project and my mom's bikeride fundraiser for MS.
thank you so much to tara:


who blogged about the story on scoutie girl. see it here.

and samantha:


she posted on her blog the experts agree. see it here.

and karen:


(you gotta read her post -- as usual - there's a little bit of education and a good dose of entertainment. click here.)
it feels really good.

readymade renegade

hey - check it out - i forgot to mention that chez-sucre-chez got a mention on the readymade magazine blog. a few of the readymade peeps came by my booth at renegade and we had lovely little chats. whilst chatting with amy, we did the whole "where are you from" thing and when she responded "south jersey" i said, "hm, where" and when she said, "near cherry hill" i said, "oh really, me, too, where?" and then i found out that she grew up in the town next to me and that we both attended the same high school (but at different times)! crazy. small world. read amy's version of the story in the post here.
in other readymade news, i packed up a little trio of tooth buddies and sent them off to iowa, where they are hoping to have their photos taken and make it into the magazine. i know they were not so excited about traveling all squished in the fed-ex envelope but i assure you they were exited. i meant to take a picture but i forgot. boo.

9 red balloons (or, help me help my mama)

so -- this is a preview of an exciting little project that i was invited to be a part of. (it's not quite off the ground yet, but it's starting -- get a little taste here; it's called spoonful.) i was asked to create a work for this project weeeeeks ago, and i put it on my schedule to complete the week after chicago -- giving me one week until the deadline. i thought about it all week but of course, as it almost always goes with me, my A-HA moment didnt happen until the eleventh hour. that's when i thought - f yes, i will stitch 99 red balloons! super cool idea, but a little too ambitious for an afternoon, kj. perhaps if i were a bit more of a planner....
so -- as a compromise, or, rather, a reality, i did nine red balloons.
they were whipped up kinda quickly -- nothing fancy, just straight up embroidery stitches of hot air balloons on regular cotton fabric, framed in embroidery hoops. i like the way they look together.
here are a couple more shots:



okay --- so i photographed them a whole bunch and sent the images over to anthea (for the final shots, you're gonna have to stay tuned and check out the publication of spoonful!) and now i've got these sweet little hot air balloon pieces. and now here's the other A-HA moment that i had while i was stitching them up. i was thinking, hmmm, so what am i going to do with these pieces now? and then my mind was wandering and it went over to thinking about my family and my mother and how she is doing this two day bikeride to raise money and awareness of the effort to find a cure for MS. i am so proud of her -- she only took up biking, um, i think four years ago, and now my mom does these 150 mile bikerides! it's fantastic. she's amazing. you've got to click on over here and read her little page about it. (do it! there's even a photo of her in her biking gear! yeah mom!) so -- i was thinking about all of this and then i was thinking, dammit i wish i werent so broke and that i could put some money in her fund. she is SO close to her goal. but alas, i just dont have the cash. and then i thought, WAIT A MINUTE -- what if i put these up on my shop and do what i can to get them sold and then donate all of that money to mama's fund?! that would be rad! and so -- this is what i am doing. so --- think about it. check it out. click on over here and look at the little balloons in my shop. do you NEED one? probably not. but hey, if you buy one, you get a simple little piece of art (you could even give it away as a gift), you've donated some money to a good cause, and i've been able to further support my mama in her awesomeness. everyone wins! wow. this was a lot of writing. okay.. please think about it... please pass on the link to this post if you care to. thanks! xoxo-k

bunny bags

new drawstring pouches for the "hearts and hares" diy cross-stitch kits:


i like these ones better than the old lace-print fabric i was using. that's all.

trifecta complete

i hesitated on doing this one, because i remember that a looooong time ago, little miss black apple, emily, had embroidered this quote. she had it hanging on the wall of her home right next to the little cross-stitched squirrel of mine that she had bought. and then she posted a photo on her blog, which is where i saw it. (and then i, in turn, blogged about that -- and you can see my post here. i tried to find the post on her blog, but there i couldnt!) anyways, i'm a little nuts about not ever wanting to do something that someone else has done before, so i was quite sure that i didnt want to stitch this one up at all. HOWEVER, it seems to be maybe the most popular or well-remembered smiths line, if my friends are any measure. this was the line that was suggested to me time and time again. so i did it.


and now the trifecta is complete. i don't know why i get so obsessed with doing things in multiples or groups, but i know that i simply could not get it out of my head to put down the graph paper and needle and thread and to give my smiths mp3s a rest until i had done three of these. (and, because i can't be doing this kind of stuff just because it's fun anymore, they're all available for sale in the shop.)
so, okay. done. and now, thanks to karen's enthusiastic support when i casually mentioned that i had thought to do dylan quotes, i'll probably do those next. (her suggestion of "i'll let you be in my dreams if i can be in yours" is perfect. one of the best, k! thanks!)

ruffian stitches

i got an itiching to stitch this one up last night -- and so i did...


this was the first smiths quote that i ever wanted to stitch, and i did - last year - a much different version of it, which now lives with jess. it's really one of my very very favourite smiths lines, so i happily stitched it again.




i am really liking this series! originally i had intended to do these in traditional cross-stitch lettering, to make them look like old-fashioned samplers but with these quirky smiths quotes instead of the regular ABC123's and bible quotes. but i am very much liking this modern-feeling handwriting-esque font for these pieces... i dont know how many i more i can do without getting tired of the font - they do look quite similar. i do, however, have some new colored aida cloth that i am eager to play with -- i think the next of these will be dark lettering on grey fabric... now what other quotes should i use? i've got plenty of ideas, but i'd love to hear some of yours!
(ps -- i've put these pieces in the shop -- click on over if you're interested.)

i wear black on the outside...

and here it is in reversed color (and a little larger):




gotta rush this off to the post office!

thank you thank you thank you

i totally forgot to post this link when i found it, which was a few days late -- but now it's a few weeks late; oops!
my please please please let me get what i want piece got a sweet little mention on the mixed plate blog.


see the post here.
thanks for the love, liana!
i'm happy that people have reacted so well to this one. i brought it with me to chicago and had people commenting about it all weekend long, until the end of the second day, when it sold. the woman who bought the piece is moving from chicago to LA next week and she's taking it with her. i wish them both safe travels.
i've already gotten and completed another order for one of these -- check back in a few hours for photos - this one's a little different and it, too, is LA bound!

tribune tribute

hey hey hey -- chez-sucre-chez made it into the style section of the chicago tribune today:


i was able to catch it, thanks to a thoughtful gal named sarah who spied the article and sent me a link to the online text. thanks, ellen, for listing me as one of your top-eight vendors!
see the article here.

