The Lampshade Lady Blog

A Smidgen of Holiday Decor

Happy Holidays from  Pawlet Village. Snow has come and it's time to get in the spirit. This is a sweet shade I just finished. It is made from a vintage Society Silk round. I've had it forever and could barely cut into it. There it would sit every Christmas getting buried after the holidays with the new fabric that would arrive with thoughts of spring. Today was it's day to come alive!

I have trouble using anything tooooooo holiday like, if you know what I mean. But this is elegant and could easily be used throughout the year.
As I have often said, trimming a shade is absolutely the hardest design decision to be made. And this shade put me to task!! I left the shop yesterday after thinking I'd found the right trim. NOPE, back this am and ripped it off... but found this odd ball trim in my trim basket. It's a initial tape from Europe. I used it instead of grosgrain, gluing it onto the shade and wrapping it to the inside. SWEET, I was a couple inches short, but managed to add a tid bit of something similar. Do you think customers know what we go through?
And lit. It's 4" x 8" x 6" (top x bottom x high) and is $75.
Yellow Toille Hex Scallop trimmed in cotton quilting fabric. $75       5"x 10" x 7" high on a vintage glass base $45.

A view from where I sit. There a few inches of snow and George Frederic Handel is my Pandora Radio Choice this afternoon for me and Molly, but she seems to be snoozing through it. It's a sleepy day in the shop, must be time for another cup of tea and finish the next project in line. You can see the bark cloth red one on my table. Behind that are 2 candlewick hex shades and behind that is a pair of bark cloth winter farm scenes and lastly a beautiful white on white embroidery in a cut corner square AND  guess what? It's been on my desk for a week, waiting for the right trim to hit me over the head. Over 25 years of making shades and finding the perfect trim is STILL hard. Holey Moley....but it does get better with age, I swear.

This beauty is similar to the one I was describing above, maybe I should trim it the same. This is a treat. Quite a nice textile find, yes, there was a hole in it....trapunto, I believe it's called, wrapping of the cord and tacking it onto the linen. And used candlewicking edge for the trim. $150. 14" bottom and 8.5" high.
and with the light on.
Last one, had to show off this big drum made with a grain bag. It's sold but has a great look. It's 18 x 18 x 11.

Time for tea!

Enjoy the holiday decorating, take it easy and have a little holiday cheer.

xo,

judy

Spruce up Your House: New Inventory at Lake's Lampshades

Sweet Vintage Fabric Scallop Shade, 5" x 10" x 7" clip top $85

Antique Redwork Embrodiery, Darling little Hex Bell Clip Shade. 5"x 8" x 6"  $68.

You know summer is here when my fabrics are out on the walkway railing. Of course I'm trying to lure tourists into my shop. My shop is tucked down the road a little and the fabrics catch people eye, but also insprire me, too. Or perhaps they are drying from my washing machine at home.

All the rain has made for some beautiful flowers in my cluttered artists garden. I made my way to the middle of this full garden to start pulling violets.... where do they all come from. Yesterday I forced myself to thin out the wildly spreading pink perennial geranium; it was time to do the duty. As well as hauling a few of the ever happy Lambs Ears. Someday this garden is bound to take over the lawn!

This week I helped come up with a fun Grandmother gift for her grandson, Benjamin. Boy lampshades can sometimes stump me, but this was a great idea.  Benjamin is obviously a very talented artist and we brainstormed this idea to use his artwork on a lampshade. With a little reducing with the copy machine I was able to fit most of the chosen drawings onto a square clip lampshade.
I hope Benjamin liked our idea. I think it would be fun if he wanted to color it later, but it's fun just as it is. I thought if felt like a cartoon strip. Great teamwork Irene!
Oh a Saturday Project. I recently found this handpainted floral lamp. I put lots of different fabrics next to it, but went with this crazy, fun mix. I loved adding chandelier crystals sewn into the corners as well as the floral trim. Must have had something to do with the timing of working with designer John Loecke on some chandelier shades. John and his partner Jason just had a big spread in New York Magazine. Photographed was their wild townhouse in Brooklyn; they have mixed all kinds of fun fabric patterns and wall papers, must have been a fun project!!! Something tells me their country house might be quietly done???

These have sold, but Iove them! I promise to do more.  12" drums. great look.

Funky Drum for sure! 12" x 12" x 8"   $89.

