Valley of the Flowers

I had originally designed this pattern to be big, bold and kind of in one's face. But when I put it next to the other patterns for the 2009 calendar, it seemed really out of scale. So the whole thing got shrunk down. And in the end I like it very much, the only sad thing is that you loose a lot of the details in the flowers. I spent the majority of a dreary Saturday this winter drawing these flowers, each one blown up to like 800%. So I thought I'd blow them up a bit so you can see the detail in them here. The funny thing is I swear that I wrote down the name of each flower so that I could show you an original picture too... but apparently that was a good idea not followed through on.
Today my mom is coming in for a short visit and we are going to go wedding dress shopping. I'm not a big clothes shopper. I prefer to obsess over something online and then order it in 3 sizes and try it on in the comfort of my bedroom. Something a bit more difficult to do with a wedding dress. I'm looking for something white that is simple and costs less than my share of the booth fee to the stationery show. We'll see how it goes....

I'm drowning in boxes

There are so many boxes here that people probably think we're moving. So many I should probably bake Eric the UPS man cookies. A little break in the Loire Valley posts for a moment. This is for all those loved ones and friends who I haven't called / emailed back and for those clients that are like The Station-what? For those that have no idea what I've been doing and why I still can't go out tonight (but you can come come over to stuff envelopes!).


Postcards + Orderforms. Thanks to Brother Chris & Sister Becky for folding 500 of these things, just out of the goodness of their hearts. And to Becky for telling me to fold them the opposite way after I had already done 250, she was right.


Cute New Stationary Show Shoes and my most recent Arch Nemesis: Grand Theft Auto 4. I can't take the sirens anymore, it is driving me batty. Here lies Sasso's game map. I will not shred the map, I will not shred the map..... And there, a lovely box of glassine envelopes that are being labeled and then stuffed with said order forms and the line sheets... when Eric brings me my line sheets tomorrow.



God Bless Ikea. Seriously, we are outfitting the whole booth with Ikea goods. Thank god for cheap modern designed goods that are only 30 mins away.


Yeah for New Cards that come out perfectly printed!!! Greener Printer rocks.

Thanks to Alston I'll have some lovely press kits at the show. She came up with a lovely design when my stamping idea turned all "holly hobby". And here are all the labels for all the products.... sooooo pretty.

So there it is, that is what I've been doing the last few weeks. I need to stuff press kits, buyer packs and package samples too... so that is why I can't go out... but you can come here and help :)

It's a Chateau Dahhhhling...

I wrote about my love of the word Villa in my Cabo wrap up, well I have the same affection for the word château (and also Chalet). Basically any word that is a bit more romantic and dreamier than "house". There were 3 châteaus that I thought of when I did this pattern.


1. Petit Hameau: The original inspiration for the patten was this little rustic place built for Marie Antoinette at Versailles. Do you remember in the movie when Kirsten Dunst was running around in tall grass in the most beautiful sun light glow? Then she picked strawberries and poured the most delicious looking cream from a pitcher.... mmmm. After checking it out I decided i wanted it all to be a bit more in your face and not so delicate. So I went on search for more châteaus.


2. Château de Chenonceau: The château was a gift from King Henry VIII to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. The place is so magical the way that it extends over the river. It has some amazing geometrically designed gardens too. You can visit the château's website here.


3. Château de Villandry: The gardens here are amazing. There are all sorts of geometric shapes including one part that is all hearts, which is where I got the inspiration for the hearts in the Merci pattern. You can visit their site here and see some amazing pics here.

I wish someone would say "Bonjour Mademoiselle!" and whisk me off to a château today. It has been a rough couple of weeks. The kind that makes you say, "Holy crap. The universe is trying to kill me!!" It has involved print proofs gone awry, burned hands, head colds, unresponsive vendors, torture via dentist, crazy client phone calls, a broken cell phone (which is just plain maddening), and one mess otherwise known as our engagement party / wedding.
But I'm not gonna let it get me down no more! The sun is out and even if I have to sit in my yard (with a box of tissues) instead of a château's that will do for now. To make things even better Eric the UPS man just brought all the new Thank You, Hello! and Holiday cards to me. The printing is SO beautiful! Lots of new stuff to show you soon.

Floral Couture

I write this with a throbbing face, cheek really I guess. My tooth had been aching and I had to go to the dentist. I made my last minute appointment thinking, "oh this is no big deal... I can do it in the A.M, have the whole day to work and then I can still make that Design Salon event I've been looking forward to in the evening." So I went, shed a few tears (you would too if you had 18 teeth pulled as a young one), and when I was leaving the (wonderful) dentist said to me "so once the Novicain wears off this is going to hurt at least twice as much as that root canal you had. Here, go get some Vicodin." Oh it appears I gravely miscalculated my procedure. Which is why I'm sitting at home with a throbbing face.

