Turkey with all the Trimmings...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week after the Thanksgiving holiday finds you all doing well! So much to share as usual over here in wintery Maine. Let's get down to the business piece first, shall we?

To start, after several years of not painting, I was doodling and got inspired to do a series of work inspired by 60's children's illustrations. The Top Crown Series, as I've named it, is now complete and listed in the shop for sale! These mini paintings are so cheery and fun and each piece is also accented with glittery details! I love them very much and I hope you do too. I think they will make some people very happy this holiday season!

What else? Oh, well STAG is also being stocked up with wonderful, unique, high-end vintage items for the holiday season! What better way to say you care to the men in your life than to give a special gift that you can't get at the mall? I even have some pretty things for the ladies out there, as well as vintage holiday decorations that will brighten the homes of the customers who snap them up! Just a few of these great items are shown below.

These golf shoes are about the craziest thing I've ever seen in men's footwear. Like clown shoes with a purpose.

For the ladies: A purple 100% wool blazer. Beautiful.

And for those of you who have a hard time thinking of things for that special someone, I am doing a Stag Item of the Day every weekday between now and December 20th to get those ideas percolating. Those will be posted on the STAG Facebook page!

It's not all work and no play around here, Lovelies! Oh, no. Thanksgiving was this past weekend and I joined some very good friends for a day of laughter, friendship and good food. (When your family lives across the country, your second family becomes as dear to you as your real one.) I did the baking, which included a lemon torte (hard to do, but I figured it out) and a pumpkin cheesecake with a candied pretzel crust (easier to do because I've practiced). Both were delicious. (Well, the whole day was delicious, frankly.) What a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season. I'm a very lucky girl!

This weekend, I plan on decorating my own place for Christmas and I'm very excited! There's nothing better than sitting in your living room reading or drinking a glass of wine with just the light of the tree on, no? And I will be playing my Christmas records the entire time. Because, you can't beat Bing Crosby's voice on a record with a little hiss and some cracks and pops. Don't you agree? Happy Winter, Lovelies!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Cinnamon in the air & pies in the oven...

Hello Lovelies~

As usual, I hope this week finds you all doing well out there! Things here are falling into a brisk, autumnal state. The days are getting shorter, the temps are doing their daytime/nighttime fluctuation and I've had a strong urge to bake and get my house ready for cooler weather. And bake I did, a friend came over this past weekend and we watched horror movies (Dead Silence. Eeeks!) and the sprinkles and flour were flying. I took what remained of the apples from apple picking a couple of weeks back and made a pie that was delicious (other people told me this, I'm not being immodest). Then, we baked up a huge batch of Halloween cupcakes and iced and decorated those for Halloween. It was sort of a perfect Fall Sunday and that's saying something since Fall has been such a joy so far.

What else? Oh! I have been hired to do a ton of client work lately, which is great! I just finished a couples portrait for a client and friend who needed this image for a family tree project these two are doing at their upcoming wedding. What a sweet, gracious and beautiful couple they are. (And they styled themselves in such a handsome way.) Take a look.

And then another client and friend made a trip from New York to get some head shots done for her acting portfolio. Talk about a joy to work with. So funny, so talented and so smart (not to mention beautiful). We were laughing the entire time. I love my job! Take a look. Stunning, no?

And as we move from Fall towards the holiday season, I've been trying to think of gift-giving that gives back. I'm definitely the less-is-more type in the gift-giving arena: more the thought than the quantity. That being said, I also usually procrastinate and end up at the Mall. Not this year. I've found two great sites that sell beautiful, artisan products made by very talented artists and craftsmen and the money benefits charity. The first site is: Denik. They sell journals with original artwork on the cover like the below. The purchase of these journals benefits both the artist (so they can keep creating beautiful things) and also helps build schools. Win/win.

The second site is: Sevenly. This site also sells artisan products of all types, but the difference here is that the charity changes weekly and so do the products. This week's charity is the Humane Society, so the site is full of great canine products and dog/cat/pet related prints and shirts! Amazing. I love it. I'm all about giving you fresh, artistic ideas that make things better where everyone wins, Lovelies.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...