make your own home sweet home

here's the latest chez-sucre-chez do-it-yourself cross-stitch kit:


i created the piece a couple of weeks before going to chicago and decided to turn it into a kit just days before the trip. i like that it's a really simple design and that the colors are different from my other light-color-stitching-on-black-fabric kits. the color combo for this one and the little red heart flanked by doo-dads was inspired by a ribbon design that i remember from my childhood. i thought i had a little scrap of that ribbon to photograph and post, but it seems i dont... hmmm, i'll have to keep my eyes out for it. i'm sure you know what ribbon i am talking about, though -- very folk-y looking- white ribbon with red and blue and green and yellow "embroidery" design on it. if i find some i'll post it here later. anyways, that was the inspiration behind the original piece and then i thought i liked it so much that i wanted to share.


so that's where the kit came from. it comes with the pattern, a four-inch wooden embroidery hoop, blue aida cloth, red and white floss, and a needle -- all packed up in a little draw-string pouch that i've sewn up.



kits available in my etsy shop and soon in my bigcartel shop.

chicago recap

schwew! what a whirlwind! renegade chicago weekend was a hoot (pun intended to work with the renegade mascot owl), and a whole lotta driving.



the weather was absolutely beautiful. we really lucked out with that.
here's the chez-sucre-chez shop:



the little cutesy stuff hanging out on the corner of the table to lure people in:


the totes and towels:


the cross-stitched stuff:



also noted:
**thank you to friend molly, who put together a care package for me to take with me on my drive. fresh baked muffins, a delicious cheese and tomato sandwich (on home-baked sammy bread - with the tomato in a separate bag to prevent sogginess, and a little ice-pack to keep the mayo fresh... wow.), trail mix, pretzels and a peach. it kept me from realizing how really really terrible road food is; until the ride home, that is, when for breakfast i ate the worst egg-and-cheese-on-a-bagel that i've ever had (i havent had too many in my life, but this was bad.) and for lunch/dinner i had a way-bigger-than-should-be-allowed medium milk shake. booooooooo.
**also thank you to grade/high school friend megan, who made the trip down from michigan to spend a good part of the weekend with me. we got to catch up on a lot of years of history over dinner and wine and she helped me SO much with my saturday night/sunday morning set-up and break-down and general craft-fairing. thanks so much for the company and the help, meg! this was the view out the window of our borrowed condo:



**jacob - you are super-duper craft fair neighbor.
**lisa, it was great great great to meet you!
**the whole renegade shop and event team are awesome. thank you danny and kate and sue. chez-sucre-chez products are now available in the brick-and-mortar renegade shop there in chicago. yay!
**pennsylvania is an absolutely gorgeous state.

on the road

i'm going on a little solo road trip adventure to chicago to do renegade. i'm feeling pretty good about it - though i'm exhausted right now... gotta get some zzzzzzz's before heading out in the morning!
if you are there, please do stop by and say hello!
i'll post photos when i get back. have a good weekend, friends. xo-k

fall collection 09

i havent done one of these in a long while:


it's my current collection of cross-stitched pieces. some of them are already promised away, but the rest are going with me to chicago. papa bear and i are going to be making up a new display system for them tonight. more photos of the collection are here, on my flickr page.

last week's news

i didnt get to post on these as i found out about them, but chez-sucre-chez got mentions on a few blogs and etsy treasuries last week.
the first came to me from sarah, who pens the blog apothecary fox. she included my schoolhouse script home-sweet-home sampler in a weekly round-up. (here)


that one was cool because i was sharing the spotlight with my gal pal melanie linder, of spread the love, who's work was also featured.

i also got notice from hollie of etsy shop blueberry shoes and blog mermaids closet that she had included my please please please sampler in a morrissey-themed etsy treasury. i was too late to see the treasury (they expire after a few days) but i did see the screenshot on her blog. (here)

and lastly, i got a note from erin, of the blog slipcover your life, letting me know that she had featured my cross-stitch pieces. (blog post here.)


lovely!

thanks so much for the mentions and for the notes to let know about them, ladies!

pig piles and lots of letters

i'm stockpiling inventory for renegade chicago:



holy crap - i leave in a week. i hope i'll be ready.

class notes

i received an email last night from nicole, of the blog kirei nest, letting me know that she had featured chez-sucre-chez on her blog.


when i clicked over, i was delighted! it's a beautiful round-up of school-themed/inspired works and products. she's done a lovely job of putting together a beautiful little collection. check out those "old macdonald" linens; the print reminds me of the folk-print fabric i'm in love with and using for my zippy pouches -- ooooh, pretty stuff.
see the post here. thanks for being in touch, nicole!

i dreamt about you last night...

(though i didn't fall out of bed.)


i've had this one in the works for-EV-er and it's been finished for almost a week now, but i'm just now getting photographing it (albeit they're half-assed photos) and posting about it. and really i was only prompted to get it up and out here because i had a dream last night that someone beat me to it. but in my dream i think it was that someone cross-stitched "steven patrick morrissey" and some dates or some traditional cross-stitch doo-dads. weird.


this was supposed to be the first in a series of pieces based on or quoting song lyrics, but i don't think i am going to get to any more like this for a little while...i've kinda got a lot to do right now. someday, though -- someday, there will be more. i've even got a bunch of little quotes all written down and waiting to be turned into patterns to be turned into stitches.



please excuse the terrible photos. (goodness, i've been saying that a lot lately -- true it's been dark and dreary here the past two days but i think it probably has more to do with the fact that i've just been too impatient and busy and preoccupied to take the time to get the photos just right lately... not good, i know.)



don't know if anyone will be interested because the photos are so darned dull, but the piece is listed on etsy. the listing is here. maybe one sunny day i will get to re-photographing.

may i please gloat?

for just a moment?
sometimes i read the feedback comments that are left for me on my etsy shop and i have to smile, and maybe blush a little, and feel a bit proud and full of love.
i got one of those joy-inducing feedback comments today and it made my morning. the top one, from etsy user swankyfunk:


and that one from hillery, and seanastrawn, and softmelody, and xangy, and....
etsy really is so cool. i love the interactions i get to have with my customers. it's days like this that i really like my job.
thanks for being so awesome, etsy shoppers and friends. xoxo to you!
see more etsy feedback here.

old fashioned picnic

the latest print for the sammy wraps:




(the photos are kinda dark --- it's a bit dark and rainy here in these parts this morning.)
i've gone backwards -- first i did the modernist picnic and now i'm going back to the good old fashioned classic red and white checks. too bad i didnt have these ones for prime picnic season...
(available in my etsy shop.)

sackfuls of strawberries

new packaging for the lavender-filled strawberry sachets:




sweet.

kitchen conundrum

big cake


little cake


happy birthday, baby.

baby names

i've still got a lot of work to do on this series -- but here's the preview.
tons of other things to do in the meantime, though ---


chicago - i'm getting ready to come see you.

b-sotted

(it's my new favourite letter -- i've even got a song i like to sing about it; bbb, bbb... )
anyways, i've been stitching up a LOT of new letters this week. i'm hoping to have them presentation-ready by next week...

christmas in... august?

sorry for the lack of posts this week: the studio was temporarily turned into a christmas workshop:


i'll be able to give you the deets in a few weeks. in the meantime, happy weekend! i'll be back to business as usual next week.

