Giving away the good stuff ...

SATURDAY: RAFFLE

Enter to win one birth announcement (designed by yours truly) printed on canvas and designed to match a chosen nursery theme plus a matching “tummy time” blanket (see samples above) at this Saturday’s Open House held at New England Fine Living in Middleton. Many more raffle items and vendor discounts will be offered so be sure to visit on Saturday between 10am and 4pm or 7pm to 9pm for your chance to win (click here for event details.) I will be there in the morning and definitely will be back for the evening festivities which will include a NEFLtini cocktail (while they last) ...

Introducing my new line of icon-graphic note cards
available exclusively at New England Fine Living

SUNDAY: AUCTION

Modern Smiley Face Note Cards (set of 10)
and Hugs & Kisses Note Cards (set of 10)

One set of each will be auctioned off along with a custom designed butterfly accent pillow, apple green cork board and a few other items in my donated “Girl’s Room Gift Basket” to benefit the Lynnfield Educational Trust at Sunday night’s Taste of Lynnfield event at the Peabody Marriott. This almost-yearly fund-raising event is a great night out and offers a taste of many fine food establishments in our local area plus a chance to take home some great donated items by way of silent auction. All proceeds go towards educational enrichment programs and a soon-to-be established scholarship fund. Tickets are still available. Click here for details ...

And if you are interested in having any of these items designed for yourself or someone on your holiday shopping list, email me at yblacker@verizon.net

Have a great weekend,
xoxo yvonne

Where do you look for inspiration?

My jar of inspired objects includes green glass
knobs, paint samples, pretty threads, gold keys,
a silhouette of a little boy on a rocking horse,
and a celebratory cork from a bottle of bubbly
opened in honor of my first design show.

Last week I mentioned that I was chosen as one of the top 100 entries for the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You?”contest based on my submission of a chosen photo accompanied by a 100 word post explaining how the image inspires me. My photo? Glinda the good witch from the Wizard of Oz. What does Glinda have to do with interior decorating and good design? When we base our choices on what we love, and surround ourselves with the people and memories that are important to us, we are being authentic – and good design always comes out of authenticity.

Well this entry qualified me to move on to the second round of judging! Phase Two required a 350 word post “on an interior or architectural design topic that communicates both your unique passion for design and writing style.” And guess what? The judges (who include talented design-industry professionals Diane Carroll, Tobi Fairley, Michael Fink, Elaine Griffin, Marcia Sherrill and Clinton Smith) liked my post enough to qualify me to be one of the top 10 entries! I am not sure if they plan to share the 350-word posts we submitted or not, but I will
let you know if they do. In the meantime, this week
on the Design Sherpa blog, our 3-minute video submissions required for Phase Three are
up for *everyone* to see!



We were asked to provide a video that was “both entertaining and informative about some element of home design.” It is harder than it looks to be both entertaining and informative in a mere 3 minutes (all without the aid of a teleprompter or video crew -- I give those Design Star contestants a lot of credit!)
Plus we were required to condense our .mpeg video to less than 10 MB in size so the end result of the submitted versions appears pretty grainy. When I was “filming” this video, shortly after my trip to see The Nate Berkus Show and just a day before New England Fine Living opened, I had no idea my video would actually make it online. But here it is.

So far, six videos have been shown and the remainder will be aired in the next couple of days (I am guessing). The winner will be announced on or around November 7th so I am thinking it may be as early as this Friday!

{Photo from the Hotel Recamier website}

Did I mention what the winner of this social media driven contest will receive? Just a 10-day trip to PARIS, hotel accommodations at Hotel Recamier, and a 4-day VIP pass to the Maison & Object trade show, PLUS $10,000 (!!!!!) and the opportunity to blog as part of the Design Sherpa site!

(click here for all the fine print)

{Image from the Maison & Objet website}

If you know me at all, you know I am good at keeping a secret. All I am going to say for now is that I would love to put the six years of French that I took to good use, and would love even more to discover the amazing home fashions that will be on display at Maison & Objet. Just to walk the streets of Paris would be a dream! And who couldn’t use an unexpected 10 grand these days? “Hello” unfinished design projects!




