shanna murray

Shanna Murray for West Elm

What a fun day! Today my holiday 2013 collection for West Elm launched! This heartfelt collection, including small plates, a serving platter, a recipe tea towel, coasters, and a pie dish, celebrate the happiness of gathering together with loved ones during this festive season. I had such a great time designing these pieces! It was an honor and an absolute joy to work on this collection for West Elm. I hope so many of you will appreciate the sentiment behind each piece and enjoy using the collection to welcome family and friends as much as I will. Cheers!


*** Just a quick reminder that my shop will only be open a few more days, until 9pm Thursday, September 26th. I'll be tucking in to rest up for the arrival of our new baby after that, and then of course we'll need some time to get to know each other before I return. I hope to reopen in early November, if both of us are ready. But if you've ben planning on a holiday gift, I recommend getting it this week, just to be certain. 

the sweetest news

Hooray! Here's a little peek at our sweet October babe! I'm overjoyed to finally share this happy, happy news with you, dear friends! You may have been wondering just where I've been and what I've been up to lately, or since January really. That darling profile above pretty much sums it up! C and I can't wait to meet this little person, and thinking about that beautiful day has had me pretty distracted, though happily so.

I slowed things down work wise, early in the year, in order to take all sorts of naps, eat baskets of strawberries, and dream about our little one. Now I'm beginning to ramp things up again in preparation for the fall/holiday season and some new offerings to come. But I'd hazard a guess that I might not be back in this space until then. I'm still working out the kinks of how to proceed with my blog when it seems almost everyone has navigated their day to day sharing over to Instagram and my inclination to write long, personal posts has waned a bit. Are any of you also feeling this way? So, for now, that's where you'll find me, too.

Thank you for continuing to look in on this space of mine, friends. This June marks eight years that I've kept a blog and shared a bit of myself with you here, in one way or another. I appreciate so much that you've continued to check in over the years and share your thoughts from time to time. The friendships I've made through this space are so treasured. I've struggled a bit with what I might write about this long hoped for, celebrated occasion and the truth is, I'm rather speechless. Perhaps even a little shy. But I can tell you that I'm truly delighted to finally share this happiest of news with all of you!

xoxo, 

S 

a return from the quiet

February was a beautiful month in so many ways. I had planned to return from time off  in January with a renewed commitment to visiting this space. Instead, I tucked in for a little more quiet. Seems I needed just a bit longer to be still. I'm looking forward to March and all that it may bring. Though the snow has been breathtaking at times, I hope March decides to send a little warmth and sunshine this way!

Little goals for March include:
make the perfect green smoothie
finish a scarf  I've had on the needles since new year's 
organize my studio + redo my inspiration wall
take more walks 
wrap up work on some new spring things for my shop
writing a letter or two
read a good book

What sort of things are you hoping to work on this month? Any good reads to share?

from the heart

My pal Cecelia Hayes and I put a lot of love into this sweet project. Cecelia is one of those people who can make magic out of scraps, transport you to another world with the most basic materials. She's a dear friend and a huge inspiration to me. For some time I had been wanting to work on a project like this; one that was detail oriented, timeless, and super fun. I knew Cecelia would be the perfect person to team up with to make it happen. We had great fun, learned a lot, and feel so proud of these beauties. Both of us are looking forward to sharing more projects with you in the coming months. We're hooked!

We hope you'll love working on these as much as we have. There are so many ways and occasions to use our prize ribbon kit (well beyond Valentine's Day), we think it will be love at first sight! There's something really special about creating a heartfelt heirloom from tissue and glue, paper and ribbons. Just wait, I bet your heart will skip a beat too, when you make your own bit of magic out of everyday materials. And the recipient will be so touched you took the time. That's the best sort of gift, in my book!

Details about this 19 page download (complete with 28 illustrative elements, step by step instructions for a variety of ribbons, and two beautiful boxes in which to present your prize) can be found at the listing, HERE.

Lots of love to you this week, friends -
S