This is sold, too, but will be making more. Just got a couple blue grain bags this week. Nice cut corner rectangle shape.
New shade made last week. Cut corner rectangle, 16" bottom and 13" high. Lovely vintage floral shade shown on an iron antique cast lamp. Nice hard to find tall lamp. Won't last long! (nice unstyled photo.... note my messy desk!)

Society silk Scallop Hex Clip Shade: 5" x 10" x 7" high. $85.

Happy Solstice!

May summer begin.

The shop will be open 6 days through the summer, hours 10am-5pm, closed Sundays. Hope you'll make a trek out to Pawlet Village. I am 2 doors down from the famous Machs General Store on School St, where they have the best cookies in town. (they are next to the cash register) Pawlet is 25 minutes north of Manchester, out RT 30 North.

A easy scoot out to the countryside; a straight shot out to a fabric lovers delight!

Feel free to give a call if you are coming a distance. 802-325-6308, fair warning, cell phones aren't very useful quite yet out here.  iphone = pawlet paperweight.

I promise to try to keep writing. I am home in Vermont for the whole summer, no trips. It has been a busy spring and I'm thrilled to be here at the shop. NO shows! Yay. But you have to come for a visit.

ps. new Pawlet Village Farmers Market starts this Friday, 3-6pm down by the Libray.

My Week at Brimfield Flea Market

Another week at Brimfield is completed. The time went by so fast, but then it must be said it was quite a feat. Can you say organization... The key to survival is having what you need to pace yourself for the week. Water, food, inventory, enough business cards, snacks, warm clothes, comfy shoes, patience, friends nearby and hopefully good folks on either side of your booth. A group of us moved out booths to The New England Motel Show this year. Not sure sales were higher but we were all pretty happy about the show and the location, not to mention "real bathrooms", yup, just one of those things that makes a week of selling a whole lot nicer:)

All my neighbors were super nice, my good friends Judy and Tony Pascal and daughters were directly behind me which was great. We kept our back walls up and folks could walk between the 2 booths. It looked bright and drew customers into our booths.


A few of my neighbors at the show.



A few booth shots.

our favorite breakfast sandwich spot!
I picked up this early print from Mary as well as my most cherished pin cushion!
I was entirely in love with this vintage treasure. And I can keep it on my desk at my shop! I didn't get much of a chance to walk the show...so I didn't find too many goodies. A nice piece of ticking and also a nice early brown toile from Judy P.
A small piece of Mary Maguire's booth. Such a talented collector of antique prints and art as well as a master folk artist!
Great weather until Sunday. What more could we ask for. Wednesday was an early start. DAYBREAK. I woke up a 4am, popped out of bed and 10 minutes later into the car and onward to Brimfield from Sturbridge. I gotta say, I've never gotten up that early, but it was okay until about 2:30 pm and then we all started to fade. I was happy to crash at my hotel after the show, feet up and American Idol....couldn't have been happier. Wednesday was windy and cold until late in the day. Lots of clothes and extra socks, jackets, scarves and lots of cups of tea. Fortunately the next to days were grand. Sun, sun, sun.

I packed up at the end of the day yesterday, Saturday. Rain was forecasted and I'd had enough. Lampshades are always a hard sell out of my shop, but it is great advertising and pr. Lots of boutiques and shops come to Brimfield to find inventory for their stores. People were buying, but still cautious and trying to get the best price. At times down right insulting, rude, etc. Hey, we all want a bargain. For the most part the shoppers were lots of fun and very appreciative.

What was the hot sellers?  It's hard to know what to highlight for a show. How heavy to go in one direction. In most cases I have a pretty wide variety of inventory. The biggest trend the past couple of years are the Antique European Grain Bags. I had a pretty good inventory and most of them were snatched up pretty quick. Oh, I should have made more. Then of course you have more and they don't sell....... right? Drum shades are still a big interest. I brought smallish ones (they fit in my car) and could have used some bigger ones and also some more out of the grain bags, too.

I'll be in my shop all of the summer. This was the only show I'll be doing this year, but hope to go back next May. It's easier to help customers right here in Pawlet and over the phone and internet. Hope you will come up to Vermont to visit. Feel free to give a call to make sure I will be in the shop. I am usually there, but sometimes I do have to be away. Shop is usually open Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat. 10-5. I try to leave my schedule on my phone at the shop. 802-325-6308.

