Global Roaming

Back in the late 80’s I had an album; it may have even been one of my first CD’s, or maybe a cassette tape, I can’t remember which. The title of the album was Cosmic Thing and the band was the B-52’s. There was a song on that album that has stuck with me all these years, it is called Roam. Needless to say it is about traveling with a free spirit. The phrase that stuck with me in that song is roam if you want to, roam around the world and I think it must have had a subliminal effect of my creative side.

This is a travel collection I have designed and I think that maybe somewhere in the recesses of my mind the B-52’s are bopping around in this art. I even remember the album cover having some psychedelic blend of the same colors I used in this collection. Well, coincidence or not, here is my own free-spirited travel collection that I have called Global Roaming.

Since I have designed this collection for the younger crowd, I also prototyped a number of product ideas that might appeal to them. This is one of the collections I have displayed in my show and I wanted to share the ideas here. It is a mix between travel icons and funky patterns targeting that age group that I used to be while bopping around in my first apartment to the B-52’s.

Springtime in Paris

Mon Chéri is a collection for those in love, even if it’s puppy love. The setting is Paris, and the mood is amour. You cannot fully appreciate the mood without the traditional symbols for the city of love; the Eiffel Tower and the french poodle. Add a charming café and a flower cart and the setting is complete.

This collection was transformer from a valentine I designed for my gal pals a few years back. It is one of my favorite valentines from the handmade creations over the last twenty years. Here are a few images of the valentine with its detailed bits and a charming candy box to complete the sweetness.

Something to Cherish

In just a few short weeks we will be celebrating a first time event in our home. It is time for our daughter to graduate from high school and it is a bitter sweet time for me. She is a wonderful daughter, which all parents want, but more than that she has become a dear friend. I’ve heard the stories about difficult times with teenage daughters. Well, in this home we have been blessed with quite the opposite. The last four years, those trying teenage years, have been the best years I have ever had with my daughter. I wish for all you moms out there, who do have daughters, the same blessing I have received every day of my sweet daughter’s life.

During the past few months I have had the privilege of working on a project for mothers and daughters. I can’t share all of the secrets yet, but I hope that when the time comes, and the product is available, many of you with daughters will not only be able to get this product, but will be able to share it with her as a memory that only a mother and daughter can have.

Here are some patterns from this collection. I have named it Cherish, as I think it best describes something you hold dear. The designs are soft, they are sweet, they are graceful and a bit playful. They are how I see what I hold dear to my heart, my daughter.

May you always cherish the daughter you have been blessed with, as I have cherished mine.

Beau Nouveau

I am sharing a floral line I deigned that is called Beau Nouveau, or translated, new beauty. I developed this collection from a valentine I sent out a few years back. The meaning, or theme from this card is beauty, but most importantly, beauty within. I used two different quotes in the card that share my sentiment. One is, “beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” The other is, “anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” I do think that seeing beauty in art, nature, your family; anything that warms your heart does keep you young, or at least young at heart.

Here is the valentine that inspired the collection. I designed the card in an different colorway than the Beau Nouveau collection. When you love color, you can’t be limited to just one colorway. :)

RetroDeco

Retro: Imitative of a style, fashion or design from the past.

Deco: Short for Art Deco—the predominant decorative art style of the 1920’s and 1930’s, characterized by precise and boldly delineated geometric shapes and strong colors, and used most notably in household objects and architecture. Shortened from the French to mean decorative art.

Well, I can’t say it better than the dictionary. This is the only collection that I have created entirely with masculine appeal. The colors, the shapes, the mood; all from the inspiration of the Deco period.

Whether it be a McCoy vase or the Chrysler building in New York City, there is almost nothing I can’t appreciate about this period in art. The artists of that time were amazing. Their style and attention to detail was found in fashion, fabrics, home decoratives, furniture, jewelry, perfume bottles, transportation, archetecture; just about anything designed in the 20’s and 30’s. Fortunately, much of it can still be appreciated from a trip into a large city, or a trip to ebay.

Two years ago I displayed this collection at the show in a style I felt most fitting for the mood of these designs. Here are the photos of that display.