zippy pouch love

i need to take a moment to express my love for my chez-sucre-chez zippy pouches.


oh zippy pouches, i love you.
they've served me well. look at how beat up and loved and used and abused they are! aside from the dirt, though, they've stood up exceedingly well, i think! believe me, i am not gentle with things like this. these zippy pouches have been tossed around from one tote to the next, lain on sticky dirty bar counters, been stashed behind booths and benches of dirty dance halls, thrown on the ground, spilled upon, etc. etc. etc. neither has ever fallen into a toilet though, thank goodness.

now here's your chance to get your own chez-sucre-chez zippy pouch. i finally got around to making the pouches out of that great fabric that i scored last month. it all worked out swimmingly. the fabric was pretty much already cut (it was cut into large quilt squares) and i happened to find just enough matching zippers to make up a uniform batch of these. amazing.


i know it's a bit like tooting my own horn, but really, you need one of these. i've got friends who bought them (or who got them from me as i-love-you-friend gifts) last year when i made the first batch and it makes me smile to see them still so happily using their pouches. (heidi and dana, i'm talking about you!) really it's not my doing so much as it is the beautiful fabric. i just gave it a purpose.


this photo makes the pouch look like the orange print one -- but it's not -- it's red print on an off-white background. i've only got a small quantity of these (eight i think, and some are already spoken for) so click on over here and get yours today.

also -- i've got this one made up and listed and ready to go.
it was my friend sara who inspired this one. she knew i had this fabric and she requested a pouch made from it. so, i hooked her up. since i rarely make just one of anything, however, i've got an extra. so i listed it in my shop. it's here if you want the details.


isnt that a fun fabric? i found it at my local mennonite-run dry goods store and couldnt pass it up. my friend molly, who was with me that day, convinced me to buy the rest of the bolt. so maybe i'll make more. or maybe it will sit in my fabric collection for a while.


i think that maybe there's a story behind that fabric -- someone said it had some local significance... anyone know the story?

but when you're tied... or: aprons, the soft launch

(of course it doesn't really make sense -- but sometimes i just can't get over and past a smiths reference - even if it doesnt really work, it just gets stuck in my head and i need to use it. sorry.)



remember months ago when i started making the kids' aprons? (you can read here, if you want to get caught up on the full story.) i made them as a commission for my friend cori's wedding. i made 32 of them for the 32 children who were in the wedding. before we move on to the aprons, let me just say that the photos i have seen of that wedding are AMAZING. amazing. i sometimes just go back to look at them at random times because they are just that good. you should see for yourself. oh my goodness. amazing. click here. and here.

so -- as i was making the aprons for that project, i developed a pattern and a method that i really like and that makes it easy and fun to make more of these aprons. for cori's project i made a whole bunch of extra aprons in all different patterns, colors and prints so that i could pick and choose which ones i liked best as a collection for her order. some of the girls' aprons tagged and ready to go:



and this was the scene inside my studio during that time:




i'm telling you, i made A LOT of aprons! the extras i took with me to my summer craft fairs and i still have some left over -- i just listed them in my shop, though -- on sale -- check 'em out: here.
the challenge in listing these things is having access to kids to model the aprons. i attempted a photoshoot with my niece and nephew a few weeks ago but as luck would have it, the only time i had them in a good mood and ready and willing to pose for me was when they had just gotten back from a day at the beach. so they were all grubby and wearing beach clothes. oh well.





and then they started making grass beards and i knew the photoshoot opportunity was over...



whereas the first round of aprons were made in all different colors and patterns in only one or two sizes, i've now reworked my size charts and patterns to be able to offer them in sizes 2T, 3-4 years, 5 -7 , 8-10 and 12 - 14. i'm gonna be listing the aprons as a set color/print but with the ability for one to order it in any of those sizes. the first of these is up:


these are mega difficult to photograph without a wee model!


i love love love love this print. i fell in love with the fabric a few weeks ago when i first saw it and then when i went to get it and to pick out a coordinating fabric for the other side, i was super pleased to see that it matches perfectly with my favourite-color-of-the-moment. and look at how that pink rickrack goes with it!



i put it on my dressform to be able to show the shape better. i know i'm tiny, but this is a size 3 -4 year old apron -- it's gonna look a lot different/better on an actual 3 -4 year old than it does on my shape.


so -- now that i've got the patterns developed and set i'll be doing more of these -- offering more prints/styles.
here is the listing for the first official style, available in my bigcartel shop.

the new fellas (and lassies)

due to the sensational success on sending two toothmen into the world in as many days, i've whipped up a new crew. here they are:


haha. (sorry -- i can't help but laugh when i look at these guys -- especially when they're all lined up like a little gang. hilarious.)

i've created listings for some of them so far, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow.
for now, meet:
la gamine:

check out those legs! woot-woo! (that's supposed to be a whistle sound.)


she's available here.

and then there's old blue eyes:


i love the way this pair of vintage buttons works here to give him a big sparkly-eyed face.


he's listed here.

next, may i present, violetta:


she's the skinniest of the bunch and she looks to be a little shy, but i assure you, she's quite sweet.


you can find her here.

and lastly (for the time being), here is mister brown eyes:


what physique! i think he's almost my idea of a perfect tooth shape.


his listing is here, on etsy.

pretty in prints

new sammy wrap prints!
super-helper ellen and i went to the local fabric store earlier this week and picked out a couple of new prints for the sandwich wrappers. i'm gonna be stitching up a bunch and marketing them as a back-to-school necessity in the coming weeks, so i wanted some fresh material to play with.
here's the first:


i'd been eying this material for weeks, but wasn't sure how well it would translate as a sammy wrap. i don't know why i was so wary of the fact that it's transparent -- regular baggies are transparent, so why was i thinking that it wouldn't work? ellen really liked this print and i am glad that she convinced me to get it, because the finished product looks awesome. unfortunately, though, it doesn't look so awesome in photos. i had to try a few different settings:


i like how the textured print almost gives it a quilted look.



but i am not completely psyched on the photos -- they're okay, but the real thing is definitely better-looking. i do, however, enjoy the way that my afternoon dc and the strawberries worked as props.
and then here's the other new print:


i'm calling this one "the modernist picnic." i don't have a good name for the other one -- any suggestions?




i've listed the transparent geometric overlapping circles print wrappers (see!? i need a new name for it!) here and the modernist picnic print wrappers are here.

