Fall !!!!!

Fall has a way of sneaking up on me...mainly because I live in denial that Summer will end, and once again I'll have to bundle up and brace myself against the weather.

This year Fall has me in a sentimental mood.  There are some old favorites in this collection (yes, the pie chart worked Sam), and a whole lot of IOU's. 

My main inspiration for the eye shadows was tweed.  Fall here is lovely.  It's my favorite season- hay rides, and pumpkins- the way the farmers bustle away in their fields bringing in the harvest, the brilliant colors of the leaves, being sustained by a nice cup of tea and a warm blanket.   We're really blessed to live in this part of the world during the Fall. 

But in other places it's just dark, damp, and chilly.  The Finnish word for October literally translates to "mud month"- it's not a great time to visit Finland. Summer is one big party, and they're good with snow- they ski, and skate, and generally find ways to have fun, but apparently October is a wash. 

Aaah, but the UK and Ireland- they've developed coping mechanisms for dealing with rain (although they don't really love it any more than anyone else). They wear nice woolen clothes to keep warm when it's wet, and that's where the inspiration came for this collection. 

Tweed fabrics are incredibly interesting to me.  It's a light colored thread, and a deeper colored thread woven together into signature patterns.  Yarn makers create special tweed yarn blends full of interesting little nubbly bits that make it a joy to knit with.

I'm calling the finish of these shadows Suede- for each of the colors I started with shimmery pigments, but they're blended together with a mattifying base, and then some interesting color effects added in.  They're all loosely based around the color Earth which is a crowd favorite.

If you've received the 2 latest GWP's- Brightside and Mwahahaha they're both made in a similar theme.

I hope that you enjoy them, and thank you all so much for your kind support.

Oh Baby & Revved Up!

Things are cooking along at the old SN factory!  We're busy planning Fall, and of course the Holiday Collection.  I don't have much to report because we're kind of in the early stages of everything, but our creative juices are really flowing.

Two weeks ago the GWP color was Oh Baby- in honor of my new niece.  She was born at home, safe and sound- and it was all very old-fashioned.  We didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy- and we were thrilled when little Addy came into the world.  Oh Baby is a mixture of pigments- I made it right as my SIL was in labor- so it's based on a sort of a fleshy pink mica with blue highlights.  I added some stormy grey pigment to tone it back a bit, and to show that even though there are storms and tribulations in life there's usually some joy that comes shining through.

Last weeks' GWP was Revved Up.  I'm originally from Watkins Glen, NY and just love the roar of a V8.  The entire tiny town is built around auto racing it was a big part of my life growing up.  Every year at the Trumansburg Fair there's a demolition derby.  It's pretty much my favorite night of the year...the noise, the dust, the smoke, the sparks and flames that come out of the old beaters.  Revved Up is all of the colors of a demolition derby put into a blender. 

I hope you enjoy them!  This week's color is Brightside- a little experimental color that I like so much that I'm going out to dinner so I can show it off! 

Congratulations to the Winners!!!

Thank you all so much for the kind words and well wishes.  It is truly a blessing to have a little niece, and we're all smitten.

Little Adilade Louise is...6 pounds 12 ounces- she's tiny and perfect.  I'll confess that I'm a bit afraid to hold her because she's just so little.  She fits in my brother's hand just about perfectly.  We added an 8-ounce margin of error.

Congratulations to:
Rose- PA
Madeline O Singapore
Toby- Canada
Tracey K- SC
Selki- TX
Mona- Norway
Christine- NJ
Angela D- Australia
Susan W- TX
Yogingineer- Canada
Irina G- Russia

I just sent the coupon codes to you via email!  Have fun ;)

It's a Girl!!!!!

Last night my sister-in-law gave birth to a perfect little girl.  I've yet to meet her, and she doesn't have a name yet- but I'm already feeling love.

I think it's time for a good old-fashioned guess the weight contest!

Guess her weight to the nearest ounce, and you'll win a $5 SN gift certificate.  She is a full-term baby- but no other hints! 

Send your responses along with your name (and how you'd like us to list you as a winner), and state or country to sncontests@gmail.com

All entries must be received by 12:01 am eastern standard time Wednesday September 8th 2010- ie very late Tuesday night.  We'll announce the winners shortly after the contest is over.

Good luck and have fun!

Lots of News!!!

Wow where to begin?  It's been an eventful couple of weeks since the new collection launched.  The response has been great, and I really appreciate your support.  I'm a bit distracted today because my sister-in-law is in labor with her first baby!  So, please excuse me if this post is a bit choppy- I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for news. 

I'd like to share a little bit about the women who designed the collections because they're both incredibly interesting folks who really pulled out all of the stops in terms of creativity.

Kookeith designed the Harry Potter collection.  She's from Singapore, and a very avid Harry Potter fan.  She's read all of the books multiple times, and her favorite is The Goblet of Fire.  "The books strike a chord in me, and have taken JKR's work and applied it to my real life. Love, loyalty, friendship, justice, faith, and death. How we face these things reflect the person that we are."

Kookith is an absolute sweetheart.  She's a marketing executive by day, and a hardcore gamer in her off time- especially World of Warcraft.  Oh, and like a lot of our customers she's a passionate environmentalist- anything to reduce her ecological footprint.   Washable cleaning cloths, no chemicals, baking soda and vinegar for cleaning.

Meheen designed the Hawaii collection.  She's an 18-year-old art student from California.  I love it when she posts pictures of her paintings on our forum- it's always great to see creative women strut their stuff.
Her blog is:
http://meheeeen.blogspot.com

Growing up, Meheen spent Summers with her grandparents in Hawaii, and the collection she devised was inspired by her travels.  I think Guava blush is my new HG color, and I've seen quite a few FOTD's of women wearing Mango and looking absolutely incredible.  I went full on orange- no backing off, no trying to create a 'wearable' color- and somehow it works beautifully.

Meheen is of Pakistani heritage, and this cause is very close to home for her.   When I emailed her and asked if it was ok to do this as a fundraiser she responded with this:
"For the charity, I am of Pakistani heritage and I feel very deeply for the plight of the beautiful people there and in Afghanistan.  I've met and had tea with Massouda Jalal, and have seen the large slums outside of Karachi that make up the biggest community of Afghani refugees, so this sits very deeply and close to home for me."

She went on to mention the need for help in Pakistan.  They are receiving large numbers of refugees, and the flooding during this monsoon season has been quite bad.  The entire SwatValley is nearly inaccessable, and the government isn't providing much support.  Groups like the Taliban step in with aid, and this is how the problem starts...

So if you're interested in donating to help Pakistan there are several organizations who are helping in that part of the world.  Help Pakistan's Flood Victims

Creativity always gives me hope- that things can change, that things can get better, and that wonderful things can be just around the corner.  It's an immense privilege to work with these women and be inspired by their ideas.  I think the colors we produced are some of the best colors we've ever produced. 

Last week's Gift with Purchase color was Cleo.   Cleo is a purplish golden color.  Sometimes I approach GWP's with a clear ideas- other times I'm winging it- treating it as an experiment, and hoping to learn something.  I started with a bit of purple, and then added  a pinch of this, a dab of that, and then unified the whole creation with golden glimmer.

I'm hoping you liked Cleo!  This week's color is Alakazam- and it's been popular.  Stay tuned...