Artful Sentiments

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T07:54:00.006-04:00

Flags are being flown, familes and friends gathering, barbecues being prepared, and patriotic marches are booming along parade routes and in back yards (hmm, wonder where my CD of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops playing patriotic tunes is?), and fireworks will fill the night. So many wonderful traditions!

It's a lovely day here in New England (ok, not the best, but after so many filled with clouds and rain, it's pretty darn good!) - the perfect day to celebrate our independence!

Happy 4th of July, friends!

From my sketchbook...

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

I love the whole process of creating the designs for my cards - forming the idea in my head, sketching, refining the sketch, carving the block, then finally printing. I love seeing what I have imagined come to life on paper. I thought I'd give you a little peek into my sketchbook (which is always with me!) where the designs begin.

These are initial sketches for some greetings that I am planning for my next product release. They are really rough, but they show the ideas as they first get from my head onto the page. I'll take these sketches and refine them before I transfer them to blocks, carve, and then finally print.

Before the National Stationery Show I created a few holiday greetings similar in style - simple greetings with charming images, in the same color palette as my Assorted Affections collection -a bit non-traditional for the holidays, but I love non-traditional.

I am looking forward to adding to this collection, completing the process with the new sketches - carving and and printing... but first, I have lots of printing to do to fill my current orders, so these will have to wait a bit!

Remembering...

2009-05-25T11:28:00.007-04:00

Memorial Day, a day for remembering those who serve and have served our county. I think of my dad, uncles, friends and family, as well as those I've never known, who proudly protect our country.

My family always celebrated Memorial Day with a short walk up the street to view the town parade which featured our police, volunteer fire fighters, boy and girl scouts, some town officials, the high school marching band, and the drum corps (blink and you'll miss it!). There were always friends and family marching, and we were thrilled to get a wave out of them, as if they were celebrities.

After the parade, we had a little breakfast in the back yard for family and friends, and later in the day, a traditional barbecue, complete with lots of flags, red white and blue tablecloths, and hot dogs. It was the start of the summer season, the first of many summer back yard celebrations, and always a glorious day!

Hope you take some time today to remember, and enjoy your family traditions (or make new ones!) and celebrate the day.

Preparing for the National Stationery Show!

2009-05-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited that the National Stationery Show is almost here (taking place May 17-20, in NYC), and that I'll be exhibiting in booth #2547 with five other talented stationers, and members of A Fresh Bunch. I'll be attending on Sunday and Monday, and I'm really looking forward to meeting many of the fabulous retailers that attend, as well as so many amazing designers, and of course, seeing old friends from past shows.

It's been a busy time preparing for the show, but now that my displays have shipped and catalog updates complete, I can enjoy the anticipation as I finish my preparations!

Speaking of catalogs, my updated catalog is available to view or download on issuu, and I've embedded it here so you can take a peek. I just love that you can flip the pages, just as if it was a paper catalog, but without printing all those paper catalogs!

Open publication - Free publishing - More wholesale

If you're attending the show, I hope you'll stop by! I won't be in the booth full time, but would love to meet you if I can... drop me an email (molly@artfulsentiments.com) and perhaps we can arrange a time!

Thank You Stationery Trends!

2009-05-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much to Stationery Trends for featuring my strawbery vine card in their spring issue!

Stationery Trends is such a fabulous industry publication, very fresh and full of gorgeous stationery and wonderful articles. I'm honored to be included among their fresh picks.

Artful news...

2009-04-16T14:56:00.009-04:00

Sorry for my blogging absence (not to mention my neglect of tweeting and facebooking)... things have been busy around the studio. I've been printing, assembling, packing and shipping loads of product for all my Boston Gift Show orders, and working on a sales presentation and samples for my new New England rep group... and then, last week I was presented with the most fabulous opportunity - to exhibit at the National Stationery Show in a booth with several of my colleagues from A Fresh Bunch, staffed by a wonderful sales rep. Although that wasn't in my plan for this year, I couldn't pass this up, so add to my neverending to-do list: completing new holiday designs, catalog updates and displays for the show! Whew!

