Nifty

Shop Update!

Tomorrow [monday] I will be adding lots of lovely items to my shop! Just in time for the holidays I will have lots of ready to ship items, including a few new products that I am rolling out! Here's a sneak peak...

 

I lived there!

Here is one beautiful video of Lacoste, made by one of the photo students. I sometimes can't believe I lived there.

When I was little...

I would write my name like this. Found on the inside cover of my Small Folk Quilters book, for a 4-H quilting group I joined when I was just a toddler. Really it is no surprise that I turned out so crafty.

Tarte aux Pommes

Last night we had friends from church over for a French meal, seeing as we just got back from France and all. On the menu was homemade baguette with tapenade, confit de canard, winter squash gratin, pomegranate salad, and my contribution to the meal--tarte aux pommes.

It is sort of a family recipe because both me and my brothers would always make one for food days back in high school French class. So I pulled out the recipe again because it is just so easy and pretty. All I do is make a pastry crust and put it in the tart pan. Slice, peel, and arrange two apples on top of the crust. Pour a half cup of sugar on top and bake at 350 for an hour. Then pull it out and glaze the top with honey while it's still hot and c'est tout!

six years

This is my sixth Christmas season with Nifty--can you believe it? It seems like its been forever and no time at all since I started. Back in the day when my main focus was puppets and my craftsmanship left a lot to be desired I was preparing for my first craft show in Missouri, it went relatively well but with the move to Wisconsin in 2005 there were no definite plans for anything with Nifty. Then with a last minute opportunity to be a part of a craft show held at my high school, I sewed up a storm and participated, like I would in December 2006 and 2007(when I did another area craft show at Preble High School). Then last year with the addition of my Etsy shop workload and the impending move to Utah I opted to only participate in the Preble show. This year Nifty is now located in it's third state and as always I am doing a mad rush of sewing in preparation for the Beehive Bazaar--some things never change.

Here's a photo I dug out from the archives, boy am I glad my photography and sewing skills have improved!

three lovely things.

number one: I got tickets to see She & Him in March!

number two: I got my 300th sale on Etsy today!

number three: I got my copy of One Yard Wonders in the mail today(finally)!

and there I am all excited...my stegosaurus made it on the back cover! I have two patterns in the book, the other is for a fireman's hat.

Free Shipping!

So here is is the sale I promised--free shipping for Black Friday through Cyber Monday! (applies to everything sent to the US and most items sent internationally) So head over to the shop to get a great deal!

Happy Holidays!

Aux Etats Unis!

So I am back in the U S of A. France was absolutely and completely amazing but I am quite content to be back and even more excited for all the wonderful food I get to consume tomorrow for Thanksgiving (wishing all of you a happy holiday too!).

The news for Nifty are as follows...The shop will reopen on Friday morning just in time for Black Friday(I am contemplating offering a sale --more details on that to come!). Since I went to France and all I couldn't just come back and do the same old same old so one big change I will be making will be in my materials. I have decided to go all natural with no synthetics for several reasons, but mainly natural is just so much nicer quality. Also I am going to be a vendor in the Beehive Bazaar in Provo, Utah December 3, 4, and 5 (preparations are going to keep me plenty busy until then!) I think that is all for now--

Last Day in Lacoste

The end is here! Today is our very last day in Lacoste. Classes are done, art history presentations given, my parents are here and now our Vernissage exhibition is over too. Us Renard fibers girls had one last movie night and now today will be spent taking it easy, packing up, and then it is off tomorrow. I will be spending one more week in France with my parents and then it's back to the states in time for Thanksgiving! Here are some photos of what's been going on since Paris...

We made a visit to the Prelle workshop in Lyon...

 

and here is some of my work on display at Vernissage (photo credit Janelle)

Paris!

So here is all of that happened in the five days spent in Paris-- I have never in my life felt like I was going so non stop. Things are winding down here in Lacoste with just three weeks left, it is crazy how strange my sense of time has gotten to be. Somethings seem like such an eternity away while others seem like its been no time at all.

 

Day one: Got up super super early caught the train from Avignon to Paris then walked for 45 minutes through the rainy streets of Paris with my luggage. Upon arriving at the hotel we got settled, went out for Thai food and then headed to the famous Pere Lachaise cemetary(which was pretty miserable since it was so rainy and my feet were soaked). Crepes for dinner!

Day two: A much nicer day where we went to the studio of the trend forecaster, Li Edelkoort, and saw her presentation for Spring/Summer 2011. It was crazy, then after witnessing a true French protest we headed to Prelle to see the showroom for one of the last  family-owned weaving company(very high end stuff). They were the original ones to weave the fabric for  the walls in Marie Antoinette's bedchambers and they recreated it when Versailles became a museum. Both were once in a lifetime sort of opportunities(AMAZING!). That night we saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up. Unfortunately lots of creepers and guys constantly bothering you to buy tacky souvenirs made it a somewhat unpleasant experience.

 

Day three:In the morning we split up into groups to go to different stores we had picked out, the four our group went to included an embroidery place, a stationary shop, a vintage trim store, and an import kind of store. My favorite was the trim store, Ultramod, where I saw the biggest selection of vintage velvet ribbon in my entire life! Afterwards I went to the contemporary art exhibition FIAC and then went shopping for a little black dress. Following we went out for my friend and housemate Kara's birthday, we got some really great sushi then ended the night with cider from a pub called the Long Hop.

 

Day four: Versailles! I loved getting to see Marie Antoinette's little village with all the animals, the palace was great too but not as lovely as the Petit Trianon. It was just like a storybook.  After getting back to the heart of Paris we went to the Louvre--first to the Museum of Decorative Arts then to the big building.

 

Day five: Great flea market in the morning where I got some lovely finds and then back to the Louvre for a bit followed by ice cream sundaes with Lexi and then the Musee D'Orsay where all the impressionist art is. Then it was back to the hotel to get our luggage, onto a bus to the train station, on the high speed train to Avignon, and onto a bus for Lacoste. After a climb up the hill with all my stuff I pretty much just passed out in bed.

So that's all, I loved every second of it.