To take my mind off that (and how I really can't buy a M.J bag from the employee sale cause I just dropped the equivalent at the dentist) I thought I'd write a bit about the beginning influences of the Loire Valley pattern. Well, it was all those flowers over flowing the Spring runways. I mean they were EVERYWHERE! I could have filled an entire sketchbook with inspiration, forget just a few pages. Here are a few glimpses of my floral sketchbook pages.

Matthew Willamson, Prada, and Balenciaga. Balenciaga was the big time influence. All those cool floral patterns, and those crazy black and white gladiator sandals totally inspired the Chester, England pattern (I want those sandals, I know... where would I wear them... but I want them anyways). So here, take a look.

Introducing Loire Valley

Soooooo.... I need to note that right now I am sitting in the studio with all the windows open getting a fantastic cross breeze of warm air. So warm that when I walk through the kitchen I check to see if the stove is on, I've been doing this all day. The scent of a neighbor's BBQ have been wafting in... I've been waiting for this weather to return since November.



A while ago I wrote about what was inspiring some new patterns. The first new pattern to be released is Loire Valley. She is French and very bright (as in colorful, though if she was a person I think she'd also be very smart and clever), and just bursting with flowers. The pattern was inspired by the flowers that flooded the Spring 2008 runways (especially the Balenciaga collection - swoon), a few chateau gardens in France and the idea of a colorful fruit basket (not sure why but that popped in my head the whole time I worked on this pattern).
This is also the first release of the new Thank You card line, which Loire Valley graces on the Merci card which you can see here. The cards are sold as singles as well as in packs of 6 and they are all enviro friendly as mentioned before.
This pattern had so many great inspirations and I can't wait to share them all. I know posting has been a bit light. Sometimes it is tricky to get pumped up about the inspiration for patterns I did like 18 months ago, so I'm really looking forward to sharing the 14 new patterns I have with you!

On another note my dear-dear-dear-lovely intern Alston is leaving me in Mid-May so I'm on the lookout for another talented design intern. If anyone is interested please email me at jhilldesign (at) mac.com for more details. One of the big projects for the summer is the rework of the Studio's website which will soon have a wonderful database driven shopping cart (adios paypal buttons!). Good experience and fun :)

A Roman Wrap Up

Big news. I have finished all design matter for the stationary show. Cards, Note Pads (oh yes there are going to be very pretty note pads coming your way... I'm such a list maker), Calendars, Prints, Order Forms, Postcards, Business Cards, Line Sheets = in the bag. Now I just wait for Eric from UPS to drop it all off. Now I also need to bribe friends over here to help me stuff hundreds and hundreds of buyer kits... any takers? I'll supply Champagne I swear.
It's nice to see 5 months of Stationary Show planning come to an end... though now I need to start planning something else, a wedding. Which has been anything but fun up to this point, except the dress part. That has been fun :)
So I had bought this funny little book which is a guide to all the gelato in Italy. It was hard to get my hands on cause it was out of print, but it really does have quite a lot of info about Gelato in it and is written in a very cute way. I was going to do a whole list of the top places to get Gelato in Rome but... I'm too burnt out. I am, however, launching a new pattern and part of the new line on the website tomorrow. Loire Valley - she is very pretty. I leave you with a glimpse at my display and Mr. Man The Buyer here.
PS. How good was Gossip Girl last night? Sooooooooooo good.

Mmmmm.... Gelato!

