budding art collectors

My client requested "butterflies."

One blue.

One orange.

A budding "pve" art collector!

I love knowing that my work has a young audience and I love that a gift of art will last a lifetime.

Do you have any budding pve collectors?

Light up - give-away

pve design holiday card

Holiday Rock Center tree lighting (available at pve shop etsy)

Let the fun and games begin. There are certain momentous occasions along with landmarks that not only play a role in shaping our memories, they are one part history and then just pure joy. The "lighting" of the New York Holiday Tree at Rock Center for me marks the start of "bright lights, big city and holiday fun!"

Pop on over to "Domestic Ease" today where I am honored to give-away a little "light-up" to your Holidays! What sorts of events mark the start of the holidays to you?

marshmallows & hot cocoa

Awoke to a nip in the air and cravings for marshmallows and hot cocoa.

Then I thought of the design of this "Marshmallow sofa" by George Nelson.

I wonder if George was inspired by marshmallows and hot cocoa when he designed this?

Enjoy life's sweet designs.

saturday "seasonal" secrets

Welcome home wreaths grace doors, it's no secret....

It's beginning to look a lot like...

the holidays.

Adding fashionably festive touches to one's home adds a refined warmth to entertaining.

I love H & H's Suzanne Dimma's seasonal secrets.

Love seeing the before and after of her "Holiday home."

Care to share some of your seasonal secrets to adding festive touches to your home?

Enjoy your Saturday!

in the black

deck the halls in black for black friday

cape from Gryphon-NY

Don we now our black apparel

tis the season to proceed with

Caution.

Double Black diamond experts will be hitting the stores

while I dream of a black magic tub.

or a quiet black corner

or to ponder the leftovers

or to get someone's goat?

Burberry leather gloves

who are we kidding?

red bowl from heath ceramics

Coupons and commercials try to bowl us over~and beckon us to shop

anticipating bundles to drop

and to put us all

"in the red."

red currant from benjamin moore

Well in the mood for red anyway, right?

A bucket of red seems fun right now.

What inspires you today, on black friday?

Happy Turkey Day

I quickly sketched this up and printed it off to glue to some brown kraft paper wrapped bottles of wine to give and tied the top with ribbon and feathers! Wishing each of you a Happy Turkey Day full of love, happiness, grazing and primping of feathers. Hope each of you know just how thankful I am for you. Enjoy the day.

turkey buster

not me, but love this image~

Today, I played tennis and had a one hour "turkey buster" work-out! Enter the holiday season and lots of calories. This season, remind yourself to "earn it." Eat for nourishment. Work-out for your heart and good health. Drink plenty of water. Eat all your veggies and fruits. Limit your sugars and load up on healthy fresh snacks, crudite, raw nuts and sparkling waters.

Will you be turkey busting or basting?

daily bread (gift-away)

I adore really good breads.

There is something sacred about baking bread and then breaking bread around the table.

In 1983, Daniel Leader put his life in his hands. He left his job in New York City and moved his family to the Catskill Mountains and started Bread Alone Bakery with one goal in mind:

To bake wholesome and organic bread on the hearth of a wood-fired brick oven.

Today Bread Alone is~

Handcrafted, organic, whole grains, local, healthy

How simple, creating each artisan loaf by hand every day from little more than organic whole grains, water and sea salt.

Wishing each of you a simple Thanksgiving with bread on your table for breaking, and sharing.

Today, my gift-away is from Bread Alone, Two Books by Daniel Leader, and 3 bags of flour.

( a fifty dollar value)

Follow me, leave a comment, and promise me you will break bread on Thanksgiving Day.

New York social diary - shopping

How thrilled to bits was I to see my illustration over here. I love that the New York Social Diary has a shopping page. One of my loyal blog readers sent me an e-mail to tell me it was there. Did I tell you that I have the best blog fans....but of course you already know that.

Well, of course shopping is social!

Do you have a date in your social diary to shop?

Glass pumpkins, artist interview

The above glass pumpkins seem lit from within. I wonder if Cinderella has a pair of glass pumpkins?

