The Gifting Games Have Begun!

It has been a whirlwind around Chez Voie de Vie in the last week. The whirlwind included all the behind-the-scenes prep work for the Ravelry Indie Designer GAL kick-off, which occurred on Tuesday, 11/22, at exactly 8:00 pm eastern standard time. Of course, the Ravelry website then preceded to go down not once, but twice, between then and mid-day on Wednesday. It's all the gift-making - we fried Ravelry. Yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Of course, all of us in the U.S. then took off Thursday for that great yearly food fest, Thanksgiving. And now, we have a slew of days to catch up on designs we love and plot gift-making strategies: today, Black Friday, tomorrow, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday on 11/28 and, finally, Giving Tuesday the following day. 

As you can see to the right, a whole bunch - 20 to be exact - of my designs are currently 25% off. Head on over to my Ravelry design page to see which ones are discounted, as well as all the rest of my designs. 

Of course, I am not the only designer in on the Indie Designer GAL - 334 of my fellow designers have joined in! Pretty much everywhere you go on Ravelry, you'll bump into a designer who has provided a bundle of select discounted designs and/or are making gifts of other designers' patterns for holiday giving. I am no different - I'll be working up a Tranquille for a family member, one of my own designs, the Lush Looped Scarf as a secret surprise gift, and a customized Swirling Leaves Cowl for moi, moi, moi. To show you just how much we all love making holiday gifts, it took the GAL group's more than 7,750 members less than 50 hours to make the first 50 gifts of the season - our resident stats guru Kimberly of 80 Skeins informed us it took less than 45 hours. It is rather thrilling and just a little humbling that this DIY gift-making can bring together so many from all over the world. Participating designers can be found in 32 countries, and makers from, I expect, more than that. 

To cap all this goodness, I additionally was interviewed by the editor of Crochet World Magazine, and that interview was published on Wednesday. Jackie Daugherty is the newly installed editor of both Crochet World and several special Crochet! Magazine and other Annie's publications with the retirement of Carol Alexander. We have gotten to know each other, as she was managing editor just prior to her assuming the editor position, and it is a real treat for me to see her thriving in her new role. 

So, absolutely busy, busy, busy here at Chez Voie de Vie.

Definitely happily so.

Make A-longs Past and Present

As most everyone who reads this blog knows, I am in the midst of a final K/CAL (knit/crochet a-long) celebrating my five year design anniversary. While I will get to a progress photo of my projects (and they really are coming along), I do want to provide an update on a CAL I hosted last Fall in the Crochet! Magazine Ravelry group.

I wrote several blog posts last year around the design that was the focus of that a-long, the Gradient Flower Cowl. I made several cowls for myself using up stash (so pleasing!), and have worn them in the intervening months. However, the (now) editor of Crochet! Magazine's special newsstand issues as well as Crochet World Magazine, Jackie Daugherty, was also participating and trying to decide on exactly what form her project should take: cowl, shawl, or (gasp!) blanket. 

A process photo of Jackie's
amazing shawl, based on
my Gradient Flower Cowl
design.

Well, I am so thrilled to report that Jackie has completed her project - a stole - and all 505 motifs are made with amazing Koigu fingering scraps given to her by a friend! Isn't that shawl a piece of art? I think it looks like a springtime flower bed. You can read more about the journey of this beautiful shawl on the Crochet World blog, as Jackie has provided some additional background tidbits (including a great photo of the heap o' Koigu) in today's post. The shawl will also be on display next month at the Fiber Festival of New England, so if you are around that area and attending the event, definitely seek it out.

And now, onto my current K/CAL projects:

Pieces of another New Wave Skirt (on bottom) are topped by the
beginnings of both a Bomber-inspired Hoodie Vest (the cream textured
 piece on the right) and a Mixlace Poncho in awesome deep green.

My New Wave skirt pieces are almost completed, but as I have told my K/CAL peeps, I am having a devil of a time finding a short zipper in an appropriate color. I have been to three different places, and I have one more on my list before I give up the ghost and go online (but there's something about buying so small an item online that really doesn't sit right with me - all that gas for travel time and such). I am thoroughly enjoying the textures of my other two projects, as well as that gorgeous fall color palette. This is definitely my color sweet spot. I want to wear all of this right now!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season and making all kinds of wonderful projects. Get thee to thy needles and hooks and yarn!