Here's a peek at one of the new collections I'll be exhibiting. These cards combine hand printed patterned backgrounds and little messages that can be mixed and matched with the backgrounds. Perfect little thank you notes, hellos, and wishes for any occasion.

If you are a retailer attending the show, please stop by booth 2547. You'll find new goodies and old favorites from Artful Sentiments as well as lovely stationery from my colleagues at A Fresh Bunch.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

Every year my family celebrates Easter at my Aunt Snooker's house in Connecticut - it's always a wonderful gathering of family and friends, filled with lovely Easter traditions and treats.

My contribution to the day is always dessert, and this year I made these luscious lemon cheesecake squares that I found in a Martha Stewart Everyday Food newsletter a few weeks ago. I'm a serious lemon dessert lover, and cheesecake - well it doesn't get any better for me! Of course, since it was a first time with this recipe, I had to have a little taste test last night, just to make sure they're good enough for the family...oh, and I think they are!

I hope you have a wonderful Easter, or just a very happy Sunday, for those of you who aren't celebrating Easter!

A big thank you...

2009-04-01T11:34:00.008-04:00

... to everyone who stopped by my booth at the Boston Gift Show! I thoroughly enjoyed talking to so many of my favorite retailers, showing my goods to fabulous new ones, networking with industry pros, and sharing stories with the talented exhibitors who surrounded me at the show.

Now that it's over, I'm back to printing. I have a few orders to get out the door very quickly, and then I plan to get back to my normal schedule, where I can fit in a little blogging, tweeting and facebooking around the printing and production!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T08:00:00.003-04:00

An Old Irish Blessing

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck,

brightened by a song in your heart,

and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.

Spring Fever!

2009-03-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

I am really feeling it now. Even with the snowy setbacks we've had here in New England, the few 50-60 degree days really have me ready for spring. I love the warmth of the sun, and the signs of the new season that are starting to appear - little sprouts starting to peek up in the gardens, the grass (I mean, mud) revealed at last after too many months of being buried under piles of snow. Today the only remaining bits of winter are the snowbanks left by the plows, and the drawer full of sweaters that I can't wait to hide away until next fall.

I know it's still March, and we can get more dismal weather, but at least today I have some hope that it will all be over soon.

To celebrate spring, there are new Artful Sentiments designs in Goods for Goodness Sake shop...what a sweet way to observe the change of seasons!

Goods for Goodness' Sake!

2009-03-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

Artful Sentiments is proud to be partnering with Goods for Goodness' Sake in their new venture, an online store where profits are donated to one of several charities the shopper chooses when they make a purchase.

The very talented Cathe (owner of Feterie) and Lara (owner of Tiny Tales) have joined forces to create this new store which will feature products from many of the small businesses they have come to know over the years, some (including Artful Sentiments) providing exclusive designs for GFGS.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit this beautiful new store, shop a little, and do something good, for goodness' sake!

In need of a beach day

2009-02-24T09:00:00.003-05:00

Boy, this has felt like the longest winter! I've been craving warm weather and sunshine, and dreaming of a lovely day at the beach, even if it is too cold to play in the waves.

Many of my wholesale customers are in coastal New England, and each winter I look forward to seeing them at the Boston Gift Show - to me, those four days in late March are the start of the summer season, even though it's barely spring at that point! Each winter I design new coastal inspired goodies that I hope they'll love - this year's designs include the Waves cards, and Waves and Fish pencil tins.

I've been playing with a lot of pattern in my collection this year... which has meant lots of larger, detailed blocks to carve - at least, larger than I'm used to. It's been a great challenge, and has led me in directions that I'm really pleased with.

I'll have more for you to take a peek at over the coming weeks, and look forward to hearing what you think about the new goodies.

A lovely little diversion

2009-02-22T13:20:00.000-05:00

I've always had a fascination with terrariums, they are such delightful little self-contained gardens. I've been seeing them more frequently lately, and decided to try my hand at putting one together as a gift for a friend.

I did a little reading online, made my list of things to buy, and headed out to a local nursery, and a few other shops to buy my supplies. Of course, while I was shopping for the goodies I needed for this project, I decided I needed a little terrarium for myself.

