Happy Christmas to You and Yours....

A very happy Christmas to everyone...

What a busy month this has been. Shortly after I was hospitalized in early November, I realized I really "should" do City Arts Market...so until December 5, I worked to make it happen...and then after that, Christmas took over, with all it's busyness.

This was the first year since having Max that I have worked regularly outside the home, and since now that I'm in "retail"...this means kind of odd hours, and a schedule that changes week to week and day to day.

The nice thing about working however, is that you can afford nicer presents...so I actually shopped a few times this year...saving the mall for just a few days ago. How good have I been, I thought? I've worked in a store since August yet I've barely barely barely shopped myself and haven't been to the mall in months. Oops, I wanted everything I saw! A new black winter hat, a faux fur stole (bought that for my mom instead, it's gorgeous), new shoes, new pants, lovely sweaters, and what great deals. Hopefully I'll get back there in the next couple weeks. I felt like I was wondering around the store in rags! but not for long...I'll get myself fitted out soon.

I'm giving heart felt gifts this year. Namely, the book "Out of Your Tree 2" by Dominic Lee, of Priory Studios, which benefits cancer. Dominic took our honeymoon photos for us on the streets of Dublin, Ireland in 2001, and photographed us a few years later in Northern Ireland on the Giant's Causeway. He is a dear friend and a fabulous photographer. I am grateful for my sister Julie surviving her second cancer scare this year, and so I'm giving this book to her. Read my review here on the Stillorgan Chamber of Commerce website.
I am the official United States distributor of this book in America, so if you would like your own copy or copies let me know. If you are a Maeve Binchy fan, like me, you'll enjoy her and her husbands chess photo, and her introduction to the book. (among many many other extraordinary photos that were taken around the world.)



My other gift is Garth Johnson's "1000 Ideas for Creative ReUse." in which my pot rack table was given a full page. This gift is for my Dad who helped me put the table together, and for my brother who is an architect in Boston. Thank you Garth for choosing this image for your book.




I also recently was given a dozen photos of my property and the neighborhood from the early 50's. And so I was able to reprint them all for my fantastic new neighbors Misty and Joe and give them to them in an album and framed too...apparently the little girl that lived in their house was best friends with the little girl who lived in my house...and so these photos are so poignant to me and to them. Our enormous trees are just sticks in the photos and the children are gorgeous.

Over the last week, we've had a snowy blizzard, and lots of running here and there, making up for time lost due to the snow storm. We're off to share more presents soon...so have a wonderful day and chat soon!

"where have all the flowers gone?"

many many Wensleydale wool hair clips, small pins, hairbands and brooches now have new homes in and around Lancaster County.
I am so grateful to my cousin Joy of www.c2itdesign.com for creating an image for me this year with logo, website, business cards, marketing materials, etc. and my dear friend Dominic Lee of Priory Studios, Stillorgan, Ireland and his gorgeous daughter Shakira for the fabulous photos on my table, and to lovely little Opal from London for modeling the hair clips for kids- also photographed on my table. (shown here too in the first photo with Mum Jo Ellen).
City Arts Market was fabulous...Merry Christmas to one and all!

Shakira...

wearing red and white flower hairbands. Taken in the studio Saturday by Dominic Lee, of Priory Studios, Stillorgan, County Dublin, Ireland.

Audrey and Abby....

my beautiful nieces...wearing MFAccessories!

Child Yoga at Radiance

Max is now delirious and very relaxed!

visit me at City Arts Market Saturday December 5 at Historic Eastern Market-House

it's official! I'm vending my third year at City Arts Market on December 5 at Eastern Market (King Street Lancaster). Check out all my new accessories there, just in time for holiday shopping.
Pick up something for yourself too at my stand. My bright flower brooches and hair bands look great with that little black dress...

drop off today at State of the Art

in East Petersburg...thanks Jenny! (stop in and she'll frame all those cool art pieces you have sitting around...just in time for Christmas:-)
check out the paintings by my Indie painter friend, Maggie Mowery (www.happysilence.etsy.com), and more great pieces Jenny has from other local artists here in Lancaster.

