My Trip to Ireland

About a month ago, my friend John Cohn, asked me if I wanted to go to Ireland for four days.  It sounded a bit crazy - but he had won a trip to Dublin - everything included.  I said why not and he told me the only stipulation was that I couldn't bring a thing - nothing - nada.  So, last Saturday, off we went to the airport - with nothing but the clothes on our back - and a tube of lipstick tucked in my pocket!  When we arrived in Dublin, our cab driver Seamus asked us where our luggage was...we told him we didn't bring any.....he laughed so hard and said in his "turty" years of driving a cab, no one had ever arrived from America without a bag.  He immediately began calling his friends and family members and relaying the story - keeping one eye on the road and laughing all the while.  Once the novelty had worn off - he dropped us off at O'Neals Pub, in the center of town and we went in and had ourselves a hearty Irish Breakfast.

Next stop,  we visited the Guinness Storehouse - which completely changed my idea of what an exhibition should be - ancient, authentic building, large, readable type, interactive and clear sound.  I was so inspired!  Learning to pour a pint and drinking Guinness in the Gravity Bar was also a treat.  Throughout the week,  we visited the Jamison Distillery, Dublin Castle, Trinity College and St. Patricks Cathedral.  Oh...and we shopped for a few necessities - a change of clothes and some walking shoes!

One morning, we woke up early and walked over to Adam's Auction House - next door to the Shelbourne Hotel.  We registered our names and picked up a paddle - hoping to find some old textiles in Dublin.  Within minutes of the auction starting, a spoon came up for sale.  It was a  George II Irish Hanoverian Pattern Hash Spoon - 1754 - and sold for 12,000 euros!  Finally, a textile came up that I fell in love with - unfortunately it was upholstered to a 19th century English settee. I snapped a few photos of the print - which I think would make a beautiful pattern in a quilting collection.
It was a fun four days in Dublin - we walked all over - were inspired by everything - just the kind of break I needed!

A Day of Paper Arts and Crafts

Years ago,  at a dinner party, I met a woman named Joan Bunte.  Joan took me under her wing and has kept me there ever since - pushing me to do more... design paper, teach more, and basically put myself out there...something I avoided for many years.  For the past twenty years, Joan has owned a scrapbooking shop in Claremont, California called Stamp Your Heart Out, where she stocks the shelves with all of the latest and greatest paper supplies, stamps, and creative bits and pieces for people to create with.  Joan also hosts weekly workshops taught by visiting teachers and her fabulous employees.  It is always a good day when I make my way out to Claremont for a day of festivities at Joan's shop.  To coincide with the debut of our new paper arts line with Jolee's Boutique, Joan and her staff are hosting a day of all things French General - crafting, creating, eating and lots of inspiration!  If you live in the Los Angeles area, or might be visiting on Sunday, April 15th - please plan to come out for the day!  Sign ups and information are here.  See you in Claremont!

Turkey Red Damask and the Weaver's Wife

Three words I never knew I would write together - turkey red damask. And then, digging at a flea market, I found this....

Twenty one differnt turkey red damask scraps sewn together to make a tablecloth, picnic blanket or panel? Maybe it was sewn together by the wife of a mill weaver - he brought home a scrap of everything he was able to weave on the loom for posterity.   I think the graphics and different odd shapes make this a real find - and I love how all of the reds are the same hue. I don't know if it's American, French or English...but I'm loving it and can see a great cheater cloth for a Moda collection!

More details and history of Turkey Red Damask from Martha.

To Remember....

I'm headed out to New York today, not for business or a bead dig...but to remember an old friend who passed away in December. Molly, Ryan and I are meeting up in the Big Apple to celebrate the life of a girl we all loved - and considered as close as family. Suzanne was one of Molly's closest friends in high school and moved to New York to experience everything - once, or maybe twice. I think a lot people move to New York City for this reason - to try out something different - I know I did. I wanted to live in a big city, meet strange people and live on the edge. Suzanne moved to New York to live in a 100 year old walk-up building, eat out every night and make a difference in the advertising world. I am nervous and excited about celebrating a life that was cut short - but I know that everyone I see this weekend will have a story to tell about Suzanne and we will all feel just a little bit closer to her for 48 hours. Au revoir my friend....