*rather an aside, but in reference to my post title; i recently came to the realization that i think "pretty in pink" by the psychedelic furs just may be one of my all-time-favourite songs. yep. so there you go.

looking for someone to love

i know i said that i thought i was going to keep those extra toothmen around to keep me company in the studio, but this one particular guy was giving me the feeling that he really rather wanted to maybe find a new home:


look at that face! he wants to see the world, or at least be united with someone (besides me) who thinks the world of him. he's got some love to share.


so -- i set him up as a listing on my etsy shop as a tooth buddy. he'll be mailed with some little coin envelopes stamped with the words "tooth fairy" so that he can help out with tooth fairy duties if called upon. the child could put his/her tooth in the envelope and put it under the pillow and then the tooth fairy can leave the loot in the same envelope or in one of the spares or however else he/she sees fit. i've thought a lot about (and had many suggestions to do so) how i could make these guys into tooth fairy pillows and this is what i've come up with so far. i know i could sew a pocket onto the backside of them, but i just dont want to -- i think it would detract from their charm. a tooth fairy pillow is only used so many nights in one lifetime -- i want my toothmen to be adored ALL THE TIME.


so -- check him out. (here is the listing.) snap him up for your favourite five year old (or thirty-five year old, or sixty-five year old.... ).

**whoa! one day later and he's already been scooped up! toothman is off to live in salem, mass. lovely! so now his buddies are eager to see if they can find new homes, too. i've just listed another (here). we'll see how it goes!

home sweet home - the market

chez-sucre-chez is participating in this months poppytalk handmade market. the theme this month is aptly fitting -- it's a housewares market titled "home sweet home." jan and earl, the LOVELY duo who make poppytalk happen, have been running a really great series of posts; 70 reasons to buy handmade and vintage. they're providing some wonderful reminders to support creative businesses and individuals and to spend our dollars in more meaningful ways. (click here to read all of the posts in that series.)
click on over (here) to see this month's market -- as usual, they've curated a brilliant round-up of talent and products. thanks, jan and earl!

*simple home sweet home sampler piece pictured above is available through my bigcartel shop. (here)

lineup; of teethmen

sba (my nephew) lost his fourth tooth, which means that i need to send him another toothman. he gets one for each of his four front teeth, so this is gonna be the last toothman for a while; until bb (my neice) starts loosing hers.

although i only needed to make the one, i couldn't help it, i couldn't stop -- i made four. i love making these little guys! check out this crew:


haha! i love how they all turn out so differently and with so much personality. i draw each one freehand on the fabric, and then when i sew, i never follow the lines exacly, so i never know what they're gonna look like until they're turned out and stuffed and stitched up. sometimes i finish one and i go, "oh..." as in, "bummer." but usually i look at them and kinda fall in love each time. i like how the green-eyed one in this bunch has kinda dumpy hips and a really spacey look on his face. and how the brown-eyed one crosses his legs. (that happens sometimes, i'm not quite sure why! it's serendipitously unintentional.) i think i like the one on the left the best, but i've been known to be a sucker for the tall and skinny-legged ones.

and then look -- turn them around to see that they have butts! hAHA!


another unintentional feature that i love.
oh toothmen...
so -- one goes to sba and then the other three.... mmm. don't know.. i kinda think i'm gonna keep them around the studio to keep me company for a little while. we'll see.

home sweet home - the series

i have finally begun a project that i have been wanting to do for almost a year now (or maybe more); a series of home-sweet-home cross stitch pieces.
on friday i spent the morning in a sunny brooklyn backyard (with the moya!) making up patterns and getting started on the first two pieces. i hated them; so much so that i'm not even going to show them to you. booooooo.
but yesterday i tweaked a pattern that i had done earlier in the week and now i'm on a roll.
attempt number one:


yea! it's cute! but definitely not finished..... it needs something else... and it's waiting for its frame, which was just painted black, to dry.

once i finished that, though, i was able to see that i really love the lettering and i wanted to see how they would look all pushed together like actual script. (sometimes it is difficult for me to see these things when they are just patterns; i often have to go through with the actual stitching to decide whether or not something works for me. when it does work, all if good, but when it doesnt, ooooh, that is frustrating!)


i like it! and i really like the white stitching on the black background... gives it a more modern look, no?

i like this photo of the piece on my urban outfitters doily rug. (speaking of urban outfitters rugs, check out this one -- so appropriate, right?! i might need to order it...)


and then THAT one (above) inspired me to do THIS one:


i find that few cross-stitch fonts actually have the letters line up all nicely but these ones do and i was making my lines and grids to get everything spaced and even and centered, i came up with the idea of putting the stitches on an embroidered schoolhouse paper kinda thing. the script style letters and care i was going through to get them all lined up just reminded me of early penmanship lessons.
i'm really happy with the colors together. i went with a graphite grey color instead of black.



(this piece also reminds me of my friend barbara's paintings -- the ones i gushed about here.)


so, i think i am maybe now finished with all of the home-sweet-home pieces that i want to do with this lettering style. but i'll definitely be doing more in other styles... i've already got more patterns made up.. coming soon.

so berry sweet

after receiving so many nice comments and compliments on the strawberries that i took with me to the recent craft fairs, i decided to make some more. this time, however, i filled them with dried lavender instead of just with scraps.
so now they not only look cute, they also smell pretty, too.


they can still be used as pin-keeps. (though i know, the traditional ones are filled with emery sand -- these, obviously, arent, but they'll still hold a pin!)


or they can be thrown in a drawer to make your clothes smell pretty and to help keep them free of moth holes. (lavender is a natural moth repellent.)
or they can be used as play food for little kids who are old enough to know not to actually try to eat these berries. or you can just put them on a pretty little dish or anywhere else and leave 'em out as decoration.


so there you have it. i listed them in sets of four (here) and six (here). if you'd like more or less, be in touch; we'll work something out.

l is lovely in lilac

i received an order the other day from one of my favourite customers (yes, okay, i have favourites...) for an L cross-stitched in my bella font. she requested the color lilac on white or grey. well, i didn't have grey (but i have to get it, today, for an order that just came in from paxton's gate!) but i did have a tiny piece of a very pretty lilac colored aida cloth. so i sent over some options:



she left it up to me and i couldnt decide, so i stitched up one of each:



the lilac fabric was a bit of a smaller grid-size, which would have made an L in the bella font rather small -- so i opted to do it in the laura font because it is a bigger pattern and i knew it would fit the space more nicely. so the options were laura font on lilac or bella font on white - in a plain wood hoop or a black hoop.

denise opted to go with the bella font L done with the darker lilac stitching on white with the black hoop frame.
i do like the way it turned out:


so now i've got this other pretty L all ready to go as well -- so, i'm listing it in the etsy shop . click here if you'd like to see the details.


oh, and you know what else you should click to? this blog -- denise does BEAUTIFUL flower arrangements and here is where she posts photos of some of her work.

more love

thanks a bunch to jennifer, who posted again about chez-sucre-chez on her blog, made by girl. yippeee!


see jen's blog here, and the chez-sucre-chez post here. while you are at it, you should check out her etsy shop, too -- jen's prints have been all over the design blogs lately!

get the bug

hey look -- this is exciting! rachel, of the shopbug, featured chez-sucre-chez as the shop of the week on her blog. she sent me interview questions and put together a REALLY really lovely post.


i love it! the interview questions were thoughtful and i LOVE the groupings/collages that she made from photos of my work. i lifted these three off of her post - so here's a preview:




super super cute, right? when i read the post and saw all the time she took in gathering the images and putting it all together i was really happy. i think it looks great and it makes me look and sound pretty pro! really -- please do click over and read the post, (here) and check out the rest of her blog. thanks so much, rachel!
hey, you know what else makes me feel pretty great? my new super-helper, ellen! she's gonna be helping me out around the studio from time to time this summer and i couldn't be happier to have her there with me. check out what she did yesterday as i sat stitching up some of my custom-orders from this weekend:


she printed up ALL of those new mailing envelopes (and a lot more that were outside of the shot) and took care of some other things from my very long to-do list. wow. thanks, ellen! everything you did was fantastic and super-helpful; i'm looking forward to our next hang-out!

if you're going to san francisco...