It's A Maker's World

Happy September, everyone! Can you believe the end of summer is upon us? In the United States, we are about to enter the long Labor Day weekend that marks the "traditional" end of summer. We all seem to turn our attention to fall, new wardrobes, and fresh starts.

So, it is with amazement that I kick off the month with a little newsstand recap for makers everywhere. What a time to be a maker! If you love to crochet and knit, I would urge you to run - not walk - to your local bookstore and purchase these publications. Some of the freshest looks around can be found in them, all just waiting for your crafty hands to whip up. 

Now, I admit, I have a design in each of two of these fine magazines (!), but honestly, if I had the time, I could create a whole, new, vast wardrobe around so many of the designs in these three publications. The colorwork in the Fall edition of Vogue Knitting is, simply, breathtaking. As I have already blogged, Annie's special edition Stress-Free Seamless Crochet has no less than eight projects I could envision myself making, including my awesome design the Paisley Lace Shawl. And, finally, I can reveal the second design of mine to hit the newsstands this season, the Mixlace Poncho in Interweave Crochet's Fall 2016 edition. Worked up in two colorways of Lion Brand Scarfie, just two skeins makes a generously-sized poncho and, with a large hook, the making is quick and the fabric light and drapey. While this is a photo I quickly snapped prior to sending it to Interweave, the magazine has styled it beautifully to show off not only the awesome color changes but also the beautiful lace and texture. I could not, as a designer, be more pleased and proud to see this garment in print.

If you love to make as much as I do, get thee to thy local magazine stand, pick up these publications, and let the fall making begin!

I will also tell you I will have one more announcement at the end of this long weekend, so stay tuned. Yes, folks, it's a great time to be a maker. Yes, yes indeed.

Seeing Shades of Red This August

Hello my making friends - yes, here we are in the dog days of August.  While it has been relatively cool in the Pacific Northwest, it's about to heat up, and not only in terms of temperature.

I have been absolutely loving the Rio Olympics, and of course I am working up a few things while cheering the U.S. athletes in both the pool and the gym. Get a load (to the left) of my progress on a Nichols Cardigan in Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Worsted in the most awesome Station North colorway. I'll be sending this one to NFC headquarters, and I cannot be more pleased with how this looks so far.

However, I am all kinds of thrilled to show you what I did with the Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in the mixed grapefruit colorway I initially posted to my blog way back in January. Crochet! Magazine has published a special fall issue, Stress-free Seamless Crochet, and I can finally show off my included shawl design. The Paisley Lace Shawl is featured in the "Clever Construction" section of the magazine, since the main body of the shawl is worked first and the intricately beautiful lace edging is worked after and attached with a series of chain stitches. With a 70" wingspan, this stunning shawl can be worn in myriad ways - loose around the shoulders for an elegant, formal look (can anyone say little black dress?); pinned asymmetrically in the front with a lovely shawl pin (as shown in the one of the magazine's photos), or worn bandit-like around the neck with the lace edging prominently displayed in the front. This lace edging is one of the most beautiful things I've ever designed, and I am so pleased to see it finally out there in the maker wild!

One more thing about this special fall Crochet! Magazine issue: I would urge you to pick up a copy. It has to be, hands down, one of the best special issues Annie's has published. If I didn't have so many other personal design projects in the mix, I could easily envision making no less than eight - yes, eight! - projects from this magazine, for both myself and my living space. I know design aesthetics are, in large part, a function of personal taste, but there is just a whole lot to love in this magazine's pages that extends far beyond my own one included (albeit awesome!) shawl design. Kudos to Annie's for such a strong addition to the fall making line-up. 

Warm up your hooks, everyone.

It's Spring - Time for Shawls

At least it's spring up here in these northern hemisphere parts! 

And so, with that comes the third K/Cal in my 12-month five year design anniversary - we'll be celebrating all things shawl, stole, and scarf in my Ravelry Spring Shawltime Thing thread between tomorrow, April 11 - Sunday, May 15. People are in the process of signing up, and there are 16 of my designs that qualify for lovely yarny prizes. Want to see them? Yeah, I thought so.