Shopping list
1. Lidded glass container
2. Small pebbles for drainage bottom of container
3. Sphagnum moss (to layer on top of pebbles to keep the soil from compacting into the pebbles)
4. Potting soil
5. Plants... all of which like the same living conditions (moisture, light), including sheet moss.

I found great little apothecary jars at Target (on sale - yay!) and everything else I needed at the nursery. There was a beautiful selection of tiny ferns, and other little plants which I just loved... it was difficult for me to limit myself to just enough for the two terrariums (that is, until I reminded myself that I'm really not that good with houseplants, and I should start slowly). I knew I was on the right track with my choices when I went to pay for my plants (etc) and the woman knew I was making a terrarium. Assembling the terrariums was really quite simple - I just layered everything, arranged the plants, added some water, and that was it! Now, we'll see if I can keep mine alive, and if so, I'll treat myself to a bigger container, and more lovely little plants.

xo

2009-02-14T07:09:00.001-05:00

More new goodies!

2009-02-13T11:00:00.002-05:00

For quite some time I've been considering offering initial note cards, but hadn't come up with a design that inspired me enough to carve 26 intital blocks... until recently. After getting such positive feedback on my new valentines, I decided to do something inspired by those designs. So I now introduce Twig, Blossoms and Vine Initials.

I'm still working on carving all the letters, but here are the first few that I started out with!

(Will be available in the coming week in my etsy shop.)

January thaw... in February

2009-02-08T14:40:00.001-05:00

We're getting a little warm up here in New England... it is supposed to be close to 50 today, but a bit cloudy, and quite breezy. Earlier today it looked like it was pouring rain outside my window, but it was just the massive icicles melting. I'm desperately needing the warmth and some sunshine, and waiting anxiously for when we start consistently getting warm days. Ok, that still may be many weeks away, but a girl can hope.

I've been keeping the dream alive with lots of new spring and summer prints! Can't wait to get them all finished, but here's a little peek to show you what I've been up to. I'm loving curly vines, and have more like the strawberry vine above in the works. I also have lots of new coastal goodies and am looking forward to unveiling all of those at the Boston Gift Show in March. (Of course, I won't be able to resist giving a little peek here in the coming weeks.)

As for right now, well, I'm seeing blue sky and sunshine right now, so I think I'll head out for a little walk and soak up some inspiration!

{SWAK}

2009-01-26T19:07:00.007-05:00

seal with a kiss, that is.

This little guy is available in my etsy shop, for your Valentine sweetie, or just because.

Snow...

2009-01-11T08:00:00.003-05:00

It seems like we've had a lot this winter already, so I wasn't really looking forward to another 6-12" overnight last night. As a child there was delightful anticipation - only good things came from having a snow storm. Sledding or skiing on the hill by our house, snow angels, and snowmen were the order of the day. We dug tunnels in the snow banks, made igloo-like forts and fashioned jumps on the hill to ride our sleds over. School cancellations were a bonus, as was the occasional trip to the tiny little local ski area to get in a few hours on a hill with a lift.

As an adult, there is shoveling, treacherous roads and crazy snow-impeded traffic to take away from the joy. There's cleaning the snow off the car and there's cleaning up the mess from the wet, salty, sandy boots. There's more dread than anticipation. That's how I felt going to sleep last night... dreading all things about the snow that would face me in the morning.

But this morning, as I have my cup of coffee, look through old photos and enjoy the winter wonderland outside my window, I feel a little different. It's so beautiful, pure, soft. I feel peaceful, happy. There is no more of the dread I felt last night. Perhaps I'll go out, take a walk through the yet untouched snow, and make a snow angel.

I wonder, though, will I be able to recapture this feeling when we get the inevitable March snowstorm?

New Goodies...

2009-01-08T09:44:00.009-05:00

...for Valentine day, or any time you want to send a little love! These three lovelies coordinate with my tins, so you could put a little gift in the tin and add a matching card! These new designs are currently available in my etsy shop... and there are loads more sweet valentines on my site as well.

The last days of 2008...