I really do love Freecycle.

Oh my...I "requested" a dress form Friday night on Lancaster County Freecycle...
I thought one might be cool for my shows...
within 10 minutes, I got a reply...a woman .24 miles from me! when I got there, low and behold she had two! they both needed a little adjusting...both are vintage. with clothes on, they really work. I can dress them up and they can wear brooches at my shows!
(Max calls the little one (I just lowered it so it can sit on my table)
"my little sister."

New brooches at Lancaster Yarn Shop

It's been a busy week of recovering from my unexpected surgery, and getting back to normal with preschool and working at my part-time job. AND I'm up and making flowers again. I created a new batch for the Lancaster Yarn Shop these past few days, and delivered them to the store there in Kitchen Kettle Village this morning. See the finished result above, and the red one in progress. Each phase of felting is simple but interesting how fast you can get from A to Z. I think a lot of beginning a new art form is getting over a fear that you'll mess up your supplies. Once I get going though and practice a lot, it's very comforting for me to make things.

I have a few days off now, and will start another set of flowers...I'm truly considering a December show, but I'm holding off on my decision for a few days to see how it goes.

I am trying to stay calm and content and collected and restful...my new mantra after four nights in the hospital. No more coffee has really helped...but in a way, this is a chilled out way to end the year.

what a week...

The past week has been a crazy blur. On Halloween day, after picking up some candy with Max, I had such chest pains i thought I would die the moment I walked into my house. That night, Matt ended up taking Max trick or treating down the street, and i stayed home and passed out candy.
The next day, as we were getting ready for a vacation to Maryland to see the Smithsonian museums in D.C., I decided to take myself to the emergency room to see what was going on. My chest and back had continued to hurt all day, and I thought it's not wise to not get myself looked at, especially since I'm a mom!!!!
so off I drove to Lancaster General, where I underwent tests until 11pm. At midnight, I was admitted to the hospital where I was told my gallbladder was infected and I'd need to have it taken out. On Monday, after a second (initial) surgery was ruled out (thank God), I went in to the operating room. Everything went "well", although they underestimated my pain medication so they literally pulled me off oxygen, and the next second I was saying, "i'm hurting! I hurt!" and shaking and panting. Kind of a mess.
But two more nights in the hospital, and lots of rest lying there watching tv, and eating clear liquids made me better...just missed the guys a lot. I'd never been apart from Max so that was quite hard on him.
Since Wednesday, I've been home, and today was my BIG day out, to my favorite event of the year, "Art on the Farm" at Chiques Creek Farm.

I was able to see the gang, Debbie Serdy of "My Aunt Debbie", Etsy's Maggie Mowery (Happy Silence), and Ann Kimmich and her baby Clay.
Max got out in the sunshine, it was a warm November day. He was so happy to be running around and having fun. He even saw Jessica King spinning wool and said, "she's spinning wool."
So home this week, I've started some Christmas presents and I want to stock the Lancaster Yarn Shop and Peachy Green with new things for the holidays.
best best....

Off to London and Ireland...

bye bye big flowers, enjoy your new life! have a nice flight!!!!

you can collect them...!

Like beautiful Opal from London...

Busy, but had time for breakfast

This week I've been dying wool, and felting wool, and making flowers and making flowers and making flowers. I restocked Peachy Green in time for artwalk, am preparing a big package for my photographer friend in Ireland, and working on a proposal to a new shop.
Lots of neat things going on...managed to fit in breakfast this week at Wish You Were Here....ahhh....

New Wensleydale Brooches at Peachy Green...

due to my Wensleydale flower brooches selling out last week on First Friday, I have delivered new ones to the shop this morning. check them out- they are bigger and plumper than ever! and perfect for your lapel.
XO

Apple and Pumpkin picking...