If you’re looking for a dapper tie, come on by! If you’d like wall covering for your renovated deco home, I’ve got just the paper. If you need some flair in the air for the upholstery in your 747, the sky’s the limit. If you’re a blog-junky looking for a little eye-candy, try my sweet to the core baby and feminine collections. Pick a post, any post, starting just a few days back. But, if you want a manwich (tell me that doesn’t date me:) you’ve got the meal-deal with this collection.

In just a few short weeks I’ll be headed to the large city and I’ll take a moment out to appreciate that best example of all Deco arts, the Chrysler building.

Bits & Snips

Bits & Snip, the Earthen collection

There are a number of basic patterns that have shown up with slight variations within my collections. Well, in the spirit of recycling I have now compiled them into a collection of their own named Bits & Snips. This basic set of designs can be easily combined with many of the themes I create.

I have designed a multitude of colorways and wanted to share them with you. It’s hard to pick a favorite color palette, as I believe just about any color has beauty when used in the right combination. And it’s hard to say some colors are in, when all colors are in, just in the right way and with the right mixes.

I will be the first to admit that 80’s sea-foam green, mauve and country blue replaced 70’s harvest gold, avocado green and poppy red. However, any color can have its place any given decade, as long as it knows what color-neighbors to live next to and what kind of lighting makes it most lovely. This is how we get to enjoy all the hues whether they are bright, muted, pastel, drab, compliments, tonal and even neutrals. So, enjoy Bits & Snips in all its many colors!

Bits & Snip, the Vineyard collection

Bits & Snip, the Harvest collection

Bits & Snip, the Holiday collection

Bits & Snip, the Soothing collection

Bits & Snip, the Sherbet collection

Bits & Snip, the Essentials collection

Bits & Snip, the Springtime collection

Bits & Snip, the Sunshine collection

Modern Basics Geared for Toddlers

Another collection I have been working on for the show in a few weeks is geared for the parents of babies who prefer a modern style, thus the name ModTod. It’s basic without boring, it’s tech without geek, it’s whimsy without fancy. The colors are so cool, they’re hot. What more could you want? :)

When we had our baby boy almost thirteen years ago I would have loved to find prints out in this style, and I’m not even mod or tech. The gears say it all. Our boy, who is totally tech, inspired this collection. He’s always inventing, always constructing and always gearing up for the next engineering project.

When he was born I found a vintage illustration that I used for his baby announcement. It is of a toddler examining the mechanics of a kitchen egg beater. We thought it the perfect icon for what we imagined our baby boy might be about, at least as he grew older. Funny, that’s just as it seems all these years later.

So, to those who are more contemporary than traditional, more mod than retro, more less than more, I present ModTod.

Out of the woods . . . and into the world

Today I get to share my favorite children’s collection. I started developing it when I was three, wearing a little woodland dress and being a bit of an imp from the woods, myself. Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, but the seed was planted back in that little forest of long ago.

The collection, Woodland Tails, is scattered about with enchanted creatures of the forest floor, and walls and any other place you can only image this little gathering of charming misfits. They did find a home to call their own, but I can’t share that location with you, not quite yet. I will let you know where and when to find the gang and how to adopt them into your own home.

I have the little creatures packed up and ready for display again this year for my show in May. A couple of years ago I took them along when the gang was just beginning to gather, but now they are a full pack, ready to assemble in the Big Apple. I will share those Woodland Tails remixed photos from the show once I’m back, but until then, I have a few pics from the Woodland Tails premixed show from 2007.

The fun thing about this collection is that it has appeal to a wide age-range. It can charm the babies and the babes. My seventeen year old just altered her composition book with the pattern of the creatures intertwined-with-vines on a bright poppy ground. The coral canvas shoes are another fave of hers.

If the cute fits, wear it!

It’s time to share more Sprout with you. Last year I created this collection (see posting on March 16, 2009) to appeal to those who have a strong desire to nurture, as well as an appreciation for nature. I displayed the collection at last year’s show in the form of baby clothes to reach the children’s apparel audience as well as nursery decor and fabric manufacturers.

Well, lets just say you won’t find these little outfits in Baby Gap or Land of Nod, so maybe I’ll have to start manufacturing them myself. :) Until that day, enjoy the little virtual line of clothes . . . we will call SherWear, complete with logo.