2008-12-29T08:43:00.013-05:00

I'm well rested after a lovely (though slightly hectic) holiday with my family and friends, and I must admit, I spent most of the weekend lounging around, not really accomplishing much of anything... the perfect antidote to the Christmas rush, I think!

Througout the fall and early winter, I've been working on new designs, printing, and preparating for 2009, but still have lots to do in the remaining days of 2008, and for the start of the new year, so I'd better get busy.

First up for me is clean-up and organization of my studio / office (oh, not to mention the rest of my home). I did ask Santa to send me a couple elves to help if he could spare them after Christmas, but it seems they couldn't make it, so I guess I'm on my own. I am armed with some storage boxes from the Container Store and various other sources that I've purchased on sale in recent months, garbage bags for the big purge, and inspiration from the beautifully organized spaces I've seen on so many blogs and on flickr, especially in the Pretty Organized and Organization is for Squares groups. If you're looking for some motivatation and inspiration to get your space in order, check them out. I hope to be able to get my studio looking beautiful (and functioning well) over the next few days, so I can share it here and on flickr as well!

Just a few days left....

2008-12-20T07:47:00.008-05:00

... to get everything done for Christmas!

Over the next few days I'll be doing a little shopping, a little wrapping, a little cooking, oh, and yes, a little Christmas carol humming..... and am looking forward to every minute of it.

My family has a big festive get-together on Christmas Eve, this year at my Uncle Pete and Aunt Linda's house. We all bring appetizers and desserts, my aunt Linda makes a big pot of soup and we gather to celebrate. We also exchange our family secret Santa gifts... a tradition that we've enjoyed for, oh, maybe 20 years now. We all really love to be together, and good food, a little wine, and a gag gift or two make it all the more joyful! And if we get through the entire night without setting off the smoke alarm, it's even better!

On Christmas day, I have dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's house. My brother never fails to treat us to an amazing feast, which we enjoy with my sister-in-law's family, and some of my family, and occasionally a friend or two. It's a bit quieter than our Christmas Eve, but just as special.

So, before the start of it all, I've still got a bit of work to do.... shopping, wrapping, and of course, preparing my contributions to the feasts. This year, I've decided on spinach pinwheels for my appetizer for Christmas Eve (a tasty spinach and cheese concoction rolled in puff pastry, sliced and baked... yum!) and of course some home made chocolates for dessert on Christmas day.

Last year, I was quite frazzled before Christmas, barely getting everything done, and my chocolates failed. I have no idea what I did wrong, but it was a disaster (okay, that may be a little strong, but I was disappointed with the results, and my family and friends were disappointed in the lack of chocolates!). This year, I'm planning on things going better. So today I start. I'll be making the filling for my chocolate raspberry truffles and coconut candies, so that tomorrow they'll be ready to dip in the chocolate coating. Also on the candy agenda... white chocolate peppermint bark and dark chocolate cherry almond bark... but these are easy so I can put them off until Monday or Tuesday.

Well, if I'm going to get all this done, I'd better get my shovel and move that foot of snow out of my way so I can go to the grocery store!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

2008-12-19T12:12:00.004-05:00

I love decorating for Christmas, but I do admit I have simplified my decorating dramatically since launching Artful Sentiments, in order to remove some of the pressure from an already hectic holiday season. A few years ago, I switched to an artificial tree, and although I miss the whole process of going out to find the perfect real tree, and the lovely smell it fills my home with, the decision has worked well for me. I lovingly decorate my tree with a combination of ornaments that I've collected my whole life and little silver picture frames, full of holiday photos of me, my family and friends (pictured above, me on my first Christmas). I cherish the memories as I add the ornaments and photos to my tree, listening to Bing and Nat, remembering special people and times, and imagining all the magical memories to be made in the upcoming season.

I'm looking forward to this years festivities, and hope to capture some more sweet photographs to add to my tree for next year!

All wrapped up!

2008-12-09T10:50:00.016-05:00

A few years ago, I decided to take a step toward simplifying my life, and eliminated the endless half rolls of wrapping paper and mismatched gift bags, and replaced them with white and Kraft paper and bags. Don't get me wrong, I love the gorgeous papers that are out there in the marketplace, but I found that I was always buying it, and never seemed to have the correct color, style or theme to go with my gift, and more importantly with my card. Yes, I'm one of those who must coordinate.

