Snail Mail is still making a trail!

It’s time to send the daughter off to college, which means it’s time to start sending letters and packages and postcards in the mail to her retro mailbox with little window and dial. She’s headed to a dormitory that was built in the late 1950’s, complete with a recessed boomerang ceiling and mosaic tiles of aqua, black and gray that trim the lobby of this blast from the past. It is the same dormitory that housed two of my aunts, her aunts, a few of the cousins of more recent years and now my own daughter along with her cousin, who will room just one flight of stairs above her.

The college is different from the one I attended, but the memories these girls will have while living in their dorm will be much like my own and all of the other women in our family who lived on this campus and called it home for a short but memorable time in their lives. The girls will gain friendships that will last a lifetime, and maybe, just maybe one day they will bring their own daughters back to this same campus to carry on the family tradition.

Since communication is so easy now with emails, Facebook, texting and even the old landline (my fave), it seems to me that the one form of communication that gets less attention these days is good ’ol fashion snail mail. Well, I’m determined not to let it be a thing of the past, so I hope to fill that little mailbox in the retro dorm with postcards every so often to give the girls a little something to hold onto, literally.

Here is the first card I sent to the girls. It speaks for itself, and it’s true of these cousins. They are both amazing girls with wonderful traits. I know I speak for the family, but I’m sure they all agree. We are proud of the girls and hope for the best in their next stage in life.

I have actually discovered that mail being sent to a college campus is truly s-n-a-i-l mail. What takes two or three days to go from coast to coast with the U.S. postal service, seams to change from snail mail to pony express when it hits a campus. I guess the name SnailMail is more fitting than I thought.

Remember, everyone likes to get something in the mail, even if it takes forever to arrive.

Rescue and Recovery

It’s time to bring back my little fire fighter and his rescue pal. This is a collection I started, put aside, and have now recovered due to the interest many of you have shared with me for your love of the little guy.

Right now the collection is just beginning to be fueled, but hopefully it will spark the interest of just the right folks and maybe one day we will be able to see The Little Rescue Crew manufactured into products from fabrics, to paper goods, to bedding for little guys, to pajamas, and even to match boxes. Just the thought of it kind of gets me fired up!

Christmas Season’s in the Sun

We had joy, we had fun, we had Christmas in the sun . . . it seems that every time I work on Christmas collections it’s just about the hottest, sunniest time of the year. The snowmen take it the hardest, but the other traditional icons all join in and help give summer Christmas projects a little holiday cheering on.

I have just completed a project with Woodland Christmas that will be out before the winter winds blow. I will keep you updated on when and where to search for it, and I recommend that you do open before Christmas. None of this “do not open ‘til Christmas” nonsense, or you won’t be able to take full advantage of it.

One of the main icons I was wanting to add to the collection is the little maiden’s beau. It just so happens that indeed she did find her beau in that winter wonderland and she’s wanting to show him off.

Here, along with a few additional icons, are some of the latest Woodland Christmas images added to the collection, ready and waiting for the winter chills to arrive.

The Secret Garden

Everybody has a secret and mine is that I don’t like gardening. I don’t like being outside. I don’t like activities out in nature. I don’t even like the bugs and bees, and especially not the spiders that come with anything outdoor related. I’m not a camper, or a hiker, or even a stroller in the world outside my protective walls . . . and I like it that way.

Here’s the thing though, I love all the beauty nature brings. I love the flowers and trees and foliage and even a few bugs. I love the unbelievable colors and textures and shapes in nature. So, my solution is to create my own little world or nature in my own little way.

Here is my version of the cut flowers I just picked outside to put in a vase in my studio. The beauty is they won’t wilt and die, but on the downside they don’t give off a nice aroma either. This is my one sure way of being able to preserve nature.

There is another little secret about this bouquet of flowers. I can’t share the details with you yet, but they are planning to bloom in one of my projects, that will hopefully be out soon. I will let you know when they start sprouting, and where you need to go to get your own fresh bouquet and become the avid gardener that I am. ;)

Show it to me!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and the glittering dust has finally settled. I have been mentioning that I would be attending the annual Surtex Show in NYC last week. This is a show for artists like myself who find manufacturers and retail companies to create products together.

This was our fourth year in attendance and I believe if you scroll back though my blog you will see my booth displays over the last three shows. This year, once again we packed up the van and headed to the Big Apple. We are inevitably the last booth to set up and, yes, the last booth to take down.

Many of the artists at Surtex have figured out the convenient basics of displaying for this show, but, oh, not me. While I know they have insight into how to display for the market, I somehow have this little voice in my head constantly saying, “make it more difficult, make it more complex, make it drag out for an entire week.” And with my dear husband always supporting my decision to do it my way, once again my booth became, I think he called it, “the little boutique at Surtex.” Here are the photos of the booth.

The collections I chose to display this year are from right to left: Child’s Play with Kate & Nate, taking up the first three displays, pink, gold and green; A Woodland Christmas, in the corner and to the left of it; Wee Gather Together, in the middle on the back wall; and ModTod, on the left.

The remaining collection that I displayed is in the left corner and around to the left side of the booth. That collection is Woodland Tails.

I want to thank all of those who stopped by the booth. We have been going to this show enough now to see and enjoy friends who also attend each year. It’s always a fun reunion. We also have the privilege of meeting with companies we currently work with and potential clients we are fortunate enough to make acquaintances with.

There is one other group of people I always look forward to meeting. They are other artists who have the same interest in the show which I did five years ago. There is nothing more encouraging than meeting other artists. If it weren’t for the friendly artists I was able to meet before I exhibited at my first show I would likely not be attending to this day. One of the wonderful things about Surtex is the camaraderie that I and many of my friends feel while attending this show. Everyone is friendly, everyone is encouraging, and everyone is in the same boat, doing what they love most, creating.

Until next year, here is to my artist buddies and all of those who I was fortunate enough to visit with at the show this year. Best to you all. Shall we say—same time next year?