Lampshade Designing over the Internet: Destination Holly Hill Designer Show House

 

I have had an interesting couple of weeks. My workshops finished up and I started in designing and making a few lampshades for The Holly Hill Designer Show House coming up in Red Bank, NJ. My friend Ellen Adler asked me to be a part of her room with Decorative Painter and Designer Judith Luke. The wall in the above photo is Judith's amazing work. It has been such fun to see her work evolve.... over email that is...Working from afar is a bit tricky. Judith has been updating me as the room evolves and furnishings and colors come together.

I shipped out the pair of wall sconces in the photo above. Then we hashed out what fabrics should be. jpeg after jpeg we finally decided on the vintage silk embroidery show in the photo. It went back and forth till all parties agreed on the best choice; which had been my first choice... Sometimes decisions get side tracked and it's my job to bring designers or clients back on track. 

After much back and forth another lamp and shade was chosen for the room. I shipped the small lamp and shade, but then it was decided it was perhaps too small. Maybe they'll find a little spot for it.

Then another taller lamp was created to fill the need. What to use.... I swear this is when I need to escape my shop and "see" all the parts of a room. Ellen found a great looking classic mid sized lamp in her closet that I had actually used in my Lampshade Lady Book. For the book I had done a very cool European Monogram on a cut corner square shade. My thoughts were that if it worked once, give it a try again. As with vintage fabrics..... they are not always in perfect shape. I brought the fabric home to give it a wash and get out the creases that had been set in deeply over all the years of being folded.... The monogram part worked great, but the rest of the towel was not pressing out. Starch after starch, steam, steam= noway where they coming out. Okay, Judy, what to do now.??? I must have pulled 20 pieces of linen out onto my porch to check for the right shade of linen... a couple worked but not enough fabric... finally,  got IT and I was under the time gun. It went together great; very smooth. Then to trim it up. We had talked about a small gold trim; I found a nice classic thin trim I'd picked up at Tinsel Trading in NYC. It was too small... drats. okay. You can probably see me whipping around my shop in a panic. I have hard thinking quick under pressure. Several tries later and I found a khaki and cream ticking, great. I think it made a nice self trim; I cut in on the bias. It finished up the shade beautifully.  Wish I had a picture, but I got it picked up by UPS with only a couple of minutes to spare. Phew. Breathe. Time for a cup of tea on the porch in the sunshine. I hope the shade worked... who knows; it's a challenge working in this manner, but it was fun, too. 
Another piece of Judith' s decorative painting work. It's been fun to see the room evolve from week to week. I had my own stress but can only imagine the time deadline Judith is under!  Love the ceiling.

  Judith added a poem Ellen had recently finished.

If you are near the in the area check out the show. It opens May 3rd - June 12th. More information is on their website at http://www.StatelyHomesbytheSea.com

And I'm back to filling orders and prepping for Brimfield. I'll be setting up on May10th for The New England Motel Show opening Wednesday the 11th at day break. Hope you'll make it down for the serious flea marketing at Brimfield. 20 or so shows in a mile. Shop till you drop.

Floral Lampshades, Chintz, Chenille and Society Silks

This is the time of year that I get to do what I want!!!! It's freezing cold, pretty quiet here in this little village. Orders are slowing down, so I get to finally play with my favorite textiles. Some chenille I like better than others and this one is the sweetest. I was able to make this shade and 2 other big square bells (16" across the bottom and 12" high) with this big old spread; it had a few stains and holes I had to jump around. No problems. See how the trim is using the edge of the chenille spread.
I found this pretty, pretty violet society silk embroidery at the Flea Mkt. this summer. I had been dying to get my hands on it. These make the greatest shades. Always a hit. But the violets have a special place in my heart. I have a whole stack of little round embroideries from this same company; they are almost too small to use, but will work for candleabra shade.
I used a purple velvet over a moss grosgrain. Also incorporated some of the embroidery into the vertical self-trims.
This lovely shade... a Dutch Vintage Chintz looks fantastic in my shop. The walls are California Lilac from Benjamin Moore Paints. Classically modern.... or..............cottagey. A pretty fabric in any case. I have used a Sis Boom fabric for the self-trim. Wasn't sure if it would be too much at first, but worked great. The trims can make a shade fly or head for the sale bin pretty quick if they are a miss. And it is so easy to miss. That's where my 20 years helps out or one would hope:)