Christmas

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!

The  wonderful thing about signings is that you never know who you are going to meet or see.   At my signing at Lord and Taylor, I saw a colleague of mine from 20 years ago!  We worked together at Berkley/Putnam publishing and she was out shopping with her mom.

It was a fun night- Lord & Taylor had a beautiful set up in their Christmas Department  and was raising money for charity. It was also a pleasure to meet fellow Golden Glow member and ornament designer Melissa Byrne from Jingle Nog  as well as designer Michael Park.

I signed lots of copies of  A Very New York Christmas and the Lord & Taylor custom ornament.

My next event is at Bergdorf Goodman and should be very special as  Posey Pugglesworth will be making her debut as ambassador for the Storrings’ line!  Come and meet us from 1-4 on the 7th floor!

Until the next sketch!

Saks.com has just featured my Times Square ornament on their holiday main page !

What an honor.  My ornaments are now available  in-store and online from them.

One that you should especially check out this year is  the Saks Custom 2009 design.  It is really fun. I have been doing custom balls for Saks for the last 5 years and normally I feature the building front and center. This year I wanted to switch it up. The theme is the saks elevator featuring  a very new york moment: a stylish mother, father and daughter(hugging her American girl doll) sharing the lift with Santa and the Statue of Liberty.

What you can’t see online are all the other details- the chrysler building and empire state  emerging from a saks gift box, a skating Prometheus by the  Rock Center tree, a newstand, top and bottom are the white snow branches you see on the main floor, the facade of the store  smaller on back, and lots of snowflakes.   The doors are painted with a mirror like silver so they are actually reflective like the doors in the store. It retails for $75.00.

Each is handpainted, taking 3-5 days to complete each one!This is a limited edition of 500 balls- only for 2009.

Also new for this year is a custom Saks dog-  A Maltese sporting a Statue of Liberty hat  while lounging in an Espadrille shoe. A limited edition of 200 and retails at $42.00My first signing at Saks will be on November 7th. from 1-4 PM.

Hope to see you there!

Until the next sketch!

The morning of the last day at the convention  was spent working  in the museum room.   I was in charge of watching the area containing the  Thomas Nast prints. It was great view from my post, as I was able to  look at all that great artwork once again.  Below are just a few images from the exhibit from the areas where I could take photos.

After that I took a trip to Napa Valley  with Jo  from Landmark Creations.

We had  a great afternoon testing samples of various wines at Sterling Vineyards. The 2008 Cellar Club Viognier and the SVR 95 were standouts!

The evening was capped off by a lovely turkey dinner with all the trimmings and Christmas play where snow bubbles  softly fell onto the audience.

I can’t wait until next year when I can see all my new  “glow” friends in Milwaukee.

Until the next sketch!

What an exciting day at the convention!  First off was the newcomers orientation. Kudos to David who did a fantastic job welcoming everyone to the glow.  Then off to set  up for the Christkindlmarkt- a venue people can sell  new things at the convention. From wikipedia “it is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during advent,mainly the four weeks preceding Christmas Day. These markets originated in Germany and Austria.”

I had a fun time signing the ornaments and copies of my book A Very New York Christmas

I even got to meet one of the artists that I collect, Debbee Thibault and she is just as warm and lovely as her sculptures. You can see much of her work at Kitty’s. Debbee told me how much she liked my work and even bought a copy of my book.   That is the best compliment I could ever ask for- to have someone whose work you admire tell you that they like yours.

Then off to the fantasy hat contest  and cheesecake and dancing Christmas trees. My friend Patrick was sporting quite a festive hat but  didn’t win the contest. A woman with a covered wagon on her head did.  Fun! 

Until the next sketch!

Convention Day two.

Had a wonderful breakfast with some Glow members from Honolulu, Hawaii, and then ventured off to one of the workshops. First I learned to make a cotton batting ornament with artist Lucy Webber.

These are ornaments made from batting, in this case cotton, which is less than a quarter of an inch thick and comes in sheets. From Lucy’s website “Cotton batting ornaments were made in the late 1800′s by cottage craftsmen of the Saxon Thuringian area of Germany.”

At the end  of the workshop, I had  a cute little Santa!  (whose photo is above.)

Second workshop was on how to make a cotton batting tree with folk artist  Jack Roads.  You start with a wire frame of a tree in a wooden base(or you can use a real tree), apply glue to each branch and to the trunk, and wrap it in cotton batting.  Then you use wallpaper paste to hold it all together and smooth it out.  A photo of  my final product is at top.

Fun times, great instructors!

By the way, I did find that antique feather tree – a small early green  table-top one with tin candle holders… and  guess who was selling it? The couple next to me in the ornament workshop!

Until the next sketch!