Late June News from Kristin Nicholas Designs

Hello Colorful Friends!

A bit of exciting news to share with you all today. Next Wednesday, I will be at the Google offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts to present a "Talk At Google." I am so thrilled to have been invited to share my love of pattern, color, and handmaking with some of the interested staff. I have been developing a slide show and working on the visuals of the presentation this week. Hopefully it will be videotaped and I will be able to share the talk with all of you via Google's "Talk At Google" YouTube channel. I made a "Google Doodle" to share with the folks at Google. If you know of anyone working at the Cambridge offices who might be interested, please share this information with them.

A giant thank you to everyone who answered my call in the last newsletter for Book Reviews on the Amazon selling page for my new book Crafting A Patterned Home. I had 3 reviews when I asked a couple weeks ago and now - THANKS TO MANY OF YOU - I am up to 35 reviews! You all delivered. THANK YOU! It may seem silly that I am asking for Amazon reviews when I am also selling books directly but publishing is a very difficult, crazy complicated business at the moment. My publisher has told me that if a book has more than 50 reviews, it rises higher in search engines - thus more possible copies sold. Although i do not make any extra money off of Amazon sales, more book sales numbers will help me to secure another book contract if I can think of anything new to write about.
Here is the link to post a review to help me get past 50 reviews if you can spare a minute. Thank you. Of course, I still have books for sale - see below.

This past week, many knitters learned what happens when support wanes for a flagship company. Sadly, my former employer Classic Elite Yarns is closing up after almost 40 years in business. I wrote about it here on my blog. Blog traffic has been very brisk with over 17,000 readers of this one post. You can read that post here. I wish all the employees of Classic Elite the best of luck finding a new job. I am sure that it will be a difficult transition for all of them as it was the passion for the yarn and the handknitting industry that kept many of them there working hard to keep it all going. Classic Elite Yarns will be sorely missed in the handknitting industry.

I have the following One Day Retreats coming up here this summer. To register, scroll to the end of the Classes page and you will see each One Day Retreat listed. Price is $199 and includes most supplies, morning snacks, lunch and beverages and farmhouse tour. It is a great time so please think about coming to our farm. Hours are 9:30 to 4. There is also an option for Two Day Retreats for each weekend. See more photos at the end of this newsletter. SEE THIS PAGE ON MY WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO.

August 11 - Decorative Furniture Painting $199

August 12 - Fabric Printing $199

July 29 - Fabric Printing + Decorative Embroidery $199

July 30 - Ceramic Tile Design $199

September 23 - Color for Knitters and Crocheters and Embroidery on Knit/Crochet $199

September 24 - Crazy Swatch Afghan $199

I know a Creative Retreat here at Leyden Glen Farm is on a lot of people's bucket lists. Honestly though, enrollment has been a bit slow this year and so I am rethinking if I will continue hosting these. This is the 10th year I have held these Creative Retreats. That is a long time - a decade! Hard to believe. Since I began, more and more retreats and creative events have popped up and it is difficult for little old me to compete. So think seriously about coming if you really have wanted to. Here is the page for more information and to sign up.

I'm still shipping my new book Crafting A Patterned Home directly. Purchase a copy and you will get a signed copy along with a lovely Kristin designed hand painted bookplate and a set of colorful postcards, and free shipping by USPS Media Mail. Thanks so much everyone for all your support. I have sold in excess of 300 books so far. This book would make a lovely shower gift or housewarming gift.
You can pre-order over on my website here.
You can also pre-order on my Etsy Shop here.

Last week, Julia and I spent the week on an island in Maine. While I was there, I recharged my batteries (highly recommended). I spent many hours leafing through my friend Sally's collection of World of Interiors. Although I could have easily done the same thing at home, I don't ever have a chance to sit still. Below are some of the fabulous things I found in the pages of the mag from years past.

This week's interesting links:
• The Life on a Leaf House by artist Jan Erik Andersson. He and his family live in a complete work of art house. Video here.
• Anandamayi Arnold's Surprise Balls.
• If I ever get to London again, I need to go to this fabric store The Cloth House. They also do mail order.
• Ruurd Wiersma was a milkman all his life in The Netherlands. He painted in secret. Here are photos of his incredible home which is now a museum.
and some other things I found this week while at home -
• There is a new Frida Kahlo exhibit at the V&A.
• Have you ever thought of using crushed sea shells for pathways. This is cool.
• Jill Ker Conway, the first female President of Smith College, passed away a few weeks ago. Her books The Road from Coorain and True North were favorites of mine. I am going to try to re-read both of them this summer.

We have a new litter of adorable kittens. Two of the three have homes (they all did but someone just backed out). Here is a photo of two of them. The fluffy one at the top of the photo is the kitten that is available.

Wishing you all a lovely first weekend of Summer 2018!

Yours in color and creativity,

Kristin Nicholas

www.kristinnicholas.com
getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/

Decorative Furniture Painting August 11 - 4 spaces left

Fabric Printing - August 12 and July 28

Fabric Printing with Linoleum Blocks - August 12

Embroidery on Hand Printed Fabric July 28

Ceramic Tile Design July 29

Crazy Quilt Swatch Afghan September 23

Embroidery on Knits September 22

Small class size adds intimate learning experiences!

A fun video of our farm, our farmhouse, and my family. Our farm is located 2 hours from Boston and 3 1/2 hours from NYC. We are at the northern most part of western Massachusetts bordering Vermont. Our farm is 15 minutes off of Route 91, the north/south highway connecting Montreal to NYC.