Since this month's pattern is about the gelato of Rome, I thought that was the perfect excuse to do a little taste testing of the gelato of the River St. Whole Foods. Of course I used my favorite gelato (see previous post) Ciao Bella for the tasting. I was so pleased to see that WF had 5 kinds of CB gelato and 4 of their equally great Sorbettos. I picked 4, got sasso at work and we headed home to indulge.
I threw my acupuncturist's rule of "no dairy" to the wind and decided to just eat straight from the container. It was just me and Sasso and there was no need for the pleasantries of bowls.
So here is what we ate:
Pistachio: Hands down my favorite. Each little nut is like a little crunchy surprise swathed in creamy goodness. I remember my great Aunt Glady ate pistachio ice cream when I was little and it was BRIGHT green, I'm happy to say that CB's pistachio gelato is not.
Cholocate Hazelnut: Mmmmmm. I'm not a huge hazelnut fan (probably from od-ing on Nutella in college) but the hazelnut in this is nice and subtle. I thought it was delicious.
Vanilla: The vanilla gelato was so soft it was like eating marshmallows. I loved it, it has that great vanilla bean taste. For years my favorite ice cream was vanilla with chocolate sprinkles, i just realized that I have chocolate sprinkles in the pantry. Now I can relive my childhood while watching American Idol tonight.
Espresso: I almost didn't get this one because a few weeks ago Sasso gave up coffee because his addiction had taken over and he couldn't sleep. I didn't want to have to relive those few days again (it wasn't as bad as when he gave up bread for a bit, but it was close) and thought maybe I shouldn't tempt him. But then I said "screw it" and bought it anyways. I don't drink coffee either and I blame this ice cream for keeping me up til 1am. But that is what a no-caffeine-girl gets for eating (quite a bit) espresso gelato at 10:30pm. You know what, it was totally worth it and I'm sure I'll do it again this week.
All in all Pistachio was my favorite. Besides the gelato tasting like heaven Ciao Bella has the best packaging ever. Being a designer I will buy just about anything that is in good packaging, it just sucks me in. Luckily this product happens to be killer as opposed to some other good-package-crappy-product things I've bought.

On another note today I'm sending all the new cards to print. Yesterday all the 2009 calendars went to print. Yeah that is right, I'm going to have a closet full of 2009 calendars in about a week. If that sounds crazy try this, I'm working on patterns for 2010 now. Today I got the delivery of the brand new Cheers! card from the printer. I can't wait to photograph them and put them online. They are sooooooooooooo pretty. I just couldn't hand silkscreen the cards anymore... Also we've bought all the Ikea furniture we need for our booth, the line sheets and order forms are almost ready to print and the schematic for my wall of our booth is done so I am allllllllmost there.

So... what's this gelato stuff?

So sorry for my lack of gelato posting. I've been el swampo putting together schematics for the stationary show. Not to mention working my *ss off to pay for the samples I need to print. Oh boy... I'm trying to keep my Amex from catching on fire from all the swiping. But it is all coming together and looking very nice so it's all good.
So above you'll see April's gelato print (I've got a few wall calendars left and they are on sale here for $18.00 btw) which was inspired by Leees's gelato picture (also above). I mean have you ever seen anything more fun and delicious looking? Look at all the sparkles and umbrellas and fruit pieces. I guess I'm just a sucker for brightly colored sweet things stuck full with sparkly accoutrements.
So what is Gelato? Accoring to Wiki it is "Italian ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavorings. The gelato ingredients (after an optional pasteurization) are frozen while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form. Like high-end ice cream, gelato generally has less than 35% air, resulting in a dense and extremely flavourful product". All true I'm sure, but I just prefer a simpler definition: delicious.
Funny thing: I went to Italy on a back-packing tour in college and I remember in Venice my friend Sarah was obsessed with gelato and would get it at every chance. I was all "what's the big deal, it is just ice cream..." and I DIDN'T HAVE ANY! I went to Italy and didn't eat gelato. Stupid, I know. Regrets....
I didn't really get into gelato until I was out in San Francisco visiting JBatt + Picy. We went to Ciao Bella at the market building. I've always been a huge huge fan of their packaging and their gelato was just as wonderful. Especially their Champagne Apricot. MMmmmm. We went there twice. Luckily I can buy this deliciousness at my local Whole Foods. Which is exactly what I plan to do tonight so we can test it and give a little report to you.

Ooooooooh... Rome!

Rome, Rome, Roma!! It is April and the sun is shining into the studio (finally). I was so happy to flip over my wall calendar and see happy April smiling back at me. This pattern was all about gelato. My dear Leeees took a great picture of gelato on one of her Italy trips a while back and it got me all sorts of inspired. I can't wait to do a gelato taste test this week, and I'm sure Sasso will be looking forward to that as well.
It is a momentous day. I finished ALL 12 new patterns. I honestly feel like running up city hall's steps a la Rocky and doing a little dance. The first ones to be released will be Loire Valley (next week), Chester, England and Austin, Texas. The whole line is just about finished :), I'm just working on the new holiday cards. One exciting thing is that I'm switching most of the line's printing to an eco-friendly process. They will be printed with soy + vegetable based inks on 100% recycled, 50% post-consumer, non-bleached paper. It is very nice. Hopefully I'll be able to switch the calendars and the new notepads over once I can order, like thousands of them (it's all about the quantity).

Speaking of Magazines....

