MMMmmmm, Thai food

I should say I am excited because my beloved cousin Terry is coming to visit from Fredericksburg today. I am delighted to see her but I am even more excited because she called me yesterday and say "Hey, why don't I pick up Thai food from Pilin on my way?" I don't get out much , can you tell???

I say though, that but I DID go out last night to a Falls Church Chamber event and attended the opening of the newest Jason's Deli location. www.jasonsdeli.com When Jason's opens a new location they pick a local charity to highlight and sponsor at their event. Homestretch was their charity of choice. If that sounds familiar it is because Homestretch is one of the charities our big art show is benefitting on August 22 & 23rd. DO mark your calendar for the event. Both Homestretch and CHO are wonderful organizations that deserve support (and as everywhere else, help and support tend to disapear in the summer when people go on vacation)! I had a wry chat with Adam Roth, the Catering Manager over at Jason's, about how impressed we are with Homestretch but how it sort of cows us, as in "What do you do?" "Oh I head an organization that helps get families out of shelters and back into safe, transitional housing. What do you do?" "Oh, I make sandwiches". "Uh, I sell art and uh, stuff". But you have to think bigger than pickle slices and vintage jewelry. Jason's Deli is providing jobs and good food at decent prices and I am providing local artists an avenue to reveal their passion to a whole new community PLUS keeping all of my "art supplies" out if the landfill. Aaah, the joys of working with recycled objects.

It's just a normal happy Friday for me but I found out today is Ryan Oliver's 40th birthday! (Ryan owns BreakThru Technology Partners, Inc. across the hall.) It's a wonderful life: lovely wife, nice kids, owns his own business, what more could you want?

I would want to be able to catch up on my "to-do" list! But then I think, eh, how uneventful! My life is full of events (of course we Stifels make an event of sitting on the front porch!) and I like it that way....

Holy HatBags Batman!

One of the silliest things I make of all the treasures I "save" are HatBags. The embroidered hat was the first hat bag I made. It was cute as a button but so small that my then 8 year old daughter could barely wear it on her head so I knew the odds of selling it were slim. The hat was soft and as I held it in my hand it sort of folded together forming a shape like a clutch bag. With its light color I thought, "hmm, no, it will get too dirty as a clutch" and the first HatBag was born!

I lovely how the damaged Pucci blouse transformed the heinous olive tulle pillbox with green glitter (!) polka dots into something almost stylish. Stylish with a goofy edge that is. Hatbags are certainly conversation starters! The bag keeps the structural integrity of the hat intact. All the weight of your sundries are born by the bag itself. If someone wanted the hat "back one line of stitching can be removed and the hat is restored.

I carried the hot pink one at a Fund Raiser where it was a big hit before it was raffled off.

And the Mamie Eisenhower-esque gun metal and silver beaded cloche was transformed with the slubbed silk of a salvaged ball gown. My friend Melissa carried this to one (of her many!) award banquets where she is a top achiever at Valassis.

I have made custom bags out of sentimental hats (grandma's old mink comes to mind). They are a fun way to transform something that sits in the closet to something that you can use any day.

PS I FINALLY got he pictures of the wedding gown-pillow transformation to post; scroll down three entries if you would like to see it!

There's no place like home

"House & Home" that is! That's the name of the new novel by Falls Church resident Kathleen McCleary. I was lucky enough to be invited to her book launch party on Monday evening. Except for the fact that I was suffering from SEVERE house envy (The hostess, Barbara Cram lives in an exquisitely restored Victorian with lovely gardens.) I had a wonderful time. Saw some folks that I knew, met a bunch that I didn't and bought two copies of the book! It has a reputation as a "plot twister" so I am excited to read it.


We have LOTS of new art in the shop this week. Phil Napala stopped in and brought me four new pieces including this floral at bottom left.

