hard hearted hanna

Oh no! I am off to buy hurricane supplies today. Things aren't looking too good for us. I hope it makes a turn toward the north and misses us entirely but I want to be prepared anyway. I found a handy list of recommended items to have on hand at wsav.com. As a Florida girl, I am sort of used to hurricanes but I must admit when I was little my mom always took care of the necessities while I packed important things like my stuffed animals and my favorite blanky. When you are little kid these things seemed so important. Taking that into consideration I have already asked my son what toys he wants to pack up if we have to evacuate. The list is still growing. So, between the toys, kitties, personal papers and necessities we might require a small moving truck just to tote all of it. Maybe we will just stay put.

oatland island adventure

Our weekend family adventure took us to Oatland Island Wildlife Center only ten minutes from downtown Savannah. The island plays host to animals both big and small; panthers, bobcats, bears, alligators, turtles, bison, deer, wolves, owls, hawks, eagles, etc. The nature trail is a long and winding path into the woods and over the wetlands with stops along the way that feature different animals in their habitats. It was the last official day of tropical storm Fay so it was a surprisingly breezy day. Translation: the mosquitos were not too bad (four bites instead of 50). If you go on a not so breezy day plan to bath yourself in repellent. We ended the day on the Wetlands Observation Pier with dipping dots, a strange ice cream like item developed by a scientist/ice cream aficionado. I was not a fan but my son devoured them in seconds.

music

I hate to admit some of my most recent musical discoveries have come in the form of TV commericals. In the last couple of months I discovered Joe Purdy(from the Kia commercial) and Noah and the Whale(from the Saturn commercial). I had been listening to Feist and Cold Play long before ipod used them in their ads. I am beginning to wonder if these ad people have really good taste in music or if they are sent the stuff by record companies.

Roll over them to get to their links. Happy listening.

miniature splendor

A long time customer and fellow creative shared these pictures of her modern doll house with me and I couln't resist passing them along.  I could move right in, couldn't you?

liz k

Exciting news.  Liz Koomler, stitch master and @home shop girl has added new goodies to her etsy.  It is just in the nick of time because she is going to be featured in Country Home magazine in the fall. I submitted images of her creations for an article and instead of being in that feature they photographed her work for another feature on new American craft.  I am so proud and excited to see her pieces in a magazine.  I am especially happy to know that Country Home saw what I saw in her work.  

face lift

Not the kind you are thinking...

I hope that you have noticed that I have given the blog a makeover.  It reflects the new direction we are taking with the @home website.  The design and re-design of the website, as many of you know, has been a long and tedious process with many ups and downs.   I am happy to report that the new site will launch shortly and the e-commerce portion (cross your fingers) will launch in the fall.  

I have two talented people to thank for their creative contributions to my shop's branding efforts. Lindsay Hadley, my consultant/graphic designer and Devin O'Bryan, my web tutor.  Both have had the complicated task of translating my schizophrenic ideas to print media and the web.  I truely believe I finally have an image and website that reflects the eclectic and colorful nature of the store.  

I can't wait to see what you think of it.

now on news stands

I wanted to share these images of my most recent feature in Holiday Crafts Magazine. It is August and there is already a holiday magazine on news stands! There are Halloween projects in it so I guess they have to get an early jump on the competition. I hope you enjoy.

For those of you that have gone to our website and are now reading this the kits listed in resources are for the cardboard body of the house not the entire thing (available here). You will have to use your imagination and your own goodies to decorate them. The listing sounded a little confusing so I wanted to clarify for you eager crafters out there.

ginny h

I met the loveliest family yesterday. Two sisters with all their children in tow, I am guessing from ages 6-16. They were a large group of really enthusiatic shoppers so I started asking them usual questions I like to ask people visiting the area...where they were from, how they liked Savannah, where they were headed, etc. Low and behold they were Hilfigers! Ginny and Maria to be exact. Sisters of the famous Tommy. Come to find out Ginny has her own fashion collection and after she left I headed to google to check it out. I felt a little star struck. In the eight years I have had my business I can honestly say I have met a lot of famous people, movie stars, musicians, writers, editors & fashion designers most of which have been quite pleasant and interesting to get to know. Ginny ranks really high on the friendly scale for me. She told me all sorts of stories about the Real Housewives of NYC (she designs for Bethenny) and talked about her interests and style. I think she makes really lovely clothing and is well on her way to becoming a great name in fashion.

