Golden Glow

Last night I finally was able to get my WordPress app to work on my Ipad. I am getting ready for a trip to Europe and am planning on blogging from there.

I love to sketch when I travel. Inspiration seems to appear on every corner. The color, sounds, light, and experience of a new place makes you think differently of something you might do or see everyday.

The museum room at the Glow convention in July was also full of inspiring things.
Things like illustrated covers of envelopes, baskets made out of Christmas cards, and whimsical Santa nodders on elephants.
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!

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!

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!

Today is my  first day at the Golden Glow convention in Sacramento California. This is going to be  an amazing experience. The people I have met have been so welcoming and kind.

I talked to a really nice woman on the bus from the airport who had  brought with her a collection of WWII Christmas ornaments.  She introduced me to another friendly glow member, Roger, the owner of a store that specializes in traditional German merchandise, called The Christmas Haus.

After settling in my room, I made my way around the hotel and helped stuff convention packets for the arriving members.  I will always be remembered as the  “nut stuffer”( as my role was to place bags of peanuts in each packet). I then went back to my room and  set up for Room Hopping–not as kinky as it sounds, LOL.  It is a beloved tradition where people sell  out of their rooms.  Below are some photos of my room.

Afterword, I ventured down to register for the conference and stumbled on some rooms that were open for the pleasure to hop!  I  found a  lovely woman who is an expert in Dresden ornaments,  Betty Bell.  (Someone needs to do a book with her collection!) They are stunning. From The Glow website– “Dredens were only 2-3 inches in size and were gilded or silvered, although some were painted by artists. Dresdens were primarily made between 1880 and 1910. They were manufactured using cardboard, dampened to make it flexible. It was then pressed in a stamping die, with each piece having an equivalent depression on a counter die. One ornament was often made of several pieces which, when dry, were taken home by cottage workers and assembled.”  I did happen to find a pug- and for anyone who knows me- knows that I have an extensive pug collection. So guess what  is coming home with me… above is a photo of one of her trees. Until the next sketch!

A week from today,  I leave for an antique Christmas collector’s convention called the Golden Glow. This year it is being held in Sacramento California.

I am so excited!  This will be my first time attending and I just LOVE antique Christmas ornaments—I have a modest collection of  some that I inherited from my family, mostly vintage Japanese.  In the last few years  though, I began collecting antique Mercury glass balls and garland.  The colors on these old pieces are  just stunning. I love to decorate my tree by mixing my line of painted ornaments with various sizes, solids and stripes of mercury glass balls. (I also learned  to wash my hands after touching them, the silver  in them gives me rashes!) I will post pictures once I start decorating my trees for this upcoming Christmas.

I also have a slight addiction for feather trees- I just love their look, history,  and how they show off ornaments. I  have read that when German immigrants migrated to America they brought along their feather trees. Christmas was something that was so beloved that they could not fathom celebrating the holiday without a tree.  The Feather Tree Co. makes wonderful new feather trees out of goose feathers in the traditional manner.

I hope to pick up an antique one when I am at the convention.  I will also be signing copies of my book A Very New York  Christmas as well as some of my ornaments – some of which are one offs and not yet available in retail outlets.  One that I  especially love is my new 3D American Roadtrip.

Until the next sketch!