Good morning March

Hi everyone, and thank goodness March is here, bringing us that much closer to spring! I am trying to embrace the last days of winter...with new boots, enjoying company, playing games, and felting like crazy every day.

I have decided to become my own apprentice...studying my techniques to see what changes I can make to be a better felt maker. My pieces are becoming easier to make because of this, my arms are less tired, and with some new procedures in place, I can felt AND play with Max more... my pieces are more shimmering, more organic.

I know that spring is upon us, but this winter has been so snowy and cold, it's hard to imagine that the grass will be green soon, and we'll have warm evenings and sunny hot days.

After much thinking over which shows to apply for, I decided on just one so far. The FROM Scratch INDIEpendent handmade market on May 1 in Allentown. It looks just my speed, and at this type of Indie event, I always make new friends. I'm looking forward to that.

I hope everyone is happy and healthy and hanging in there. The flowers are blooming here at my house in Lancaster, and I'm looking forward to wonderful moments as the year continues.

Snow Snow Snow

(me on our street wearing my hat of the season. A JCrew woolie sweater I turned into a hat. I sewed on "off" pieces of my Wensleydale wool felt to create the flowers and petals.) I wear it ALL the time as I've become really fond of the baby blue and red color combination.)
Not since my childhood in Massachusetts (and I'm sure my babyhood in Fairbanks, Alaska!) have I seen this much snow. We've been enjoying ourselves...eating lots of yummy meals (including blackened tilapia/blackened chicken with cajun yogurt sauce sandwiches, yogurt and fresh strawberry/mango/banana smoothies, salads, hot buttery croissants, vegetarian lasagna)... playing Candy Land, working on kids crafts and felting.

I started my spring show inventory, here's a pic of the little mini clips in progress, (the satiny sheen of the Wensleydale floors me)....still narrowing down which shows I'll do (half of me wants to stay in Lancaster and just be available for downtown events, another part of me wants to make mini holidays out of craft shows farther away)...I'm dreaming of the weather freedom! of spring and am actually having real daydreams of the green grass in my yard, and evening walks at 8:45pm, followed by ice cream!

As I washed the dishes, or rinsed my felt, this is the view I saw out of my kitchen window!

and here's my big boy, being a big help and bonding with the neighborhood guys. Snow like this really does bring people together:)


We just made smoothies again and played Just Dance on Wii, so night night all and stay warm wherever you are!

sooo cute!

I sent some samples to my childhood friend Laurie McDonagh. Laurie now has a photography studio and recently won a Best of Boston award! Here are some sweet shots that I'll use in my Etsy shop photos. Her girls are cuties, and I'm having flashbacks of hanging out with Laurie in our hometown of Pepperell, Massachusetts- walking home from school together past victorian homes on Main Street, fall leaves crunching under our feet. and singing songs upstairs while we waited for our Mom's to call us down for dinner.

(this photo above is so precious. it reminds me of the wet felting directions to, "handle your wool like a baby bird" (in particular you need to do this when you dye your wool)
In other news, we've been keeping busy this week with utilizing the last days of Matt's insurance, so dentist and eye appointments all around. Picked out some really fun new glasses- very daring of me, must say. Got my hair cut- like a little French girl, the guys haircuts are next. And Matt needs a new suit for interviews. we'll look like we've had makeovers in about a weeks time.

Now, you have to admit it. There is a group of girls and women in the world, who see a red flower for their hair, home, their VW Bug vase holder, and have to have it. This is why I make red ones, and they were the first to sell out at City Arts Market. Believe me, owner of red shoes, a red front door, and red house shutters, I understand.
Max has taken to building and playing board games all day. Our living room looks like a construction zone for kids, with block castles everywhere. Chutes and Ladders anyone? Come on in, just mind your step:-)

Now these sweeties are cute...

Coming Home...

One of my unexpected pressies that came in the month of December, was the delivery of a dozen vintage photos from our property and our neighbors. My mother met a woman named Kathy who grew up in the house next to me. Her best friend Barbie lived in my house. Tomorrow night, Kathy (the little blonde) and her mother (now 90), are meeting my neighbors Misty and Joe and getting a tour of their old home. Kathy's mother told her, "I would just love to see that house again."
(the little boy David and the dark haired girl Barbie lived in my house).
Here is a block party photo taken in our back yard.

These were the original owners of our homes that were built in the early 50's and we heard wonderful stories about watching the other homes on the street being built, the planting of trees (which are now 50 and 80 feet tall), and the building of WGAL TV.
I am grateful to have heard that my home was full of fun and love, and that it was a great place to grow up. Much time was spent in my rec room by the children (which apparently is set up the same way as then) down to the board games in the built-in cabinets.
When you move into a home, you wonder about the people who lived there before. I'm glad they had a good time here.

Hi!

Hi everyone...!

This week continued to be super busy...we've done the North Museum (rocked the new planetarium), Hand's On House, Kitchen Kettle Village, and IKEA.

Without planning it, we've been doing lots of house things too. including organizing the toys, trying to fix the garage door, adding wiring in the basement, etc.

Got some bright new flowers out to London today...they seem so bright on a day when sleet was expected. The days are getting longer, and I'm loving it.



Adios and chat soon:-)

January 2010: 15 days in

Today is only the 15th of January, yet the year is already busy. Each day seems to start out relatively calm, but then there's always some kind of excitement or surprise.

I promised Rand at Thistle and Clover in Brooklyn, a few of my things for the first week of January. got those out and celebrated at the coffee shop with little Max- so so cold the day we mailed them. and the shop was so warm. I'm so flattered to have my little brooches there.

I've met with the Indie girls (see previous post), had breakfast with Rachel-Marie and Occy (www.knittydirtygirl.etsy.com)- had a nice long chat, and have visited Peachy Green and chatted with Rachelle.

Each day there seems to be orders in my inbox, exciting news from family or friends, or neat news from one of my retailers.

I almost forgot about how different our life is in Spring and Summer...so I started dreaming about warmer days and committing myself to some local (and maybe not local?) craft shows.

So exciting, is the fact that www.maggiefrench.net is not just a "website coming soon" page, but a real website now. My cousin Joy of www.c2itdesign.com
has been so great putting this together for me. Combined with my new logo, I feel fantastic.

One evening "Coco Before Chanel" was on...I loved the scenes where's she's working in her room, supplies all about...yes, that's how it is here too. always I'm dying wool in my crock pot, or playing with Max while I sew, or packaging up a package at midnight. while the world just works around me somehow.

to Brooklyn with love...

Took care of my Wensleydale fix last week after our Lancaster Indie Art meeting (lots of wonderful handmade gifts for our Christmas exchange and lovely organic treats).
Check out the Wensleydale yarn from the Sheep Shop in Yorkshire, which I'd never bought before AND my Mom is going to knit me mittens with. (!!!)
and these lovely Wensleydale combed tops-

Made some delicate hair accessories with it (hairband and pink brooches available by contacting me) , and a trio of brooches for the fabulous boutique Thistle and Clover in Brooklyn co-founded by Rand Niederhoffer and Camilla Gale. The brooches are made from undyed natural Wensleydale wool, with bits of sparkle. They were made especially for the shop and run $18. contact (718) 855 5577 or info@thistleclover.com.


(yarn... soon to be mittens for moi)


see...really, truly LOVELY!

A trio of rose brooches...have now arrived at Thistle and Clover and Brooklyn. $18/each.

Hair band $30: contact me for details.

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....