Mr. and Mrs.

I'm back . . . and this is why I've been gone. My daughter Emily got married!!!

On June 29th 2017, Emily and Ryan said their vows with a rushing Colorado mountain river in the background and just a few raindrops to bless their marriage. It was beautiful!

Our family of four has grown by one and we couldn't be happier.

It was so special shopping with my daughter and finding the perfect dress. The one she chose was extra special because the name of the dress was Marnie. My Mom was called Aunt Marnie by my cousins my entire life. On top of that, Emily wears my Mom's engagement diamond in her ring! And, to complete the picture, this frame is a special one that came from my Mom's house. I just love this photo and all it means. I'm sure my Mom is proud of her beautiful granddaughter.

Emily envisioned a botanical theme featuring primarily ferns with a few florals added in for color. My inner graphic designer had so much fun designing and making the invitations and other decorations. I used my Silhouette to cut the leafy panels for the invitations and Illustrator for many of the other items.

The floral motif came into play with this beautiful paper that we used for some of the signage and this fun wall of photos telling the Deister and Othman family stories.

Since allergies were a bit of an issue, Emily and I did the bridal bouquets ourselves using some lovely high end silk flowers from a specialty floral boutique. Can you tell we had fun playing with all the beautiful colors and blooms.

We spent the whole week of the wedding in the mountains with family from out of state. Hiked in Rocky Mountain Natl. Park, talked, ate and talked some more. Had a special girls only party and basically had a fantastic time just being with family. This is Ouzel Falls and then the view of the river near the wedding venue. Stunning.

I'll leave you with just a few more wedding photos . . .

Introducing Mr and Mrs Ryan Othman . . . my daughter is a wife.
And Ryan is a wonderful, handsome, caring husband.
Life is good.

If you've read this far, thank you for indulging me and sharing in this very special event. I promise I'm getting back to quilting. I've finished a top that perhaps you've seen on Instagram.  Take a look and follow @springleafstudios.

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Emily Claire Studio

Just popping in to let you know my lovely daughter has another local jewelry show this weekend.
The Firefly Handmade Market is Sat Sept 27 from 10 - 5:00 and Sun Sept 28 from 11- 4:00 at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall in Boulder. Her booth will be on the west side of the street in front of the Apple store. They have a little write up about her on their blog . . . see the Sept 16th post.

I know I've said it before, but I'm so proud of her for pursuing her dreams of designing jewelry. It's not an easy life to be an artist but she is making inroads on lots of levels. Two shops now carry her work. The Artisan Center on 3rd Ave in Cherry Creek, CO and Aspen & Evergreen on Elkhorn Ave. in Estes Park, CO. Plus she has several more markets lined up for the rest of the year. Go Emily!

Of course for those of you not local, you can always see her latest work on her website
Emily Claire Studio and her Etsy shop. She would also like to invite you to follow her blog.
Just visit her blog and click on the Bloglovin button. You can also follow via email if you prefer.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend and don't forget to stop by the Firefly Handmade Market.

Emily Claire Studio

Spreading the word to anyone near Boulder, Colorado this weekend. 

Stop by the 29th Street Mall and take in the Firefly Handmade Market featuring 100+ local artisans including none other than my talented daughter Emily Claire and her beautiful jewelry. 

Sat 10 - 5 and Sun 11 - 4. 

Beer tent, food trucks and a kids' creation station.

Free admission and parking.

Not in Boulder?  No problem . . . 

Check out her newly listed pieces on her Etsy shop 

Visit her new website Emily Claire Studio

Become a blog follower

Or follow her on Instagram

She's been designing and making like crazy. 

Here's just a little peek of some of her work.

These fun necklaces just happen to be my personal favorites. 

She'll do custom phrases too and leather or silver chains are available.

Obviously I'm a proud mama. 

Emily's jewelry has certainly become my favorite. 

I hope you'll consider making it your favorite too.

My Daughter's Beautiful Jewelry

I am so proud of my daughter. She has taken her passion for jewelry making and her metalsmithing degree and not only found a full time job in the industry but also started her own jewelry business.

Here's a little sampling of her latest line of jewelry. All handcrafted from silver and various gemstones.

My personal favorite. 

She will be offering these and many more lovely pieces the next 2 weekends at the following craft shows in the Boulder County area. If you live nearby, please stop by and say hello, wish her luck and buy a fine handcrafted piece of jewelry for yourself or as a gift for someone special.

If you don't live nearby, then hop over to her Etsy shop, EmilyClaireStudio, and shop online.

I'm linking up with Cindy's Really Random Thursday today.

