Sarah Jane and Ralph Lauren: Nutcracker Display
Well, if you've been checking my Instagram, the cats out of the bag!
This holiday season, the Ralph Lauren Flagship store on Madison Avenue in NYC as well as the flagship stores in London, Chicago, Hong Kong and 10 other stores across Asia are featuring my Nutcracker puppet theater illustrations as their holiday window display this Christmas Season!
Ya. Pinch me.
The flagship store of Ralph Lauren at 72nd and Madison is literally both sides of an entire block. It's pretty spectacular. The buildings are breathtaking, and have a history all on their own. The detail inside and out is just exquisite. The Men's store is on one side, and Women's and Children's on the other...and each has their own themed window displays.
Each of the 7 windows were decorated with my illustrations....here's a tour of the displays!
On the front corner was a winder candy scene with the Sugar Plum Fairy and a dancer from Waltz of the snowflakes.
And of course, Nutcracker and Mouse King.
I love how they used the stage border on all the windows...it went so well with the architecture and feel of the whole setting.
The Mother Ginger window was my favorite. It's hard to see the details here, but she has little dancing children underneath her.
In the corner windows by both doorways, there were lovely framed prints of the Nutcracker Characters. So Magical!
And every window featured my website and name, which was such an honor. It was so lovely to be part of their celebration this year!
I went up for a short little 2 and a half day trip so that I could see them in person. And because Michael Miller Fabrics is located in Manhattan, we made a little outing together. It was really fun to share with them! (Nutcracker fabric coming soon anyone??)
The windows turned out so lovely. I just got goosebumps! How crazy to see something you made at home with your kids on a wintery saturday turn into a window display to be seen all over the world in such a magical setting! Just so cool.
So, forgive me, but I took lots of photos! Here's a photo dump. Hope you don't mind!
Here are some close ups:
Christmas Window displays are a big deal...especially in New York City where people take city tours just to see the yearly displays. So when I was asked to be part of a 5 window display with Ralph Lauren, my jaw hit the floor, and I admit to re-reading the email a few times just to make sure.
Ralph himself toured the windows and sent his approval. And while I was taking pictures, some of the Kardashian Klan popped into the children's store (most likely for Baby North!).
The greatest part was getting to spend a weekend trip with my Mom and baby Anders. What a wonderful getaway! I LOVE NYC during the holidays. It's just so magical. Anders has been quite the traveler lately! Poor guy has to follow his Mama and her crazy designs:)
Thank you Ralph Lauren for letting me in on the Holiday fun! And if you are in NYC this Christmas, or London, Chicago, Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai, do stop by and take your pictures...and send them to me via facebook, instagram or email! I wasn't able to get pictures with my own kids (sigh) but I look forward to seeing yours! I'd love to post any and all of you there at the display!
Here's a list of the stores that will featuring my Nutcracker Windows:
- 72nd Madison, NYC
- Bond St., LONDON, England
- CHICAGO
- Ocean Terminal, HONG KONG
- Lee Gardens, HONG KONG
- Princes Building, HONG KONG
- Gough Street, HONG KONG
- Deji Plaza, Nanjing Forum 66,Shenyang
- L’Avenue, SHANGHAI
- Plaza 66, SHANHAI
- BEIJING
- Hangzhou
- Chongqing
- Chengdu
Happy Holidays everyone!! And enjoy making your own Nutcracker little displays :) We are unpacking ours and using them as Tree Decorations this year. Have fun!!
xo
Sarah
The Nutcracker Surprise: Part 1
I have a really cool secret that I can't tell you just yet. But it's really incredible. My best secret yet.
I'm getting on a plane tomorrow (with cute baby Anders of course), heading on a really cool journey that has something to do with these Nutcracker Theater puppets.
The suspense it too much, I know.
And no, I'm not touring as the Sugar Plum Fairy this Christmas.
I know. You are SO bummed out right now.
But your getting warmer.
I'm going to be Instagramming my journey and you can follow along here
(Even if you aren't on instagram, you can peek by clicking my little camera button on the sidebar starting tomorrow afternoon!)
Eeek! I can't wait to tell you.
But in the mean time, you can download your Nutcracker puppets and start cutting them out, ready to dance.
And watch this adorable video here.
Any guesses? More hints coming tomorrow....
Stay tuned!
xo
sarah
it's not summer any more
Christmas is in 33 days and I feel like it should still be summer.
I put away my kids summer clothes last week. I felt strangely sad. I bet a lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't spend much time playing outdoors this summer.
