I Love Paris........all the time!

I love Paris! I can't say it enough, I absolutely love Paris. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Paris for 5 days. Needless to say, it was a much needed break from reality & a wealth of inspiration for my designs.
The best part about my trip was everything! I had a great time hanging out with friends, eating great food, visiting the Musee de L'Orangerie, photographing the Notre Dame gargoyles, walking the grounds of Chateau de Versailles, stumbling upon an antique market (purchases pictured below), buying new boots, walking, walking, and more walking...........oh, I love Paris!
Many many thanks to John & Nancy, Jonathan & Andy, & Hilary for letting me crash their vacation!

Shopping in Paris is such a treat. I love everything about walking through town, peeking into shops of all kinds, and people watching. The residents of Paris are unassumingly glamorous, and there are so many rare treats to find. I was so overwhelmed with all the wonderful items to find at the antique market that it was difficult to concentrate on what I wanted.

Strolling around at my leisure afforded me ample time to think about new designs & to collect inspiration. I have already started working on my latest design, which I call "Parisian Bird". It is a two part design with scroll work from Notre Dame Cathedral and an original B Hive Designs bird. The bird is especially precious with a little piece of antique lace decorating its belly.

Come check out my new design this weekend at the Secret Society Sale this Sunday, 11/30, at the Secret Society Ballroom (116 NE Russell). All of the vendors of the Secret Society Sale will be donating 10% of their sales to the Oregon Food Bank. You can shop for the holidays, support your local economy, and feed the hungry with just one purchase!

A Bit of Nostalgia

When I was growing up my parents would take us to our family ranch during the summer months. The ranch was a magical place where we would go on hikes, play on our tree swing, read, ride motorcycles & dune buggies, watch the "cowboys" herd cattle, and just be. As kids, my sisters and I were allowed to venture out on our own. We would play house at the Indian Rock (a large rock formation on our ranch that has many caves with Chumash Indian rock paintings), we would play in the creek, and we would hike around looking for relics of our ancestors past lives. One of the places we loved to investigate was the barn at the "old" house, where we almost always came across a barn owl hiding in the rafters.

I recently visited the ranch with one of my sisters last May. It had been 12 years since I had been there, and needless to say it was a little emotional for me. It is a place that I hold dear to my heart, and a place that holds endless happy memories for me. The visit made me wish that I could live closer to such a treasure, but as life would have it I live about 900 miles away from the ranch. Needless to say, I searched for an owl in the barn. Unfortunately, we did not see one that day, but every time I look at my little owl print I am flooded with happiness.

If you like this owl design you can find it at Amalee. I just delivered a bundle of birdy shirts that includes this women's long sleeve organic cotton top. Amalee is located just off of N Missippi St. at 909 N Beech St. in Portland.

Finding Inspiration

Every day is an opportunity for inspiration. The past few days I have been battling the weather in an attempt to clean up my garden & paint my porch. Not an easy task during Spring in Oregon. But while I was outside I allowed my garden to bloom in my imagination, took a few pictures of flowers in bloom, and played with the color palette of my plantings. I thought about the hummingbirds who would be visiting , and the berries we would be eating soon. I found myself day-dreaming about warmer weather, and then the clouds rolled in.

So, since I was forced inside again by the cold, I decided to look through some of my Grandparent's stamp collections. I inherited (actually my son inherited) some really old books of stamps, one of which my Grandfather dated 1915. The artwork of older stamps is very intricate and mostly printed in one color. They are very patriotic and honorable. As the years progress the stamp art changes, becoming more colorful and simplistic. It is an interesting transition. Needless to say, they are beautiful & inspiring. So, one day soon I will find some time to visit my studio, and when that day comes there are little "stampy" things to be made & new flower designs to be printed.