First up, an awesome magazine + yarn package from Annie's Publishing/Crochet! Magazine, including two back issues containing several of my designs and three (yes, count 'em 3!) skeins of Manos del Uruguay Fino. This silk and extra-fine merino blend is light and airy and will no doubt make some excellent warm weather finished items.

Additionally, Berroco has generously offered a Folio prize package - four skeins of Folio and their booklet #372 featuring knit designs utilizing this soft alpaca/rayon blend. I'll also be throwing in a printed, color edition of my Pommi & Pearls Shawl, which I plan on working up in Folio Luxe.

Pretty generous of them both, huh?

So c'mon, join us and let your own new shawl bloom this spring.

Slow Fashion October: My (Small) Approach to Stash

Three different versions of the
Gradient Flower Cowl, all
hanging in a row ...

Hello everyone - happy October. In case you haven't seen anything on social media with the #slowfashionoctober hashtag, all this month Fringe Association is celebrating all facets of DIY clothing and fashion with weekly prompts. I've already started to post some photos to my Pinterest account relating to the topic, so I thought it was about time I did a little blogging about it.

It also coincides with the end of my hosting duties in the Gradient Flower Cowl CAL on Ravelry. I want to thank Crochet! Magazine for hosting the CAL, to Lion Brand for their lovely Amazing Yarn, as well as to the many, many lurkers in the CAL thread (and you know who you are!). I managed to complete three different cowls for myself (yes, mine all mine) using nothing but scraps from stash. This designing with yarn scraps in mind is something that I've been contemplating for over a year. It has been such a treat to not only see some of the outward fruits of this contemplation, but to experience the joy of stalking my own stash and putting together different color combinations. It brings me no small amount of pleasure to know that I am de-stashing in such a mindful (and rather stylish and colorful, if I do say so myself) manner. I've already got ideas on how I will be incorporating these cowls into my everyday wardrobe, and hopefully you'll get to see those ideas here on the blog throughout October.

In the meantime, I'm currently showing off the version in which I used a bucket load of fingering weight yarn (and a few lace weight ends held double). Quite frankly, this version is autumn encapsulated - and my neighborhood trees kindly reinforced the seasonal mood. I've got it paired up with a suede jacket, and I love the texture play. I fully expect I'll get a lot of mileage from this cowl, and I couldn't be happier.

Yeah slow fashion!

Gradient, Ombre or Variegated?

We still have two weeks left in my hosted Gradient Flower Cowl CAL. I am astounded at all the lurkers watching Jackie and I create our cowls. I hope you're all getting good ideas for your own scrappy cowls. Of course, we'd welcome anyone who wants to join us. You can also vote in a wee poll to let Jackie know what version of this pattern she should make with all of her wonderful Koigu scraps - cowl, stole, scarf or (intake of breath!) throw. 

When Jackie posted one of her process photos, she mentioned her process for color placement:

"My loosely formulated plan is to begin each new motif in a color range that echoes a color from the previous motif. So, sort of a gradient color sweep in a way, but a lot more riotous color scheme. After all this is Koigu!"

I liked Jackie's thinking, but thought it might be nice to go a little more in-depth and discuss the differences between the terms gradient, ombre and variegated. They are tossed around a lot in the fiber business, and the painter in me loves to discuss color and palette.

A small example of
Noro variegated yarn
mid-photo.

Initially, let's start with the easiest (or at least most easily recognized) of these terms: variegated. In terms of fiber, variegated yarns are skeins which have been dyed with various amounts of different colors. There are techniques used in the dying process, such as "short color runs" and "long color runs" to produce various effects in the final fabric. The most renowned of variegated yarns is, of course, Noro. However, Koigu and the LB Amazing also fall into this category (and on the more high-contrast Amazing colorways, you can easily see this). If you want to see variegation in action in the natural world, check out my Pinterest Flowers board

A side view of LB Amazing in the Olympic
colorway. This is a radial gradient, meaning the
color goes light to dark radiating out from the
center of a circle.

Next, there's gradient. Gradient, in terms of color, is a progression of different colors that are position-dependent and usually go from light to dark, or vice versa, within a defined surface or area. If you designate a square or circle in your word processing program be filled with color, usually one of many options is to make the color a gradient. It is very pleasing to the eye to see a progression of color. Even if you look closely at any variegated yarn, you'll see small pockets of gradient color in the transition from one color to another. In my original Gradient Flower Cowl sample (which inspiration came directly from my Pinterest flower board), I attempted to herd the colorways, using both ends of the skein, into lighter shades at the top and deeper shades at the bottom. Even though there might be some lighter colored motifs in the final rows of the original sample, taken together, it produces a gradient that generally goes from light at the top of the trapezoid to dark at the bottom of the trapezoid using several different colors. 