A few months ago I was interviewed by Blythe Copeland of Boston Magazine for the Spring Issue of Boston's New England Travel magazine, which just came out yesterday. The girl who does Places I Have Never Been needed to pick a favorite New England travel destination, (see, people don't think I actually go anywhere - but I do). I spoke to Blythe right after Sasso and I can back from a trip to the Berkshires, a favorite area of ours. It was so nice to see all the details I mentioned to her in the article, I'd forgotten most of them - like how much I liked the mushrooms at Mezze (they were very good). I talked about what we do when we travel - and that is eat great food, be it a hot dog or a 4 course meal.
The article also made me realize why people have headshots taken. Here I've got Sasso's glasses on... we are on the beach in Cabo... the sun is setting... a great memory - but not the most flattering picture. I'm just not all that photogenic - and I'm ok with that. My ladies Jsutt and Leeees take some very nice pictures, I might need to take some lessons from them. Next thing you know Sasso will come home and I will be playing ANTM in my studio.
Oh, you can read the full article online here.

Inspiration: The Last Page

Seriously, the last page is almost ALWAYS my favorite page of the entire magazine. It's so nice when a mag doesn't just fill the final page with ads, but considers it a little goodbye treat to the reader. Here are a few top favorites of my Mag Shelf:


1. Gourmet July 2007 My favorite food magazine by far. How can you beat their food photography?! Their last page is always a few simple recipes on a theme, here is one of my favorites. The Art of Reduction includes 5 different fruit syrups to slather on ice cream or mix with some soda water and vodka for the perfect summer (warm weather will eventually get to Boston this year, right?) cocktail. Here is the recipe for my favorite.


2. New York Magazine The Crossword Puzzle This is like, one of the only crossword puzzles that I can complete and I look forward to it every week. It does rival, however, their Approval Matrix which I always read first. Check out this blog which is a brilliant look at the Matrix. (As a disclaimer, NY now has a new last page, which appeared after the crossword called Artifact, but I can't quite figure out what the deal is with it, so I'm just ignoring it for now. )


3. Vogue March 2008 My favorite last page by far. Vogue's Last Look always has one amazingly designed and amazingly expensive object accompanied with just a small text blurb. These objects have influenced many a PIHNB pattern, including the upcoming Galway, Ireland pattern. Here is last month's Last Look. Mmmmmm a $7,950 Balenciaga bag.


4. Domino April 2008 I'm a big list maker, I love them. So naturally I'm a big fan of Domino's "10 Things That Make Me Happy". Since you've probably seen most of the April 2008 issue on other blogs (Drew's office was absolutely everywhere) I'll share the last page. I think Zoe Ryan and I would be great friends because I have almost everything she likes on my wish list, including the Girard dolls.

5. Sherman's Travel Fall 2007 I found this magazine at Logan Airport a few months ago and immediately loved it. It has everything that I love about the Time's travel section, but just more of it. I've totally given up on Travel + Leisure and CN Traveller, I just can't take the "Top 100 Hotels You'll Never be Able to Afford to Stay In" articles anymore. ST always ends their mag with a little blurb/photo about something fantastic. In this issue it was a balloon ride (including a light champagne breakfast) over Myanmar's Bagan Valley... imagine that!


6. Elle March 2008 I love Elle dearly. I do. I love chopping it to bits and filling my sketchbook with collages from her pages. Elle's last page always is an interview with some interesting person. This past issue talked with one of my favorite people: Rainn Wilson aka Dwight Schrute from The Office. I love Dwight Schrute and I think Rainn is hilarious. See him here at the Emmy's with Kanye West and in my favorite Office outtake here.

Inspiration: Magazine Round-Up

Last night I was laying on the couch indulging in a repeat of Gossip Girl when Sasso came home from work. He said, "Would you like to go through these magazines and throw out the ones that you don't want... there are like 2 issues of Elle right here." I became a bit irritated because:
1. I was in the middle of watching the debacle that was the debutant ball (what an evil grandmother that Serena has).
2. I have a hard time parting with magazines and it shall not be done on a whim.
3. There weren't 2 issues of Elle, it was an Elle and a Vogue - 2 very different things.

