My Weblog

Feeling Blue?

Are the Holidays getting you blue??

Do you feel like its been a rough year and this year you have to be frugal so its starting to cramp your style a bit?

Are you feeling tired, rundown, mentally exhausted from all the activities and shopping and work you have to do right now?

Do you feel like you can't wait for the Holidays to be over?

If you do you are not alone! You have a friend in me!! I have been so strung out lately working hard for my tradeshow coming up in Atlanta in January that I haven't had any real time to enjoy this Holiday season, infact I am actually looking forward for it to be over and that is not me. I love do all the Christmas decorating, and baking and hanging with friends, but not this year. I am too busy trying to create new collections and preparing my booth that I haven't even put out my Christmas lights and its getting closer and closer. I did manage to put up our tree but that was it! I am feeling bad for the kids but this year I just cannot do it all.

I am going to take a break tonight and make those cute tiny gingerbread houses with them out of Graham crackers, but then after that its work, work, work again! Frankly with things tight this year I am really in no mood to celebrate. For years we hosted a big Christmas party with Santa and all and these past two years we had to cut it out of our budget, and while I know the kids are sad about it, it just doesn't make sense to spend all that money when we could use it elsewhere.

So there you have it folks.. I am feeling the blues! However rest assured I am sure I will be back to my old self before you know it..I mean I am the forever optimist so there is no way this could last that long.

To all my friends out there who are having a hard year also.. know that you are not alone and that together we will overcome whatever comes our way!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Ellen

Holiday Time

Oh its that time of year again.. when people go nuts shopping and kids just count the days til' Santa arrives. This year the Holiday will be much harder for me to handle since right afterwards I am in Atlanta for the International Gift Show. Since this is a relatively new venue for artists who license their work I am sure there will be many major learning curves. I had for years did the Surtex show at the Javits in NY, but found that the same clients were coming year after year and well I didn't need to spend all that money on face time. I am very excited to be doing a tradeshow again, it has been almost 3 yrs now since I have done one and well why not do two shows while I am at it. The second show is Licensing in Vegas in June. I am very excited to be showing at Licensing again not only because of the new Venue but because I get to hang with some of my great peeps like Robin Zingone, a very talented lady and nice one to boot. Robin recently has been recovering from a stroke she had, and boy I am glad to hear things went well, I just couldn't imagine a world without those fabulous funky designs she does!

So I have to leave you and return to creating more collections for the upcoming show, but in the meantime check my shop at the end of the week for some fun Holiday updates!!

Have a great day everyone, and get all your shopping done!

Ellen

Playing around with florals

Happy Friday everyone, I hope everyone is going to have a fun- filled weekend!! I have been busy here in the studio getting ready for my upcoming tradeshow in Atlanta on January 6, 2010. This is the big gift and homefurnishing tradeshow that happens twice a year. Many manufacturers have their permanant showrooms at the Mart and its a great place to have quality face time with some of my clients and potential clients. I will be in the all new Art Licensing section with some of my favorite peeps like Miss Carol Eldridge,BJ Lantz and Two Town Studios.

This show comes right after New Years so I am going to be flat out during the Holidays this year.. I hope my kids can forgive me, especially since my second show in June in Vegas will mean I will miss my little guy's Kindergarten graduation. Also next year's Quilt Market falls on Halloween and I will be there for that, I guess I am not going to get the best Mommy award next year!! Oh well its the nature of the beast I guess and they are lucky enough to see me more than most parents since I work from home and can give them lots of hugs and kisses!

I am also working on some new and exciting Christmas ornaments to put up in my shop after the weekend so stayed tuned for that as well.. I had meant to do it last week but since my 6yr old was sick all weekend with high fevers and my husband was away, I was flat out and could not do anything. It turns out my little guy ended up with strep throat which in the days of Swine Flu was a blessing according to my fabulous pediatrician Dr. Mark Vonnegut, and yes he is the son of the famous Kurt Vonnegut! He is an amazing doctor, the old-fashioned kind that comes to the hospital when you have your babies everyday you are there, such a sweet nature about him its hard to describe, infact my kids love going to his office and seeing him!

