Day of the Dead

Happy Muertos to All!

Getting Ready for Winter

 

Brrr....it's getting cold outside....happy muertos, halloween , and all other manner of fall spookiness.

Becky's boy is sporting a Pendleton Blanket in the front window cuz he's cold too!

Question for the Day?

What can I say?  I am feeling inspired on this foggy, rainy, second to last morning in October.

And so I thought I would share with you some inspiration from Sugarboo Gathered Thoughts.

There's 365 of these simple little cards.  One for each day of the year.  We sell oodles of these.

And I still don't think I've read them all.

Ceramics for the Festive Table

I forgot to tell you that the ever talented Barb Campbell will be here for First Friday November 2nd with a showing of her whimsical and singular ceramics.  We're calling the show Celebrations for the Table because, well, Thanksgiving's a coming and her work is guaranteed to add a little happiness to any space.

She'll be showing work designed to pair with food.  So lots of cake plates, platters, sipping cups vases and more.  Plus we've teamed up with the amazing Tobi Sovak  from Noisette Bakery who will be providing us with whimsical and charming foodstuffs to accompany the pottery.  Should be a fun night.  I keep a special Barb Campbell piece for taking tincture and I have a special vase of hers that I use to hold all my favorite pens.  They always make me feel good.  They're so serene on the outside and full of all kinds of color and passion on the inside.  Kind of like Barb herself.

Click here to read more posts about Barb's work.

One of Our Favorite Jewelers

Oh my gosh, we are getting so much great new jewelry in the store.  It's like Christmas everyday. The pyrrha pendants  continue to amaze and inspire. And we're now bringing some bronze pieces as well.  If  you're looking to layer with other pendants or if you want that special, classic  heirloom piece, now would be a most excellent time to peruse!!!!!!  

Latest Bedding from Pine Cone Hill

We are pretty much in love with the new bedding collection from Pine Cone Hill.  It has a great vintage vibe with this classic, comfortable feeling.  There's chenille, there's florals, and check out the ink blue checkerboard duvet on the bed above!!!  More photos to come!

Early American Flag Prints

 We seem to have 

a whole lot of art for your walls at the store these days. 

Perhaps it's the upcoming elections, but these two early american flag prints by Kolene Spicher are really talking to me.  Either one would be great in a home office or library. 

One of our Favorite Fall Colors

We are feeling un petit peu blue these days!!!!

velvet pumpkin photo courtesy our fabulous vendor Hot Skwash

Celebrations at Passionflower Design

 At Passionflower we believe in the art of the party.  Here's a few of our favorite goodies to make those festivities extra fun:

Colorful bami balls are super fun to unroll and play with all the surprises inside.  Plus they're locally made and we love supporting local businesses!

 Sparklers really sparkle :)!  We have three different sizes.

And what's a party without a tiara?

So come visit and we'll help you celebrate.

All images (except very top which came from our holiday party) courtesy our vendors.

Our Top Picks for 2013 Calendars

 I know it's a little early yet, what with fall barely being here, but we're starting to bring calendars in.  Because if we don't bring them in early, our vendors might run out of them    A few of our faves are the ever popular Papaya 12 Muses....

 Loving this new vintage style calendar from Cavallini....

And  the calendar from Chicago based Snow & Graham just  makes us happy.

Calendars are a funny thing what with outlook and iphones, we're not so much using them to track

appointments and soocial engagements.  I sometimes wonder if they will become a thing of the past.

But then it's always comforting to have something beautiful and tangible to refer to.

Someday I'd like to illustrate a calendar that is a sort of natural history of the Northwest.

all images courtesy their respective vendors

The Bad Blogger & Farewell the Dahlia

Okay I seem to have totally abandoned blogging in favor of pinterest.  So if you'd like to see a little of what I've been doing click on this link to see my board about body flowers or maybe here and you can see some party ideas or here and find all my musings on the color pink.

It's pretty much endless with pinterest.  A kind of testimony to the endless ability of the human mind to codify and categorize.

In the meantime here's a lovely bouquet Sarah made yesterday - it's an ode to autumn with maple leaves, and three kinds of berries.   Can you name the three kind of berries?

But really why I wanted to show you this, besides the fact that it's totally gorgeous, is that it has the last of the locally grown dahlias.  So, join me in saying farewell to these beauties and thanking them for yet another season of their  awesomeness.  We love dahlias and are sad to see them go.

Passionflower joined pinterest

I have lately been a teensy bit obsessed with the above named online activity.  For those of you still tuning in, pinterest is essentially an online place where you can create your own filing system for images you want to save.  In the case of Passionflower, for instance, we want to save, among other things, images of  interior decor that inspires us, or display ideas or cool flowers.  But you might want to save images of kitchens you love for your upcoming remodel, or place to travel to, or ideas for your wedding.  And the really fun (slightly voyeuristic part) is that you gain access to other folks filing systems as well. That means I can look at (and choose to "pin") images from my favorite portland floral designer or a photographer in thailand .  And, for me, it is endlessly fascinating to see what other people find interesting or beautiful or meaningful.   And I especially enjoy looking at my customers files (or "boards" as they are called in pinning land).  You can check out our pinterest boards here   and you can "follow" us and then, even better, we can follow you!!!!!  Highly recommended if you are looking for a little eye candy but be warned, there is a slightly addictive quality.

