The Little Designer Susan

As promised, you will find the lyrics to the song "The Little Designer Susan" as written and performed by my cute friend and co-worker, Anne. I chuckled when she said that she sang it for her husband, who was neither amused or understanding of the story line! When my friend Linda heard it, she said she was laughing inside, because she had heard me say so many of the things Anne wrote about! It was spot on. I, myself was impressed that so much of what I was feeling was noted and remembered.

The tune is that of "Away in a Manger". How I wish I could share a recording of her performance. I think those of you who know me well will really get a kick out of it, and those of you who don't know me as well will have some insight.Altogether, it was a thoughtful and entertaining gift of love.

The Little Designer Susan

Away in North Carolina
not enough stuff for the store.
The little designer Susan
must buy decorations and much more.
Boxes arriving every day now,
nowhere to put everything.
Glitter balls, pine cones and battery candles
garlands, trees and birds that sing.

It's time to decorate the store now,
prepared for this moment all year.
The little designer Susan
is worried and cries, "Oh dear!"
"Too much merchandise, where will we put it
what was I thinking, we have too much!"
"Place the ornaments, deck the halls,
cases, table top and such!"

Increased our hours to help her
we worked both night and day.
The little designer Susan
mumbled "I must call Linda today".
Can we stop now dear Susan
our feet hurt and we're tired?
She said " The store is not ready,
So much more is required!"

"Move the furniture, hang the balls lower
there 's no time for lunch here today."
The little designer Susan
Says," I don't like anything we did here today".
"Linda won't like it, hang more garlands
there's no vignette on that tree.
Where's my glasses, get my camera,
I will blog for all to see."

Decided to sell everything
in her house for fun.
The little designer Susan
Said, "Oh my, what have I done?'
No couch to sit on, no curtains
had to order a new bed,
Have to put it together
but "What the heck! Where's Fred!"

Tonight's our class, we made our deadline

there's not a bat in sight.

The little designer Susan

prepares  punch to our delight.

Light the candles, look your best

but, Oh, what's that smell?

A mouse died in the wall

can't think about it just "SELL"!

Here come the customers, ready to buy things

their purses are fat.

The little designer Susan

Shouts, "Wait! I can't sell that!"

"I just designed it. I'm not ready.

What will we put in its place?

You must come back after Christmas.

"For Heaven's Sake!"

All the while she was sad

and  had nothing for dinner

The little designer Susan

was growing thinner and thinner.

She had set-up's, Show houses

and a magazine article to do.

Nothing in her lunch box to eat

but a sweet potato or two.

Its Christmas! What can we get her?

What does she need the most?

The little designer Susan

said "I'm going home for tea and toast".

A dish for a casserole

we will wrap with care.

To  be passed and filled weekly

for she and Fred to share.

Shopping and holidays are upon us

times are stressful for sure.

The little designer Susan

surely needs this cure.

The buying season is almost over

most of the stuff is now gone.

Time to visit with family

celebrating Christmas where we belong.

A Black-eyed Susan Celebration

The Black-eyed Susan staff celebrated tonight together in the spirit of Christmas! What a delight, indeed.
We gathered in the festive surroundings of the thoroughly decked out retail store and shared a feast that was prepared by each one. Salads, desserts, appetizers and small bites. Yum!

My cute friend and business associate, Linda, came into town to observe the retail progress and the inventory levels. Good thing she shares my love of baking, because we spent the morning preparing our contributions to the feast.

We both had been wanting to try our hand at Pot de Creme chocolate pots, and so....we did! I happened to have a small set of vintage Pot de Creme pots (the ones shown with lids), and we also took inventory of the 11 demi-tasse cups from my favorite china collection. Definitely perfect for this delight! I know I owe you all a few recipes of late, and I will post this one for you soon. It's definitely worth the effort and easy!

This is our confection going into the oven...

I'm a bit peeved (as my mother would say!) that we got through the main courses before I thought to start my photo documentation...so the dessert portion is what I can now show you. What was I thinking? The spread was impressive with so many fine selections it was difficult to choose. So, we all had a bit of each! That's the way to celebrate!

Center front; Cindy's perfect chocolate covered strawberries!  Juliana's strawberryry/raspberry and blackberry pie did not disappoint! The completed Pot de Cremes found a place at the table as well.

