Holiday Happenings!

Seas & Greetings everyone! I can't believe that it is officially the start of the Christmas shopping season! That said, we've added a couple of shows plus we still have two more weekends of our Coastal Christmas Open House with Catherine Wissmann of By the Sea Driftwood coming up. Here's the 411 on all upcoming Seaside Designs events:

Orleans Elementary School 28th Annual Holiday Craft Fair

Saturday, November 21, 10-3

Orleans Elementary School

Orleans, MA

Barnstable Historical Society Holiday Boutique 2009

Saturday, Sunday & Monday, December 5, 6 & 7, 11-4

Daniel Davis House

3074 Main Street, Barnstable Village, MA

Coastal Christmas Open House

Friday (12-5), Saturday (10-5) & Sunday (12-5), December 4, 5 & 6

and

Friday (12-5), Saturday (10-5) & Sunday (12-5), December 11, 12 & 13

By The Sea Driftwood Company

94 West Road, Orleans, MA

For more information on any of our upcoming shows or our Christmas products, please email me at rebecca@seaside-designs.com

We hope to see you this Holiday season!

Hugs & Fishes

Rebecca

coming up...

Here, in the Seaside Studio, we are gearing up for some pretty spectacular shows...

First, we will be at the Wellfleet Oyster Festival again this year. It's a great seaside festival celebrating Wellfleet's favorite bivalve...lots of food, live music, a "shuck-off" and a huge, juried craft fair. Look out for our colorful Seaside Booth on Main Street in downtown Wellfleet, Massachusetts, October 17 & 18.

Then, it's on to our Fourth Annual Coastal Christmas Open House with Catherine Wissmann of By the Sea Driftwood Company. We are doing 3 weekends in her studio cottage in Orleans, Massachusetts:

November 6, 7 & 8

December 4, 5 & 6

December 11, 12 & 13

Hours: Friday's 10-6, Saturday's 10-6 and Sunday's 11-5

Come browse around our decked for the holidays seaside cottage while listening to classical Christmas music and enjoying hot, mulled cider and cookies while you shop for all kinds of sea-inspired gifts, decor and more at:

By the Sea Driftwood Company

94 West Road

Orleans, MA 02653

508.240.5783 or 508.349.0442 for more information

How {where} I spent my summer vacation...

Even though we live right smack dab in hands down one of the best beach towns in {my opinion} the world, we do like to escape to our own personal nirvana over at my parents home and enjoy their salt pool...it's heaven! The girls and I escape over there at least a few times a week and enjoy not only swimming but my parents beautiful home and yard as well.
I took the opportunity the other day to do a little photo shoot with my girls. I just got the new Jcrew kids catalog and the front cover had these two girls with their hair braided together. So I tried it with them...
Pretty neat, huh? My girls are ALL hair:
Picture washing, brushing and taming THAT everyday! But it's gorgeous and I could NEVER cut it off...I think my husband would physically be in pain if his girls did not have long, flowing mermaid hair. I'm desperately trying to grown mine back out after a shoulder length bob...my hair is just like theirs when it's long, so I was thinkin' I was being smart cutting it shorter in order to tame it, but all I got was the dreaded puffy piramid head. It's getting there...I have about 5 more inches to go to catch up with them
Since my parents are wine enthusiasts (read: wine freaks), they of course grow grapes...
This odd fellow is tucked under one of the grape trellises. Then there's Easter Island Man settled in over by the picnic area...my girls like to talk to him...
We love it at Oma and Opas!

{small} shop update

Just listed a few Halloween cards in the shop...more fall goodies to follow...

I've been busy gearing up for a big two day show...the Wellfleet Oyster Festival and getting the kids settled into their first week of school...which went very well! Re-entry into the schedule is always hard after a fun, schedule-less summer, but it's good for all of us to get back into the groove of a routine.

Enjoy your weekend!

bike crush

I want...no, need this bike...

the color, the bucket, the beautiful aqua hue, the, the everything.

It's perfect.

Did I mention it's my Bday on Labor Day this year?

{subtle hint}

yeah, I know...