... send me photos of my pieces at the curiosity shoppe and paxton gate's curiosities for kids! (curious that my work makes it into two curious shops, eh? curiouser and curiouser...)
i've received two such shots lately; one from the lovely miss kira:


and one from the equally lovely danica:



super rad! i did have photos of the alphabet display over at paxton gate sent to me by my friend jared (who of course falls into the category of lovely as well), but i didn't file them away anywhere logical on this computer -- so i can't find them. but i assure you, the display looks great! if you are in the sf area, you should check these places out!

hey, and while we're speaking of sf -- i'm sending some love to my friend jesika, of mosey handmade, as she prepares to go to sf this weekend for their renegade craft fair!! go get 'em, friend!

pleasure, little treasure

the town where i live hosts a yearly fair that's kind of a big deal; it's called the folk festival and people come from far and wide to see the pennsylvania dutch-y wonderfulness. in search of inspiration for an upcoming project (okay, yes, and dutch fries, and root beer floats, and kettle corn) the z-town gals hit the fair one night last week. as we were peeping the textiles of one of the antiques vendors, jen spotted this in a bin of quilt squares:


aaah, freak out! it's "my" fabric! (we call it my fabric because i am constantly on the search for more of it.) i thank jen a million times for spying this -- i wasnt thinking to look in a bin of cut-up quilt squares. while i kinda hate that it is already cut up, i also kinda love it -- this makes it easier for me to turn it into product, rather than hoarding it. so, as soon as i can find enough just-right zippers, i'll be making more of those delightful folk-print zippy pouches. oh yes.

and, that same day that we went over to the local fair, sweet karen gave me this little birthday present that she made:


it's so cute! framed in a coin frame thing -- so crafty, k! i love it and the way it goes with the wooly sheep i brought back from scotland many years ago.

dope sandwiches

it's looking like a sammy-wrap factory here in my studio! there is oilcloth and buttons and hooks and eyes and elastics and little scalloped-edged scraps all over the place! eeks!
i just did a listing in my etsy shop for the newest pattern:


blue lace print. pretty, right?

and i really like the way that the new prints look in a stack with the other ones:


keeping busy!!!

tagging

rockin' the lobsters

holy crustacean!
my lobster tea towels have been getting lots of great little press mentions this past week! thanks bradford for the post on the bedlam of beefy: (here)


(fantastic blog -- if you dont know it, you should check it out.)
thank you, earl, for the post on poppytalk: (here)


(also mentioned were my anchor tea towels, as you can see from the photo.)

AND THEN, pals sara and karen both tipped me off yesterday to the fact that the lobsters had been included in the latest issue/article of etsy finds, which i think is kind of a big deal! (see it here.)


i was also psyched to see craft-fair pals giant dwarf and heatherjeany included in that round-up.
and hey -- this is cool, too: yesterday my etsy shop recieved its 2000th heart! sweet, right?! wow! thanks so much everyone for all of that love and support!!
all right -- i gotta go get to stitching some more lobsters!

blue flower

sorry for the lack of posts lately. i went away for a super wonderful fantastic long weekend adventure for my birthday and now that i'm back i've got LOTS of work to catch up on!
here's this morning's project:


new prints for the sammy wraps! i love this one -- it reminds me of the old corning ware dish pattern; such pretty simplicity.
i just listed one in my etsy shop (here) and i'm taking a batch over to wanamakers general store tomorrow. (they're all sold out of the first batch -- hooray!) more later! ciao!

ww dot ...

task of the morning was to stitch up a pair of special order monogrammed towels, and i'm pleased with the way they came out!


the trickiest part about this job was that i didnt have a W in my letter set for this font, so i had to make one. at first i was thinking that i was going to have to do a lot of cussing and swearing as i sweated through cuts and pastes in illustrator to make the letter. i am terrible at those computer programs and i have no patience for them at all, so i was not looking forward to this part of the task. but then it hit me that, duh, i could just print out an M and a V and do some old fashioned cutting and pasting to make my W. so i did, and i'm sure it was way less painful than going about with the computer.




(i love these polka-dotted towels!)

front page news

just got an email from my friend melanie (and a facebook note from my friend jen j) that my little f made the front page of etsy this morning. thanks for the heads up, ladies!


and, speaking of melanie linder, look at how sweet her prints look on my little fabric-covered embroidery hoop bulletin boards (which, if i am not mistaken, was an idea that several of us z-town girls adopted via mel's inspiration):


i scored the pink hot air balloon and the PA barn cards/prints through a trade that we did while sharing tent space at the recent rainy emmaus craft fair. they're great, aren't they? i'd been oogling them since artstar. (want your own? get them here.)

for papa bear

father's day is on sunday. it's one of those holidays that stresses me out because i never know what to give to my dad. golf gifts and neckties definitely do not work for my papa. he's got every tool and every bar and grill accessory, and i can't afford to get him a new sports car, so i never know what to do.
here's this year's gift:


ugh. it's small and kinda pathetic, but i kinda love it anyway, and i actually think that he might like it, too. papa bear knows that i'm going through my starving artist thing and that i've got no money, so i know he's not expecting that sports car this year.
my dad is not a fancy guy and he doesnt use hankies all the time. when he does, they are the simple cotton kind, like what i remember his father having in his back pocket all the time. i have poignant memories of all the times that i've been standing next to my father with my eyes spilling over with tears, at weddings or funerals, and he notices me wiping my face with my hands and quietly hands me his simple cotton hankie. so i stitched this up thinking that he won't use it too much, but when he does, he'll be carrying a little bit more love in his pocket.

maybe it's patriotic fever, but probably not.

as i was stitching this,


the last of the custom orders taken at renegade, my eyes went all full of love for the colors. why is it that i love the combo of blue red and white so much as i do?!?! is it the upcoming july 4th holiday and me thinking of fruit tarts that i will soon make? is it my love of france and the films of godard (who made big use of the blue red and white)? is it the nautical trend that's all over this season's fashion (which i dont seem to pay attention to, anyway)?
i dont know why. i dont really care why. i'm just saying - red stitches look as good to me on blue and white as they do on just pure white.


great color choice, cristina!