I have a magazine addiction and I am well aware of this as is the postman who crams them all into my P.O. Box. This year I let ALL my subscriptions run out cause it got out of hand and then I renewed after giving careful thought to each. (My theory is if you are going to pay $4 for one issue you may as well pay $12 for 12 issues) Subscriptions now include:
• Sherman's Travel
• Lucky + Domino
• Elle
• Vogue
• New York (a weekly)
• Gourmet
• Vanity Fair
• Wired + Rolling Stone (I get these for free for some reason and never end up reading them so I don't think that they REALLY count.)
But there are some new ones that I want... like Portfolio (Oh I love this business magazine), Departures (if only I too had a Amex Platinum card... someday), Home Companion, City, Art on Paper and the biggest guilty pleasure of all: Us Weekly (I just can't do it, I mean it is like over $100).
Much of the inspiration for the Places I Have Never been series comes from articles and fashion spreads that I read, clip + save. As you can see I don't throw away magazines lightly, what if there is an idea for a pattern nestled inside there?!
I thought that I'd do a few posts about some of my fav clippings and stories from my favorite magazines. Above you can see the stack I collected from around the house, many in their delivery bags. I think weekend might be one of reading... What are your favorite magazines? I'm always looking for a few more....

What's black, white and red all over....

A newspaper! I seriously remember that joke from a "joke book" that i had when i was in elementary school - I'm sure my parents wanted to burn that thing. Well what inspired the colors for the Fakahatchee print is the passage in the Orchid Thief where Susan Orlean writes about the "Vanda Deva Robert" orchid. Page 175: "Vanda Deva Robert is a brilliant red orchid with a smallish black lip and a speck of yellow in the center and large petals that are tessellated with blood-colored veins."
Red is my favorite color (hence the JHill Design branding) and I tend to wear a lot of black (not a goth thing, just goes with everything) so I thought I'd do a round up of my fav black, white and red things of the moment.
1. The Kitchen Aid Mixer: Seriously, the only reason I am even thinking of doing a bridal registry is in hopes that maybe I'll get one of these puppies. I just feel like I'd make a lot of great Christmas cookies with it and my yummy brownies would appear so much quicker. Plus, we have the red Kitchen Aid blender so it would match perfectly.
2. Orla Kiely Spring 2008: Orla Kiely is like who i want to be. She's got her amazing patterns all over everything. She's got her own store. She's got the whole Orla lifestyle thing going on. I love it. Here is a shot from her spring collections' look book. So cute.
3. Pyrrhuloxia: I love Abby Glassenberg's work. It is totally amazing and very affordable. I've been really drawn to high-end plush toys as of late. Check out her etsy shop here and her work at artstream gallery here.
4. Mac Lipstick: I love red lipstick and don't wear it enough. I am partial to Fresh's Plaza Red, but this red by Mac is pretty fierce, plus the rest of their line rocks.
5. Tea Cup: I was at Anthropolgie the other day browsing the sale racks (if I ever pay the full gazillion dollar price for one of their skirts - kill me) and I stumbled upon this little guy. so pretty.
6. Pomme Birds: I actually own this print and it is currently tucked away waiting for the day that I take all my little prints out to the frame shop. I love Tara Hogan's work, and infact she is one of the lovely ladies I will be sharing a booth with at the stationary show this May.

Today I spoke to a graphic design portfolio class at MassArt about my "design journey" which was basically Fresh > jhill design > places i have never been. I got to take a peek at some of their work and wow... it was beautiful and super creative. The the all-girl class made me miss my days hanging around the studio busting out projects... (I think hindsight is sweet because I'm pretty sure I spent most of my time obsessing about those projects and at least a few hours in tears over them). If you are in Boston you can stop by the design department's portfolio night in early May, (I will post the details once i get them) and check out the great work for yourself. Also, if your in Boston, do your self a favor and go to Ole's new little sister Olecito and have a pork taco with pineapple salsa... mmmmmmmm.

Oh and how could i not post what turns up on youtube when you search for "red black white". see below.

Just a note on the Spring Cleaning Sale...

Well it is still going on over at www.jhilldesign.com, I know it was supposed to end Tuesday - but I've been too busy to change the code. So it is still up and will be until I get to go in there and change everything back... so yeah for discounted prints!