My sample Gradient Flower Cowl
for Crochet! Magazine. This photo
captures the lighter (and perhaps
more vibrant) color at the top, and the
darker, more muted colors at the bottom.

Finally, there's ombre. This term generally refers to mixing and blending hues of the same color in a progression of light to dark and (sometimes) back again. The best example, at least for my and this CAL's purposes, is the LB Scarfie. If you look at my photo of the sides of each skein of the prize colorways in the CAL, you'll easily see how, generally speaking (artists and, in this instance, Lion Brand, can certainly take liberties with the notion of one color), using a progression of shades of the same color allows the color to go from light to dark.

Lion Brand Scarfie as seen from the side, with the
denim/navy colorway farthest on the left.

When I'm painting, I can create a vibrant palette, with not one shade out of place or jarring to the eye, by using only one or two different primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and mixing various amounts of either white or black. The best Scarfie example would be the denim/navy colorway - white added to the original blue will yield the denim side of the spectrum, and adding black will yield the navy side of the colorway.

While my first finished cowl in this CAL uses mostly greens and blues, the gradient is subtle. However, on my second cowl (in fingering weight) you can easily see how I'm going from light to dark, even in this early process photo below.

It's quite all right that I have some darker colors right next to light ones, because it's the overall effect across the entire area (the trapezoid shape) of the cowl that my eye will scan. It will see light to dark, and be pleased.

Think about these terms the next time you're viewing the scraps in your stash and come up with combinations to achieve the effect that is most pleasing to your eye. 

Happy coloring!

Everything is Coming up Flowers

Hello to everyone on this slightly more-sober-than-usual Friday. As we remember the events of 9/11, I am so incredibly fortunate to have missed being near or in the Towers fourteen years ago, as scheduling found me in class and not at my externship at the EEOC, which was located at 10 World Trade and was the third building to go down (later in the afternoon). I thankfully admit that I feel light years away from those events, even though I will never forget that clear, sunny and blue day.

So I'm celebrating the present clear, sunny late summer day with a finished fiber project! Hey, there's nothing like a little fiber to put things in perspective, right? I'm super pleased to show off my completed Gradient Flower Cowl inspired by the palette of the Olympic National Forest:

Close-up of the buttons on my Gradient Flower
Cowl. Yes, those leaves are actually starting to
turn colors.

I love how this turned out! Once I was done with the main body of the cowl, I turned it 180 degrees so the section with more of the blue tones was closer to my face, and the greens/more yellow tones were farther away, and then I added the edging. I'm also super pleased with my button choice. All in all, I plan on getting lots of wear out of this cowl.

I'll leave you with an earlier progress photo of my fingering version. I cannot tell you how much I love this design. I've actually got stash yarn ready for two more worsted weight versions - one in burgundy/reds and another in all greens. Nope, I'm not slightly obsessed with these little motifs. Nope, no siree Bob, not moi.

Have a great fiber-filled and sunny weekend everyone. And if anyone wants to make one of their very own Gradient Flower Cowls, there's a Ravelry thread where some of us are sharing our progress and photos. Well, at least Crochet! Magazine's managing editor and I are doing so, and a lot of people are lurking and watching us. Don't be shy, people - join us!

On the Needles/Hooks

A powerful wind/rain storm knocked
out power over the weekend for about
12 hours. Thank goodness I
love candlelight.

Happy Monday, everyone. Here we are in the last unofficial week of summer, and I'm already looking forward to fall. Yes, it is my all-time favorite season of the year. Of course, a doozie of a wind/rain storm occurred over the weekend that pretty much signaled the end of summer in these here parts. While we desperately need the rain, the wind caused a whole lotta havoc with trees that still have all of their summer leaves. 

As I wrote about here, I'll be hosting a scrappy CAL for my Gradient Flower Cowl. I am really aiming to make two different versions for myself - one version, whose color palette is inspired by the Olympic National Forest, will be done in the Lion Brand Amazing I have in my stash shown below. There's Rainforest, Olympia, and Wildflowers, with a smattering of Violets and Vineyard.

