Christmas

If your answer is the 2010 Golden Glow convention, you are correct!

I arrived Tuesday afternoon to Milwaukee. I met one of my favorite artists on the bus to the hotel-Ralph Giguiere. He is also an illustrator and teaches at the Philadelphia college of art. I love the detail and quality of his belsnickle candy containers. It is great to meet the heart and soul behind the pieces.

The hotel is all decked out in red,white, and blue celebrating a patriotic Christmas and 30 years of the golden glow.

After settling in, I took a class in making Christmas card baskets. Using antique Christmas and templates, I button-stitched a few cards together to make an adorable container that I can use at the holidays.

I later did some room hopping and was able to purchase an antique belsnickle from Robert Merck who authored a book called Deck the Halls. It is one of the best books on the market about antique Christmas.

The best part of the convention is seeing your friends, you might not see them in awhile but when you get together it feels like no time has passed.

Until the next sketch!

It has been awhile since my last post.

2010 has been exciting  year so far and busy. My 2010 ornaments are in production and I am gearing up for  a busy Fall.  Lots of events are planned  and for those of you who subscribe to the Landmark newsletter already know that I will be doing a five city tour- including stops in Tampa, LA, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, and NYC. Stay tuned for more in upcoming blog posts.

Also  this year,  you will be seeing  a line of stationery in stores that I am launching with a  Louie Award winning company called a la cards.

For all of you that know that I also work in Book Publishing- I am now VP Creative Director of St. Martin’s Paperbacks and  continuing to work on packages for  Emily Giffin, Kristin Hannah, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Scottoline, and others.

I am excited to share that I have  also illustrated  a book on the retelling of the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for New York Times bestselling author Donna Van Liere- who is known for her wonderful book The Christmas shoes. The book is called The Christmas Journey, in stores this fall

As I said, an exciting year for which I feel very lucky.

Looking back on 2009- what a wonderful season it was.   It was so great to see so many of my collectors at my events.  I had the energy to decorate my home withsix trees- photo highlights are posted. As you can see my pugs are always there to help me out…and they are honored with their own tree!

Soon I will be  attending the Golden glow convention in Milwaukee- I hope that I will get to see many of you there.

Until the next sketch!

It has been an exciting last two weeks and now I need to catch you up on all my past events.

At my signing at Barnes and Noble on Greenwich Ave, I was asked to give a talk about my  book  A Very New York Christmas and to read from it. This was the first time I had ever done this ( I normally  just sit at the front entrance and sign copies!).

So quick on my toes, I spoke about the origin of the book, my ornaments, working in publishing, my covers, my art , and answered insightful questions from the audience. As I am  a village resident, it was exciting to do a signing there.

My next signing was at Bloomingdales- when I arrived my ornaments were basically already sold out! Very few books were left and by the end of the event, there were none left!  It was  a very busy day there and I got to see so many great people, even a  few of my friends made it.

The 10th signing was  this past Saturday at Lord and Taylor.

Most of my stock was gone, and all of my books of A Very New York Christmas were sold out!

It must be due to the amazing  review from Outblush.com

Until the next sketch!

Monday night was a great evening at Borders on Park Ave- My publicist from St. Martins press, Nadea, came with me and helped as I signed a bunch of copies of A Very New York Christmas.

Everyone at Borders was so helpful and they had a nice setup by the entrance.

I even had collectors from Pittsburgh track me down to get a book!

When I left it was great to see all of the trees lit up along Park Ave- In December 1945 thirty lighted Christmas trees were placed along the Park Avenue median to commemorate the New Yorkers who had lost their lives fighting in World War II.

This and other interesting information is in my book A Very New York Christmas.

Until the next sketch!

On the sixth day of signings my parents came with me to Saks.

They are my biggest fans  and come down from upstate New York each year on Thanksgiving weekend to come out and support my work.  They love buying my ornaments, books, and china  as gifts for their friends.

It was a wonderful day and I got to see many of my collectors who come back each year. It is always such an honor to see them.

If you have been to my signings, you know that I keep a book to have  collectors sign to join my mailing list.  At this signing I was honored to have two young budding artists draw me pictures which I  posted to my blog “collage” above.  I love  seeing young people draw, it is so important to encourage and  support that  creativity in everyone.

Until the next sketch!