all mine

After seeing many of my favorite wreaths by Katie Runnels go to someone else, when she posted about this one on her blog and high tailed it to her etsy and scooped it up. I've been calling it "little hoot" which is the title of a children's book we sell in the store. It seemed to fit. Anyway, it is now hanging between two windows behind my sofa.

timing & opportunity

I seem to be talking a lot lately about opportunity but little about timing.  I think things happen when they do for a reason.  Maybe you aren't ready or maybe there are bigger and better things coming your way.  So that got me thinking about my friend Cheryl from Back in the Day Bakery. She will be appearing on Paula Deen's Best Dishes on Sunday at 12:30.  Talk about an opportunity! It is a well deserved and patiently waited for opporunity at that.  She and her husband Griff own one of the sweetest spots in Savannah (pun intended).  They have worked very hard and their success is very exciting for their friends and customers.  The timing could not be any better. If my memory serves me right, Cheryl lost her dear sister around this time a couple of years ago. I know Cheryl is so joyful about her appearance on this show, but I also know deep down she wishes she could share it with Natalie.  So Cheryl if you are reading.  Chin up.  I am so proud of you and I know she would be too.  

happy discovery

Late last night I was roaming the internet & reading some of my favorite blogs and came across the most exciting little treasure I had seen in a while.  Much to my delight when the post led me to an etsy and then to the blog of little treasure's creator I found a world worth noting.  I wanted to share this person, her craft and her lovely photography with my readers.  I hope you enjoy her goodies and patronize her etsy site.  We exchanged emails and maybe someday she will make it to Savannah where I can meet her but until then I will be stopping by her blog thompson family life and etsy tiny bazaar regularly.  

great day wednesday, tuesday...not so good

Tuesday...
Having returned from an exhausting weekend at market and a family gathering in Florida I was greeted Tuesday with the news that I missed a terrific professional opportunity. I was so bummed but a rebound was in my future so boot straps up I made some calls sent some emails and decided to take control. I have figured there are a lot of people that have no talent but are great at marketing and a lot of people that have amazing talent and are terrible at marketing. I am going to be more aggressive about marketing myself and my shop from now on.

Wednesday...
I started the day with a new attitude. I spent much of the morning printing out images for my portfolio. I met a lovely customer and chatted with her at length about many topics. And then to my surprise and delight Amy Zurker, the guru of Shop SCAD, and Katie Runnels, artist extraordinaire, came for visit. I haven't seen Katie in ages but I keep up with her through her blog. These gals have more talent than most people have in their pinkie toe. I really never get to see Amy except for an occasional visit at the store or at a social event but everytime we chat I think to myself, we should be friends. Katie was dropping off new pieces at shop SCAD so get over there and check them out.

That evening...
As if Wednesday couldn't get any better Amy and Josh Lind joined my family for dinner at our house. Amy, a former @home shop girl and successful painter is now living in San Francisco with her husband Josh a talented film producer/maker (Dandy Dwarves fame). William was the ring bearer in their wedding and he still calls her Amy Hahn. In fact, all week he kept saying "when are Amy Hahn and the boy coming to our house." Very cute. Thankfully, after a lot of tickles, playing with cars and tossing balls he was calling him Josh. So happy I got to share an evening with them catching up.

by the window

Amy Lind, one of our @home alums is returning south for her show at the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC. She and her husband Josh are planning a visit to Savannah while here. I can't wait to see them. It is hard to believe in September it will have been a year since they moved to San Francisco. Time flies.

off to market

No posts for a few days as I am traveling to the gift show to search for new goodies for the shop. It feels like I just did this but these shows come around to quick I can't keep up. While there I am also having dinner with one of my favorite sales reps and an exec from their company. Hopefully I can charm the socks of him and he hires me to design for them (a girl can dream).

today's forcast...fun

happy 4th
if you are in the area we will be open today for all you die hard shoppers

furniture sale

We are having a furniture sale for the month of July. Stop by and scoop up that piece you have had your eye on. 10-20% off select furniture.

craft night

Last Friday night the @home girls got together to have a team building night at the shop. We played store themed games: the price is right in which the girls had to guess the price of merchandise I selected, a scavenger hunt where the girls had a timed race to pick up items by certain vendors all over the store and a jeopardy style quiz. We devoured a pizza and made our way upstairs to my studio to do some crafting. The purpose you may ask? We are in the middle of the summer dull drums here in Savannah. Business is slow and moral can sometimes slip so I wanted to pep everyone up and if you ask me nothing does that better than a little crafting. Here are some before and after pictures and a shot of the goody bags I made for everyone. There are also some pictures of the treasures we assembled. Not too shabby!

this just in...

