heysusy

Moving Day!

Well, the day has finally come when I can show you what I've been working on over the summer, and into the fall. My new Susy Jack* website is now live, and starting with my next post, I will have a new home for my blogging, also.

Starting on Monday, I'll be posting over here at my new blog, exclusively. I'm thrilled to finally have my blog, shop, and studio in one venue. I hope you'll come and visit me often... I'll be posting more of my own work in style, pattern design, product design, and lifestyle, and of course, waxing poetic on paper clips and top hats, now and then.

See you on the flip side...

Can't wait.  xo! S

 

To Heaven in a Handbasket

A line I've always liked for it's color choices has expanded. Serena and Lilly started with baby bedding and now...well...I think the garage may be the only area of the home they aren't extending into. Unless you need a Moroccan pouf or two as decor for your garage. And hey, who doesn't, really.

My personal favorite product of theirs are their Senegalese baskets. These are lovely for so many reasons -- fair trade, made of recycled plastic -- and sold in sets OR singles for storage. But, I think my favorite thing about them is the way they use color in a new and innovative way. The classic shape and construction of the basket is brought to a new place with colors that *almost* fight with one another...and contrast in a really interesting way. These have an edgier feel than the rest of their line, and I also like them for that reason.

See all the varieties here

Delicacies { Lace Eggs }

 

I thought these handmade decorative lace-etched eggs were a really fun follow-up to the antlers that I posted on Friday. There is something so interesting about the choice of an egg for something so intricate and painstaking as this lace carving...the contrast is really quite striking!

Found here. You can also watch a video of these eggs being created by artist Beth Ann Magnuson here - not only does she carve them, she hand-draws their designs. I highly recommend it!

 

 

Weekender { Headgear }

I would love to meet the animal who grew these... Perhaps our paths will cross  in a dream... anyway, their twists, turns, and graceful shapes of this antler sculpture art seemed like an appropriate send off to le weekend!

These naturally shed antlers are lovingly painted by Cassandra Smith and available via her Etsy Shop. I think they would make a great decor item for a coffee table -- so they could be seen "in the round". What do you think?

Have a wonderful weekend, and to those of you who commented, tweeted, and facebooked about the Susy Jack and Blue Sky Target items yesterday, a huge thank you. Your support means the world to me, and makes me feel so good!

x s

Decor J'Adore

Normally I try very hard not to post things from Anthropologie here. Not because they are not beautiful, because they are...but because I want to show you guys that I try a little harder to post things from places that are not the usual suspects, and since Anthro gets a lot of blog play, I feel like that territory is already covered. Hopefully, you know what I mean.

But, the other day I did come across this shelf set, which I think is wonderful, and because of it's simple style, I thought it fit right in here at my blog. Actually, I think whoever is picking the furniture for Anthro these days is doing a great job. They have some really great pieces that are very simple - not over-ornate or too thematic. I also thought this couch was great. The colors are different, and I like the way the design uses the contour of the couch. By NY textile artist Fred Shand.

Circular Shelf Bookcase Here
Fred Shand Sofa Here
Fred Shand's Site Here 

Have a wonderful 4th of July Weekend, everyone! x S

Please Be Seated { angela angle's chairs }

I came upon Angela Angle's interior design work on Monday and found it really interesting. There is something very different about the way she uses space, color and furniture. Do you see what I mean from the photos above?

I was especially taken by some of the concepts involving chairs. After all, chairs are for sitting. But they also have personalities of their own. She uses scale, color, and placement to create not only a somewhere to sit, but a new personality that is waiting for you to come into the room, and a feeling of a dreamily separate space, colored by memory.

More to see here. Also worth noting are her bedrooms - so simple, kind of hotel or summer house esque. Underdesigned but fascinating. I really like the way they feel.

Wood Works { parquet inspiration }

I am not really a decor hound. But there are a few things that I am absolutely firm on about where I live. Wood floors are one of them. Walking on a wood floor after being somewhere with a concrete or wall to wall floor, to me, feels almost as good as walking on the grass after spending too much time on the street. 

Add a great pair of artisan crafted boots to the equasion, and you have the satisfying, clunk, clunk, clunk sound that the cowboys made when they walked into the saloon in the old days. Now *that* is a treat to be savored!

While more appropriate for waltzing, rather than spurs a jangling, the pattern designer in me is totally in love with anything parquet at the moment. I just adore the contrast in the grain, and the lovely geometry in the motifs. It's such a great synthesis of the predictable and the natural.

More about the art of Parquetry Here

and it's sister: Marquetry, which involves curved wood Here

Enjoy!

****update**** forgot one! see below...this may be my fave!

Open Endings { sculptural decor }

Today...a little furniture lust... I was taken by the shape of this table up top. It's made from an old barn beam. I really like the way the base makes one question what it is first, and then begin to think of ways to use it. One thing I love in design, is when an object serves a purpose, but also encourages more creativity.

Same goes for these tables. They're also made of reclaimed barn beams. I think my humongous vase would look great on these. What d'ya think?

Top: here
Bottom: here

 

WEEKENDER

While weekends are by their nature, all quite wonderful, I hope mine is like the rocking chair. Relaxed, rambling, dreamy, comfortable, yet stylish...a real classic!

What kind of chair will your weekend be like?

I hope whatever it's like, it's very YOU.

More about Thonet and his four legged friends here.

xx S

World Series

I fell instantly under the spell of this gorgeous art print series by illustrator Valero Doval... These would look so beautiful framed and decorating a study or library... I love the painstaking handmade collage look and the rich pops of color in this series of prints, titled Wonderful World.

It's wonderful indeed.
Available as a set here