A Bag of Winners

I wish I could send everyone a bag of our paper scraps....it is so hard to only give away a handful! But, I have to limit myself or I will be packing and shipping for the next week! So, without further ado...the winners, chosen randomly, are:
Babsarella
Jen Clair
Lisa from Lisa Call Designs
Nancy from Silly Stitching
Kimberly Jones, and
April Sunshine
Please send a note to notions@frenchgeneral.com with Scrap Winner written in the subject line and we will send out a bag of bits and pieces from the new paper collection with Jolee's Boutique. Once you have made up something beautiful, please send us a picture so we can share your work with everyone!
Thanks for playing along - and keep your eye out for the collection to be in craft and scrapbook shops this Spring!

Scraps of Paper Giveaway

After our Art of Craft weekend, I am left with a bag full of scraps from our new paper craft line with Jolee's Boutique. I would love to send some bits out to someone who would like to create something beautiful.

So here are the rules....

1. Leave me your name.
2. If you receive a bag of scraps, create something beautiful.
3. Send a picture to me at notions@frenchgeneral.com
4. Be willing to let me show it here on the blog when our paper line is released in May 2012.

That's all...just a few guidelines...anyone up for the challenge? You've got nothing to lose, except an hour of creativity! Here we go.....

What is Inspiration?

Lately I have been plagued with the idea of art and craft and how we come to create our own style. I am inspired by so many things every day...music, nature, color, beads, Sofia, stripes, old houses, museums, magazines, textiles, flea markets, friends, France, food, family...the list goes on and on. How can we own one idea when we all are influenced by so many of the same ideas? How is it that we presume to think that since we created something, we own it? Isn't every great design simply an interpretation of an older design? Shouldn't all of our life be about sharing something we create in order to inspire others? Maybe this is too optimistic - maybe we haven't developed enough to carry this out - but I believe that if we are all going to move forward in this big world of creative design, we need to always create from within and credit those who have inspired us. I have been in the creative business long enough to have been scarred by the feeling that someone "knocked me off" - it made me sick - to death. I had to take a backseat and begin again, begin from the point of owning nothing but wanting to explore everything, again, for the first time. The anxiety that comes with feeling ripped off or copied is a very negative feeling - one that works against the creative process. There will always be people who want to profit from someone else's hard work - but hopefully, they will learn to develop their own sense of style if they hope to stay afloat. Maybe we should be willing to let people be inspired by us - just a bit - so that we are pushed to develop more. I have always hesitated writing about this - becasue it is such a hot spot for so many people - but I think the time has come for everyone to admit that inspiration comes from all of us and we couldn't do what we do without everyone that has come before us.

Woading in Elysian Park

I guess I am addicted to Woad! I have dyed with the natural weed seven times now, and by the end of this summer I will have done it another it another four times! I still get excited by the process and the technique - I actually learn something new every time. Something happens when you gather with a group of curious crafters and spend five hours together - dipping whites into huge vats of different shades of blue. Denise, the master woad dyer, who visits from France, likens it to a sort of magic. In fact, in the 17th century, woad was considered a type of alchemy - a mystical process that turned fabric from acid yellow, to bright green and finally to a deep, rich shade of blue - what is now known as the eponymous French Blue.

If you haven't joined us for a day of Woad, consider signing up for our Spring Workshop, to be held Saturday, May 5th from 9-4. We gather at French General in the morning for coffee and snacks, then carpool up to a historical field in Elysian Park - about 5 minutes away - where we meet Denise and hear about the history of woad. After donning our blue aprons and gloves, we set to work dying everything in sight - feel free to bring your white smocks, aprons, tennis shoes and napkins - anything natural soaks up the dye beautifully and reinvents itself! After a hearty lunch at the picnic tables, we return to the vats to finish up and then head back down the hill to French General for a glass of Lillet and a wrap-up of the day. I'm always surprised how we all like gathering afterwards for a show and tell - everyone has a woad story.
Since we began hosting these workshops, word has gotten out and we now help plan two other workshops - one in Seattle and one in New York - both run by woad aficionados!

See more images of a Woad Workshop - all photographs by Colin Cooke, master Woad photographer!