quick stitches

these are on their way to new york, hoping to make it into one of my new favourite magazines...


we'll see!

what the f?

i also just listed this little guy:


it is tiny, but i think that this piece just has so much personality and punch. i gotta say, it is one of my favourite pieces i have ever made, but i just have no reason to hold on to it. i want to see it go to a good home.



this was one of the pieces that i stitched up for readymade magazine for the chez-sucre-chez how-to feature in the december 2008 issue. (see the details here.)


i used a satin stitch on a background fabric which comes from a piece i inherited from my late great aunt mary's fabric stash. i love this fabric so much that i only use little cuts of it from time to time, and only for very special little projects. see, this really is a very special little piece! the etsy listing is here.

letter(s) go

also now in the shop:
the monogrammed towels that i had stitched up as display samples for the recent craft fairs. i usually do these as custom orders, but these babies are in the shop at 15 bucks each and they're pressed and folded and ready to go to you.

you can get this stripe-y letter A monogram: (here)


how about this fancy red stitched H? (here)


this F can be yours if you act now: (here)


i only did a few of these dotty monograms, if you're a C, you're in luck; here it is:


love this L on the navy blue towel? get it. (here)


i've already got a couple of K's for myself. you can have this one if you want it: (here)


one more H, this one crisp black on white: (here)


i'll be doing more listings soon, but this is it for the ready-to-go monogram towels!

carrying on

task of the day is taking stock of my inventory and supplies and updating my shops. i just put this item (the keep calm and carry on piece) in my etsy shop.
as ubiquitous as that saying/poster is these days, and as much as i do count myself as part of the camp that is a bit over it, having this piece above my desk is a nice little reminder to breathe and keep on keeping on. and i do need that reminder and that motivator around here sometimes! so i'll maybe be a little sad to see that one go if someone buys it. but not really. so if you want it, get it! (here.) (my moustached octopus may be a little lonely without it, but i'll find something else for him to reach out and rest his tentacles on.)

greg, don't look!

inspired by my good friends greg and alec, i've got a new tea towel design.


greg and alec just moved into a new place and i wanted to stitch them up something for a housewarming gift. as i was just there helping them paint a few weeks ago, i kinda knew their color scheme and was trying to come up with something that would work in either the kitchen or the bathroom. i didnt want to do monograms -- i wanted to do something new. and this is what i came up with -- the anchors:


and then once i did it, i realized that i kinda love it. i love it for the simplicity -- the clean dotted line and crisp colors.
and i do love that the design and the towels work for the kitchen:


and they work for the bathroom:


so i put the original set in the mail (you'll get it in a few days greg -- i know you didn't heed my post title) and put listings for the towels in my shops. you can get the blue towel, or the white towel, or a set of two (you choose the colors).

new old letters

encouraged and inspired by the amazingly awesome response and feedback i got about my cross-stitched pieces at the recent craft-fairs, i've picked up needle and thread and gone on with a new little collection as i've been wanting to do for a couple of weeks. tipped off by one of my blog readers via a comment left on one of my posts, i discovered the antique pattern library. holy shazaaam - what a resource! (i send a million thank yous to emily for this info!) well, scrolling through all of the pages and links, i found these patterns and kinda fell in love. i really adore the old fashioned roses and the subtle flourishes on the letters. i thought that if they were done in that colour palette that i love so much, pink and green and black and white, that they'd look pretty spectacular. and i think they do.



the other thing i like about this is that they're so large! there are two size options, each only slightly different, and they're both charted to be a bigger scale than a lot of the other cross-stitch letter patterns that i have. they aren't so difficult, either, but they do take a considerable amount of time due to the scale of each piece and thickness of the letters.


to start, i just did this little selection of letters. i put them all up for sale in the shop, but i dont intend on doing custom orders for these ones at the moment. love 'em? buy them here or get the pattern here to try on your own. and if you really really really love them and would like me to make a specific letter for you, send me a note and i'll let you know if i can work it out.

kid stays in the picture

the other week i worked with my friend paul to make a commercial for his website, dineindie.com. ever since we shot it, i've been meaning to post these stills and do a little commercial for the commercial, but i've been so darned busy with the craft-fair madness that i've not had a chance until now.
these are totally just teasers. they don't really give any idea of what the commercial is all about -- and that's the point. he only sent me these two stills so that i didn't give away any secrets or let you see or know too much.


(i'm kinda giving the camera the old crazy-eye in this one... eeks.)


wanna see the commercial? well you're gonna have to come out to the virginville film festival this saturday night! woo-hoo! this is like, the biggest event of the year around here. it's like the prom -- everyone does it. (wait! that came out wrong! i meant that everyone comes out to the event! that was what i meant! honestly!)
a little more about the virginville film festival: people like you and me (and some a bit more skilled with the camera and editing and storytelling and all of that) make movies and then they get shown on the big screen which is set up on a hill out in the middle of beautiful farmland. it's a really great event that's been happening for a few years now. last year was my first and let me tell you -- it was quite magical. people bring blankets and chairs and snacks and drinks and the movies start around dusk and then go for a few hours. that night last year i saw more fireflies than i have ever seen in my entire life. it's way amazing.
and now a little more about dine indie: it's a website that gives info on local independent eateries -- restaurants and grocery shops and farmstands and wineries and bed and breakfasts and cafes and bars and stuff. it focuses on pointing people to the good independently owned stuff rather than the icky chain places. it's definitely a great resource and they keep on expanding the areas served by it.. check it out! (here)
ah -- yes, so now craft-fair madness is over and i am very much looking forward to getting back to life as a little more normal. i've got lots in the works --- stay tuned.

never bagged a babe.

(oh my goodness, i tried not to use that as the title, but it just kept popping up in my head! i couldnt help it! sixteen candles quote = irresistible, no matter how inappropriate it may be!)


new bags printed. i thought i had printed a lot, but ran out half-way through the second day at renegade!

local lovin'

so, artstar and renegade have passed and now i've got one more weekend craft fair to go. this one's a local one and i will be there with my fellow z-town crafty gals.


hey -- i dont think i've mentioned that we've got a new logo and a new website!


yes, yes, it's true and very exciting! jen worked for weeks to make the new website happen and i can't believe i'm just now linking to it! duh! (sorry jen!). anyways, you should check it out (here). z-town made is the little craft collective here in town that i am so so so thrilled to be a part of. each of us has our different sort of crafty business and we're all working together to keep inspired and motivated and to support each another the best we can. it's great. i really love that i've found such wonderfully talented women and that we've formed this group and have become this little band of friends who believe in and support what one another is doing. (i love you, guys!)
well, you can catch us all this weekend at the emmaus best in bloom festival. we'll be set up somewhere along the way (i'm not sure exactly where --- it can't be too big, though, so come on out and find us!). the event is being held both saturday and sunday from 10am-3pm. more info here.

how could i have forgotten...

...this guy?


this was a present bought for me at renegade.
it's a stuffed animal!