The first time I spotted Carrie's work, I felt it was magical and full of illumination.

You can imagine the patience required to paint this.

Even more patience when you have a little one underfootwho wields a paint brush too.

Please welcome Carrie Waller

Artist, Blogger and Mother

Carrie finds inspiration everywhere. She lived in Europe which has influenced her tremendously. She paints scenes from her travels and artfully arranges objects for still life painting. Once Carrie tucks her children into bed, she is free to paint and often stays up way past her bed time but admits it is all for the love of art.

Carrie's words;

"Finding a balance between my art and my family is something I struggle with, I think everyone does. Since I started my blog last January I made a commitment to myself that I would create a painting a week. I decided that I needed to carve out time for my passion. I thought by the end of this year which is rapidly approaching, I would be burned out. But to my amazement the opposite has happened. I am more driven than ever and plan to take it to a new level next year. Back to the balance part, my family is very supportive and I try to incorporate my boys as much as possible. Steven, my four year old has a passion for art also as a result."

(art work below)

I took my first workshop this year and I would encourage any artist out there to do the same. I really made a mental shift at that time. A fellow workshop attendee who happened to be an accomplished artist gave me a nugget of wisdom. She said you have to make the decision that you are going to be an artist and just do it. As simple as that, it has to be a priority. That has resonated with me and I remind myself of that all the time. Those words pushed me to get out there and enter my first exhibit, which to my surprise, I won first place. I really do believe that anything is attainable with hard work and determination. Having a blog has also kept me accountable and give me a support system I wasn't expecting.

Carrie has some watercolors from her travels but loves Daniel Smith Watercolors.

Thank-you Carrie for sharing your work and inspiring so many artists to make that "decision" to make your work a priority and to share it with each of us.

Kindly leave Carrie a comment here or on her blog here.

feathering the nest

I love feathers.

Turkey feathers to be exact.

Feather beds, down-filled feather pillows and feathering the nest for the holidays.

Fall foliage, golden acorns and plumage added to compose a wonderful wreath,

adds a natural elegance to any door.

or to one's headress

I would be tickled to wear this on Thanksgiving day!

Tell me - are you busy feathering the nest for Thanksgiving?

Wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Sunday driver

"It's a new dawn, it's a new day"

We are on the road today, headed out for a "Sunday drive" with a list of things to see and do.
I have always found it exhilerating snapping photos, trying to capture the beauty of what I see.

Not to worry, I am in the passenger seat.

Hope you take time out for a little Sunday drive.

Landscapes and the hue of dawn invigorate my soul.

all images property of pve design

saturday secrets - a pinch

A pinch of this or that, can truly add spice to one's life,

like this clever "pinch" - designed by Craighton Berman

it is a salt cellar - the pre-sale design of 100 sold in 30 days

This modern armoire from pinch design would also be lovely in a dining area or a bath to hold a stack of fresh towels and potions.

I was able to pinch pennies and buy this vanity at the Waterworks sale.

The legs are "espresso" not white as shown in the above image.

Add a pinch of this - shampoo which is now available at Target.

As my Mom loves to say, "a little dab will do ya!"

What sort of pinch of this or that is your secret ingredient to adding more spice to your day?

Care to share?

ovum

From this tiny ovum and bowl, was the perfect beginning

(Thank-you Joyce)

inspiration for my new master bath.

Master Winning Architect - Christina Griffin's rendering from last March.

She is pure genius.

I inspired her to blog here, CGAStudio.

Being drawn to strong shapes and clean lines, enter my bathtub.

and floor mounted tub faucet.

The .25 wall mounted faucet above two under mounted sinks

(no more sharing one sink since 1996)

There is a part of me that adores white round penny round tiles.

and another part that loves the look of glass tiles

in pale sea glass colors.

This project feels a bit like designing the wedding dress.

An investment to love and to cherish~

Lots of choices to create something simple, modern, and luxurious.

The "ovum" of my master bath.

You like?