We have a lot of new and different jewelry as well. One of my favorite pieces in the store right now is this unusual, chunky buddha necklace from Ting & Pixie. I think the carving is beautiful but I love how Jennifer combined the vintage blue beads and the colored stones.

I am madly trying to get the word out about the upcoming art show. I am also having fantasies about knowing a publicist that is fond of the charities that we are supporting (Homestretch and CHO) and would just pop up and offer to do it for free for me! Not holding my breath on that one though.


You have heard of "just in time manufacturing" ? Well, I am kind of like that with my orders and my life at the moment. My poor husband found that out the hard way when he made the mistake of filing an extension for our personal income taxes on April 15th. What was yesterday, hmmmm, the 15th? You guessed it, there I was at 7:30 pm entering my share of the numbers so we could file on time for the extension. And in just another example of "give us this day our daily bread" our refund was EXACTLY equal to the co-payments on Bob's latest prosthesis and my extensive dental surgery that are on this month's VISA card bill. The blessings are there if you look for them.

Some day I will be competent!

Today is not the day to be competent in the blog dept. apparently. My sister called me to tell me the photos didn't post on the last entry so I said "OK, I'll take care of that as soon as I get to work". Of course those photos are on my HOME PC so perhaps next entry, will I fix that! *sigh*

Had a great meeting with the "Connections Coordinator" at Vienna Pres yesterday. What that means is that Barb Jones knows how to make the connections to get information in, around and out in the community to make people aware of events. We were talking about the upcoming art show in August. I am excited to be sponsoring this event but in my usual completely paranoid way am totally convinced that no one will show up and I will be standing there all alone on Friday night. Has this EVER happened before? Uh, no. If you would like to support my mental health as well as learn about two outstanding charities in the area, please mark your calendars for August 22nd and 23rd to attend out first annual "artist helping others" show and sale. If you are an artist we are still accepting entries to hang at the show so drop me an email if you are interested in participating.




My family is headed to the beach this weekend so my lovely sister Robin will be here on Saturday from 10 to 2 for your shopping pleasure! It is supposed to be sunny and bright. The crabcake guy is back at the Farmer's Market so all is right with the world! Stop by if you can-

Heirlooms of tomorrow

Seems like June is not the only month for brides any more!

I have been sewing tons of wedding pillows all summer. This was one of my more ambitious projects. Ok, so I did this project more than a little while back but I was waving my hands around in the store the other day, trying to describe how I used just about every square inch of a wedding dress to make custom pillows for a client and, you know the old saw about a picture being worth a thousand words, decided to post the photos for you to enjoy.

My client's dress was elegant, but it was TIny by today's standards. And she had more than one daughter! Thus the project was born. I will tell you I always take a deep breath when I cut into something like this but it always turns out beautifully. My favorite three pillows are the buttons from the back of the bodice, the lace ruffle from the train of the dress and the little round pillow in the front with the crescent of lace on it was the neckline!


I was feeling pretty clever when I figured that one out!

4th of July brought along holiday weekend basically doing a traveling bbq event through my neighborhood, I fel like all I did was eat, drink and chat with friends all weekend (what a great time!). I am REALLY scared to step on a scale, given the amount of potato salad and chips I consumed!


I spent today at the shop doing paperwork and moving art around while my kids hung out and read their library books. They behaved like perfect angels, wonder what they want?

Birthday Bash a Big Success!

I am still trying to bring the shop into some semblance of order after the first annual Stifel & Capra Birthday Bash. Whew! Lots of work but really worth it. We received lots of press coverage from our local paper, had City dignitaries visit (!) and best of all, it didn't rain! Yippee! I know some artists made more sales than others but all agreed that the visibility that the event gave to the shop was beyond calculation. I can't possibly be more grateful to all of the folks who made the event possible.

More than a few folks wondered if we were going to set up every week, but birthdays come but once a year. (Plus I don't think our landlord would go for it!)

Birthday Bash Countdown Begins!