(obviously! dont you see the stuffing?!)
we dont know the name of the stand from which he came, but i was told that it was made by a little girl who had set up shop in front of another vendor's stand (maybe that of her mama or pop?). pretty awesome, right?
(if you do happen to know the name of the artist who made this brilliant piece of work, please do leave it in the comments so i can give her credit!)
thank you! xo.

recap of renegade

it's monday afternoon and i'm back home from the weekend and i gotta say, i'm totally exhausted! renegade was a hoot!


this was my first time doing one of these bigger fairs all on my own; i kinda loved the ability to set up the whole tent and bring everything out and set it all up like it was the chez-sucre-chez shop! i think i really lucked out with my booth location - under a couple of trees right by the park entrance at bedford and north 12th, so it was cool and shady and had a constant stream of people walking by. plus, i was right across from the renegade info tent, so i got to meet and talk to danny and tara from the renegade team in chicago. they're totally great and i'm thinking maybe i'll see them in chicago?

i started to take some little detail shots of my booth set-up, but i didnt get too many before getting distracted. these past two weekends have taught me that i am terrible at craft-fair-booth documentation. (here are a couple more detail photos that anna from sub-studio took and also posted here on poppytalk.)


(i think my chez-sucre-chez sign could be a little bigger, no?)


(check out the hilarious fake sandwich i made to demo my sammy wraps -- haha!)



i didnt get to walk around too much (i think i've also realized over these past two weeks of fairs that i've got a bit of a paranoia about being away from the booth for too long) but i was really happy to have been able to see so many friends and to meet some great new people, (like elise of argyle whale!)
i was also really happy that on sunday morning we picked up not just six, but a dozen donuts from greenpoint's peter pan bakery. oh peter pan donuts, i love you.



thank you to everyone who stopped by and big hellos to all of you new people i got to meet and talk to. it really was a great weekend.
kim and dana and b -- thank you SO much for your help with set up and break-down. i was happy to have you there with me!

renegade -- year two for chez-sucre-chez!

hey y'all -- -i'm running out of here to get my butt to nyc for this weekend's renegade craft fair.
come and see me --- saturday and/or sunday. the event is being held in mccarren park (the park this year, not the pool) and it goes from 11 - 7 both days. my booth is right by the entrance at bedford and north 12th. come on over!

art starry cap

i know this is a little late, but how about an artstar bazaar recap, shall we?


i had the pleasure of sharing my tent space with the lovely and uber-talented melanie linder of spread the love and love your invite. her illustrations are so good they give me the happy freak-outs and i really really love the way that our work works together. (i love it so much, in fact, that i'm taking some of her cards to renegade so that you nyc peeps can see for yourself how sweet mel's doodles are!)
as if having mel as a tent-mate weren't cool enough, we got to have our fellow z-town pals karen and sara right next to us. it was great, we got to share sticky-buns and muffins and popcorn and french fries and swedish fish and mixed nuts and pina coladas. we had a fantastic location, the weather was lovely, and i think we all agree that it was a successful event. kudos to megan and erin of the artstar team for all the work they put into organizing the fair -- it went off without a hitch (as far as i know....)!


it was good to see tara (of handmade in PA) and it was great to meet jen (of indiefixx), these ladies have both done some sweet little write-ups for chez-sucre-chez and it's really nice to put a face to a name. i also had the pleasure of meeting sue, of giant dwarf. i have been coveting one of her facinators for months and months and now, because she's awesome and we heart each other (etsy lingo, there) we totally worked out a trade and now we've each got a piece of one another's work -- i've got the fascinator i wanted and she's got a little bit of bunny love to hang in her studio. yay!
love and thanks to grade-school pal amy, and to mom and pop and stacy and sweet baby aidyn and baby bella, and to the k-town posse, and to b for stopping by to see me!

{okay -- in attempting to put this post together, i realize that the photos that i took are total crap, and that the pictures and the recaps that my fellow z-towners have posted on their blogs are way better than what i was working up. check out karen's recap (here), and sara's post (here) and mel's (here).}

twice apron a time

(i already used the title "once apron a time")


whew! it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks!
the latest is that i've just returned from a quick up-and-back trip to nyc to drop off a very special commission. my friend cori is getting married on saturday and instead of the traditional bridal party, she's having a whole bunch of kids (32 of them!!!) walk down the aisle as her procession. later in the celebration, they're gonna be decorating their own cupcakes and cori thought it might be a fun thing to give them all aprons that they could wear to protect their pretty white outfits and then take home with them as part of a little thank you gift for each child. she approached me with the idea and asked if i'd be interested in making the aprons. well i'd never made aprons before (just these smocks) but i was so psyched about her idea and about the challenge and the thrill that i happily jumped in. it took some experimenting and a lot of fabric, but i'd say i'm pretty darned pleased with the results.
here are some of them set up for photos the day before i drove them to nyc; first the boys':




(the backs:)

and the girls':




this was one of my favourites:

i especially love the pink rickrack with the brown polka-dotted fabric.
they are all reversible -- here are front and back shots of one of them:



a little pile of girls' aprons all tagged and ready to go:



there is one wee baby (just a year old), and i made a smock-y style "apron" for her. isabella's apron:



(love it? i got the pattern here!)

i wish i had taken better photos, but i was just way too busy to fuss over them last week. (and the sun and rain have been so unpredictable and fickle these weeks!) i'm pretty sure there'll be some good shots of the children wearing the aprons this weekend, though -- so i'll be sure to post them if/when i get them.
i'd also like to do a tutorial post on these aprons; i did so much research and took the time to make the patterns for different ages/sizes that i feel like i should share. i'm hoping that i'll get around to that within the next month.
i also need to do an artstar recap post! but now i'm frantically working to get ready for renegade brooklyn this weekend... it'll all come together... deep breaths...
cori --- good luck and congrats and thanks and enjoy this weekend! xoxo-k

art star

sorry for the lack of posts. i've been going a little outta my mind getting ready for the upcoming craft fairs. if any of you all are in or around the philly area, please stop by and say hello. penns landing --- 11 - 6 saturday and sunday. come find me -- i'll be with my z-town ladies -- melanie of spread the love and i are sharing a booth, and right next to us will be karen of skylark studios jewelry and sara of sara smedley. yes! (this post probably makes no sense whatsoever --- after a full day of freaking out with last minute details and a glass or two of wine, i feel like a bit of a zombie.)

boulder building

wood base + chicken wire + thumb tacks + electrical tape + newspaper + flour + water = boulder
(i was called on to help a friend to build this prop for her dance studio's upcoming recital.)
and now -- back to freaking out about my three back-to-back weekends of craft fairs. (EEEEeeeeeeEEEk!)

country loving

more press! hooray for today!
i noticed that my hand-embroidered rose tea towels are featured on the website of country living magazine. see for yourself, here!