Here's to you Emily . . . may you find success as you take the next step toward your dream.
Love you  : )

Quilt Market; the People

It's been exactly 2 weeks since getting home from Quilt Market. And exactly 2 weeks since getting the crummy cold that drained me of all energy. The cold is still lingering but so are the wonderful memories of Market so I'm finally posting about my experience.

This was my very first time attending and it has taken me days to process it all. What can I say? Quilt Market was AMAZING and very very overwhelming. A visual overload of the most colorful creative variety imaginable. At the beginning of this year I never imagined I would even go to Quilt Market. Now I can hardly wait to go again. : )

The convention center is HUGE. Can't even get a photo of the entire building.

The main reason I decided to go was this . . .

I entered "Rhythm & Blues" into the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase and was honored to have it selected as one of seventeen quilts chosen to represent the modern movement in quilting at both Market and Quilt Festival. It even made it into the Market brochure listing all the classes and exhibits going on.
Needless to say this was our first stop when we entered the show. I'll show some of the fabulous quilts from the exhibit in another post.

Once I saw my quilt, we headed into the exhibition hall in search of the Generation Q Magazine and Interweave Press. I've been fortunate to work with both of these publishers and hoped to meet the editors in real life. We came across the Interweave booth first where I was excited to see the issue with my project on the cover being displayed.

Met some of the great sales people and in talking with them found out Marlene lives just blocks from me in small town Louisville. Couldn't believe that one. Amber is the editor I have worked with and we saw her several times on the floor in deep conversion with various people. In retrospect I wish I had interrupted because I never got to meet her in person. Hi Amber . . . I saw you!

Next up was GenerationQ Magazine where I was very surprised to see a quilt I made for them hanging in their booth. It hasn't been published yet and I didn't expect to see it there so that was a thrill. When I introduced myself to Vickie who was manning the booth she jumped right up and gave me the biggest hug. I had not had any direct contact with her before and yet she instantly made me feel so welcome. Thanks Vicki, you were just what I needed to start my Market experience. Eventually I was able to meet the rest of the GenQ team and there were lots more hugs all around. They truly were all just so nice that I feel blessed to know people like Jake and Scott in the industry. Go buy one of their magazines and help this great start-up. They're on a roll now publishing 6 times a year.

Vicki Tymczyszyn and my daughter Emily and I in the GenerationQ booth

Jake Finch and Scott Hansen, my main GenerationQ contacts.

I have to say that one of the things that stood out about Market was the people. And I will admit to being a little (ok, A LOT) star struck by seeing people like Amy Butler, Anna Marie Horner and Kaffe Fassett. For those of you who know my work, you know I'm a huge fan of Kaffe's fabrics so it was a thrill just to get my picture taken with him and be able to give him my business card with a pic of my pattern Cascade on the back which features his fabrics. He loved the quilt which was quite flattering.

Kaffe and I . . . I match his quilt.

If you ever get the chance to go to Market, GO!!  Just be prepared. I wish someone had given me a first-timers guide on how to do it all. Looking back now I realize I spent most of the time in complete awe and didn't do nearly as much as I could have/should have. It's such an overload of visual stimulation that I simply didn't take in all the details and didn't realize it till I was home.   : (  
But there's always next time right?   : )

Definitely one of the best things about the entire trip was that my lovely and talented daughter Emily came along for the adventure. Market wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without her and it certainly would have been more intimidating if it hadn't been for her. Thank you Emily for being such a strong supporter of my quilting.

Hop over to her Etsy shop Emily Claire Studio and see the fabulous jewelry she makes. She's wearing one of her pieces in the pic below. Isn't it great?

I'll be posting more about the booths, the quilts and other Market things in the coming days so stay tuned. Might even be a giveaway tucked in there somewhere.

A Special Announcement

I have the most amazing daughter! Her creativity and imagination have always been an inspiration to me. From the time she was little, her artistic talents were quite obvious and it came as no surprise that she went on to pursue her art in college by majoring in metalsmithing.

Today, she is following her dream of having her very own small business by launching her Etsy shop featuring fine handcrafted silver jewelry. Her work is beautiful and sophisticated, elegant yet casual. Each piece is equally at home when worn for a special occasion or as a unique touch of class with casual attire.
Perfect as a gift. Perfect for yourself.

Please stop by her shop, EmilyClaireStudio, for a visit and help spread the word about her wonderful jewelry.

These are a few of my favorite pieces. I'm hoping I get one for Christmas.
Hint hint Emily dearest.  : )

This is my favorite. Beautiful natural pearls.

This one looks great with jeans.

Beautiful for a special occasion with your favorite dress.

EmilyClaireStudio