We had summer pool passes. I didn't ever put on a suit. We had perfect days for hiking. I stayed in bed.
I'm so happy I have a healthy baby. And that he stayed inside me. But bedrest stinks.
I don't think I've ever appreciated my body and it's ability to move and play and explore as much as I did this past summer.
It snowed yesterday.
And I am christmas shopping today, and all I can think about is how it feels all too sudden.
Anybody else not ready?
It just feels like it should be summer again.
A girl can dream.
New holiday stuff coming to the shop this week. Stay tuned!
Books
I haven't talked about books much lately. And I should. Because I LOVE making books.
But I've been in between projects (does having a baby sound like a good excuse?) and I'm glad to be talking about them more.
This week, I signed on with an agent, and I'm so excited!
Up until this point, I've been managing my book jobs on my own, which is actually really challenging to do for many reasons. But I enjoyed it, and I liked being on my own. But I'm really wanting to put more effort into book illustration, and I'm proud to say that I'll be represented by Emily van Beek at Folio, Jr.
Some of her illustrators are my top favorites in the industry, so I'm super honored to be there. If you aren't familiar with artists like Genevieve Godbout , Christopher Denise, Abigail Halpin , Julie Morstad and Erin E. Stead than click on over and have some eye candy.
And with that news, I'm linking you to my Christmas book, A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT. Every Christmas it gets an anniversary! And this holiday season it will be it's third Christmas. I'm hoping you are loving it as much as we do here at home.
And this spring, I have a companion book to my FRENCH KIDS EAT EVERYTHING book, called GETTING TO YUM (April 2014). If FRENCH KIDS was the essay and the story behind the method, GETTING TO YUM is the method of ridding yourself of picky eaters in the house. It's brilliant folks. And I can swear by it. More on that topic later. But it's available for pre-order here!
I hope to be talking Children's Books here more. I have a great passion for reading to and with children. This list (Chapter Books for the Younger Kids) is one of the most viewed pages in my entire blog! The book world is changing dramatically because of this ever growing technology age, but I know that you are all the types of parents and grandparents that are buying books for your kids this holiday season. And taking them to libraries. And reading bed time stories every night.
So plan on hearing more book talk from me. It's one of my favorite things to talk about!
Back to the studio to work on more books....
xo
Sarah
Quilt Market Fall 2013
I've been home from Quilt Market for over 2 weeks now, which is what it normally takes to just put my suitcase away! So much goes into the prep, that when I come home, jumping right back in again is nuts!
Wee Wander is my debut collection this year, and I couldn't be more pleased. The booth turned out great, and we pulled together another fast round up of goods! I think I had the fabric for maybe 7 days total (whew!!), and I just have to say that I had such an amazing group of mostly local sewers who banded together to make this all happen in time. (See bottom of the post for a list of all products and goods!)
Don't you just wan to squish him???
Tons of color! And thanks to my amazing husband (and dear friend Macy!! who drove 3 hours just to help set up) so that I could care for Anders. (He wasn't allowed in the convention center during set up, so I'm super grateful for so much help!) I did the finishing touches, and Kenneth did all the hard labor. Go team.
My husband and I are both very rooted in theater (we both studied musical theater in college) so there is something about putting on a "show" that we both just love. I also love it for the soul reason of really getting to stand back and get the whole big picture. I get so close to my work, and seeing it all like this is always really inspiring and get so excited to share it with you! It's like putting on a play with textile design!
This was the first year that they've allowed babies in arms at Quilt Market. Anna Maria and I had to make sure we documented the event. I think Mary Anna and Anders were the only Booth Babies at the show, which made for great friendly conversation for 3 days straight. I could have had the most boring booth on the floor and I think people would have still wanted to hang out the entire time cause of this cherub.
I love that these two manly men managed so much of baby duty so that we could do our thing at Market. Go Husbands!
Anyways...these two are set for life. Right?
Anders even had coordinating outfits the whole weekend. Model Baby. Starting him young.
My husband had to leave after the 1st day of the show, so I had 2 days of me and baby....on the floor....the whole time. My left bicep is so ripped! But we set up the booth so that we could set the baby down and let him sleep and give my arms a break since no carriers, strollers or baby paraphernalia of any kind was allowed on the floor. I loved watching people walk by the booth, thinking he was a doll, only to see him breathe and just shriek in delight (he woke up from those shrieks a few times:) He was quite the hit.