Max and I played cowboys on the range today at the preschool field trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch...quite a lovely and long hayride on a beautiful fall day.

Lovely day

it was a lovely day, I took some pretty pics in downtown Lancaster...Joy is finishing my website and the plans called for more photos...
took these neat ones...the doorway of Peachy Green for my stockist tab, and surprise...my little flower headbands made from Wensleydale wool are in the window.
Lancaster is really beautiful downtown...I kept wanting to take photos of peoples porches and windows...you could see paintings inside the houses, lit by little lamps...things like that...
so take my word for it...if you get to Lancaster downtown...walk around, these little city houses would be millions in other cities...and all the people that live in those houses get to walk to Central Market for their veggies, and have their snacks in cafes...and this is only 1.5 miles from my house?
i'm a lucky girl.

drop off at HATCH Studio and Gallery

thank YOU Bethany and your lovely lovely studio....here's my cubby there as of Friday...check out the table arrangement ready for "Ladies Night"...it would take me two months to come up with that! I'm sure it took Bethany about 10 minutes:)

What a fabulous place she has with great classes, great gifts, in a cool cool setting...

Peachy Green 56 North Prince Lancaster....new Stockist, just in time for October First Friday

Visit downtown Lancaster's organic clothing retailer in their new location. Thank you Rachelle, for bringing me into the shop, right before First Friday October. Lancaster is so busy on First Friday's now, it's like a BIG party downtown...truly fantastic.
Check out the lovely assortment of green clothing, kids clothes, and fair trade accessories and products. Also, pick up this awesome new shopping bag designed by FIG magazine for ONLY $5!!!!.
After your shopping, don't forget to pop into Peachy Green's cool green neighbor, "The Green Man Cafe" for some First Friday food that will make you feel good.
I have a nice assortment of wooly accessories- at Peachy Green, all made with wool from Yorkshire, England- mostly from Wensleydale sheep. Enjoy:-) and Happy autumn!

XO
Mags

Drop Off Day at the Lancaster Yarn Shop

so busy at the Lancaster Yarn Shop today, with tourists from all over. The air was brisk, and a storm was on it's way...so there was a neat autumn vibe in the air.

I dropped off my new autumn and early winter line up of British wool hair things, under my newly designed label, "Maggie French Accessories." (subsequently changing out my display there.)

i absolutely love using the wool from the North Yorkshire Dales exclusively. The end result is very elegant. The delicate quality of the Wensleydale wool felted, is really unique and special.

here's some photos from the day...

Garage inspiration

"Entente Cordiale"
Designed by Patricia Thirion and Janet Honour

i've been painting the exterior of my garage...white with a bright blue side door. My color inspiration: this garden cottage "Entente Cordiale" at the Royal Horticulture Society Chelsea Flower Show this year.

This year I'm painting, next year I'll add more plantings. Thank goodness for having a picture I like to work from. I'll definately be at Landis Valley's garden show next spring looking for red, purple and white flowers to plant.

so far, the new colors are making my garden look brighter and more alive...and I used our garden tomatoes in tonight's dinner:-)

i like shutterfly...

I discovered this week that i could use Shutterfly to create some of the marketing pieces I need. I created this today, and it's what i'll send with my samples.
I'm still in love with these photos by Lon Farenwald. Katie and Maggie, my models made my accessories come to life.

www.maggiefench.net

Thank you so much to Joy Baudart, my cousin in Vancouver for working hard to create a website for me. We're off the ground tonight with my first home page...look for updates in the weeks to come, complete with more Autumn 2009 images, stockists information, and information on upcoming books my work will be in.


Joy did a wonderful job helping me streamline my ideas. She made everything better than I had imagined, and I am so grateful to have a new logo and web presence. I think we've probably sent each other a million emails over the last couple of months. She really listened to what I had to say, and made my dreams come true. Wouldn't my Grandma be proud of this collaboration between the two of us? Our photos sat near one another on her bookshelf for as long as I can remember.
I highly recommend Joy!