Fresh&Vintage

Mummies, Witches, & Monsters--oh my!

This afternoon, I played hostess as the "Room Mother" for Chloe's 1st grade class party. I made these fun witch and mummy cupcakes, we played some super fun games, and the kids had a blast. I'll be back later for some fun midnight blogging but for now, enjoy the cupcakes and the Monster Mash.

The Witches:

The Mummies:

The Party:

The Costumes:

Decked in SuperMario Bros. inspired costumes, our family will hit the sidewalks to knock doors for treats at around 7 p.m. I'm hoping to carve pumpkins and make some homemade pizza too but, we'll see. I'll share more pictures when the festivities are over.

Happy spooking!
~eva

Ps. We just got back from a great night of trick-or-treating. I opted out on the homemade pizza-it's drive-thru tonight baby---we're doing burgers! This was my first Halloween as a parent to actually let my oldest (Sean) go out on his own. I guess it's about time now that he's 14. He was out the door in a flash before I could get any pictures of him--he made a handsome pirate.  I did get a neighbor to get this shot of the rest of us before we hit the pavement. As the MarioBros, we made quite a stir in the neighborhood. Good times!

Inspiration Point...

and NO, I'm not talking about the make-out spot from the sitcom Happy Days. (Such a hot topic will be saved for a future blog post.) Anyway, the type of inspiration point I'm referring to is when one artist's or designer's creation inspires the genesis of another artistic creation but by an entirely different creator.  You remember Patty's beautiful fabric from her Andalucia collection that inspired my creating the pineapple pincushion??? Well...this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. It seems to me that really great things are created when the minds, souls, and artistic expressions of like-minded visionaries intersect. Not of same-mindedness... but like-minded enough that the creation appears organic, nothing contrived and so becomes something almost living and certainly memorable. I love the little pineapple because it represents my going to inspiration point and being inspired by my adoration for another's designer's creation. In the case of the pineapple, Patty's beautiful fabric was my inspiration. 

Turn tables a bit with me now if you will. ..to a place where one of my creations served as inspiration point for another artist's vision.
"Calypso Sass"  is a freshandvintage design I created  a few years ago. A lovely Amy Butler print paired with black and white polka dots--I remember the creative phase for this one very well.

A friend stopped by my creative space while I was mid-design; she scratched her head and declared, "well....I don't see it but I trust that you have it all figured out into something fav fabulous inside your head." Even with my friend's skepticism on the table, I went ahead with my own vision and to this day, I love it. (FYI--  then doubting friend loves it too). 

And so did Autumn Clemons, interior designer extraordinaire.  A few months ago, I received the kindest email from Autumn: " I just finished designing my daughter's bedroom using one of your clothing designs as an inspiration. You will know the one," she said.

These pictures of Autumn's stunning interior design were attached:

Calypso Sass had been translated into
an interior space of breathtaking beauty.
I am so amazed by Autumn's talent.
Her artistic translation expresses everything about the kind of
inspiration point that I'm speaking of.
WOW!

 

I mean...COME ON...I've been watching the entire season of Top Design and I am yet to see anything as beautiful as what is in this teeny sliver of Autumn's portfolio. Now, if  I could only swindle Autumn into feeling inspired enough by say... 14 of my clothings designs that she'd then translate her vision of my creations across every room of my house. Thank you so much Autumn for going to inspiration point and for sharing O's room with me. It is so beautiful, it makes me so happy to look at,  and I know Amy Butler would just love every inch of it.

One of the most beautiful things I have ever heard about being creative was recently said by Dieter F. Uchtdorf:
"We develop ourselves and others as we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty. As you create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."

Knowing that Autumn's beautiful interior space was inspired by my creation certainly makes me feel good. Designing Calypso Sass made me feel good as well.  Leave Autumn a little kudo in my comments section, share with me one of your own visits to inspiration point, or how creating makes you feel inside and you'll be entered (once again if you're already entered) into the drawing for the free pineapple pin cushion. Thanks for visiting my little space today.
Be Inspiring, Be Inspired!
~eva

You Say it's Your Birthday...

It's my birthday too yah! Love the Beatles...and  don't you just love this scene from Sixteen Candles?! I totally do and it makes me smile atleast 10 times every October 28th--yep it's my birthday today and it's shaping up to be a decent one so far. Sean (my 14 yr old) woke me up with breakfast in bed. Toast, scrambled eggs, and orange juice--just what every stomach needs at 6:30 a.m. What a sweet boy I have!

October is a big birthday month in my world starting on October 1st with my nephew Brayden. Others with October birthdays in my life: my dad, my brother-in-law Russ, sister-in-law Michelle, super fly coolest best friend Tara, co-designer and friend Chelsea, kindest friend and person to work for EVER Celeste...the list will grow as the day progresses and my brain starts functioning better.  This isn't my birthday cake but one that I made for my friend Celeste who celebrated her big day on the 25th. Triple layered white cake with cherry filling, whipped cream icing and cherries on top--yum!