Additionally, I'm going to attempt a fingering weight version with the gorgeous scraps and yarn balls to the right that have been in my stash for awhile.

I need to work a sample motif to determine hook size (I'm thinking 4.25 or 4.50 mm, but I'll see). Then, after some quick math as well as determining exactly how wide I'd like it (since I think I'm going to make it bigger than the original sample since I have plenty of yarn I'd like to use up), I'll tuck into it. I must admit, I'm pretty excited to see all these colors in context.

And, finally, here's the fiber for a project I'm currently working up for publication:

I'm really loving all of these palettes. 

Fall is my favorite time of year.

Hey, it's a Scrappy CAL!!!!

The Gradient Flower Cowl, worked
up in three different colors of
Lion Brand Yarn's Amazing.

It's almost Labor Day everyone - the beginning of September, back to school, and time to stash-bust. Stash-bust? That's a fall thing? Well, it is now.
 

I'm super thrilled to be hosting a CAL for my design the Gradient Flower Cowl (at left) recently published in Crochet! Magazine's special edition From Scraps to Sensational. The CAL will run here from 9/1 – 9/26 and I'm really looking forward to oohing and aahhh over everyone's wonderful color combinations! I already have the yarn for two different cowls (I have A LOT of stash bits and bobs), so I’m looking forward to working on my own right alongside the rest of the CALers.

The CAL officially starts next week, so if you'd like to join us, start eyeing your worsted/aran weight stash and find some colors that will look wonderful together (and wonderful on you!), and take a photo of the fiber and let us know you'll be making one of these addictive cowls. There will be prizes (thank you Lion Brand Yarn), and most importantly, beautiful cowls to keep you warm as the leaves start to fall.

Do join us, won't you?

Still Feeling the Cowl Love

(c) Annie's

I wrote in my Ravelry group a while back that I was feeling the cowl love. I have designed quite a few cowls in the past year, and I've got another one to share with you: the Gradient Flower Cowl.

As I blogged back in March when I photographed the yarn used in this project (Lion Brand Amazing - one of my favorites), I thoroughly enjoyed making this sample. In fact, I pretty much couldn't put it down. Even weaving in the ends wasn't a chore. There is something about watching color in a project come to life that is completely engrossing to me. I simply cannot get enough of it. Since I used three different Amazing colorways to achieve this gradient (lightest and brightest colors at the face and neck to darker colors around the shoulders) it once again felt like painting with yarn, which is always a thrill for the painter in me.

There is one big first with this project - it actually made the cover of the special Annie's publication it's in: From Scraps to Sensational. Here's a smaller photo of the cover - check out the left hand top corner:

(c) Annie's

This is the first cover of a publication that's not published by yours truly on which one of my designs appears. A little chuffed am I. 

I've linked to this special Annie's publication above. It's currently on sale for instant download directly from Annie's, and it will hit newsstands mid-August. 

This has completely made my day!

5KCBWDAY1: My Projects Are Talking to Me, and They Have a Request

Dear Denise:

It’s been a few years since we’ve written you a letter  but we’ve been busy, as have you been, we’re well aware.

La Peinture Blanket, from the
Summer 2013 issue of
Crochet! Magazine

Initially, we want to thank you for adding to our numbers! La Peinture Blanket is a wonderful shot of color – boy, we needed some sun glasses when she arrived on the scene. We were so thrilled to see how much time and care you took in picking the yarn colorways and then putting them together just so. You studied and studied that painting of yours every day, with no help from us (boo hoo). All we could do was lay there all neatly folded on the back of the futon. We were patient with you, and our patience was rewarded.

Additionally, you not only gifted one of us to a pregnant Ravelry friend, you then took a turn for the dark and green and added the Froggy Swap blanket to our ranks. As with the NYOBE Water Round blanket, we were pretty pleased with all the block swapping – the colors are coordinated not only within the blanket, but with different paintings you have. (We note the theme forming.) Since we’ve been overloaded with work, Froggy Swap blanket couldn’t get here any moment too soon (since you know La Peinture isn’t doing any work – she just sits there looking fantastic most of the time).

