Halloween Greetings

 

Just in time for Halloween, Sid Dickens released a new collection.  He's reworked some  of his iconic tiles with a deeply waxed, matte black finish and calls it his Midnight Collection.  A dozen all black tiles.

We took one of each.

 And I quote from their website, "autumn's shadow of mystery is cast like a spell upon the mind"...which sounds a little flowery and poetic to me, but when you really start to consider, seems really true.

Halloween Greetings to All as we descend into the darkest times of the Year.

 

Hello Seattle

 

Quickest little road trip to Seattle ever - buying clothes for the store - at trip in which I indulge my passion for boiled wool and velvet (well not together - but the glamorous nature girl needs both in her closet), continue to be amazed by the designs coming from the Johnny Was folks (like the great top shown above now gracing the rack chez Passionflower), had a spectacular bowl of wonton soup in Japantown, and stopped in Portland to cherry pick orchids for the store. Time for this girl to slow down!

Photo courtesy Johnny Was

It's been a Long time Coming

Oh it's a sad day, chez Passionflower, when your amazing graphic designer, who has worked for me, uncomplaining and unflinchingly, for the last 15 or more years, who always seems to know what I want, who can edit my unending prose, who's not afraid to tell me what she thinks but who also listens carefully. Yes, it's a sad day when said person sends you the email that says, "Really, really this time, it's really it. I'm calling it a day!" Well Cathy Simard, we have had a nice long run and you have done some beautiful work for me over the years. And you always seem to be able to take my jumble of a zillion ideas and turn them into something clean and cohesive.  So on that note, dear reader, I present to you , one of the last ads Cathy will be doing for us.

Takes a while to get back in the groove

 

Time to pull out the old McSweeney's Article....you know the decorative gourds...

 

 

Squirrel away your nuts for the winter...

Sort through the winter clothes...

 

And dream a little about the Mexican sun to keep me warm in all this rainy weather.

Just starting to feel like I've landed from my trip and  loving  fall.

Apple time and thinking about Orchids too

Well the rains are here

Well the rains are here and perhaps you are thinking about when you have to bring your houseplants indoors. And while you're wondering, now is also a very good time to start feeding your orchids bloom food. 

And you will be rewarded for your effort come January or so.  All my cymbidiums are still out on the back deck and they look good.  I will leave them out until the first freeze.  And just as an experiment I'm going to leave one out through the freeze and see how it does.  Happy Fall.  It's here~

Nesting

 

I've been back two weeks and it seems like that's about what it takes for me to feel caught up and landed.  

And now it's raining and I'm feeling like doing lots of nesting. 

We've got lots of fun blankets and throws at the store for doing just that!

The One and Only Navone Jewelry

I'm working on doing some promo pieces for some fall trunk shows we have happening. Which basically means I'm looking for cool images.  Found this one from our amazing new jeweler Rachel Dean with Navone Jewelry in Bend.  I feel so lucky to have her work at the store. It's a great fit and it doesn't duplicate work we already have. In short, she's an original!  Stay tuned for a Navone trunk show in November.  More beautiful jewelry than you can imagine.

And while we're talking jewelry, do you think jewelry can bring you supernatural powers?  Well if we lived in the middle ages or studied ayurveda  we might.  And I have done neither of those things but I do think wearing jewelry is magical. I wore one of Rachel's rings all through my Oaxaca trip and I swear it made me more creatively inclined.

fabulous photo courtesy Rachel Dean

Otomi Textiles

 Ooooh, I brought some beautiful tablerunners back from Oaxaca.  Handstitched cotton on muslin. 

About 6 feet long.

Or how lovely as a wallhanging in a child's room?

Traditionally, they're all animal and flower motifs.

I love this section here with the two rabbits sharing a leaf.

I have about six or seven of them. Mostly blues ....

Back Home

 

Uh oh....I went to Mexico and forgot all about you my little blog.  Well also my computer  fritzed out when a massive rainstorm  (I think she was called tropical storm Olivet) blew onto my very well covered from above, but still unprotected from the elements when the rain is blowing sideways really hard, keyboard.  And so,while I had limited cell phone action, I still wasn't so plugged in computerwise.  No netflix, no facebook, no blog. It was kind of wonderful.  I spent a lot of time walking and talking to people and did some journaling and printmaking but mostly got really excited about drawing.  May I recommend drawing to the entire world as a means of slowing down and looking and noting and creating order and  world peace?  Dare I dream too big?  Seriously, how about if we all sit down and draw together?  And color things in too.  

Couldn't have been happier to come back to Passionflower and see it all so beautiful.

Ready to color it in and have a fantastic holiday season.