And speaking of winners, I would like to properly introduce you to the winning eco-friendly chair from Project UDesign: the Alifair designed by Savannah College of Art and Design student Ryland Quillen. Even though my posts featured the Kona chair by Emily Carpenter, I thought each of the designs had style and merit. The well-tailored Alifair almost
looks a little French to me ...

Congratulations, Ryland, and to everyone who participated in and organized this inspiring competition. A little competition certainly goes
a long way in raising the bar on good design!

Some treats from New England Fine Living

Decorating idea: create a burlap runner, fray ends

Artichoke Lemon Pesto: a delicious hostess gift

A candy tower from The Dazzling Dot

Looking for costume jewelry this weekend?

{photo from NEFL website}

Aspen Mulling Spices
for hot and cold drinks


New England Fine Living
is open today until 4pm


Mark your calendar for next Saturday, Nov. 6th

Open House 10am to 4pm

For daytime vendor information click here.
Then join us from 7pm to 9pm for a festive

New England Fine Living
Pre-Holiday Party

I would love to see you there!

Playing dress-up ...

The beautiful and magical Glinda, “the good witch”
from the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz

Yesterday I took my littlest three guys to the Halloween store to pick out costumes for this weekend’s trick-or-treating adventures.

After over a decade of celebrating this be-whomever-you-want-to-be fantasy holiday with children of my own, I now have plenty of suitable costumes on hand for boys only (with the exception of my
childhood costumes, which I have been
saving for way too long now!)





In stock, I currently have three pirate suits, at least four ninja costumes, numerous skeletons, assorted Power Rangers, a variety of Batmen (both classic and dark) and a make-shift Robin (very hard to find a
Boy Wonder costume for some reason.)



One neighbor hands out candy the easy way


Hunting for an age-appropriate costume seems to be our biggest challenge these days. Walking past aisle after aisle of gruesome get-ups and “don’t go there, that’s the grown up section” made me long for
the times when I got to choose the costume.

My favorites are still home-made bunny with felt carrot from year one and bright and cuddly Tigger from year two. Now that everyone is old enough to use their own imagination when it comes to dressing up, I usually brace myself for the worst,
then try to talk them out of the costumes
that are too ugly to photograph.





This year we actually came to a costume compromise where I gave my approval to classic white face masks (that will be accessorized with black capes that we already have), one doctor’s overcoat, some bloody gauze and one weapon of destruction (I lost that battle!) Of course when we returned home, my youngest decided he no longer wanted the white mask, but instead was inspired to recycle an ensemble of all black items discovered in the costume bin (which
was what I wanted to do in the first place!)



Last year’s loot, artfully arranged


After enduring the chaos of situating everyone with their costumes, I sat down at the computer to check e-mails, etc. I ended up receiving a special treat ...





My submission to the DesignSherpa “What inspires you?” contest has officially been posted as one of the top 100 entries! This is the big news I mentioned awhile back. I am actually in the running to win a really cool prize which I am still almost
too afraid to say out loud! Curious?



“Click two times ...”

{Ruby slippers available at Toys R Us}


I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween
filled with more treats than tricks!

Overflowing fall arrangements

Last night Bert Ford of The Ford Flower Company in Salem, NH was the guest speaker at the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield. He is a new favorite of ours ... he shows up with buckets full of flowers, foliage, stalks and more then proceeds to whip up a half dozen or so over-the-top arrangements while entertaining us with his musings on the art of floral design. He always provides us with new ideas on how to put together stunning arrangements using the latest trends in
color combinations and container styles.

For this autumn cornucopia, Bert used floral foam both inside and at the top of the midpoint of the woven container. He cut the pink roses down to about a couple of inches and added them in clusters for more impact. Ornamental kale, sheaths of wheat grass and miniature white pumpkins keeps this non-traditional color palette looking autumn appropriate.