It's been awhile.  Sorry.  Summer is upon us and so is my crazy schedule of craziness.  Crazy all over the place.  I will be back very soon, with some updates, news, late summer/fall show schedule and information, new fall products, etc. etc.  Don't be a stranger...come on back soon and check it all out!

xo

Retailer of the week

Welcome to another installment of Retailer of the Week.  This week, it's one of our fantastic online affiliates, Cottage and Bungalow.  

Many of you may reccogonize the name as they advertise in great magazines like Coastal Living and Cape Cod Life.  Owner, Pamela Hawthorne, has an eye for quality, beautiful, coastal-inspired goods.  She hand selects products ranging from jewelry to furniture to deck out your self or your beach house.  Her newest site is Cliff and Canyon, features high quality high country home style goods from textiles, rugs and furniture to lighting and accessories.  

So grab a cup of coffee, settle in and head on over to Cottage and Bungalow for some amazing coastal style of your own.

Retailer of the week

Located in a beautiful former house, the Potted Geranium in West Harwich, Massachusetts is our retailer of the week.  Stephanie, the owner at the Geranium, always stocks the most beautiful items for your home & body as well as great hostess gifts, children's items, Vera, candles, soaps, stationery...you name it, and they've got it.  The shop is set up in adjoining rooms so all the kids stuff is in one room, garden things in another, etc.  It's a great place and worth a visit if you're in the mid-Cape area.

Retailer of the Week

Back for another installment of Retailer of the Week.  This time, I'm in my neck of the woods out here on Cape Cod, and I'm featuring Wellfleet Marine, in my neighboring town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

My friend Jill runs the gift shop at Wellfleet Marine, but she wears many other hats as well because they have a fish market and boat rentals plus boat repair and dry dock there.  Jill's shop is really fantastic and she pays extreme attention to detail like the above photo which is one of her planters out in front of the store...she actually does stuff like that!  She also buys really great coastal inspired goodies for her shop....things you will not find everywhere.  She has a particular interest in mermaids and pirates.  It's my go-to shop when I need a kids birthday gift or a hostess gift...Jill always has the perfect thing.  Jill has not only been a retailer of mine for 4 years now but she has also become a friend.  

Go check out Wellfleet Marine...in fact, I'm bringing a delivery of new Seaside Designs goodies there this week!  

Wellfleet Marine

25 Holbrook Avenue (at the boatyard)

Wellfleet, MA  02657

508.349.6417

Retailer of the Week

The "Retailer of the Week" will be a weekly feature about one of my retailers that currently carries Seaside Designs products.  Each week through the end of the summer,  I will showcase a different store and let you know a little bit about them.

This week, it's Beach Grass in Kennebunkport, Maine:

Beach Grass is located at 28 Dock Square in beautiful Kennebunkport, Maine.  Proprietor Glenna Turner has been carrying Seaside Designs products for a few years now and is one of my favorite retailers to work with.  She sells a ton of our Seaside Potpourri...thanks Glenna!  From her website:  "At Beach Grass you’ll find home décor and accents inspired by the coast to create your own beach house style of living".  

If you're in the Kennebunkport area, please stop by and see Glenna....you'll be glad you did!

So, this is what we've really been up to all winter...Please read my husband's new blog to see all the news.  To all our family and friends:  thanks for the support and help to this point, and we hope to see you all there this summer enjoying a Mojito at the bar or a lobster on the patio!

Thank you...

It was so wonderful seeing and meeting so many wonderful retailers, press and creative people during the Boston Gift Show this past weekend.  I appreciate all the kind words and business you gave to me, and I look forward to working with you all continually in the future.  If you are in need of our catalog, please contact me at:  rebecca@seaside-designs.com and I will email you a copy right away! In the meantime...back to work!

Exciting things are on their way...