Views of Fakahatchee

So the Fakahatchee isn't so much a city or town as it is a big swamp... I guess (see with the whole "Places I Have Never Been" thing, you depend on others info so you can't always be sure of everything). I was breezing through flickr, a favorite past time of mine, and saw all these great pics of Fakahatchee so I thought I'd post a few. These lovely ones are by MistyL. She has so many great nature photos for you to check out, including these ghost orchid pics, and this huge album about Fakahatchee Strand. I love flickr because it is so easy to find amazing photographers like Misty.
In other news, I'm excited to say that the new 2009 line is 80% in the bag, and soon comes the fun part... production. Which I honestly hate, I don't know why I said it was fun. There's the nauseas feeling when approving a proof, the nauseas feeling when I open my amex bill, the anxious feeling waiting for things to get here. Not fun. But it will be over soon, a few more weeks.
I've been freelancing a bit back at my old stomping ground, the lovely beauty company Fresh, just to help them out. It has been soooooo nice to be out of the house a couple days a week, working with dear old friends in a sunlit office which happens to be right in the center of some of Boston's best restaurants and bars. Of course getting to be around all that pretty, creamy, sweet smelling product is nice too. This morning the office was filmed for the local Boston news program Chronicle. Look for an awkward JHill (I mean really, what are you supposed to do with your hands when you are make-believe reviewing something) in an episode about Fresh to air in April/May.

Adapting

As my lovely Ris commented on the last post, there was in fact a movie made about Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief", called Adaptation. The movie was a really interesting take on adapting a book for screen. It centers around Charlie Kauffman who is a cynical screenwriter who needs to adapt "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. It isn't going so well and to make matters work Charlie's twin brother (both rolls played by Nic Cage) seems to write scripts with the greatest of ease. As you watch Charlie go through his own personal crisis, you get to watch all the book's action and lucky for us Orlean's roll is played by the lovely Meryl Streep.
I haven't seen this movie since it came out so I may need to add it to my Netflix que in order to refresh my memory. I remember liking it quite a bit, and of course I love Ms Streep (I just watched The Hours last week for the first time, and then again right after because I just adored it).
How sad that I missed Ms Streep's appearance at a favorite local independent theater, The Coolidge, in 2006 to accept an award. Especially since she brought with her some other favorites including the late Robert Altman, Kevin Kline, Chris Cooper, John C. Reilly (who I love), Charlie Kaufman and "The Orchid Thief's" Susan Orlean. Where was I that night? What could I have been doing that was better than that? Hindsight.... To read about that and more Coolidge events visit here.
Tuesday night was our Brainstorming night for the Boston Design Salon and it went great. We lined up come really great monthly events taking us through October. (Also I finally got to meet the great Kate of Three Square Design). The group is open to area women (sorry boys) designers and those that love them. It has been a great networking event and we've had wonderful speakers so far such as Kristin from Urban Living Studio. It is a great mix of graphic designers, store owners, interior designers, product designers, design entrepreneurs, design bloggers and more. If you are interested in joining send me an email and I will put your on our email list!

The Orchid Thief

I first heard of the book The Orchid Thief via my friend Kevin while we were hanging around MassArt's beautiful printmaking studio. For some reason I filed it in the back of my mind for later reference. Later, while perusing the book cellar at (my favorite bookstore) Brookline Booksmith, I picked up The Orchid Thief and recalled Kev and my conversation about the book and decided to give it a go.
Susan Orlean writes of "Orchidelirium" otherwise known as the craziness that orchids cause, or "orchard fever" if you will. The story circles around the orchard community in southern Florida and John Laroche, a sly guy who tried to steal protected orchids out of a the Fakahatchee swamp, state park. It is definitely a great read, I never knew there was so much scandal and intrigue going on in the Everglades area. Orlean tells a great story and filled my mind with inspiration for the Fakahatchee print.
I kind of wish I was in the Everglades now, mosquitoes and all. March is the time of year when I'm ready to throw the towel in on the "cold weather". Yesterday I laid in bed, fully awake and just dreading getting out from under the warm covers and being exposed to the cold air (our house is a sieve when it comes to heat). I just laid there and thought... why do I actively choose to live somewhere where I am cold at least 5 months out of the year. I have no answer, perhaps laziness at not wanting to pack up and move. But at least we don't have big snow banks like our families in VT and NH do. Well not yet, just when you think it is over there is always one freak mid-April snowstorm lurking.... yes the mosquitoes and alligators of Fakahatchee don't sound half bad right about now...

Ooooohhh... Fakahatchee!

Oh Fakahatchee... the way your name just rolls off the tongue. Fakahatchee is actually a swamp in the Florida Everglades. The print was inspired by the book "The Orchid Thief", the movie "Adaptation"and of course the lovely orchid.
I love the orchid and this is the first in a series of orchid prints (vanilla orchids in the Tahitti print and perhaps more to come). Sasso's mom has BEAUTIFUL orchids in her living room that have blossoms as big as your fist, they are totally amazing. Once, we were given an orchid plant as hostess gift for a party we threw. I swear it
was dead in 6 months. I just can't keep anything alive, which is why only cut flowers are around our house. That may be one reason for my slight growing (ahem, no pun intended) obsession. If I can't have them alive in my home I guess I will just have to draw them.

