Kristin Nicholas' colorful dining room mural
Good Evening Colorful Friends -
As November progresses, I keep thinking more and more about the Thanksgiving Feast we will be hosting here at the farm. My family gathers for a good old fashioned country holiday celebration. The communally prepared feast and the hayride through the hills is one of my favorite days of the year. Each year we take a photo on top of the hill. The cousins are getting older - many are away at college now. No, my sisters and I and our better halves- we are just staying the same age! This year we will be celebrating my Mom's 80th birthday too.
Thanksgiving is the big day for our dining room. It is the one day that the table gets cleared of shipping supplies and paper work and we actually enjoy the painted mural that I added to the walls. That mural has been featured in Country Home Magazine, The Boston Globe, on the Houzz.com website (click here for that article) where it was incredibly popular, and in my upcoming book Crafting a Colorful Home (January 2015, Roost Books)
Did you know that I have a small line of wallpaper based on the dining room mural? The lovely women at Casart Wall Coverings contacted me after they saw our farmhouse featured on Houzz.com. They sell three panels which I handpainted to their specs that are available as removable wallpaper. They are having a Fall 20% Off promotion on 4 different colorways on all three of my panels - Butternut, Maize, Pumpkin Sunset and Melon. Pumpkin Sunset is the closes to our dining room walls.
The removable wallpaper comes in 2 paper weights - "regular" and "lightweight". It also comes in two heights - 8 and 10 feet tall and two widths - 44 and 52" wide. The photo at the bottom of this email shows the 3 panels on a plain white background so that you can see all the design elements of each panel. Check out the Casart website for all the information. Prices range from $218 to $347 depending on height, width of panel, and weight of paper ordered. Samples are available for $9.00 and for this month, there is a 20% discount on the 4 colors mentioned above.
You can see a before and after of a entryway featuring my Casart removable wallpaper here. My friends Lori and Chris purchased a single panel for their entry to their home. They said it was so easy to hang and makes a very cheerful entryway. If they move, they can take the panel with them and install it in their new home! Cool.
Enough about the wallpaper - onto some knitting ideas! Are you looking for some gift knitting ideas. I have lots of little and quick knits perfect for DIY knit-gifting. Below is my Easy Aran for Babies, Toddlers, and Kids and my Farmgirl Stocking Cap. Hard to believe Julia is a teenager now. I loved that little pink coat.
Check out all my knitting patterns here or on my Ravelry Store here.
Now for a little more color - On the blog this week, I posted some November colors from a walk in the orchard with the dogs. Click here to see the photos of the dogs, the sheep, and nature.
Here are some good things I found on the web this week.
* Do you know the Wovember website? Each year, a team of knitters and fiber enthusiasts creates web content to share with the world in November. There are several interesting posts a day and beautiful photos of sheep, wool, and yarn. You can sign up for their daily emails and celebrate wool this entire month. Thank you Team Wovember. What a labor of love.
• If you are an artist or designer who has ever dreamed about licensing your work, listen to this interview over at Monica Lee's Smart Creative Women. Marty Segelbaum, Art Licensing Agent tells it how it is. Fascinating.
• Abby Glassenberg did a survey with 6 designers who sell their artwork for quilting fabric. Her blog post about the amount of money the artists actually make is incredibly revealing. Check it out here.
• Diane of Crafty Pod wrote a very informative post called "Is It Worth It To Write a Craft Book." Check it out here if you have visions of authorship. Diane is spot-on and I should know - I have written my fair share of craft books.
• My friend Sarah Delaney is a new instructor on Craftsy where I also teach. Her class is called My First Crochet Cardigan and you can find it here.
That's it for this evening. Read on below for some more information. If you have any questions about the wallpaper, Ashley at Casart Wallcoverings is so helpful. They are a small, women run business so you can expect good service and lots of guidance.
Have a colorful week everyone!
Kristin Nicholas
I have two fantastic Christmas Stocking Collections. Above is the Creative Christmas Stockings - 6 patterns featuring Fair Isle and Embroidery techniques.
Below is my Colorful Christmas Stocking Collection. Designed to be a bit easier to knit, only one color is used in a row or round.
Check out all my knitting patterns here or on my Ravelry Store here.
I know it seems like it isn't quite time yet but it isn't too early to be thinking about holiday cards. I have 3 sheep related holiday cards in my webshop. You can purchase them as sets of 5 for $15.00 or as sets of 10 for $25.00.
If you would like them assorted, just leave a note in the order with how many of each.
Free How-To Tutorial on the blog
I have just published a new FREE Tutorial for How to Sew a Removable Flap Back Pillow.
I used my new Circles Sampler Embroidery PDF as the sample. Check out the Tutorial Here. Did you miss the new Crewel Embroidery Design? Check it out here. I also have a kit available on my Supplies page here for $46.00. Might make a nice Christmas Gift?
Here's the cover of my upcoming book Crafting a Colorful Home. The book will be available signed by me on publishing day January 20, 2015 on my website soon. I can't wait to the printed book.
Click here for the Embroidery Hoop Lanterns project from the book on the Roost blog. This is a super easy to make project which would make fun Christmas gifts.
