My Son's Class, School Annual Art Auction project

Each spring the school that my children attend have an art auction. This happens to be the project I worked on with my son's class. In my son's class the children are either just getting ready to turn two or are two years old. So this project was especially sweet. I painted their hands with paint, and for a two year old you would have thought I was painting mud on their hands, some loved it and some just hated the thought!

The kids who weren't so in love with the concept of having their hands painted are on the top, with the exception of Golden she loved having her hands painted! But you have to work with the esthetics and thus she only got 1 handprint. But the kids who loved having their hands painted were the two handed hearts on the bottom. For me getting prints of their hands was important to me because they are this little for just a short time and especially with my son that time seems to be flying! I wanted to cement that little handprint in history so to speak so I can always remember this time. I know the new owner of the stool, Oliver's family will appreciate that!
The top picture is of the top of the stool with the kids handprints that I turned into hearts. The second picture shows the darling dots and stripes on the base of the stool. The third shots shows the saying I painted "With love (shown with the heart) we will thrive". The fourth is another shot of the stool.

Don't Look If You're Hungry!

Just a peek at some of the appetizers from a recent dinner party. Here we have in the front artichoke pesto, in the back my roasted garlic hummus, surrounded by Stacy's Tuscan Herb Pita Chips and 34 degree crackers, both of which are HIGHLY addictive because they taste so good!











Here is the other side of the tray we have my roasted garlic and roasted garlic dip, which has the roasted garlic with the cchicken broth rosemary reduction from roasting the garlic mixed with goat cheese, divine!
My famous cheese gougers (that's a fancy name for cheese puffs!) Easy to make once you've mastered them and such a crowd pleaser especially when they are fresh from the oven!

Our Atlanta License & Design Collection Booth

Here is another shot of the front tablescape.
Here's a shot of the back of the booth. It's a little washed out with the lights in the booth and the flash from the camera.
Another booth shot. We were in a 8x10' space on the 3rd floor of building 2 of Atlanta's AmericasMart. We had good traffic flow through out the show. The show was extreamly busy with buyers so many of the art directors we wanted to see simply couldn't make it because the showrooms were overflowing with buyers writing orders. But we sure loved the art directors that took the time to come down and see us! Atlanta's weather during the show simply put was insane. Or as friends across the way put it "stupid cold". Friday's traffic was very slow as that's when a dusting of snow and very icy roads brought Atlanta to its knees. By Saturday and Sunday the traffic picked up significantly. We even had a crazy marching band march through our aisles on Sunday!


Here's a picture of me and my sister Erica, I couldn't have done it all without her help! I told her that after this show she is required to go with me to every other show I exhibit at!

Our Atlanta License & Design Collection Booth

Here's the booth just after set up but before we added the fresh flowers to the tablescapes. As you can see it was a very colorful and cheery booth. Thankfully we had a prime spot where we were right in the midst of the traffic flow. Thank you Amy for that one!
Now you can see the fresh flowers added to the front tablescape.
Here's the other side wall of the booth.
A closer picture of some of the collections on one of the side walls.

We're going to be in Atlanta in January!

Hello My Friends,

Sorry it's been awhile since I last posted. I've been crazy inspired and have been feverishly creating new collections. We will be exhibiting at the 2010 Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market January 8-12, 2010 at the Americas Mart Atlanta. We'll be in the License and Design Collection, building 2, floor 3, booth 3G17.

We are excited and can't wait to see you! We will unveil our latest tablescape, 18 new art collections (if not more!), product mock ups and samples, and a whole lot more. Our booth 3G17 will be the place to see and been seen in! So please stop by early and often! And if you happen to know the Design and Product Development Teams from Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Sur La Table, Target, Martha Stewart....not to mention many other fine fabulous companies send them on by please!

Fun Summer Totebag I made

This summer it been all about tote bags for me. I am forever toting around all sorts of stuff: kids stuff, travel stuff, swim stuff, grocery stuff, farmer's market stuff, you get the drift! My solution make totebags that were sturdy enough to carry everything under the sun without sacrificing style and artistic spirit. So how did I do? I think pretty well!

I made the totebag from sturdy woven canvas I had left over from making the drapes in my son's room. Then I painted the appliqued pieces on muslin with fabric paint and a marker for the peony piece. Sewed it all on and viola, instant style and playful color making even the most mundane of chores a little bit more colorful.

My Bliss Seeker Ink Store on Etsy.com is now open!

Here are a few pictures of my Bliss Seeker Ink (R) Cards that are for sale on my Etsy store. To reach the store go to www. blissseekerink.etsy.com. Buy early and often as these are great gifts and they are made with all the best materials including Italian Fabriano stationery cards and envelopes that are oh so yummy to write upon. A portion of the proceeds go to benefit various botanical gardens across the country as they need our support. With your purchase you are also helping me finance a few of my goals to exhibit at major licensing shows in 2010 that booth fees are due at the end of October. So please tell all your friends and family to buy away! More sets are coming to the store so check back often for new inventory.