Linda's caramel pecan cheesecake could rival anything you could find at the finest pattisiere. Oh. My. Good thing we made it by mistake with low fat cream cheese. Really.

Yet another mouth drooling shot of some of our confections. 

 

 

 I'm also sad that I did not think to document the entire staff together for your viewing. My heart was full of gratitude and tenderness for this dedicated staff of friends and co-workers and the hours of talent, sacrifice and support these past few weeks have demanded. It's been a very busy season! 

I'm going to make it a point to share some group photos of everyone soon. These ladies are to be admired. 

I also have a tender and entertaining song to share with you that was written (and sung!) by Anne! Tune in tomorrow for the lyrics to what could be the beginning of a Black-eyed Susan reality show!! 

Merry  Christmas to all.

sa

Nearing the end!

After a long day with a minimal design crew, Shannon and I felt totally satisfied with ourselves! That doesn't mean we weren't tired. 6 days of 14 hours takes its toll! Take a look at some of the progress we made.

We started out the morning creating a false ceiling or wintry twigs. White is so appealing.

I created this centerpiece using a large oval mirror as a base. My favorite greens, ornaments and my "magic" sugar pine cones made a dramatic statement. It's pretty instant! One of my holiday classes focuses on creating such centerpieces. You can take one home!

Early in the morning, one of our long time designer clients dropped in to get a sneak peek! He raved about my selection of greens this year. He said they we had the best selection he had seen. Now that made my heart sing a bit. It made those 6 days of 14 hours seem validated.

He did, however, make me sigh just a bit when he depleted my orange and green tree...you know how I am about my favorites.

We got all of the back stock ornaments into baskets and that was a real accomplishment. *Whew*

I have a great selection of snowy, calm branches...

Loads of quaint mache houses, this one in pale blue glitter!

And more Santas than you can count! Every color and size.

It's been a long week. Lots of help and lots of fun...lots of aching feet and sore backs. Loads of trash. LOADS.  Some discouragement. 

But all in all, a fulfilling week of creativity and vision. Tomorrow we hang the garlands, wreaths and swags. Ribbon selections, design visions and more suggestions for beauty in your home. 

I hope to see you soon!

On Trend...a peacock Christmas!

The creative team arrived at the store this morning with renewed energy and imagination muscles flexing!

We quickly picked up where we left off and began loading our baskets with Santas and tinsel trees, all colors and sizes. (Did we really have this many last year?!) Wow. So many to choose from.

Shannon headed up the team to sort and display all of the greens.I so wish I would have photographed that area for you! It is a veritable sea of greens. 

Anne took on the vintage reproduction houses, Santas and tinsel trees, quite a project!

I detailed and redressed several areas that we had begun yesterday. Mantles, coffee tables, side tables...

There was a creative joint effort to create a beautiful table of lanterns. Lanterns are a big focus in accessories currently. We have every size, finish and style there is! Come in and you will receive more inspiration than you can imagine for what to fill them with!

We ended the day a lot more tired and hope to recover for yet another thrust tomorrow. Take a look at some of the venues we created today!

A tight shot of our lantern display! Whether a candle, Santa, ornament or vintage book, these things are a key ingredient of interior style. Nestled among topiary trees, and earthy containers, this just warms my heart.

This porcelain deer bust might just be my favorite thing in the store right now! Add your own branches-voila! Antlers! Oh. My. love this!

Our teal story this year is all about accents. For the past three years, we have offered a blue and silver story, and true to form just when we moved on, the world embraces the color! We were smart enough to offer some tabletop, including ornaments in this trend color. You'd better come in early to get this color...there's not too much! I love the white glitter deer. The snowy garland adds softness and a lush interest. Gotta love that color.

Just sayin'

We reworked the French cupboard and added some trees, Santas and ornaments. Wow. That cabinet just supports whatever you place in it! Here's just a peek.

Shannon and Anne created an organic Christmas table. So delightful! The two trends to take note of in interiors this year are the impact of modernism and the juxtoposition of organic influences. It's pretty amazing how these two support each other and ground today's interiors.

Close up of my teal and silver mantle...snow really ads impact! Yummy.