I seem to have one item "to do" per every quarter hour between now and nine am Saturday when our anniversary sale begins. The least of which is figuring out how to erect the massive tent that my friend the awesome Miro is lending us to house merchandise and the birthday cake! My heroic parents are driving from West Virginia to help with set -up, my father is a rare man that actually reads instructions so I am sure we will be fine. I hope.




I woke up to lots of "good press" this morning. We are featured in various columns in our local must-read the "Falls Church News-Press" www.fcnp.com and we got a great write-up in the FRISTFriday of Falls Church's Weekly Canvas. www.firstfridayoffallschurch.org It's nice that the community is taking notice of us! It is very exciting.

But hopefully not half as exciting as the sale is going to be. DO stop in, if you can. Everything marked with my vendor code is 20% off or more. Lots of my folks are bringing their entire lines to exhibit in the outside Birthday Bash. And the Walnut Hills Artists have brought a lot of fresh art to show. Come have a piece of birthday cake and join the fun!

Small Blessings

After the big storm last weekend I was walking around the yard surveying the damage (see previous entry!) and saw a small miracle. A robin has built a nest in my butterfly bush (a huge wild thing, that I won't let my neighbor prune) and wonder of wonders, she and all of her babies survived the 80+ mile an hour winds intact! Pretty impressive I think.
Stifel and Capra has a new portrait patron. I neglected to ask Patty if I could post her kids' portraits but I didn't think she'd mind if I put up a shot of the pups. Deborah Conn painted this whippets in watercolor from a photograph. Aren't they handsome?

My beloved sister and webmaster has been pushing me hard to get all of the goodies in my studio/warehouse posted on the web. Thanks to her charming nudging and speedy typing and webbing skills we have added DOZENS of my vintage hats. Scarily enough there are MORE to come. But next up, a plethora of purses!

Not quite as alliterative, but fun are these kitschy lacquer bowls. They are in excellent shape and are super vibrant! I have been busy tagging new items for this Saturday's Birthday Bash. Remember all of my items will be 20% off or more to say thank you for coming out. If you haven't been recently Saturday is the day. It is supposed to be sunny, the Farmer's market is in full swing and it should be lots o' fun. Join us!

Good News: it didn't hit a house-

The kids and I were contemplating going to the pool Monday afternoon when it started to get dark. After bemoaning that Mother Nature was out to get us, the power went out, the wind came up, thunder and lighting was roaring so loud we didn't even hear three, count 'em three trees come down in our back yard. Actually barely in our yard but fully across my next door neighbors and into the yard 2 houses up!
In keeping with the Stifel "wow, that is horrible, aren't you lucky!" good fortune that seems to be dogging us lately, the trees did NOT take out: people, pets, garage, shed, playsets, or even our tacky plastic lawn furniture. The trees however completely uprooted my shade gardens, tore down three sections of fence and provided distraction for the parade of neighbors that stopped in to see the carnage.

Hope your near misses today are just as spectacular!

What a weekend!

The First Friday of June was a lot of fun. Kristi Brown, my charming Hawaiian shirt purveyor, kept exclaiming "You didn't explain to me that this is a party". Guess she thought that we sat around with our hands in our laps, maybe? Cabot Cheese donated a HUGE yummy cheese spread for the festivities and we had our normal assortment of goodies and beverages to share. Cathy Soltys of Joie de bead presented her newest line and quite a few ladies left happy with new jewels. The lovely Susan SWEARS she is going to give the pearl necklace to her husband to put away until Christmas! We will see about THAT!
Saturday was a gloriously hot day. Frankly I think we got as many new customers as we did because they figured out we had air conditioning. I had a nice surprise on Saturday afternoon. One of my favorite clients came in for a visit. While Lou Ann was browsing she found my pile of art hiding behind a chair (I had taken it down to have room for the luau!), pulled it out, oohed and aahed and bought a piece. VERY flattering way to end the day. THANKS Lou Ann you are always good for my ego!