Thanks everyone for all of the sweet birthday wishes via email, text,  facebook, cell phone, and hugs as well.  Enjoy the Beatles...they'll be gone tomorrow. I'll update this post as the day goes by. Don't forget to leave a comment to this post or the previous one for your chance to win a pineapple.

Birthday hugs!
~eva

Birthday Happenings Update

More of the day:

  Went to help my  friend Amy move this morning and was met by Tricia (thanks hon!) with a Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. After packing boxes and driving to Amy's new place, 5 friends and I had Chipotle for lunch. Mom called in the middle of lunch--how fun is that! There were lots of birthday hugs followed by more happy birthday texts and emails. I have the best friends in the world! Thanks you guys. I  love all of you. One of the sweetest emails of the day:

Happy Birthday to one of my longest running friends! So very pleased you've been part of my life for 26+ years!

Kevin

Sweetest birthday note. Met Kevin clear back in grade school. I love hearing from lifelong friends that I don't get
to see every day...or year... for that matter.

Off to Brad's election--will share the results later...

Patty & The Pineapple Express...

are on their way to Houston baby! It's time for Market again and my sweet, dear friend Patty Young will be there to debut Andalucia --her first line of fabric for Michael Miller Fabrics, Inc. When I first saw Patty's digital concepts and color ways for this line, I knew she would land a fabric deal. Encouraged by MM colleague Sandi and lots of hard work on Patty's part, that's exactly what she did--I am so proud of her work and success. Patty is an extremely talented designer with a keen sense of color and incomparable cohesion in her work.  She is also a lovely woman and fantastic friend.

Wrapped like a mummy in yards of soft tulle and tissue paper, this Andalucia pineapple is on its express way to Houston. Patty asked me to design a pin cushion that captures the essence of her fabric line (we both agreed a pineapple is the perfect motif). I drafted a pattern and here's the fruit of my efforts. I hope Patters love it--you think she will?

 

Pineapple Randomness

1. Pineapples are quintessentially hospitable; I  have always loved them.
2. I have pineapple mattelasse pillows on my sofa in my family room
3. I have pineapple motif carved lamps in my living room.
4.  SpongeBob Square Pants lives in a pineapple under the sea...
5. On a visit to Savannah, Georgia a tour guide told me that back in the day when house guests arrived, pineapples were placed on the fireplace mantle as a sign of welcome to the visitor. When the pineapples were removed, the guests knew it was time for them to be on their merry way--you gotta love the Southern decorum suggested in this. You don't just verbally boot a guest by saying "GET OUT!"-you politely let them know when it's time to leave by making (or removing, actually) a visual gesture :)
6. The pineapple fits Ms. Patty Young perfectly--she has a hospitably kind smile, is super sweet, packs pizazz into her small stature, and  has a tropical flair in both her personality and design style

Good luck at Market Patty!

As luck would have it, I had enough of the Andalucia sample yardage (in flowery stripe and jester) to make one more of these beautiful pineapple pin cushions and I'm feeling generous. Leave me a comment and the other sweet pineapple cushion sitting by my sewing machine might be in your hot little hands before Thanksgiving. It's pretty enough to sit as a welcoming visual anywhere in your home--no pins or sewing skills even required for using this pin cushion.

Be hospitable.
~eva

The Weekend Wallop...

 the wallop began with my staying up all night Friday to finish Halloween costumes for Brad and Chloe. Their school harvest fair was Saturday morning and  they really wanted to wear their costumes.  To keep me company while I was sewing, Rob kindly set up one of the small televisions and accompanying dvd players in front of my sewing table (I usually don't watch tv while sewing but needed some company to pull the ensuing all-nighter). Bring me whatever to watch I said, I'll mostly be listening. Chloe wanted to help so she brought me a Christmas classic collection-the one with Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph in (claymation of course). Rob brought down season 2 of "All in the Family." Who couldn't smile with the kindly sound of Burl Ives juxtaposed with the curmudgeonly voice of Archie Bunker to entertain one through a fun night of sewing? Even with no sleep, I enjoyed every second. I felt like a little kid again and even stopped to have some hot cocoa around 3 AM while I did some hand-sewing.  I finished the costumes, they turned out great, the kids were super thrilled. I wish I could say the same about the Harvest Fair :( Sadly, it turned out to be one of those disappointing bombs. They changed things up this year and the kids were less than thrilled. We left only 20 minutes after getting there. The kids were sad and I felt deflated after staying up all night to make their duds. We decided to go to a Greek restaurant for Gyros but when we got there, the darn restaurant was closed. DOUBLE WALLOP and sad hungry kids.  We needed a Plan C to save the weekend and we found the perfect one here

This place  has everything you'd want on a perfect fall day:
hayrides, a pumpkin patch, an apple orchard, animals for the kids to feed, live music from the Opry, fresh hot apple donuts and fritters, an old-fashioned country store, and a 12 acre corn maze (politically themed in honor of election year of course). Click here to see the aerial shot of this year's maze. The kids liked being in the donkey's ear and inside the big belly of the elephant. We talked (and heard) politics on the trail.