Art of Craft Wrap-up

Another creative-filled weekend has come and gone - but what fun we had! This year we had students from all of the US come for three days to make jewelry, stitch a sailor's valentine, build a valentine box, collage a monthly book and paint with beeswax. A big thank you to all of the teachers for giving so much of themselves, to the students who tapped deep into their creative spirit and to the crew who helped pull this off - yet again! Here are just a few snaps of the fun we had at the annual Art of Craft workshops held at French General....

If you would like to join us for next years event, please sign up at Art of Craft for advance notice of all of our workshops!

Millinery at French General!

Come learn to make a custom, hand-blocked hat at French General this Saturday, February 4th. Join Michelle Jorgensen as she walks us through the basics of hat making and learn to create a beautiful chapeau - that fits perfectly on your head! Embellish your hand-blocked straw hat with vintage French ribbon and flowers to make it look like an old hat right out of the millinery factory in France!

Let the Workshops Begin!

It's time for our annual Art of Craft event this weekend!  Three days of creative workshops taught by friends and artists from near and far.  If you haven't been to a workshop at French General and would like to try one - this is the perfect time.  Project based classes, each three hours long and all the materials are provided.  We still have a couple of spots left and would love to have you join us!  Please call the shop to sign up and we'll save you a seat!

Molly, the Magic Coat and an Ikat

A couple of summer's ago in France, we were digging at a flea market in Caylus, and I came upon an old quilted coat. I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of a quilted coat, but I loved the idea that there were two different fabrics, the liner and the outer fabric. Both fabrics, I thought, I could use for our Moda fabric collection. I took the coat back home to the chateau and showed it off during our show and tell time before dinner. Molly immediately gravitated towards it (or did I make her put it on?) and modelled it for everyone to see the beautiful details and masterful stitchery. We laughed and laughed and then, somehow I put the coat away and almost forgot about it.
Until a week ago, when I was sorting through a pile of old fabric from France, looking for inspiration for our new line, and found the coat. The first thing I did, was put it on and was instantly reminded how much we laughed that summer in France when Molly would wear the coat - just to stay warm at night! We made up fanciful stories about the old, grand chateau owner, who had no heat and resorted to having one of his 18th century quilts made into a robe or smoking jacket...just to stay warm.

Pulling the magic coat out, I realized I had forgotten that inside the lining of the two fabrics, was yet another fabric - one that had been covered up by a 19th century floral. I spent a weekend (yes, a whole weekend!) completing the task of pulling out each and every stitch so I could remove the outer layer of fabric and get to what had been hiding underneath. I had no idea what I would find, but after seeing a small corner - I knew I liked what I saw.

What I found was an 18th century French linen ikat - in perfect shape, not a hole to be found. I think it had probably been covered simply because someone was tired of the design and wanted to update the quilt.
An ikat fabric is woven using a very complicated dyeing technique. The dyes are applied to the yarns prior to weaving which will create designs on the finished fabric. Depending on the pattern, specific areas of the warp and/or weft threads are are protected from dye to prevent them from absorbing color. When the threads are dyed, each thread will have different color pattern along its length. When the threads are ready for weaving, each thread has to be lined up perfectly on the loom. The warp thread is first to be set on to the loom, and then one must keep all threads in position very carefully to achieve the desired pattern in the final weaving of the textile. There is natural movement in these threads, which give an slightly feathered, or blurred look to the final textile.
To say I was blown away - is to put it mildly! Funny how one little textile can create so much excitement and then spur me on to search for as much information as I can get my hands on. The funniest part of the magic coat story is that I would have never known the little gem that was hiding inside had I not been curious...and taken the coat apart. So, I guess the moral of this story is....always look deeper, there may be something beautiful hiding inside!

Working on a Notion or Two....

The new year has started off with a bang - and a whole lotta work! We've finished all of the final details on the new paper crafts line and are getting ready for the launch at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) at the end of the month. CHA is a yearly show held in Anaheim, California that showcases all sorts of paper, fabric and jewelry crafts for the trade.

EK Success asked us to help make a short video featuring the inspiration behind the line, as well as some fun, creative ways to use the collection. Luckily, my brother-in-law, Ryan, happens to be a talented film and video master, so we were able to work together to create a snappy, fun video showing off the Jolee's Boutique French General line.