Plain paper - boring, you say? Well, fortunately, I am able to print my paper if I want, so that helps with the boring factor, and there are such beautiful embellishments and ribbons, that I never feel bored.

With everyone wrapping for the holidays, I thought I'd share a couple of my past holiday looks - the first was my favorite ever.

My Christmas card was my polar bear, set against a pale blue sky filled with snowflakes. My wrap - white, with blue organza ribbon. Tags were white, printed with little blue snowflakes. And to top off the packages (for all the girls, at least)... lovely rhinestone and crystal snowflake pins that I collected from vintage stores in the months before Christmas. In some cases, the gift inside was just a small token, a bar of handcrafted soap or some little sweets, and the pin was the real gift! In the years since, I often see my friends, cousins and aunts wearing the little pins that were atop their packages.

Then there was the year of the penguin. My card for that year was the chill card... which I chose because, well, I really needed to do that! For my wrap, I used white again, with hand printed penguin tags, and a variety of apple green ribbons, in polka dots and plaids. My plain white gift bags were all hand printed with the penguins as well. For some of the little gifts, I chose apple green and red polka dot organza bags which I just thought were too cute to pass up! And the little girls had their gifts packaged in pink paper suitcases with green bows and penguin tags.

As for this year... well I'm still working on it. My cards are done, and will be going in the mail in the next few days, and I'm working on my packaging now. Of course, I know I'll be starting with white wrap, then I'll add the ribbons, tags and embellishments!

Happy Wrapping!

Sweet little gifts....

2008-12-05T16:48:00.003-05:00

Every year I make inexpensive, creative little gifts for friends, family, and also a few extras to have for hostess gifts, or to have on hand, just in case. I've been working on gifts for everyone on my list, but wasn't sure what to do for the extras. I thought I'd like to use my new tins but wanted to add a little something to them... and finally today, creativity struck!

Faux bois tin filled with homemade white chocolate peppermint bark (get it?).

Honeycomb tin filled with teas, and maybe one of the little honey dippers.

Blossoms tin filled with packets of seeds for spring flowers.

What creative little gifts are you giving this year?

Dear Santa

2008-12-03T10:20:00.008-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's December already. The months have flown by. Sorry I haven't written in a while. You'd think, being in the stationery biz, that I'd be diligent about sending cards and letters, but I will admit I've been a little lax in that area. In most other areas, I've been really good this year, so I think for sure I should be on your nice list.

I know you're getting lots of letters these days, filled with everybody's wish lists. Honestly, I have enough stuff, so you'll find none of that on my list - please make sure to send my share of the stuff to someone who might not otherwise have any packages to open Christmas morning. So, I guess that's my first wish... that there is a little bit of joy for everyone this holiday season.

As for the rest of my list... I wish for continued inspiration and creativity. It really makes me happy to create, and frustrated when I can't find the inspiration, so I'd really love if you could share some of your secrets. After all, if you can keep all those elves inspired, you must have some great secrets. I would really like for my brother to get the kitchen reno he's been dreaming of. I know this is a big one, but John is always so good to me, and he is a fabulous cook and so deserving of a nice kitchen. I'd like for my friend Michelle to get some time for taking care of herself....maybe enough so she and I can book manis and pedis together and spend some quality friend time. And it would be great if Grace could get a little time to come with us too. I wish for continued health and happiness for my family and friends. We went through a few rough years a while ago, and it's really nice to see everyone doing well....I'd love for it to continue. It makes me happy to see them happy.

Well, I think that's more than my share, so I'll stop now. Oh, there is one more (little) thing... if you can spare an elf or two after the Christmas rush, I could really use some help organizing my workshop!

Thanks Santa, for all you do in spreading the cheer!

Have a Merry Christmas and Peace and Joy in the New Year!

Molly

(P.S. You can thank Melissa at Operation Nice for getting me motivated to write this year. She is very inspirational when it comes to keeping her readers on your nice list... so if you can, you should do a little something extra for her this year!)