New arrivals for your viewing pleasure.

my little blondy

I took this picture of my son in the park last Sunday.  I am always astonished at how blond he is when I see him in photographs.  My hair is very dark and my husband is a tow head.  Go figure... he is a   1/4 Greek, 1/2 British, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 unknown European mix blue-eyed-blond.  I can only hope that he gets my over 6' tall grandfather's genes. Have I mentioned how short I am?

lovely discoveries

I have fully recovered from my two day trip to the National Stationery Show and have so much to share.  Typically I don't have a hard time making a decision about the products I want to purchase for the store but this particular show had me stumped.  The NSS was filled with cards and stationery from talented letter press companies, off set and screen printed goods and fantastic pick up items.  I placed many re-orders of products we stock and was hoping to find a couple of new lines to fill in where the others leave off.  I think I accomplished my goal.  We expect our tried and true items to start trickling in soon and the new goodies will begin shipping in July.  

I also landed a new purveyor of vintage ribbons, notions and old store stock. I found their prices to be fair and their selection of vintage goods really lovely. The owners are keepers too! I especially love when I find a resource where I know the people behind the product.  The merchandise I find from these types of sources have a special place in my shop.  You betcha I buy from the big boys, but supporting mom and pop wholesalers is where my heart is.

sweet shop

Last week I saw a picture of Design Sponge's Grace Bonnie in a confectionary store in San Francisco.  It looked like the sweetest sweet shop I have ever seen.  The post had no mention of the location so I scoured the internet in search of the little store.   It took some hunting but I finally found Miette Confiserie.  If I ever make it to San Francisco Miette Confiserie & Miette Patisserie (the original bakery behind the confectionary) will be on my list of places to see.  

Once you visit the site you quickly see why this little gem is so special.  It is the people behind it.  I love stories about people following their passion and this one is exactly that.  I hope you will visit their site to read all about it.  

help the honey bees

I have been hearing about the plight honey bees for awhile now so I was not surprised to see the people at Haagen Dazs have started a campaign to help. If you have a chance please visit help the honey bees and see how you can do your part.

A side note: since I have been doing my fair share of web research for my site, I was overwhelmed with the amazing website they have devoted to the subject. I think all you design junkies out there would agree.

Read all about it: I just got my June issue of Martha Stewart Living and there is a great article on page118.

national stationery show

There is no other trade show that excites me more than the National Stationery Show and it is a little over a week from now.  What makes the anticipation worse is that all the design bloggers that I know keep showing products that some of the exhibitors have been sending their way for publicity.   I was begining to feel left out when low and behold the mail man shows up with brochures, postcards and samples from the very people I have been reading about on those other blogs.  Yeah!  I had my own little piece of the action.  

With notes in hand I hope to order some new lines for the shop and refill the lines that I currently stock.  

holy smokes

I enjoyed a fantastic dinner last night with my friends Cheryl & Grif, owners of Back in the Day Bakery and Haylie (former shop girl, now big city girl) from Philly.  It was so nice to catch up with Haylie and hear about all of her new adventures.  If it were up to me all my girls would work for me forever and ever but they keep growing up and moving on.  It is really nice to see how they mature and all the amazing things they are doing out in the "real" world.  I keep thinking that when the shop turns 10 we will have a big reunion.  Maybe a giant trunk show of all their work.  

Back to the topic.  I can't express to you how delicious the meal was.  I had ribs or should I say a rib.  No, I was not shorted by the chef watching out for my caloric intake.  The rib was enormous.  I even joked with the waiter that it came from a dinosaur.  The sides were yummy (especially Haylie's fried okra).  The ambiance was very low key.  We sat outside and watched people play horse shoes and the bean bag toss.  By the look of things (full parking lot & tables) Blowin' Smoke is making quite a splash.  

sloooooooooow posts

Sorry for the lack of posts but many of you will be happy to know I have been working very hard to get our website together.  I had no idea how much behind the scenes work was involved. Taking photos, typing information, moving files, renaming files and just plain thinking about the web is all consuming.  I am dreaming in HTML code.  OK, not really but as soon as I master it I know I will be.  The plan is to launch a new site in July with shopping coming in September.  My web tutor has explained that July is too optimistic for the ecommerce part.  My friends at McMaster & Storm have been going through the same process and their site will be ready this week.  I can't wait to see what they have created.  I know their experience will prove very helpful as I get further along.  

score

My little man (and Dada) recently accompanied me to a local market where I found these interesting pieces for the store.  He used the contents of his toy cash register to purchase a match box car (a little junker already).