So thats it folks for this week, like I said I will be posting my ornaments next week so until then, have a happy, safe and fun weekend!!

xoxox

Ellen

The Rejects-Bird Talk

Hello all, I know its been awhile since my last post, but I have been busy working, and traveling. I just came back from a weekend in NYC to see old college friends which was nice but very exhausting at the same time. I wanted to continue to show the rejects of the fabric lines I create for Clothworks. I am sure that many of you never realize how many prints are actually created for a fabric line. I always shoot to create about 6-8 different actual prints and then do the colorways for them. Here are a few that did not make it into my Spring 10' group Bird Talk.

I am very excited about this collection since it has some of my favorite bird characters. You can find many prints of these fun birds in my shop.

I cannot tell you why I became obsessed with birds this year, maybe its because we have so many here on my property or maybe its just because they are fun to create. I have some more fun birds coming up in my next Fall collection Woodland Friends II and who knows maybe even some more in Spring 11'. Sometimes I just get stuck on a particular character and go with it until I become bored with it, and so far the bird is not boring me.. so you will be seeing more of them! I can tell you I have moved on to creating some other fun animals but that will all be revealed later! Until then enjoy the birds!!

Ellen

Apples..Apples..Apples!

It's officially Fall and you know what that means?? Yes apple picking season!! I love to go apple picking but here is my dilemma, I cannot eat them raw!! Yes, its true I have a cross pollen allergy that prevents me from enjoying biting into a tasty and delicious apple. Its almost a bad joke when I go apple picking with the family considering when I was younger I could eat an apple without my mouth feeling like it had an itch fest. Yes, up until the age of 27 I could enjoy that tasty fruit and all it had to offer, but these days unless its been baked in a pie or turned into apple crumb I cannot.Waaaa can you hear me crying??? My favorite thing this time of year was a carmel apple and everytime I see the kids eat one I just want to cry. So darn unfair allergies.. especially when you already know how wonderful things taste! My brother recently became allergic to shellfish and for people here in New England that would be a killer! Its a good thing he lives in LA where although you can get a lobster, you generally don't eat one. I can handle the apple allergy but LOBSTER?? I would die!

I had fun creating these prints in honor of those apples I long to eat, for those of you who can..enjoy!! eat a few for me!!

Ellen

Birthday Boy

Can it be true that today is my little guys 6th Birthday?? It is hard to believe that he is 6 years old today but it is true. I remember his birth like it was yesterday.. how I broke my water that morning and then my husband and I dropped off my oldest at daycare, and then drove into Boston to have my beautiful boy. I was thankful for the commuter lane that day since the other ones into Boston were bumper to bumper because you see it was prime time for traffic.

It was like the perfect birth scenario.. wake up, break water, drop off first child and then head to the hospital. How could this get any better?? I will tell you how.. and this is his favorite part of all.. I decided to jack up the Epidural since when my first was born it wore off when I had to push and boy did I feel that pain..so this time I was going to feel nothing. However as soon as I did that and was about to take a nap the nurse came in and told me I was plus 2 and it was time?? What?? Are you kidding me?? They of course thought that because I took the extra drugs it would be awhile for me since I couldn't feel much, but this little boy wasn't waiting he was coming out! The nurse told me to hold it since the doctor was not across the street yet ( my doc office was right across from Brigham and Womens). I told her "are you kidding me, no way!" and before you knew it she was there and he was out like a rocket!

Colby was born!!

When it came time to weight him the nurse asked my husband to take a guess at his weight and he said "oh I don't know since its August 11 how about 8/11?" and do you know what his weight was? Yup you guessed it 8/11!!! what are the odds of that??

To all you Leo's out there I hope you have a wonderful birthday and to my special little Leo , you are the brightest star in my world and its been such a joy watching you grow!!