A Winter Coat

Some people are just born with it.   Case in point, the lovely Iris, modeling a fabbie, mustard colored jacket from upstairs.  Alas, there are others of us who must work at it.  If you are one of them, come in and we'll help you find the perfect something.

photo of Iris courtesy Becky Tonkin from her iphone

Deeply Grateful

There was just something wonderful in the air this week. It's been great to see so many of you coming in .  I think we're all starting to think about nesting for the winter. Artists, bankers, housewives, teachers, mothers, daughters, doctors, designers,  couples, chefs, athletes, friends, and family - it warms my heart to have a store abuzz with people.  Without you, Passionflower would not be the store that it is.

Parenthood at Passionflower

 I've been wondering if the wardrobe person for the tv show Parenthood is a secret Passionflower shopper.   Zulu grass bracelets, moroccan leather belts and lots of Johnny Was clothing have all been spotted on the show.

Like Becky's fave,  Lauren Graham wearing this Johnny Was shirt

which we think looks even more fabulous on our Rachel.

 This shirt is like half Mexican peasant shirt and half asian chinoiserie -

 and I love the little sleeve detailing down by the wrist.
Lots of great new fall clothing pieces coming in every day at Passionflower .

top photo lifted from google images, bottom photo, well you know where that came from.

Playing Dress Up at Passionflower

My highly entertaining staff hamming it up for Halloween with these great paper masks we have for sale.  I know who they are but somehow they are transformed!!!  OOOOHHHH spooky.....This was so fun to come upon in my Facebook news feed.  Thanks you guys for making my day. We should really turn this into a Passionflower postcard.

Le Jacquard Francais Trunkshow at Passionflower

 We couldn't be happier to let you know that we are having a Le Jacquard Francais Trunk Show on Thursday October 18th from 1 - 6.  This means that the extremely charming and knowledgeable rep  Lynn Sultemeier will be here with loads of napkins samples, their new holiday collection, and other goodies.  This is a chance to look, touch, and feel this amazing line.  Find out about how it's made and how to take care of it so it will last forever. 

 PLUS - we'll be offering 20% discount on all special orders at the show.  This is really a rare occurrence and I encourage you to take advantage of this if you're looking for a special holiday table,  some heirloom linens, or maybe you'd love to get your mother a lovely apron for Christmas, or buy all your friends teatowels. This is the time to do it.

  

Why do we love this line so much?  Let us count the ways: 1) It gets better with age.  The more you wash it

the better it feels.   And the designs are not ink printed on textiles, instead they are colored threads woven together, so they never fade.    2) The quality of the materials is excellent.  These guys know their textiles.  For example they have six different linen suppliers from different parts of the world and they reformulate the material based on how crops did in different parts of the world. What does this mean to you?  Besides the fact that it is extremely durable, it also means it will wash and clean up beautifully.  Good material is way more stain resistant. The majority of the line is made up of cotton textiles but they have a good selection of 100% linen pieces too. And they now have a coated pieces for al fresco dining.  These are not the plastic tablecloths of our childhoods.   3) Did I mention how beautiful it is?  This line is all about color and playfulness yet still sophisticated.  Some people like to mix and match for a cacophony of color, other like to find the piece that looks perfect with their dishware.  It's all a question of personal taste.

Besides showing samples of all the tablecloths, we'll have a huge selection of teatowels .  We sell scads of these teatowels and they make a great hostess gift with a pair of candles or a bottle of wine.  .  But we've also seen customers upholster furniture and sew skirts out of them.    And they look pretty fun all framed up in the photo above. 

 Think of LJF linens as couture for dressing your table.  All tables need a little wardrobe change every now and then. So please join us.  We'll have refreshments and a drawing to give away a gift from LJF.

Plus  bring in your favorite dishes and the professional stylists at Passionflower (that's us,  the lovely salespeople)  will be on hand to help you set a most festive table. 

P.S.  This just may be the year I splurge on that linen tablecloth

P.P.S.  Sorry for so wordy a blog, I guess I have a lot to say about this line.

All images courtesy Le Jacquard Francais

It's Decorative Gourd Season at Passionflower

Yes people, it is that time of year again!!!  And we are loving it, velvet gloves and scarves and brooches and YES, the velvet pumpkin from our friends at Hot Skwash up near Portland.  Come in early for best selection.  We love helping customers pick colors and combination.  Fabulous fall decor that you can use year after year.

Getting Ready for Winter

Brrrrrr......we are having a lovely (if somewhat parched) Indian Summer out here in Oregon - the days are warm but the nights are getting a little chilly.  Time to start thinking about bringing some of the houseplants indoors (pretty excited about that as I think my six foot jasmine plant is going to look smashing inside), pulling out the sweaters, and I always put down a rug or two to keep things warm in the winter.   One of my favorite that we sell at Passionflower  is the Dash and Albert West Star pictured above. It's got such great fall colors and the wool means it's warm on the feet, easy to clean, and durable.  Okay I've been in a funk, missing summer a little, but now that the store is reset for fall, I'm starting to feel that autumn love and this rug is what put me over the edge landing feet first straight into fall.  Come visit us for more rug inspiration.

photo courtesy Dash & Albert  Rugs