My Froggy Swap blanket, made with
blocks swapped with other
Ravelry crafters

Now, as we’ve written before, we know how much we keep you and George Bailey warm, and we’re incredibly happy to do so. We also appreciate the wonderful digs we have in which to do our work. But you know, we’ve got to tell you that while you make us look good, we make George Bailey look cray, cray adorbs. Our blues and light greens and pinks and creams do nothing but show off his assets to great effect – and don’t you think for one instant that cat doesn’t know it. We mean … like … really.

The handsome and talented George Bailey, looking
oh so fine thanks to us, your blankets extraordinaire

My Cotton Mod on Mod
Frenchtravaganza
in the making

We also provide some wonderful craft still life possibilities. Just look at all those stacks of color! Happiness is the truth, eh?

We end this latest letter with a request: for all we do for you, we hope you’ll get on the stick and finish the two blankets in the oven for us. They have been gestating now for almost the last two years, and that’s quite a long time, wouldn’t you say? It’s not like they’re alpacas or anything. Sheesh - get a move on! We want and need more worker blankets in the stable, ok?

Your trusty, stylish, hard working blankets:

Tunisia Bed Cover
Impressionistic Pinwheelie Blanket
NYOBE Water Round Blanket
Cotton Mod on Mod Frenchtravaganza
Froggy Blanket

                                                            
 And the two still in the oven:

Ha Ha! A Finished Project and a New Published Design

Happy Friday, everyone - the sun is shining here in the Pacific Northwest - spring has definitely sprung and not a millisecond too soon.


So of course I'm right on time completing a project I started last fall. Hey, it's done, and I am pretty darn proud of it - behold the lovely One if By Hook Cardi:

And, for those of you who are interested in the back of the work:

I used the worsted weight wool gifted from Vivian (Bits and Pieces) for the body and the lower sleeve colorblocks. Lion Brand Amazing in the violets colorway comprise all the edging bands (done in tunisian crochet 1 x 1 ribbing), and the upper sleeve colorblocks came from a cone of light worsted weight from an lys. I particularly like how all the purples work well with each other. I know the body color looks more pink, but it's really somewhere closer to a very light mauve tweed with deeper purple and yellow flecks, and while the Amazing has subtley changing color runs, they definitely have personality. Three quarter length sleeves will make this a perfect little topper in the cooler weather here and for summer evenings. And you know I just love the purple buttons I found to coordinate with the yarn:

And now for the newly published design, which can be found in the summer edition of Crochet! Magazine:

The Fan Play Cafe Curtain turned into an homage to art deco graphic goodness, although I was simply aiming for a curtain with an asymmetrical element. These photos were taken in bright sunlight last fall (see, it really doesn't rain all the time here in the Pacific Northwest), so while the lovely green colorway is somewhat washed out, the strong graphic design certainly is not.

The top and bottom edgings are easy yet pretty fan and puff repeats. Covered plastic rings complete the cafe curtain look. I used easy care Nazli Gelin crochet cotton in a very pretty green colorway:

While I used the individual balls for the sample, I'd suggest getting a cone - much more efficient.

Definitely now head on over to Andrea and Wisdom Begins in Wonder and check out all the other fiber activities this Friday - whether with or without sunlight.

Hey, It's Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday ...

... and to totally confuse everyone (because I do have one final pattern from Romantique to introduce), let's jump ahead to ... spring, shall we?

My latest publication design has just been released - it's the Boxed Flower Coverlet:

This coverlet (it's a duvet cover, really) is great for anyone looking to inject some new life into an old but otherwise perfectly fine comforter. The tone-on-tone treatment Crochet! Magazine chose makes the coverlet look very rich and classic - but the color combinations are just about endless. Gotta love bold, graphic designs.

Worked in Universal's Uptown Worsted, it's also easy-care. We definitely love that.



 I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this design, and how pleased I am that it has made it safely out into the crafty wild. If you'd like to see a preview of the entire spring publication (which is available electronically now, and on newsstands January 7th), head on over to Crochet! Magazine's website.

2013 is definitely ending on a high note.

Now do please head on over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder and check out what everyone else is working on right before the big day. To each of you, whether a regular reader or just visiting for the first time, I wish you a holiday filled with peace, joy, light, and definitely plenty of good food and laughter.



Boxed Flowers in process. Don't the motifs
look a little like Italian cookies?