Our Halloween Ad for MEHC Magazine

Here is our new ad for the Artists' Gallery section of the Oct/Nov issue Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine. It's always challenging to stay on top of these magazine deadlines.

We always seem to be rushing in order to get the final ad to them on time. But we got it done and now we can move on to the next thing. Be sure to pick up your copy when it comes out!

Halloween in July?

Okay, we admit it. We may very well be the only people on the planet who actually like it when stores start putting their Halloween stuff out. We were filled with joy when on a recent trip to HomeGoods we saw their collection of Halloween trinkets and decorations adorning the shelves. Our little eyes spied a most haunting black feather tree that we just had to get. We could see visions of witches and devils and ghosts hanging goulishly from the feather branches. The tree stands about 2 feet tall, base to top. We're going to embellish the stand to dress it up and make it more appealing and add a creepy looking eyeball for the top. HomeGoods is a great place to find really interesting seasonal trees from large red metacllic trees to a beautiful white feather tree; perfect for displaying baby items, so it was just a matter of time when a black feather tree would land in our possession.












It's been all about halloween these last few weeks. We are finishing up our sketches for our 2008 Halloween collection. Here is a sneak peek inside our sketch book and some of our ideas.





































This brings us to our last bit of info...we're working on an ad for Oct/Nov issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. We'll post it once it's ready.

So while everyone is at the beach and shucking corn....we're eating CANDY CORN!

See you next week!

Fireworks beauty

Here at Swirly Designs we took a little break to enjoy all the July 4th festivities in our local area. Even though the weather here in New England didn't exactly cooperate, we got to see Fireworks 2 nights in a row. It was fun seeing our 3-year old experience the fireworks through his eyes.

But it was also fun looking at the beauty of the fireworks themselves. When I came home and downloaded the pictures from the digital camera I couldn't help but be in awe of the simple beauty of the fireworks. By no means am I an expert at taking night shots/fireworks. Even with the setting on the camera to "fireworks" I still don't think I was taking them correctly.









As you can see from a few of the shots, I got some pretty neat imagery. The colors and the way they danced through the black sky is inspiring. Now if I can just think of a way to translate them into a Swirly ornament I'd be golden!

Lianne

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

We want to wish you all a happy and safe 4th of July.

There's nothing better then a good BBQ and nice weather for a 4th celebration with family and friends. This year we are hoping to have our 3 year old experience fireworks for the first time. If anything, he will enjoy the staying up late part for sure.

























Here is our Patriotic Topiary ornament we created back in 2003. It was a very popular design for us and we still get requests for a Patriotic line. These ornaments look wonderful on a front door surround by a beautiful 4th of july wreath or hang them on a decorative knob on a cabinet.



























This is one of our favorite ways to display our little pieces of art. A shadow box display. This frame is wide enough to stand on its on so you don't even need to hang it on the wall. You can just stand it on a book case or mantle. See our baby ornament shadow box idea here.

Even if you can't paint, this whole frame was easily created with tissue paper and glue, using a technique called decoupage. Which is really just gluing paper to a surface by layering and then top coating it with varnish or lacquer. If you've never tried decoupage, we recommend trying it, you'll love the results.

Where do you see Swirly?

It's that time a year again where we begin planning our Holiday Craft Schedule and figure out where we want to spend our advertising dollars.

With most of these crafts show you need to start planning the next years enrollment right after you finish a show. We never seem to get it together and do this. With the holiday shows so crazy it's really the last thing on our mind! We learned a hard lesson this year when one of our more successful shows' deadline came and went without us knowing. We never received any application from the organizers and now we might not be able to get in this year. We are still waiting for confirmation.

In that light, we'll keep you updated with all our shows in the coming months that we will be attending this holiday season. Which leads us to ask all of our readers, that live in or near the Boston area, if you know of any holiday craft shows you attend that you think we would be a good fit for Swirly Designs please let us know by emailing or posting a comment.

Advertising

During the months leading up to the holidays, all the major magazines put out a holiday issue or a special holiday issue. These are great for inspiration.

We buy lots of magazines all throughout the holiday season, but rarely get to peruse them until the spring. Not only are looking at new trends in colors and themes, but we're also scoping out which publication would be a great place for Swirly to advertise.

Our first taste of national exposure came in November of 2006 when we we're profiled in Yankee Magazine as one of New England's Finest. The response to that little blurb made us really think hard about print advertising.

After that success, we ran our first national ad in Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Holiday issue. We were very pleased with the response (even though we weren't too happy with the placement of our ad in the magazine).

This year we are going to advertise in the MEHC Oct/Nov issue (to introduce our new Halloween Collection) and the Dec/Jan issue with our holiday collection. We are also considering Romantic Homes, which seems to be a publication our customers enjoy and read.

We would love to hear from you with any magazines or newspapers that you enjoy reading or use as a Christmas/Holdiay shopping guide.

Keep your eyes peeled, you never know where you'll find Swirly Designs!

How quick they grow

I know all of us here in Boston are trying to beat the heat! Boy is it hot here. While trying to stay cool, we've been planning our son Gryffin's 3rd birthday party, slated for this Thursday 6-12...his actual birthday. It's a dinosaur theme this year. We've posted our invite that we made, which showcases Paul's illustration. You can see more of Paul's work here.

It's been such an adventure watching the little guy grow, it's really amazing. Everyday is different and we learn something new.


Stay Cool,
Lianne

Swirly Designs experiences a little R+R in San Diego, CA

Before we plow head on into our holiday ornament production, we were able to take a little time off for a trip to San Diego with the little guy. Here are a few shots of our fun filled vacation.


First time on the plan and he was a trooper and a natural. Sit back relax and chill.

We're here!! The weather is always nice and sunny in SD...of course the first few days was rainy and cool!

Traveling with a child forces you to appreciate and explore everything over again. We were always searching for fun places to see, the like the beaches, amusement parks even the local library!


Here is Gryffin at the world famous San Diego Zoo.
Our favorite attraction by far were those happy-go-lucky hippos!

A brand new attraction just came to SeaWorld in San Diego: Seame Street Bay of Play section. Gryffin was in heaven!!

And what's a visit to CA without hitting the beach-clothes and all.

We had a wonderful time in CA. Not to sure we would ever
move there. As designers, it would be a bit challenging for us thinking of Christmas in 80 degree weather.