Sunday through Tuesday, I took off for my "Mommy Mental Health Days". Cousin Terry and I headed for the Eastern Shore, had lunch at St. Michael's on the water and hit all of my favorite haunts to buy goodies for the shop. Wait until you see what I found! Lots of fun vintage jewelry, beautiful pottery and CRAZY psychedelic bed spreads. Groovy is only the beginning of how to describe these things! Made it back in time to see my daughter's orchestra and choir concert. It's amazing what those teachers can do with the kids when in only an hour or two a week...

Other big news on the home front is that my husband Bob picked up his new artificial leg this week. It's pretty nifty. The famous "c Leg". It has a computer in the knee that helps him walk. Think power steering for your limb. It's slimmer and lighter than his old leg so is more comfortable to wear. The first thing he has mastered with the new leg is the ability to walk down stairs foot over foot, instead of coming down the steps like a toddler. No disrespect to a three year old but I think Bob felt a little more like an adult and less like an invalid with just that simple move. It will be interesting to see what the next round of therapy teaches him. Without instruction, Bob is walking with crutches for safety but I am sure that those will disappear soon!

We are gearing up for the end of school. The poor kids will be stuck here at the shop with me a LOT this summer, but they are looking forward to church camp and beaching it with their cousins too. This will be the first year they will be on vacation until September as previously we were at a year round school that went back in August in exchange for extra time off during the year. I miss it already!

Save the Date! June 28th from 9 to 2 is our BACKYARD BIRTHDAY BASH. Local artists, vintage treasures, artisan jewelers, juried crafters, lots of sale items, balloons and birthday cake, what's not to love? Do come and play, won't you????

O come Lettuce adore her...

I had one of those "mom" moments this past week. I told my daughter I would help her make a costume for her Girl Scout literary party where they dress up as their favorite book character. I thought "How hard could it be to sew a Hogwarts crest on a cape?" Well, apparently Herminone Granger has been supplanted by manga madness. Add to the discovery someone called "Lettuce" is a favorite character with the fact that I am not inclined to ship air express Halloween costumes direct from Japan, and this mama was doing something she had never done before. Sew the equivalent of an ice capades costume from scratch. Without a pattern. A week sooner than I thought it was due because I had my events confused (although I should have known that she wasn't wearing a costume to her awards banquet. I must say I was actually feeling the sin of PRIDE because it came out REALLY well! Next stop the Hair Cuttery for some green hair spray. Hope it washes out...
June is upon us and so are June brides! And grooms, and lovely weddings. It is a lot of fun to take invitations and turn them into memory pillows. They really are unique gifts!

This Friday is FIRSTFriday of Falls Church so come on out and join the fun! We are open 5 to 8pm on Friday. Lots of new art, Cathy Soltys is launching her newest collection and Kristi is rolling in the racks of Hawaiian shirts! It'll be great, stop by-

New Lines, New Artists!

Happy Friday everyone! Jennifer Hill from Ting & Pixie brought in her new spring collection and it is FUN. Great colors for the summer that just glow. Seemingly from the inside out.


I also received a delivery from a new artist Charla. She does wonderful, detailed calligraphy inspired Name Portraits. Charla will do custom name portraits (her "Olivia" portrait was featured in Country Living Magazine) and also carries a wide variety of prints for all of the different names and loves in your life: Grandma, Teacher, golf, dance, Friend...










Perennial favorite Beth Loftis has brought in some new pieces. If you are a fan, move fast! There is one framed large flower left.

I am off to the shore with the family for a mental health break, treasure hunting, beach people watching and a glass of wine on the deck. My intrepid sister, Robin, will be shop sitting from 10 to 2 so stop by and say "hi!" if you are in the neighborhood.

Mark your calendar! The Big Backyard Burthday Bash is shaping up for June 28th from 9 to 2 to celebrate our one year anniversary. Should be great fun!