I couldn't snap pics of all my dear friends, but here's Liesl of Oliver & S, Deborah of Whipstitch, Marisa from Creative Thursday, Vanessa of V and Co, Camille of Thimbleblossoms,Kerry of Kid Giddy and the ladies of my favorite fabric boutique in my home town. Thanks to so many of you who stopped by!
Seeing good friends that I've made over the years in the industry is always a treat. Being a work-at-home-mom-with-4-kids-and-a-husband means that I don't socialize very much. So, taking the time to reconnect is so rejuvenating for me. Especially after my 9 months of yucky bed rest pregnancy. Must have girl time!
And thanks for all your overwhelming response on the fabric line! I can't WAIT to show you more, get projects going on the blog, and share ideas!
BOOTH ITEMS:
Tee Pee's: For sale at Tnee's Tpee's
Catching Fireflies border quilt: Free Pattern coming soon.
Color strip Quilt: Free pattern coming soon
Summer Sky Dress (ruffle sleeve and blue skirt) Free Pattern Coming soon
Pink Dresses: K Patterns Pintucked Dress
Coat:Pattern from Cottage Mama's book
Orange horse dress: Georgia Dress from Cottage Mama
Twin quilt squares on point: Free Pattern coming soon
Waldorf Dolls: Stella Grace Boutique
Floor Pillows: Free Pattern coming soon
Decorative Pillows: Free Pattern Coming soon
Blue Dress with white bib: Playdate Dress by Oliver & S
Paper Flowers: Made by House that Lars Built
Introducing: Wee Wander
Ta Da!!
It's here! My 4th (and favorite so far!) fabric collection that will be shipping to stores in January 2014 with Michael Miller Fabrics! I have so much I want to share about this collection, it's hard to put as much as I want to in one post. But let's have a go at it.....
Creating a fabric collection is like putting together a puzzle from your soul. I have a feeling or a set of colors and images, and I want to tell a story with it...one that resonates on multiple levels. I think about the child, and their interpretation of the illustration. I think about the quilter, and needing to cut up fabric freely. I think about the apparel sewer, and needing something that works on a large surface. I think about the mom who is going to redecorate their child's space and needs lots of inspiration and lots of pieces to make her space work. I think about what colors are trending, but that also tell my story authentically. And so many more questions. But like I said, it all starts from a feeling and this collection comes from my own childhood memories of playing outside and wandering through the meadows and woods behind my house, with the only curfew being supper time. Wandering without boundaries. Daydreaming without having to be reeled in. Staying up past dark on summer nights to catch fireflies. And watch the twinkling trees in the distance.
Wee Wander: It's a play on words. It's a "little" wander, or let's all go on a wander.
All these feelings and images are part of my childhood, and it was so magical to recreate that into a collection of fabric that I think resonates with every child. A sense of wonder, wander and whimsicality that we all (I hope) still recall those carefree days of childhood.
The collection comes in 2 color ways, Sunrise & Twilight with 21 pieces total....including, as always, a super whimsical and magical border print. All the colors reflect both the vibrancy of outdoor play as well as the softness of innocent childhood. I love this collection because it can cross over both ways: bright and soft.
Wee Wander will be shipping in January, so I'll be featuring lots of projects starting closer to when it will be in stores. So, I get to trickle lots in over a long while! I'll be giving you free quilt patterns, free clothing patterns and embroidery patterns to match! I'm itching to get my hands working on this. And I can't wait to see what you create with it!
This fabric is available through Michael Miller Fabrics.
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF STORES CARRYING THIS FABRIC
xo
sarah
PS: Quilt Market photos tomorrow! I can't wait to start showing you projects!!
And don't forget about the 2014 calendars that are finally out! Perfect companion to this new collection!
xo
Sarah
2014 Calendar
I'm so excited to introduce to you a new calendar for this upcoming year! I've had flip calendars in the past that I know you all have loved. But I thought I'd try something new, and offer a wall calendar to be up for the whole year.
And if you can see....it coordinates with my newest fabric line that I still have yet to show you:) I'm trickling in little hints....and the wild horses are my favorite. Horses are a mild obsession with my girls. Ok, border-line crazy obsession. Ella pretends to be a horse most of the day actually. Truth.
These calendars would make lovely gifts as well. Can you believe it's already November? Where does time go?
So how about a little discount this week? I don't know about you, but I'm trying to get Christmas done early this year. (Ha! Early, like before December 20th:)
Use code 2014sarahjane to get 15% off this week only
I hope you enjoy!
xo
sarah
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