Were are busy little bees over here in the Seaside Designs Studio!  We are gearing up for the upcoming Boston Gift Show, March 28, 29, 30 & 31 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts.  If you are a current retailer of our products or a retailer who is interested, please stop by our beautiful sea-inspired booth #1019 in the Made in New England Section.  And if you can't make it?  No worries, just email us and we'll send you a copy (or an e-copy) of our new 2009 catalog including our full lines of fabulous, locally-made, hand-made products with great prices including:

sea-inspired home accents

seaside home fragrance & soap

coastal cards & seaside stationery

beach jewelry

seaside pillows and totes

We hope to see you there!

Things going on....

Sorry for my lapse in posting...March has officially come in like a Lion!  I hope that the month continues to roar like one...no lambs around here!

I have been gearing up for a couple huge events during this month.  The first on is next Saturday, the 7th.  I am honored to have been invited to participate in A Wedding Affair at Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster, Massachusetts.  The event, produced by the boutique magazine, Well Wed, is guaranteed to be the most beautiful, up-scale wedding event on the Cape all year.  The magazine puts on these signature destination wedding events in beautiful locations like the Cape, the Hampton's, The Finger Lakes Region and Vermont.   Quoted from their website: "The Wedding Affair will introduce you to the products, people & places that create some of the country's most talked about events".

I have been super busy creating all of my new sea-inspired favors and jewelry for this event.  If you are a bride interested in attending, you must purchase tickets in advance and they only sell a limited amount.  Please go to their website for more information about attending.

I'll also be debuting this line as well as all of my other new coastal creations at the upcoming Boston Gift Show, March 28, 28, 30 & 31 at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center.  I'm so excited to show everything that I have been working on to all of the wonderful shop owners in New England.  If you are a retailer attending the show, Seaside Designs will be in booth number 1019 in the Made in new England section.  Don't worry...I'm sending out postcards to all of my past and present retailers with all the info as an extra reminder...I hope to see you there!  

In the meantime, I hope that your March, whether it be a lion or a lamb, is wonderful!

Coastal Living

So, I just wandered over to the Coastal Living website and my Beach Sand Letters are on the home page!  Last year, the decorator for their idea house contacted one of my online affiliates, Coastal Gifts, asking for a set of the letters to decorate the idea house that would be in the magazine last October.  I thought that was the end of my 15 minutes until I popped over to their site today and saw them on the home page!  Click here to see them....they are over there on the left, on the window sill in the laundry room shot.  Who knows how long they will be there, but it certainly made my day!  If you would like a set of your very own, head on over to Coastal Gifts...it's a great site with many other cool coastal gifts.  

Have a great day!

I just put some new cards in the shop for Valentines

 Day...or as I like to call it, ValenTIDES Day!

Go check 'em out in the shop!

oops!

In the designing of my 2009 Seaside Desk Calendar, I accidently left a date off the February page.  Since I print these in-house, I can fix the problem and mail out replacement pages.  If you have purchased a 2009 Seaside Desk Calendar from a store or at one of my shows, please contact me for a free replacement February page.  If you have purchased a calendar from my shop, Seaside Designs  on Etsy, I am sending out replacement February pages to all of you this week.

Learning...

I learned a lot of things during my winter's rest...

I learned that if it snows....make a snowman, darnit!  That snow will not last and your kids will only be the age they are at this moment once.  So take the time to bundle up and get on out there and make one together while you still can.  The laundry can wait....

I learned that if you teach a 7 year old how to crochet a simple chain, she will crochet and crochet until that chain is 30 feet long, and then, her older, too-cool-for-school sister will join the fun and make herself some very cool crocheted necklaces and belts.  A new skill is a wonderful thing...

I learned that gingerbread houses and sugar cookies look so much better when I relax and let the girls go at it, make a mess and decorate them the way that they want to, not the way I want to.  

I learned that flowers blooming in the winter are much more appreciated than their spring counterparts.  A touch of spring on the dining room window sill is so wonderful, even though they stink.  (does anyone know of a variety of Paperwhites that actually smell good?)

And I learned that my mothers hands, my hands and my oldest daughters hands look EXACTLY alike.  These hands may not look pretty with manicured nails and all, but boy are they capable of doing many amazing and creative things, and boy, am I looking forward to creating many new and exciting things this year!