Gon-Tiki-Tikes

Last year I worked on a collection called Gon Tiki which encompassed a tropical, Polynesian theme. I had not finished that collection when I thought it would be a great beginning for another collection for kids. Using some of the same patterns and the same bold color palette, I illustrated a number of jungle animals and merged the two into what became Tiki Tikes.

The Gon Tiki collection was on display at my 2007 show and the Tiki Tikes for kids was on display during my show last year. The illustrations of the jungle animals are on my Etsy site. Above are the two collections, Tiki Tikes and the mother collection, Gon Tiki and below are prototype samples from each collection.

Who’s got the cutest little baby face?

I shared this collection with you back in the fall (refer to the September 28 posting) when I debuted these cutest little baby faces. I made the basic pinks and blues to keep with tradition but created an additional colorway for the parent who may want to veer off the pink or blue path.

When our first baby came we were prepared to be surprised, not knowing if we would get a boy or girl. It was important to me to decorate in colors that would work for either kind of baby and my color choices were olive green and tomato red. This coming from a person whose favorite colors are pink, moss and robin egg blue. However, the room needed to be gender neutral and so it was.

Back then it was impossible to find any bedding in olive green and I remember finding a great set of vintage sheets in that very recognizable “avacado green” from back in the 70’s. Now I can pick up a crib sheet in any of those great colors, but this family has moved on. It’s time to decorate for a college dorm room and our search is on for anything 80’s. I could just pull out my old college room decor, but my daughter has her own ideas. That’s okay. Every generation needs to believe they are the first to discover that latest trend (even though the parents have been through it once already and the grandparents, at least twice). Now you have gotten my opinion on trends. Let’s just say, give anything 25 to 30 years and here it comes again.

Okay, so back to Baby Face and the need for a neutral palette. The patterns and icons developed for this collection were also designed to be gender neutral with lots of basic shapes and typical baby gear. The added element that this collection provides is a family tree. I believe in the need to learn and keep family history. This is a little project I designed to personalize the “rock-a-bye baby” with a “family tree” theme.

Our kids may believe they are the first to know trends, or go through experiences, but they need to be reminded once in a while who has been there before and who those family members were. We all know the apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree.

Once upon a time . . . in a land of little creatures

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to doodle around on scratch paper. Her favorite subject matter was of little creatures with personality. The artists she admired were Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Charles Schulz, many Disney illustrators, especially the art of Mary Blair, and two other women she hoped to one day be like. They are Holly Hobbie and Betsey Clark. Many hours were spent mimicking these amazing artists and hoping to one day be in her own studio creating characters just as she imagined these artists to do each day.

As the stories go with these icons of illustration, each had a road that did not lead directly to a studio every day. However, each found a path that eventually lead this little girl to discover their amazing talents and a desire to become an artist in her own right.

Today I am sharing a collection that originates from those beginnings back when I was that little girl hoping to become an artist like those I admired. The collection is My Deer My Darling. It has a nostalgic flavor I have pulled from my earliest memories of my little toddler outfits and room decor, as my memory serves me. These are my childhood doodles turned current collection. Just like with your own children, you can never pick a favorite, but I would say this collection holds a special place in my heart.

Emma and Ethan

This is the first fabric collection that I designed for Northcott fabrics. It is a baby collection for girls and boys called Emma Louise and Ethan Michael. Unfortunately, the collection is not easy to locate anymore, but once in a while I spy bits and pieces here and there and I believe the collection or pieces from it can still be viewed on Northcott’s website if you go to the designers section and click on Sheri Berry.

A new baby/toddler fabric collection will be out very soon. I will let you know of it in the next few weeks. I am still waiting to see samples of it myself, but will share them with you as soon as I have them in hand.

Sheri Had a Little Lamb . . .

Today I have the Little Lamb collection that I worked on for baby bedding and room decor. It is not a collection that is out on the market yet, I’ll let you know when that day comes. In the meantime I want to share it with you. Hoping to find a permanent home for it, but until then . . . everywhere that Sheri went, the lamb was sure to go!

Fine Feathered Friends

You know spring has arrived when every morning begins with our little fine feathered friends serenading us. I love this season. Those cheerful little birds along with the many themes and phrases they are known for have given me inspiration for an entire Birds of a Feather collection. Some have described my feather friends as looking a little Seussian. I like to think of them as SeussSherian! Here is a look at my fine feathered friends.