This white glitter deer is  personal favorite. We love our deer in Bucks County! This kind is the best! tee hee

As with all trends, todays interiors are changing. Less is more is a good rule of thumb. While that is a bit difficult for me to adhere to, the entire design community rallys around this theme. Better get with the program! I can see the same thing happening with Christmas decor! Here is an example of less clutter, but enough layering for interest.

I created this mantle using a collection of grey/taupe plates,You can barely see the entire collection, hiding behind the cast urns. Signature books, and succulents are married with cherry sculptures and a bust of Shakespeare. Quite a nice little group of friends! These plates in the newest color of grey really speak to me. I had many comments on them already today! (I added a dreamy garland that you'll have to come in to see).

I was trying for bed before midnight. Very close. Tomorrow starts countdown. I'm a bit scared.

Creative slump...

After tackling the six trees in record time, the creative team has hit a little slump...We worked on tabletop most of the day, as well as mantles and garland placement. Anne and Shannon did a little chandelier embellishing with our ever-in-demand mercury finial ornaments. 

Some areas we were pleased with, but as the day into night wore on, we began to get a bit slap happy as we critiqued our designs. I will have to say that it is difficult to feel a sense of accomplishment when you leave the store in such turmoil! 

Boxes, ribbons, chenille wraps, more boxes, bubble wrap, wire ornament hooks, misplaced tabletop inventory from a few days prior...it all adds up to a rather chaotic state! I'm rather counting on a fresh start tomorrow with a fresh vision as well. We may start with rounds to review the designs of today and rethink several areas. 

see what I mean about the chaos? Boxes, trash, ornaments needing to be organized in baskets...we have to walk around all this to work!

Chandelier dripping with mercury finial ornaments! Yes, I also got gold this year per your requests.

Closeup of Santa, bottlebrush trees, deer and lambs. So cute!

Inside the blue French bibliotech. Those darling houses made it back into the mix again, Robin egg, Pale pink, white and graphite. Great mix.

Look at this unique clock face ( real working clock!) Shannon already took her's from the stock room...the team members get first pick, you might say! So many advantages to working "the night shift".

Maybe it's just the third day slump. 3-4 more days to go.

Off and Running!

I'm happy to report that day 1 was a success in the holiday setup! 

I neglected to photograph my team, but tomorrow...it's on my punch list! Connie headed up the organizational end, setting some big goals! Patty set to work sorting and organizing the ornaments,pulling them out of boxes and endlessly finding more. And more. And more. You get the picture. Anne, Shannon and I set out to design and trim several trees. Never mind the 10' tree we had to light...ugh. Connie and Shannon made short work of that.

My mother always taught me that "you can do anything on the buddy system". She was spot on! Everyone on my staff stepped up to the plate, sensing my heavy heart without Linda to help. I can say that I don't believe I have ever had so much support or help during a holiday setup. How thankful I am for such capable staff and friends. We had great conversation and laughs along the way. I turned the key in the door at 9:00pm! Home in time to watch the debate, download a few photos and post before 1:30am! All good.

 

This was the condition of the sales floor when we stepped through the doors this morning...

Lots of glitter (really?!) in all sizes. Box after box to unpack and prepare.

Metallic acorns!

This year's "wow" color! Find it mixed with silver, champaigne and creme. Beautiful.

A good start. I took this to show you the color pallet. We sent Linda some progress shots along the way.

Tight shot for detail!

 

This is Kara! We just call her pink girl. If it's pink, she's in love with it! I couldn't resist documenting her delight at finding these hot pink sequin spheres. You'll have to wait to see how they are used. You can, however, see this stylishly oh so pink velvet chair in person if you visit the store! Kara seems perfectly happy in this setting! So cute.

Gotta love pink! And yes, Linda had a hand in making this a color statement for BES 2012.

After two  tree designs tomorrow, we tackle the stockroom. Patty, we're counting on you!

Those of you who know me, know I'm a pushover for bottle brush trees. Here's a few of my offerings.

Candlesticks, lanterns, glass containers and a few surprises!

Cloches stocked for Holiday event; "Christmas Under Glass". You won't want to miss that one. Check the website for more information.

Connie and Patty were thrilled to see the beginning of several empty shelves. It is a happy sight.

 

 

 

 

 

After a long day with little break time, the early quit time was an unexpected surprise. I'd like to try that again.