Sean kept us on track and Brad eluded the camera the entire day; he was so busy running free and truly enjoyed not getting in trouble for leaving the family behind. There's something about a young boy being free to run in the wide open spaces of a blue sky covered farm that makes me smile--it seems so natural--like where a boy should get to spend a lot of his childhood days.

 
 Flat Stanley  is visiting us from Oregon  and we took her along for the adventures. Chloe's cousin Hannah made  Stanley a girl (that's understandable) and sent her to us in Ohio for a visit. Chloe thought Stanley should have some boutique clothing so she's already made her about 15 dresses. Here Stanley's wearing her Halloween themed design.

 

We took a hayride down to the corn maze and then over to the pumpkin patch. The kids picked their own pumpkins and I went for misshapen, craggy looking gourds. Chloe said my gourds had warts so would make a good witch. That made me smile!

The boys wanted to make sure we'd be roasting the seeds when we do the pumpkin carving next week. Their Grandma Penny fostered their love for roasted pumpkin seeds a few years ago and we are roasting them in her honor this year :)

 
After awhile in the warm sun, Chloe took off her cute hoodie (her tights matched then). She dressed in layers on purpose but didn't really care to coordinate all of the pieces. That's the great thing about being a kid--in a child's world striped Halloween tights go with anything!

These picture sums up why I love being married to Rob. Super patient and willing to carry pumpkins (and children) on his head all to build fun family memories--thanks hon! These things are how he makes up for falling asleep in church occasionally.

After leaving the pumpkin patch, we were too late to pick apples from the orchard but we still grabbed 1/2 peck of  these pre-picked  melrose. They are so crisp, tart and sweet at the same time. Sean's insisting we go back to the farm next week to pick a few bushels--we'll see!

 

A fall day like this makes living in Ohio a lot of fun! And only 40 minutes from the city too. It ended up saving the weekend after the school Harvest Fair tanked.  I now have a kitchen full of yummy apples and beautiful gourds and pumpkins. Along with the visit to the farm: popcorn, candy and snuggling up on the couch to watch Vincent Price in "House on Haunted Hill,"  church on Sunday, and baked potatoes with sauteed mushrooms and crispy bacon all turned
the weekend wallop (the hit in the gut kind)
into a weekend with wallop (the it really packs a punch kind).
We had our own little harvest fair...and it all worked out just fine!

Enjoy the day!

~eva

 Ps. Here's a sneak peek of the fruits of the costume sewing all-nighter.
More of Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Wario to come later.

Politics As Usual???? Hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

For easier reading, click on the letter below:

 

Have a good laugh--I did!
I'll explain later.
~eva

Caramel Apple Family

I can't remember ever turning down the chance to eat a caramel apple. When I was a kid, I used to love going to the county fair for 2 reasons:
1. to see how many blue prize ribbons
my mom won for her jams, jellies, dresses, etc. and
2. to eat a delicious CARAMEL APPLE.

My love for this crunchy, chewy, sweet, and tart Fall Treat has been passed on to the next generation.
You could say we are a CARAMEL APPLE FAMILY.
Tonight we decided it would be a lot of fun to make our very own caramel apple family--this what we each came up with.
We started with our choice for hair. This is whatever toppings the apples rested in while the caramel was cooling.

Chloe likes to make spooky faces this time of year so she made herself an apple spook. Her hair was a mix of chopped candy corns, colored sprinkles, and pecan chips.

 

Brad's our evil genius, the scientific type who likes to keep us in "stitches."  He created a monster (I'm afraid his father and I have created our own monster as well,  and if you know Brad then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, take a peek here.) Brad's apple hair choice---pure sugar; the "in the raw" type)
It gave his Frankenstein a pretty nice flat top, eh?

Like those longed-for traditions that make holidays special, Rob is the strong , stable force in the family.  He is the one we all can't wait for to appear at the front door and the one we fight over to get to snuggle with. Chloe chose a pumpkin to represent her Daddy and she helped decorate this fun pumpkin apple. Rob's apple hair was sugar too but we added some pecans later.

I am the witch?????? Well...sometimes I do feel like one (ask me about a few days last week) but I'd like to think I chose a witch because she loves to create and to accessorize--no witch would ever be caught dead without her hat or her magic potions for conjuring up new and exciting creations. My witch's hair: regular white sugar and lots of pecans.  Yum!

Sean is our teenager. Putting faces on caramel apples seems a little too cool for him. Either that or he was just too hungry and wiped out from the weekend's massive Boy Scout Camp he and Rob went to to be bothered with such trivial things.  He was more about eating the apple than decorating it--he did choose sprinkles for hair though and melted all of the caramel for me too. Sean is anything but invisible but Brad's quick wit came up with what to call this member of the apple family in about 2 seconds flat,
so I had to share :)

This was so much fun and only took us about an hour to do. Try it for a fun family night activity. I think you'll all enjoy.
~eva