I had a great time at my events on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

In the morning I was at the Waldorf  Astoria- Diana the store manager did a wonderful job  displaying my ornaments and books.  It was a great  time signing books and ornaments.  I met a couple who run  a very  special organization called Gentle Carousel.

They use minature horses as therapy for children and adults in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes,etc.

In the afternoon, my ambassador Posey Pugglesworth joined me at Bergdorf Goodman. We had a great time and Posey made some wonderful new friends. She even met Joy Behar from the View.   It was great to see my friend, artist William Honkanen. He is an amazing artist and does all of the animation work on the Today show.

Until the next sketch!

This past Saturday was my fourth signing this season. It was at Bloomies. Boy did they have a nice display of my ornaments- all of them on a white  feather tree. The red “NYC in a bag” designs were scattered about the tree and it looked amazing. People were taking photos of it!

It was a great day- and a special one—some customers who have been collecting since the beginning came to see me.  I am  always so honored to see them.

My copies of A Very New York Christmas were selling very quickly and the custom ball & subway car were hits with the customers.

If you missed me at Bloomies  on this day, I’ll be back there on  Saturday December 5th from 1-3PM.

Until the next sketch!

On Saturday  November 21- I will be doing a signing at Bloomingdales from 1-3PM.

The custom ball for them this year is really fun!  It has the Statue of Liberty driving a taxicab with Santa , two Bloomingdales’ shoppers, and a doggie in the backseat. They are taking home the Empire State & Chrysler buildings in their trunk!

The 59th St Bridge and Cable Car,  a big Brown Bag, Subway Cars, and a Coffee Vendor are also featured on the ball.A Limited edition of only 240 pieces has been produced.

I also produced a limited quantity of ONLY 60 Bloomingdale’s  Subway  Cars! A silhouette of the Statue of Liberty is looking out the conductor’s  back windowDid you know that when the subway train comes into the station platform and stops- the conductor always sticks his arm out and points to  a black& white diagonally striped  painted board hanging from ceiling, called an “indication board.”

“Since the late 1990′s the conductor is required to point to the sign, after the train stops and before the doors are opened. This is for an eight car train. If he/she cannot look straight out from the cab and see this indication board, some of the cars in the train are not in the station. The doors MUST NOT be opened.” (this and other useful explanations of subway signs from the website www.thejoekorner.com)

I will also be signing copies of my book A Very New York Christmas.

Come and see me if you can.

Until the next sketch!

The question: do I decorate my home with my own ornaments?

Yes, is the answer!

In my home, I have a large  8ft prelit tree that I have all of my painted ball ornaments along with my molded designs.

I call it my travel tree.  All of my ornaments are inspired by trips that I have had, soon to have , and memories  that have happened.  I am lucky to be able to fill a tree with all those inspirations.

I love Christmas and  even before I started designing ornaments, I collected them—and still do. In addition to my large tree, I have 5 feather trees with different themes and I will be talking  about those in upcoming posts.

My suggestions for decorating trees are as such:

• have  a focus/theme for your tree- it could be as simple as a color that is carried throughout or a shape.  To me  it bestows on the tree a meaning and story- the viewer is able to look at the tree and take home a memory.
• I love feather trees for displaying ornaments- a prelit tree is great as well as the wires do not get in the way.
• mix antique with new ornaments- with my ornaments I mix antique shiny brites that were given  to me by my parents and grandparents. The solids , stripes, and various sizes create a great backdrop for the newer designs.
• you can never have enough ornaments!
• finish your tree off at the  base with an antique fence or beautiful tree skirt. Under my travel tree I have a city themed skirt that  helps anchor  the ornaments.
• find a topper that fits- I actually have in my line a Times Square tree topper- right now only a few prototypes  have been made but I hope to release it in 2010
• most of all, have fun!

Until the next sketch!

What an amazing signing at Bergdorf Goodman on Saturday—It was so special to have Posey Pugglesworth  there as my ambassador. She  was quite the celebrity.

The sales staff and customers were wonderful and the display of my ornaments was beautiful.

Some highlights included a visit from my assistant Lisa, and signing an ornament for a couple  celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They purchased an ornament to commemorate the event- as I personalized it, I also wrote the number 40 on the taxi cab to make it extra special.

The custom designs are a hit and by the time I left more than half are sold out.

To reserve any before my next signing event call (212) 753-7300 and ask for the holiday shop—and  one of the fantastic sales staff will  be able to help you.

Come and see Posey again on Friday November 27th.

Until the next sketch!