I meant to post yesterday and the day ran away with me… I apologize.  I think this will be my last post for 2011; I have quite a few projects to wrap up, a class syllabus to prepare, and book keeping and studio organization to do – along with 5-6 types of cookies to bake, a Christmas Eve turkey to roast, a Christmas Day quiche to whip up, a Hanukkah dinner to host for my husband’s family, and hopefully some good down time relaxing in between with family and friends.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my projects, ideas, goals, and inspirations with you all in this space next year… 2012, can you believe it?  I’ll see you all again on January 2nd.  Have a very merry holiday season!

{for more of my at home images, check out my Flickr}

If you’re late on wrapping your gifts, don’t worry (I’m not even done making my gifts yet).  These lovely (and free!) printable gift tags from Studio Morran would look great with a solid color wrapping paper or hanging from a gift bag.  I will definitely be using these!

{images shown belong to Studio Morran}

Love these silhouette prints from Charmaine Olivia.

{images shown belong to Charmaine Olivia}

Love the story behind this 10th anniversary quilt on all buttoned up.  The quilt’s colors and patterns are so beautiful.

{images shown belong to all buttoned up}

One of my favorite letterpress studios just updated their website this past week!  Congrats, Sarah!  The site looks amazing… definitely check it out!

{image shown belongs to Parrott Design Studio}

Really great post today on Katy Elliott about her favorite old books on New England scenic views, architecture and design.  Definitely stop by and check it out!  Love her photos of the book spreads as well (great old tabletop).

{image shown belongs to Katy Elliott}

I’ve been a fan of Cynthia Warren for a while now, but recently revisited her portfolio for inspiration of illustrations with fine-line work.  She is so talented!  Love her drawings and especially love her use of typography.

{images shown belong to Cynthia Warren}

I recently was asked to be filmed & photographed by photojournalist grad student, Sarah Mongeau-Birkett.  She needed to make a short video based on someone’s work and their process, and contacted me after finding me when I showed my work at SoWa.  Here’s the finished piece!  She did a great job and was awesome to hang out with early on a Friday morning (she was such a trooper at got up at 4:30 am to be able to make a train down to Providence!).

Sarah take gorgeous photographs and blogs frequently; for more of her work, check out her blog here.

Loved this post from Oh So Beautiful Paper from a week ago… the color palette of two of the photos, side-by-side, inspired me for a holiday project I’m wrapping up this week!  Hope the OSBP post inspires you too.  I think anything looks good with kraft paper.

{images found via Oh So Beautiful Paper; left image from Country Living & right image from Design*Sponge}

Finally I can share with you a project that I’ve been secretly working on for a few months!  This past Saturday was a small craft fair I organized, called the Hidden Holiday Market.  I was so inspired by Chelsea & Abby in their creation of the Little Winter Market from last year, that I wanted to create a small fair of my own.  I know so many talented and creative people and I knew collectively we could put together something really wonderful.  I decided to host the event at my home, making it a warm, inviting, and casual holiday shopping experience.  However, since I didn’t want complete strangers showing up or knowing where I live, we made the event by invitation-only for family and friends… which is why I’ve kept it secret until now.

In total, 9 different artists and craftspeople came together to showcase their wares and their talent.  We had hot cocoa & cookies, a fire in the fireplace, and holiday music to get visitors in the mood.  After a bit of a slow start, we suddenly had the house full of people and it was absolutely buzzing with activity!  From what I heard/observed, people really liked that it was held at a home and felt like they could linger and meander more so than at a craft fair, and thus were really able to relax and talk with the artists about their work.

I had such a great time and I’m very much hoping to have this event happen again next year.  My dream and goal for 2012 is to be able to afford my own studio space, and if I’m able to do that (and it’s large enough), I’d love to host this event there and have it completely open to the public.  Although, there is something nice about having a cup of hot cocoa by a toasty fireplace…

Thank you again to all the artists who showed their work and who helped make this event go off without a hitch!
Allison Bianco
Leo Bonarrigo & Leah Mooney from Bonarrigo Weddings
Jeffrey Ellse
Calla Fogarty
Meagan Gilner from The Brocade Blackbird (and who also represented Shortstack Accessories)
Lara Henderson
Laura Warecki from Paper Taxi

*Photos and a video (I do believe!) of the event from Bonarrigo Weddings to come soon!

{for more images of my fairs & events, check out my Flickr}