After working on the collection, for almost a year, I am excited to see if everyone out there will have as much fun with the line as we are having. The notions and embellishments are some of my favorite bits...and makes me remember (almost 15 years ago when we opened French General) my dad saying - "Are you really sure this notion idea is going to work?"

I'm hoping it does work! We'll have plenty of samples in the shop in the next few weeks, so please come by and see what we have been up to!

Friday the 13th and other Fears

Wow - I am overwhelmed by the honesty and insight from so many people who left comments. Thank you for digging deep and writing down your desires, dreams and fears. To our lucky winner Kate, I think at one point in all of our lives we have all felt this way - the good news is, once you leave behind the fear of being yourself, you will soar and become the person you were meant to be. Good luck!

Un, Deux Trois Club Giveaway

For the past few years, we've had a jewelry club at French General called Un, Deux, Trois, which consists of a necklace, bracelet and earring kit that can be worn together. It's been a fun run and we've designed over 40 sets that have been filled with vintage glass, old brass findings and charms.
But, alas, all good things must come to an end...the Un, Deux, Trois Club will be around for just three more months. If you would like to sign up for our last three months, you have one more chance!
In celebration of something new and exciting coming from something old, we thought we would give away our January Un, Deux, Trois Kit. The Fleurs de Nuit kit has all the soft shades of old white accented with brass flowers and old Japanese glass pearls. You need just a couple of jewelry tools and a bit of glue to create this set of jewelry.
Leave us a comment about what you are leaving behind to make way for something new in 2012 - we'll chose one lucky winner on Friday, January 13th.

Bonne Chance!

Where Did the Time Go?

The last time I looked at a calendar it was December 21st...I was throwing our annual tamale party - which had been scaled down due to the fact that everyone I knew was sick or about to be sick or just getting over the sickness. How does that always happen right around the holidays??
It was just that kind of Christmas. Christmas Eve at my parent's house and a couple of weeks spent walking, talking, eating and relaxing. A friend texted me and said, "You're not in college anymore Kaari - you can't just move home for two weeks!" But I said - yes, yes you can. All seven of us moved home for the long haul.
My parent's live near the beach, so a lot of time is just spent looking south out their windows, towards Catalina Island. It's an amazing view - it's hard to take for granted. "Oh look there goes another pod of dolphins...or whales..." You can understand why we don't get much done - besides walking the beach, sitting at the kitchen table, eating and looking out the windows.
After doing this for two weeks, you start to forget about regular life. You forget about work, school, deadlines and any sort of stress. It's a great way to start the year - I highly recommend it. Then New Year's rolls around and I thought I had everything back in order only to end up cancelling our New Year's Dinner because there were too many sick guests! Welcome 2012!

Visiting Los Angeles This Weekend?

Just in case you happen to find yourself in Los Angeles this weekend and are looking for a bit of crafty holiday inspiration - why not join us for our Gilded French Holiday Workshop on Saturday, December 17th from 4-9! Join Shea Fragoso, Debbie Murray and myself as we each teach three festive workshops - an ornament, a tree and a bracelet! We'll have plenty of holiday cheer, as well as some of our favorite students in the house, for an evening of fun! Sign up at frenchgeneral.com or give us a call at (323)668-0488.

Shea Fragoso's Sparkle Ornament

Debbie Murray's Lace Tree

Kaari Meng's Ruby Bracelet

Paper Arts and Crafts

After years of thinking about it, mapping it out in our heads and dreaming up all sorts of creative inspiration...we have finally designed our first paper arts line!

Filled with all of the old bits and pieces from another time, our first collection, with EK Success for Jolee's Boutique, will be available in all the best craft stores, including Michael's, in the Spring of 2012.

Although this line is perfect for people who love to scrapbook, I hope that it translates to all other sorts of paper crafts - packaging, collaging and decorating your favorite inspiration boards.

All of our favorite old textiles and patterns have been reproduced onto beautiful card stock as well as textured adhesive backed paper.

And of course there are lots of tags, notions and old French paper bits - with twine, ribbon and lace included to make sure everything feels authentic and very French General.

We've worked hard on this collection to make sure everything layers and mixes well - and hopefully you will enjoy crafting with it, as much as we enjoyed designing it!