Just a note, on my site there is a big "Spring Cleaning Everything is on Sale" sale going on. I need to make room in the "inventory closet" for some new work that will be coming in. It should be called the "Did you know weddings are expensive?" sale, cause boy... I have found out that these shindigs do not come cheap...

A Little Ferro Battuto

The pattern overlapping the swaths of green in the Tuscany Pattern was inspired by Frances Mayes' description of the Tuscan wrought iron gates in Under the Tuscan Sun on page 59:
"Ferro battu, wrought iron, is an ancient craft in Tuscany. Every town has intricate locks on medieval doors, curly lanterns, holders for standards, garden gates, even fanciful iron animals and serpents shaped into rings for tying horses to the wall. Like other artisian traditions, this one is fast disappearing and it's easy to see why. The key word in blacksmith is black. His shop is charred, soot covers him, the antiquated equipment, and the forges that seem to have chnaged very little since Hephaestus lit the fire in Aphrodite's stove. Even teh air seems hung with a fine weil of soot." Sounds pretty romantic to me. Below is a pic of the Tuscany pattern in it's entirety.
So I mentioned that I'm working on new patterns for the Stationary Show. Yes, 4 down... 8 to go. Not as much progress as I hoped for by the end of February, I've been letting my procrastination get the best of me. But I am in love with the pattern I just finished for Sun Valley Idaho... I can't wait to show it to you. Luckily stress about the Stationary Show has been replaced by stress about planning a wedding, so I'm not really sweating it. Yet.
The above photos (top left, clockwise) are via flickr by XianRex, saltybullfrog, & Jacqi B.

I want to be Under the Tuscan Sun

So back to Tuscany after all the surprise hub-bub of Big Sur and engagements.
I'm not really a big "girl movie" lady, but every once and awhile I'll indulge. I'm not embarrassed to say a few favorites are Sweet Home Alabama and Friends with Money and of course Under the Tuscan Sun. I think I've watched it at least 10 times. It portrays Italy in this wonderful way...
• there is all this warm warm sunlight
• people eat gelato a lot
• actually, people are just eating all the time. which i love
• there are many beautiful Italian men + women with beautiful Italian accents
• i heart Diane Lane
• the trees, the olives, the greenery!
• the fact that this house is falling apart, and if it was in Boston I wouldn't touch it, but because it is in Tuscany I'd buy it in a second.
• we can't talk about my obsession with the scene when she goes to find her lover in Positano. she gets that white dress and walks near the crashing waves and the music is just...! Well, there is a pattern coming up for Positano in the Spring so we won't go any further on that.
Sasso FINALLY comes back from CA tomorrow. He was supposed to be back this a.m. but there was an incident involving a wallet left in a cab and me racing to Logan's FedEx Saturday evening passport in hand... so he had to take a later flight. In the last 2 out of 3 vacations Sasso has lost his wallet + atm card. He is now going to be required to wear a money belt / fanny pack on all trips that I do not accompany him. Yes Sasso, that is right... you are going to be wearing this.

Doughnuts, Castles and Elephant Seals

Sasso and I spent our first affianced day with JBatt and Picy touring the Big Sur area, we did so much it is actually kind of amazing. The day began with a stop for pastries at The Big Sur Bakery. I could have eaten those homemade jelly doughnuts until I became ill.
From there we got on the road and then stopped for a brief "hike". We should have known when the description said "good for children" that this was more of a walk to a vista point than a uphill climb. But I like to wear cute jeans and carry a cup of coffee on my hikes so it was perfect for me. The view of the waterfall / ocean / rolling hills was so ideal it kind of looked like a set at MGM.

Mapquest said the drive to Hearst Castle was 60 miles or 60 mins, but Mapquest didn't know that you can only go 25 mph on this coastal road... so after what felt like 3 hours of switchback after switchback we finally arrived, JBatt and I in the backseat a bit carsick. The name Hearst to me meant socialites and magazines, which makes sense since this castle is the former home of the media mogul Willam R. Hearst. At the castle's base is a a disney world like visitor center, but the ride up the hill to the castel is beautiful. You can take 4 tours and we took #1 which included the exterior and a few rooms. Hearst combined his love or art and architecture creating a home that really is a museum (the temple facades around the outdoor pool are actually from ancient ruins). The styles are all over the place, but together they really do all work. Every detail from the drain pipes (yes they say ...MEOW...) and eaves to the indoor pool is considered. The tour lasted 2 hours but I think Sasso and I could have spent 2 hours in just one of the rooms examining all the detailed decoration. Just imagine the parties that must have taken place.... see a few pics below.