this was a good month for chez-sucre-chez and country living magazine. i was listed in the june issue as a source for a hand-embroidered lobster pot-holder. i was keeping it a secret until the magazine was out, but this is what started my whole new summer lobster theme. they had photographed a vintage hand-embroidered pot holder with a lobster on it and asked me to create a similar version for people looking for that item. i think it was a little confusing for some people who may have thought that i had created and was selling the one photographed, but i hope that my chez-sucre-chez take on it is sufficient! my copy of the magazine came in the mail yesterday and i was wowed to see chez-sucre-chez in a source list blurb that also includes williams-sonoma, wedgewood, anthropologie and jonathan adler! that's some serious company!

pressed sandwich (wrapper)

hey lookie! my sammy wraps got a little write up on unbreaded.com.


have you seen unbreaded?! it's a blog devoted to sandwiches. as sandwiches are in my top three favourite foods (along with pizza and ice cream), this is a blog that i can love. you should go check it out. (here)
and you should read the write-up they did on chez-sucre-chez sammy wraps. (here) so nice. i wrote to them about my wrappers this morning (hey man, marketing -- it's part of the job; gotta do it, although i hate it. but when it works out, it really is quite cool.) and next thing i knew, there was a post. thanks, guys!

sample sail

this newly stitched sampler went out on its way into the world today. it's taking a trip to massachusetts.


i SO love this red floss on the oatmeal-y colored fabric with the yellow-y wood hoop frame! (this piece was a custom-stitched combo of the two similar samplers i had done before.
i wish i had more time for samplers right now -- they are SO what i want to be doing!

kimberly jean, apron queen

i finally finished every last apron that i had in the works.
i've been working on these for weeks, between other projects, and had lots of different batches going on all at the same time.
some were merely cut out and waiting to be sewn, others were partially sewn and needing to be topstitched, others needed straps sewn for them, and then there were a few that were ALmost complete but needed finishing.
and now, they are all complete.
and i counted them -(which i hadnt done until now -- i was afraid)-- 55 done.
wow!

let her be

it's been a while since i've done one of these and i almost forgot how much i do still love them. i stitched up this B the other day for a custom order. ohlala -- i dont think i had ever done the B in this font (laura font) before.. it's lovely!

picnic

did happen.
i'm pleased to report that the blanket works.

picnic perfect

i took an hour to make something entirely for myself:


i found this fabric a week or two ago and COULD NOT pass it up. i think i got two and a half yards (as much as what was left on the bolt). so i just cut it in half, put the two pieces back to back (right sides out), cut the edges straight, and sewed it all together with binding tape. (i did it the quick method -- sandwich everything together and use zig-zag stitches to do it all in one shot.) it makes the perfect picnic blanket! now if the sunshine ever returns, my blanket and i are READY.

hold it

the first of the lobster pot holders is now in the shop.

fair warning

the promo materials for the (quickly) approaching craft fairs are hitting the streets (and the screens).
i received these in the mail yesterday:


postcards for the philadelphia artstar bazaar (may 30-31)
and this is being sent around via facebook:


banners for brooklyn renegade (june 6 - 7) (i love that they used embroidery in the flyer design!)
and now looking at my calendar, i get that little flutter of nervous anxiety when i realize that this madness is just two weeks away. next week, i am sure, that little flutter of anxiety will have turned into a full-on panic attack. holy shazaam, i gotta get my butt in gear. my mantra for today is this, typed in an email to me this morning by my friend jen, "okay well - work hard. too much work is good - focus and kick ass."

jeanealogy

the latest drawing to grace the chalk-board-painted wall at the end of the hall. by my neice, miss bella jean, age three. her drawings are so great they give me screamy insides.

nantastic

huge props to nani (my grandmother!), with whom i spent a lovely afternoon. she came over to visit with me while i worked and in addition to a wonderful lunch and great conversation, nani did two hours worth of ironing for me!


she pressed my freshly washed fabric and tea towels as well as the last of the apron strings. ho-ly! in that time i was able to stitch up more lobsters and do a little more work on some custom orders. dang, that was really sweet of her.
oh man, my nani is so great. SO MUCH LOVE to you nan. xo-kj

crustacean frustration

lobster stuff is coming along ---


nothing's quite ready to go into the shop yet, but i am happy with the red on the white towel:


i just wanna refine the stitches a little bit (originally i was thinking that really jagged stitches was the look i wanted for these ones... it's okay, but i'm afraid people will just think i'm a messy embroiderer.) and the red on the black gingham --


well, i really love it (friend molly suggested this combo -- good idea, eh?) but i'm afraid it's a little difficult to read the image. it looks better in real life (darn photos!), but still....
i have a couple of other towels and combos i wanna try.
and then it's onto pot-holders!
(i'm not really frustrated about it --- i moreso just used that title because it's the only thing i could think of on three and half hours of sleep.)
now -- off to go see the fam. (happy mother's day mama bear and nerdie and all of my friends who are now mommies!)

i did this fur you, lil.

ten pairs of fun fur leg warmers (for a friend's dance studio's recital costumes):


and a very fuzzy me:

rock

lobsters are coming soon, i promise! i'm stitching some up this weekend! (you'll see.... soon.)

flocking to the country

yesterday i took a lovely back-country drive to this place:



wanamakers general store in kempton, PA. look at it -- a real live honest to goodness general store! this place is fantastic. they make the most delicious sandwiches to be had for miles and miles and miles around (with or without salt), and, true to the concept of a good old fashioned general store, they've got just about everything, including chez-sucre-chez sandwich wrappers -- and clothesline design stuffies and tummytime mats, AND spread the love postcards and prints (yeeeeeah, z-town).

and then after my visit to wanamakers, i went with my friend lala to check on her new baby lambs. she's got a whole bunch of sheep and she shears them and makes stuff out of their wool and sells the wool, too. amazing, right? she's got an etsy shop -- here. (mon dieu! i love my crafty friends... le sigh.)

so, this being springtime, lala's been really busy checking up on her sheep and monitoring all of the births and the health of the new baby lambs. i was really happy to have had the opportunity to go with her.

this little one was just brought out for his first day outside the barn -- brought into the real outside world:


he met the lama and the lama seemed to accept him just fine.

this little one climbed into and sat down in the water bucket. so stinkin' cute:


and i got nuzzled by the little black lamb:


do you see that farm-awesomeness going on? lama and sheep and lambs (and somewhere outside of the photo is whiskey, the goat). so great.

illness

swine flu, lymes disease, and avian flu cookies.
my mother had only two words for me as i, laughing maniacally, put the trays into the oven; "you're sick."
oh, i know.
they're not my prettiest cookies, as i made them in a complete rush. i was on a quick stop-over at mom and pop's, and i left most of my cookie cutters here, and i was having a baking-urge -- so i whipped 'em up quick. i would have done 'em up with the royal icing, but i've got a hot date with two foxes in the city in an hour! i gotta zoom.

(yes, i know this is serious stuff and that these illnesses are grave. i don't mean to make light of people's health. what i am reacting to is the media madness surrounding these instances.)