August 8, 2016

Bizzy Bizzy Me!

Yikes! Last week was the first time since I started writing the blog that I didn’t post at all. I kept meaning to, but things kept getting in the way.

To start, I am busy preparing for my Portobello Pop-Up in just about a month. It’s being held at the fabulous Halcyon House Antiques, just north of Baltimore, beginning on September 16th, and running for about a week.image

In addition to vintage and antique china and silver, I am also designing a line of tea-towels that we will be selling at the Pop-Up.
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All of the towels are printed on a 50/50 blend of linen and cotton, and the details in the images are really amazing. It’s been such fun playing with a lot of different designs and finding fascinating old images. Of course, in addition to designing these, I am also sewing them into towels.

Another related project was finally, after five years, finalizing the Toile de Baltimore print. Literally, five years of playing with this pattern, trying to get the repeat to work out. I have added a trellis background, but want to play with it a bit more. However, for now, this will work for some small pieces, and pillows. imageThe images are the Patterson Park Pagoda, the Pride of Baltimore, Fort McHenry, the Washington Monument and Homewood House, all icons of Baltimore.

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Dear sweet Figue is also taking up my time. imageShe’s a scamp and finds a way to get into everything. After having two dogs who never got into anything, I really have to keep on my toes and make sure anything that ever had some food in it, is put away immediately. Between the time I walked into the house, let her out, went to the loo and walked back to the living room, she’d snatched a packet of prosciutto!imageAlso none too fun was giving this little wiggle-worm a bath and a wee hair trim! Her hair is very curly and I brush it every day, but a bath was in order after she rolled in something stinky!

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My new favourite summer drink is F’Rosè! You have to say it out loud to get it. It’s frozen rosè, sort of like a slushy. image

The Wall Street Journal’s Off Duty section had the simplest recipe the other week, which was the one we tried. It’s just 3 oz. of rosè, 2 oz. of simple syrup and ice. Blend and drink. We questioned the need for simple syrup and tried it without, which was fine. But the addition of maybe two tablespoons, not two ounces, of the simple syrup really made it sing. Of course, we couldn’t leave well enough alone, so we added some fresh peach puree! Magical!

Hope your summer’s been great. Hard to believe we’re in the second week of August!

15 comments:

  1. J'adore votre Toile de Baltimore! That trellis background was genius. Love all the other tea towels too. They'll be flying off the shelves, I am sure.

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  2. Are you going to be selling your tea towels any place else besides the pop up. I would love to buy some...fabulous looking

    Henrietta

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    1. How do I buy the tea towels if I am not near the sale?
      They are wonderful.
      The toile makes me clap!

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  3. gosh, I'm dying for some toile and the Alice tea towel.....and no where NEAR you. Perhaps they will find their way to your Etsy shop eventually?

    ceci

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  4. Just want everyone to know that the towels and the toile will be on my Etsy shop within the next few days.

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  5. Such a creative flourishing. Wonderful.

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  6. Such a great job on tea towels and the toile! Are you doing a room in it when it's all ready? Figue is adorable and I'm like that with food too. Cocktail concoction sounds lovely but deadly ;) X

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  7. Did The copyright expire on the Through the Looking Glass illustrations?

    Disney bought the rights and through an act of congress an extension was cemented --- you don't want a nasty letter from Sons of Walt's litigation team. Just askin'

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    1. From the Alice site:
      When the Alice books were published, they were copyright protected until 42 years after the first publication or 7 years after the author’s death, whichever was the longer. Later, the 1911 Act replaced the 1842 Copyright Act which extended the period to 50 years after the author’s death.

      This means that the copyright on “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” subsisted until 1907 and that of “Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there” until 1948. As Tenniel died in 1914, his illustrations came into the public domain in 1964. This includes the colored illustrations for the Nursery Alice.

      Notably the British Copyright act did not protect the stories and illustrations from being reproduced abroad. Many foreign publishers, for example in America, were therefore able to publish the story and Tenniel’s illustrations without permission from Carroll, while they were still copyright protected in the UK.

      Disney’s cartoon movie still remains in copyright. If you wish to use movie stills, video, audio, or anything else from the movie, you’ll need to ask permission from Disney Consumer Products.

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    2. Good U r in the clear-- but you knew this.

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  8. How creative you are, congratulations!

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  9. Congrats on your wonderful creations!! Your tea towels will sell like hotcakes, and I'm likely to be one of your clientele on Etsy. I have installed some steel plates and magnets on my pantry door, with which I display my favorite tea towels. The ordinary ones I actually use are hung on my stove handle. My best tea towels are display only! I have several Scottish ones, some cool cat themed ones, and soon... I think it will be the Union Jack and an awesome vintage armillary sphere!

    P.S. Figue is adorable! But you knew that.

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  10. Also - on the slushy frozen summer cocktail front. Try this! Take a tall pint glass, fill it with ice, and add: 1 oz Bacardi Peach Red Rum, 1 oz dark rum, splash of watermelon liqueur, fill the rest with passionfruit juice (or CranMango Juice). Dump the whole thing in the blender, whizz, and pour back into your pint glass. Heavenly!

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