On our way back to our lodge we stopped at a beach full of elephant seals. They definately walk the line of cute/blubbery and kind-of-gross/blubbery. It was cool to be so close to them and watch them do absolutely nothing. We were just begging to see some National Geographic type action...

Oooooooh... Big Sur!

You know I hate to interrupt postings on PIHNB... but I had to do it this time, our trip was just so great. Sasso surprised me with a little trip to San Fran for a long weekend and so off we went Friday morning. JBatt met us at the BART and took us to one of my favorite taco shops (could someone please pay me to illustrate a book about all the great taco shops in the Mission?) for a bite.
After a bit of hanging out we went out to eat at the wonderful Aziza for a Moroccan dinner. I was more than a little excited about this since I've never had Moroccan food, but we are going there in July. Mmmmmmm... that was one of the best tasting menus I've ever had. Let's just say the couscous was significantly better than the kind I've made out of a box, and the carrot soup with foam of blood orange... delicious. They also have crazy cocktails like the Cucumber made with (my favorite) Hendricks Gin and Pimm's no 1. Check them out at www.aziza-sf.com
The next day we filled ourselves with a delicious breakfast made by JBatt and piled into the car and headed to Big Sur. The coastal drive is something that can't really be described. It was so untouched and just beautiful. My favorite part: sticking my head out the window to enhale the lovely smell of the eucalyptus leaves. Our trip included a stop at Pfeiffer State Park beach, our stay at the Big Sur Lodge, lots of good eating, an amazing tour at Hearst Castle and elephant seals. (more about those in the upcoming posts)
All in all I was very sad to be taking the red eye home last night, especially since I had to leave Sasso behind. He is there for another week for a "gaming convention". Maybe a bit sadder than usual because while we were on that lovely beach Sasso popped "The Question". So this beautiful beautiful beautiful ring on my hand means that I get to be Mrs. Sasso. I knew there was something fishy going on with this surprise trip to the west coast...

Sabra Field's Tuscany

I remember sitting in the Boston Public Library on a hot hot hot day in July a few years ago. (When I first started freelancing I would go there to work because the BPL had killer a/c and my studio did not). I was in a "what-am-i-doing-with-my-work" phase and looking for some inspiration. I stumbled upon one of Sabra Field's books and boy was I inspired. I loved how she broke down what she saw into fields of color.
Sasso's parents happened to have a BEAUTIFUL set of her prints, a series of 4 that show an apple on a branch throughout the seasons. I've seen it so many times and still I'll gaze it at dinner and think "how did she print that gradient so well?"
Every year Sabra holds a printmaking workshop in Tuscany. Everyone works and stays at Spannocchia, "an educational center located at an organic agricultural estate near Siena, Italy." There are day trips around the area and plenty of time to appreciate the art of Italy while making your own. I think it sounds fantastic and hope to join in one day.
The pieces above are some examples of the woodcut prints that Sabra has done in Italy. You should check out her site here to check out more of her beautiful work.

Ooooooh... Tuscany!

Why did I choose Tuscany... there is just something so dreamy about the name. Years ago I saw Diane Lane trucking around her villa in "Under the Tuscan Sun" and I became infatuated. The thing that kept popping into my head is this: "Is all of Tuscany green rolling hills?" Cause I truly feel like it must be. Just rolling green hills sprinkled with blossoming, yellow sunflowers and streams flowing with delicious wine. Mmmmmmm.... If my husband cheated on me and Sandra Oh and Kate Walsh bought me a ticket to go Tuscany I to heal I would totally go to (well, that is what happened in the movie at least).

What else inspired my Tuscany print? I of course had to read the book "Under the Tuscan Sun" after seeing the movie. Then there is the print workshop that one of my favorite printmakers, Sabra Field, holds there each year. I hope that one day I get to join her.
I may not be going to Tuscany soon, but I am going to San Francisco on Friday! Sasso is going to be there for like 10 days for a video game conference (i know... tough job). I wanted to go, but since we just got back from Cabo and are saving for Morocco (do you know how much it costs to fly from Boston to Morocco in July? don't look - the price will blind you) I just couldn't swing it. Then I got an early Valentine's Day surprise - a round trip ticket for a 4 day trip! So nice... we are going to be in SF for one night and then off to Big Sur for the rest of the weekend. I'm awfully excited. To be honest, I'm even excited about watching 5 hours of cable on Jetblue.