A wide wicker basket (it was around 2 1/2 feet across) is filled with PeeGee hydrangeas, pine cones, green apples, pears, hypernicum berries, ornamental kale, and grasses along with fresh lilies and “permanent” Gerbera daisies. I can picture this at the back of a buffet or in front of a fireplace. An arrangement like this is likely to last a few weeks or more.

A trick that is a treat: Bert used a floral foam “hat” on top of this uncarved muted colored pumpkin. The foam has a hole in the center, it goes on top of the pumpkin like a beret, and the stem secures it in place. Next, fake moss is glued to the foam. All floral added to this foam piece – from the Chinese lanterns to the Gerbera daisies to the red berry clusters – are fake so it will last from season to season. Simply remove the floral hat and store it till next year. No carving and no water required! The pumpkin sits within a wreath of red berries for additional color and visual balance.

Square containers are still very popular in floral design, however, utilizing horizontal branches placed radially in the arrangement adds movement to the design while creating a wider display. The curious creatures seen here were fashioned out of apples and pears that were spray painted black. Hypernicum berries were used for the eyes (use a pin to attach to the fruit) and thick grasses (also spray painted)
were used for legs. They are inserted into the
arrangement using black floral pics.

A carved pumpkin can hold a tall vase of flowers as this one does (a Village Garden Club member brought this decorative centerpiece to our meeting).

A footed dish with a display of oranges was a nice

autumn-colored touch on the refreshment table.

The Ford Flower Company
is holding their annual

Holiday Open House

Saturday, November 20, 2010
from 8am to 5pm
Sunday, November 21, 2010
from 11am to 4pm

Refreshments will be served and a 25% discount
on holiday merchandise will be offered.

Call 603-893-9955 for more information

Designing an exercise plan ...

balance by designvignettes featuring nike activewear tops

This weekend, I actually went out and stocked up on some comfortable yoga wear, a new core stability ball, and some fancy work out sneakers. I even got on the treadmill (see New Years Resolution #6)! My goal is to incorporate more body conscious activity into my daily routine. With all the time I spend at a computer, my back was feeling a little creaky. After one session of doing back bends over the ball (which is basically just lying down on it) I felt 100x better the next day! Plus I figure if I am wearing work out clothes while hanging around the house, I will probably feel more like dropping into a downward dog every now and then. And at the very least, if I incorporate sitting on the stability ball during my hour or so of television viewing at the end of the day (just trying to keep up with The Nate Show takes a good 4–5 hours a week) I will be working out without even trying! There is even a ball stabilizer kit available that can transform the ball into a desk chair. It is a look that would never make it into an interior design magazine, but it is something to think about for those of us committed to daily exercise with the least amount of effort : )

Fashionably late ...

I am still a little tired after attending last night’s Fashionably Late event in Boston at The Liberty Hotel. My darling niece, Taryn, was one of the models sporting designer clothing from National Jean Company and J Brand jeans along with some killer bags by Romygold at this Boutique Week event.
The show itself did not go on until 10pm and I did
not get home until well after 1:30am, so this post
will be more pictures than prose today!

The models arrived via escalator to then perch on tiny table tops scattered throughout the 2nd floor lounge at The Liberty after their initial catwalk around the perimeter of the 3rd floor walkway. Taryn was our favorite model, of course, but they all looked pretty good in their well-tailored jeans and casual layering.

How cute is she??!

The girls I sipped champagne with ...
Kathleen, Deborah (Taryn’s mom
and my sister-in-law), Maryann

In the crowd: Justin Brinkmeyer wearing a shirt
from his BeautyDesigned collection (find it here).

Taryn and I after the show
(with more champagne!)

To see a clip of Taryn modeling an outfit from
participating Thirty Petals Boutique on FoxNews
during a Boutique Week segment, click here.




Feel like shopping? Find out which fashionable
Massachusetts shops are offering special
Boutique Week discounts by clicking here.