Mom loves you Colby!

xoxox

Little ladybugs

Finally it feels like summer, the weather has been Hot..Hot..Hot! Like I said earlier I will never complain when it gets hot because that rain was more than enough! However with that being said, guess what the weather is now?? Rain!! Oh come on already haven't we had enough of this?? It seems without fail that everytime my husband and I have the kids staying over a friends house it rains outside!! Is there a conspiracy against us having a nice night out near the water without it raining?? I mean come on already. Since I spend most of my days indoors working in my studio alone it would be nice to be able to spend some quality time outdoors with the rest of the public. I guess Mother Nature just has it in for me this summer.. not sure what I did to piss her off, but you can bet she is having a nice laugh at my expense!!

I hope your weekend is dry and full of fun!! This is a new print I did the other day. I was so busy doing client work that it was nice to play for a change. I am going to put it in my shop for those who would like to have one.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ellen

The Rejects

I have decided to start to show you all the fabric design rejects so you can see what did not get into the collection. This fun little frog print was not quite what my fabric client wanted so he is out of the collection. There are however many other fun designs that are in the collection that I am sure you will love. I am very fond of this guy and will have to use him in some other designs. There is no need to worry, this print will get used for something else I am sure so all my hard work will not go in vain.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend.. ours was filled with family, fun and hey even some sunshine!! Yes its true the sun decided to finally rear its head this past weekend and I along with my fellow New Englanders are sure glad it did.

I am working on all kinds of new projects these days and hopefully some new stuff to share in the future.. until then lets do a dance so the sun God decides to stay for the rest of the summer!!

Ellen

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! I know I am a bit early but since I have my brother and his wife coming in from LA tonight I know I will never have time for another post. I am praying that this weekend we get some sort of summer weather here in New England, it would be nice to get to the beach and enjoy some outside time. This year we made no real plans so I think we will take the boys into Boston for the famous fireworks at the Hatch Shell, there is nothing like it with the Pops playing and the beautiful scenery. I have gone to the Macy's fireworks for years but Boston has something that Macy's just can't compare to. Maybe its that old world charm we have here, and the chowda!! Nonetheless its a great time to be in Boston, with the Tall Ships and the Chowder Festival..you just can't beat it. The first year we moved back home however was a different story. My husband and I rented this house in the beautiful town of Winchester, MA and had all our friends from NYC come and stay for the weekend and enjoy all that Boston had to offer- one thing the weather then was almost in the 100's and we had no AC!!

We all decided to hang out at our friend Michaels apt in Charlestown since it had a pool and was on the water.. and watch the fireworks there. I think we hardly got out of the pool that weekend..it was so hot it was unbearable! We all still laugh about that weekend, and you know who you are!!

This year however is a different story, I would just like some sun ..please!!

Have a great 4th everyone!!

Ellen

Sea Shells

Summer is a time when you can relax outside, have BBQ's take a walk along the beach, but these days it just doesn't seem to exist because of all this rain, and to add insult to injury now that the rain is gone you can't take a walk on the beach in MA because its closed due to Red Tide. For those who are not familiar with Red Tide it is exactly that, reddish hue in the water that is full of bacteria, you cannot swim in it or eat any kind of shellfish that is in it unless you like hospitals and doctors and getting sick.

I cannot remember a summer that has been this bad and frankly I don't ever want to see one ever again. Now mind you that summer has just begun, but if this is any indication of how its going to be the rest of the time you can bet I will not be happy. My family and I live to go to the beach and run in the sand, make those crazy castles and walk along the getty. This is what we look forward to all year, and this is why I moved home away from Brooklyn, so now I say to mother nature.. come on and give me my summer bliss, I work hard all year, you can at least give me 3 months!!

By the way this is a new print I just created for my summmer rant and I hope you like it, I am going to put some of the individual shell icons as prints in my shop. So stayed tuned for that. I hope the rest of you are having some fun this summer...! I am hoping I get mine in too!

Have a great weekend all.

Ellen